Writing is many things to a lot of people.
Well, to me it was once something that I found really difficult to do and yet something that I had also yearned to do. If you found the time to read my very first article published on medium, you’ll believe me when I say that the art of expressing my thoughts with written words, like some people, was not something that came easily to me.
And that is one reason why I embarked on a challenge that required me to write for at least 182 days. Allow me to save your mind from the trouble of doing the math; 182 days simply equates to six months, or half a year.
I first got the idea of ‘writing and starting a publication of your own for six months’ after a well-known prolific writer suggested it in one of his articles as one of the best ways to improve your writing and editing skills.
Being the type of person who never backs down from a challenge, I decided to do it. I promised myself to write for a 182 days and also started a publication of my own (I’ll tell you why you should do this on another day).
I’m not going to lie to you and say it was all roses, it was really hard in the beginning and if you decide to do it, it will take a lot of time, effort and sacrifice on your part to see this through. There will be days when you won’t want to write at all.
But the benefits that stem from this task are worth it.
Apart from the obvious benefit of becoming a better writer, they are other benefits that you may not know of that I’d like to enlighten you about. You might get to experience different ones (if you do, come back and drop them in the comment section) but here are some of the ones I found during the last six months. (The type of writing I did was Articles, blogging and creative writing; I’ll assume other forms of writing have other benefits)
You will become a Creative machine
Having the challenge of coming up with a topic, and using approximately a thousand words, of what you are going to write about every day for six months will boost your creativity, to say the least.
Most times you will have to find a creative way to make your title appealing, so that it can draw the reader in. You’ll find yourself constantly exercising your creative muscle.
Not only will you be able to use this creative thinking to your writing, you will also be able to apply it in your business and personal life.
This happened to me. After writing for a few months I found myself thinking of and trying out new ideas on how to promote my business and my personal brand in quite a number of ways. And I can confidently give credit to all that to the task of writing every day.
You learn to enjoy writing more
I loved the idea of writing before, but I never really enjoyed it when it came down to doing it. That is why it would take me a couple of weeks to a month to finish a 1000 worded article, and one that was not well written at that.
But after I forced myself to write one in a single day and then another the next day and then another after that, after a month or so, I soon found myself not only loving the idea of writing more but I Immensely enjoyed it.
So much so that I would get irritated if I had not written anything by nightfall and that would make me force myself to write before going to bed.
You will begin to read… a lot
Nothing gets you in the habit of reading than writing.
The last time I really enjoyed reading a lot, for my own benefit, was when I was in high school. After that I lost that habit due to life’s many distractions. I rarely read any article and on average I would only read about 5 books a year and that was if it was a good year.
But after I got into the habit of writing, reading came naturally. I can’t count the number of articles I read in a single day and over the past 6 months I have read 10 books. I’m hungry for more.
The reason why I started reading was to learn how to write. Every so often I’d catch myself picking up phrases and proper use of words from the professionals and it helped a great deal.
You will connect with a lot of writers
There are a ton of people learning how to write and there’s a ton of professional writers who have a lot of tips to share.
You would never know that fact unless you started writing.
When you start writing, you will start reaching out to other writers. You will be drawn to their writing styles as you create yours. And they are human, if they can, they will connect with you and share some tips.
I have connected with a lot of writers more in the past 6 months than I ever did in my entire lifetime before that.
You pick up other skills and develop habits that complement your writing
In order to hone your craft and promote it, you will pick up other complementary skills.
For example, you will learn how to promote your articles in order to gain more exposure. You will learn how to network. You will pick up knowledge on grammar, spelling and punctuation. And because you will be competing with ‘the best’ you will learn how to edit your work until it becomes something you’d enjoy reading yourself.
Your communication skills will improve as well.
Writing is one thing, but at some point you will want other people to read your work and give you feed back. This is when some of the skills I have mentioned above will come in handy.
Your work will open up new doors
Think of this one as a bonus.
When you write, publish and promote your work, your job is done. But the opportunities that will come from you putting your work out there, has only just begun.
You never know who is reading what you write.
I know a lot of writers who have been given wonderful opportunities that range from full time jobs to being given the chance to have their first books published just because they consistently wrote and published for a long period of time.
Just focus on Putting in your best and you will definitely reap the rewards in one way or another.
Final thoughts…
You can do this at your own pace. You can even adjust the time frame if you want. The goal of taking on this challenge is to get you writing consistently and to show you just how wonderful it is.
So why not try it.
Writing every day does not mean you have to publish every day. Start slow by setting for yourself a personal word count every day that you have to meet and gradually increase it over time. If you are comfortable with what you have written, publish it.
Writing every day for 182 days will instill in you a habit that you will be thankful for, for a very long time, possibly even your lifetime.
Just make up your mind and start writing today, the rest will sort itself out.
What writing habit do you have and use which has made you a better writer? Leave a comment and share your thoughts in the section below.