What Should You Expect When Going on a Writing Challenge for the First Time?
Starting a writing challenge is good for keeping a writing habit. This article is for beginner writers. Writers are always trying to find ways to write better and keep a consistent phase. Jumping on a writing challenge is what I believe is a great way to build a writing habit.
Writing is not easy. Many writers think that they need to be masters at writing. Truth be told, most Medium popular writers are not really pro writers. These are engineers, teachers, marketing specialists, and so on. These people are not full-time writers, however. Their articles are great, and they are getting viral every day.
The reason behind this is storytelling and personal experience. People are drawn to personal experiences, and they enjoy reading a story. Especially when that story racemate with their life. An example can be if a reader is considering quitting his job, reading about someone telling them in an article his personal experience and walk them through the process will make the reader more interested.
Writing to teach most likely doesn’t work unless it is combined with personal touch and storytelling. Grabbing people’s attention is one thing. Making them keep reading is another thing. Once the reader is reading your article, this means that the headline/title attracted him, now; if there is no value at the end of the article, say goodbye to that reader, he’s probably not coming back for more.
#1 You Need Something to Pull you Up When You Fall.
Yes, you will fall.
Don’t go into a challenge and expect that you can pull it off easily. Writing articles is not as easy as many think. Reading articles is something. Writing them is something else.
To write an article, one has to figure out what to write about, do research, find good resources, develop a good enough headline, add related media, write an introduction, go through the key points, the end with a convincing conclusion.
If you want to start a challenge, then prepare for it. A challenge means that excursions are not accepted. It's a challenge; if you didn’t complete it, you fail.
Failing is not bad, so get back up and move on where you failed. Writing more and more. Expect some days to write great articles, other days, you won't get that feeling, and you might write an article that you don’t like. That is fine if you are keeping your head up and writing consistently.
Someday when you achieve your challenge, you will say to yourself, “If I am here today, have written these articles the past X days, then I absolutely can keep this going!”
#2 You Should Expect Negative Comments.
Negative comments don't mean that you are a bad writer. When you are just starting, expect likes and dislikes. Not everyone that reads your articles are going to like them. Even the best-selling authors had bad comments, don’t take it personally.
I can show you a real example, and by going through it, you can see how you can keep calm and move on as a writer. In fact, I believe that having bad comments on your articles can help you become a better writer. Check my controversial article about money here, read the comments and my replies, expect this when you get started. If you can’t take it, you can’t be a writer then.
The article that I wrote delivered key points described to beginners to understand a concept and apply it everywhere in their lives. Some people did not get what the headline was describing and got pissed because of that. It happens, and you have to be patient when this happens to you.
#3 You Will Feel Disappointed.
After writing for some time, you might feel disappointed. The feeling that you get only if you had a prior expectation. Don’t have any expectations before you start a writing challenge. The challenge is for you and you only. The value is for the people that read the articles.
Don’t be stressed out because your articles got “zero” reads. I have a few of those. It is normal, and you should ask yourself, why?
Why did one of my best articles — in my opinion — got 10 views. While one of my less decent articles got 5k views? This might be because of headlines, tags, topics of interest, a value shared, controversial or not, and so on.
You need to keep your head up and write as no one is looking. Stop checking the stats every now and then if you are the kind of person who gets disappointed quickly.
#4 You Will Experience Writer’s Block.
If you are doing a daily writing challenge — like I’m doing — you might face what is called “writer’s block,” where you stare at the screen, having nothing in your mind to write about. It happens.
Be prepared to get that feeling, and when it does, start reading your books’ highlights. This is one of the ways I generate promo ideas to write about.
If you read books, and you should if you are writing, then going through what captured your attention on a book can make you think and get more ideas to write about.
#5 You Will be Rejected By Publishers.
Although I don’t recommend approaching publishers at the early stages of your writing. It can me you feel that your writings are useless, while it is the opposite.
Most publishers are looking for “HIT” articles. They want content that people would find interesting to read and therefore get more read time on their pages. That is normal and is good for writers.
However, you are going through a writing challenge. This is the zone where you need to improve other than working as a business writer. Many writers write for a living. If you want to get to that path, I suggest that you work on your writing skills, get into writing courses, connect with other writers, and do a writing challenge like the one I’m doing here.
Thanks for reading; I hope you enjoyed it.
If you did, it would be great to share it.
You can reach me at @alounpro on Twitter.
Have a lovely day!
