How to Write

I seem to have been writing a lot lately.  Just the other day, I put out about an 1800 word essay on my blog. I did this because it’s something I've been thinking about, and I follow Scott Hanselman's philosophy on multiplying your effectiveness (it's a 40 minute presentation, but it really is worth your time, no matter what your field).  One of the tips boils down to this: if you have an opinion to articulate, and you’ll want to say it to many people, it’s worth it to spend a little time to polish your thoughts, write it down, and then you can send it to many people at once, and have it available to refer to.

I don’t know how many times I've posted the same points or ideas to Facebook, talking to different friends. The barrier to entry is so darn low to hosting your ideas permanently online that there’s absolutely no reason not to publish your thoughts.  Blogger?  Free.  Tumblr?  Free.

And I've been doing that a lot more.  It occurred to me that I should be encouraging more people do the same, but then I figure they will want to know, “How do you write?  I have thoughts, too, but how do I actually get them on (electronic) paper, organize them, and make them sound good?”

Here’s my secret: I don’t.  Well, not really.

My recipe for writing is as follows:

• Have some thinks
• Write them down somewhere online (as I mentioned, there are free platforms out there)
• Edit (this step is entirely optional)

So let’s break it down:

Have Some Thinks
You'd think this was the hardest part.  I do.  I mean, I did.  Maybe you have this idea that you have to have an original thought, and it has to be a well thought out thesis, or that it has to be so well-researched that it has to be bulletproof.  Here's the real truth, however.

It's a blog post.  It doesn't have to be your Ph. D. defense.  It doesn't have to stand up against a tide of questions or a barrage of counterarguments.

Think about the last argument you had with a family member where you had a difference of opinion.  You probably went back and forth and the conversation diverted here or there into topics unrelated.  Think of a blog post as your opportunity to get your side of the conversation out without interruption.  So you can get your whole opinion out without being interrupted.  This is a great way to get your opinion out, get it off your chest, and maybe even continue a constructive conversation.

Write them down somewhere online

Ok, these steps are so easy I can give you a recipe:

• Pick some blogging platform. I obviously use Blogger, but Tumblr, Wordpress, whatever.  Just pick a free one that lots of other people are using.  
• Pick a sweet username or blog name.  This can be your name or your topic, something hipster, or something classical.  Anything that you feel represents you and what you're most likely to write about
• Write a little test post.  My first post on my first blog (this is my third) was a trivial little nothing post that I can still see and occasionally look at as the genesis of ... wow, 10 years of writing.  Don’t share this test post with anyone.  Just know it’s there.  Let the fact that you've published your thought to the web sink in.
• Next, start getting those ideas out.  Whenever you have something long form to say to someone, say, in an email, blog it instead and send them a link.  Put together a lot of drafts and have them ready to add to.  Whatever you need to do, get those ideas out of your head and onto the page.  Bullet points, fragments, whatever.
• Flesh out a post.  Click publish.  Repeat.  It's not so hard.  Eventually, the problem will be that you have so much to say that you don't have time to say it.  Trust me.  It happened to me, too.
• Publishing gives your thought a permalink, somewhere you can always refer someone to.  Another big benefit to doing this is that you can refer to your former thinks whenever you want without having to rewrite them.

Edit (optional)

If you want to, please feel free to edit your thoughts.  Take some time to proofread them, spell check them, check them for grammar.  Make sure you don't say "like" too many times, or whatever speech pattern you have that doesn't translate well to the written word.  But remember, editing is optional.  Here's why.

Ok, so you’re thinking your thoughts are all disjointed, and that they need editing.  Maybe that's true, but don't let that be the reason you don't publish them.  Perfect polished thoughts can be left to the philosophers and linguists who look to distill ideas into their perfect essences.  Your idea doesn't have to be perfect or bulletproof to have value.  Heck, you thought it, right?  It was good enough for that email conversation you were going to have.  Why not have that conversation with more people?

Afraid you might be wrong?  Well, maybe better to find out than to be wrong forever.  Worst thing that happens if you're wrong is that you learned something.  Worried people won't think you're a genius?  Here's a hint.  They already don't.  Don't worry.  You're not a genius.  But you are valuable, and your opinion matters.  You can have great thoughts even if they're not entirely fully formed.

So get your voice heard.  Speak up.  And then tell me, because I want to hear what you have to say.

Takeaways:

You’re going to have opinions, so don’t be shy.  Share them.  Write them down.  Put them out there.  Share your knowledge and talent with the world.

Or at least with me.