All Things Are Difficult Before They Are Easy

All things are difficult before they are easy - Thomas Fuller.

It’s not that easy as it may sound. Good things never come easy in life. From being a toddler who is trying to master his first step in walking to a man who’s striving for his first professional job, good things never come easy in life. Medium is designed in such a way that every user, be it an individual kickstarting his writing career or a professional who created his account to share his knowledge with other writers, is treated like a beginner when they start using the platform.

It is natural for an individual to get anxious before starting a new venture be it a business, a corporate job, or let’s say your Medium blog. I was terrified when I thought of writing in front of a laptop or my phone (which I rarely do). All of us have been in a place where we were filled with unending thoughts about a specific topic but then found ourselves stumbling upon the unavoidable ‘writer’s block’.

Yet, you join the Partner Program and somehow muster the courage and mindset to publish your first article. You put your fresh thoughts into words and after 20 hours of contemplation and 2 hours of writing, you hit Publish. You're excited about the next article and you go on writing continuously. You've already exhausted your daily internet data researching Tim Denning ’s articles and watching Zulie Rane ’s youtube videos. The daily stats still show 8 reads as opposed to the above-mentioned authors’ 80000 reads.

This is the first sign of denial for a beginner in Medium. You had high hopes when you started your writing platform but are met with a ‘roadblock’. Every obstruction you incur during your writing career will always prompt you to assess your many options and rethink the whole situation. The secret to success lies in whether we'll take our chances in going forward or shut ourselves down to the occasional setbacks that every single person in the world encounters on their path to success.

Rome wasn't built in a day

For erecting a building entirely from scratch, you need to have the right resources for it to reach certain heights. The building to reach new heights requires time and hard work or simply, Patience and Perseverance. You’re constantly on a learning curve and the important thing is to have that desire to learn new things even when you feel you have learned so much.

As long as you put in the work, there will always be results, regardless of the time you spend in it. So, the more you spend time on it as a beginner, the better, because we're learning new things by writing, and knowledge gained through writing is almost evergreen knowledge. The only thing that matters is to be fixated on the things you want to write.

To emerge victorious in the long race of writers, you have to be consistent, and being consistent comes at a cost — not just in writing, but in every aspect of life.

Life is full of everyday hurdles backed by some happiness and celebrations. To enjoy life to the fullest, you have to commit yourself to it every single day. The same applies to anyone starting their career in Medium too. You need to commit yourself to creating fresh quality content and regularly. In doing so, you can create a routine where you can publish newer articles consistently and also entertain other aspects of your life. At no point should publishing new articles stress you or bother you mentally. You should get used to enjoying the whole process of learning and writing about a new topic and that way, positive results will flourish.

Every successful writer develops their strategies or routines which will help them ensure the creation of fresh content smoothly and with minimal effort. As a newbie around here, I’ve done my fair share of research in ‘How to stay consistent with your Writing’, and here are some (flexible) tips I’d like to share with you:

• 52 weeks a year — 52 articles
• Record your Notes and Thoughts
• Writing should always be your second life
• More of you and Less about others
• Be a polymath before you are a writer

52 weeks a year — 52 articles

That's the least number of articles I’m asking you to publish in a calendar year. Setting your goals should never make you feel uncomfortable. It's better to set a goal of ‘an article a week’ instead of ‘5 articles on weekdays and 4 articles on weekends’. When you are finished with your goal every week, it will boost your morale as a writer and give you a sense of pride in doing something half of the whole of the population in the world could not do.

So the takeaway is to Publish at least one article a week for the whole year.

Record your Notes and Thoughts

Keep a notepad or any note-taking device that can help you to record any instant thoughts or some particular point that could serve as a basis for developing an article. It is important to develop a habit of taking notes on the go because the world around us has so much to offer and we should be ready to record anything and everything at any time possible. Once, I woke up from my sleep only to write about a dream where I proposed to my high school crush which sounds scary when I think about it now.

Writing should always be your second life

Yes, writing consistently and publishing new articles should be your primary goal as a writer, but it should always come secondary to the life around you. Too much writing can consume your everyday happiness and shift your life from your loved ones. Always maintain a healthy relationship with the people who care for you and reciprocate likewise. Then, you can write about the happy stories and the sad ones too. In that way, you are living life and writing about your experiences at the same time, which is always a plus point.

More of you and Less about others

It is totally fine to study how other people of your same profession would tackle their struggles and reach newer heights in their careers. As a matter of fact, it should only make you more driven than you were in achieving your goals. At no point in your career should you compare your life with other peoples’ success stories and be a reason to blame you for who you are. The stats won’t always remain inert and hard work will never go unaccounted for.

You should be the number one believer in yourself; the success part comes later.

Be a polymath before you are a writer

Literally, be a polymath before you start to write your next article. The only advice I'm trying to convey is to make sure you have studied the topic you are about to write about. This will enable you to your message effectively and with diverse perspectives. Also, double-checking your facts is a significant trait every writer should possess.

These are some of my suggestions and methods I would like you to have in your writing routine. You only have to keep writing about new things and enjoy the whole process of creating new pieces irrespective of how your article performs in the stats. This will help you hone your writing skills orderly and transpire you into the writer you've always dreamt of.

This is my point of view and the strategy I’ve come with to help me achieve the goals I've set. Feel free to share your perspectives and strategies in the comment box.