Perhaps you’ve always entertained the idea that you’d like to try your hand at writing, but you’ve never followed through on it because of self-doubt. You think: Me? A writer? Well, I’m probably not good enough to do that. The thing to remember is that most, if not all, writers experience similar doubts at some point along their journeys. In fact, most writers are their own worst critics. There are several good reasons to act on your desire to write.
Writing can be an excellent emotional outlet
As you begin to puts your thoughts down in writing, you might find the process to be therapeutic in many ways. You can try numerous styles of writing, such as poetry, fiction, non-fiction, etc., and each style might be an emotional outlet for you. When you’re walking around with tons of ideas swirling around in your head, it’s a relief to “set them free” and put them down on paper. Of course, in the modern world, “down on paper” usually means “typing on a computer.”
If you write fiction stories, you have free rein to work out all sorts of feelings, emotions, thoughts and opinions through your characters. If you’re writing an autobiographical memoir, you have an opportunity to add personal thoughts as the author, which is a healthy way to express your thoughts or process certain events that have occurred in your life.
Your writing can be helpful and bring joy to others
There are probably a lot more people out there than you realize who would be interested in reading things you’ve written. Whether you’re imparting knowledge or recommendations about a topic in which you’re well-versed or sharing creative stories intended for reading pleasure, the things you write can be useful to others and/or entertain them.
You might also share a different type of writing than book writing. Perhaps you’d like to become a letter-writer, sending hand-written letters to family members or friends or people in the military or nursing homes. There are a lot of lonely people in the world who might love to read your letters!
You can earn a living as a writer
Another good reason to write something is that writing can be a viable source of income. There are numerous ways to earn a living as a writer, such as doing freelance work or becoming a copywriter, technical writer or playwright. Who knows? You might be the next best-selling author! You’ll never know, unless you try!
One of the benefits of working as a writer is that you can often do such work from home. This enables you to hold numerous writing jobs simultaneously. You can, for instance, work as a copywriter by day, then spend time developing your fiction novel by night. Both types of writing can generate income. You may or may not have deadlines to meet, depending on what type of professional writing you do.
Give writing a try
If you often have a desire to write something but have been shy about getting started, just give it a try. You don’t even have to show anyone what you’ve written if you don’t want to. As time passes and you feel like developing your writing skills further, you can seek a developmental edit of your story or take a class online to refine your skills and boost your creativity.
Writing is good for the brain, and it can be good for your pocketbook as well. Don’t let self-doubt or hesitation get in the way. If you want to be a writer, set some weekly goals, and get started. Once you take the first step, you’ll begin to feel more comfortable. And maybe some day, you’ll decide to send your writing to a publisher!
