For the last 3+ years, I’ve written something every day and it’s changed my life. I’ve used writing as a way to express my opinions, document my memories from university, reflect on experiences I’ve had and clarify my thinking on a specific topic. Each evening, I sit down and write down a brief summary of what happened that day in my journal (digitally). If something particularly interesting happens that day and my thoughts seem to be circling around in my head, I’ll write a seperate entry which is often well over 1,000 words long. Over time, I’ve noticed some amazing changes from this daily writing habit, including the following:
- I’ve become better at writing – Even though I haven’t been actively trying to improve my vocabulary or use more complex sentence structures, I’ve noticed that writing regularly has made my writing better. This means that even writing emails comes more naturally to me and I can more convincingly get my point across.
- I’m less intimidated by a blank page – this has been huge for me! Previously, when I had to write a long essay, blog post or email, I would spend a long time staring at the blank document and planning out each paragraph before writing anything down. Now, I’m much more likely to dive straight in and also produce better work!
- It’s much easier to come up with new ideas – Ideas are everywhere, but we rarely pay much attention to them. Through writing things down, I’ve become a lot more observant to the world around me and have come to appreciate/document new ideas as they arise. This can be through conversations I have with people, things I see on my daily commute, when consuming content such as TV shows, movies or books and so much more.
- It helps you to meet new friends – through writing about the things that interest me, I have made many new connections and met some incredible new friends!
If you’re looking to write more, my top piece of advice would be to write often and in small chunks. Spending many hours on the weekend writing isn’t nearly as valuable as spending 10-20 minutes each day of the week. This is especially true if you’re just getting started with writing! As mentioned in a previous newsletter, discipline is much more important than motivation. I’m rarely motivated to write, but I’ve developed a habit and stuck to it!
ALLIE DUNIN 