My Resolution: To Write More

There's a commonly held belief that you can only be good at maths and sciences or the arts and the humanities. If linear algebra is your jam, then say bye to decently worded emails. Yet, these are simply stereotypes that ignore many of history's greatest artists and scientists. Artists like Leonardo Da Vinci were also ingenious scientists. Robert Morse, the inventor of single wire telegraphs and the Morse Code, was a well-known painter in his time.

Being more right-brained, or suited towards the arts, doesn't mean that you're destined to suck at math. Being left or right-brained means that you can, and should, get better at the other side.

While I may be ok with left-brained subjects, like math and science, I suffered at more creative subjects, like English and Art.

My grades for English were comically bad. At one point, my English grade dropped to a C+. Luckily, with some outside help and a pandemic, I pulled it up to an A.

Dropping my English grade to a C was something I never wanted to see again. When I reflected on the previous school year, I realized that I had terrible writing skills. My writing has plenty of typos and grammatical errors. If I wanted to get better at writing, I'd have to practice by writing more.

While stuck in quarantine, I had nothing to do. You couldn't go out with your friends, you couldn't get ice cream, and you haven't found any good Netflix shows. With nothing to do, I spent a lot of time on Youtube. I ended up stumbling on a video about Medium, a blogging platform similar to Vocal. I had a place to put my writing (and maybe earn some cash for it).

I started writing in June, but I started ramping up in November and December. I slowly started an improvement in my writing. I noticed that my writing clearly and concisely communicated my point. My newfound skills transferred over into writing lab reports, sending emails, and improving my English essay.

In 2021, I wanted to continue with my writing journey. While I wrote a lot at the end of the year, I wanted to write more consistently. This is why my goal this year is to publish twice a week, adding up to 100 articles a year.

It's important not only to write a lot but to write consistently. This way, writing becomes a habit, not just something you do sporadically.

I'm excited to continue writing and improving my skills. I want to write more, to learn more, to write about unknown subjects. I also want to explore new platforms for my writing. Besides writing on Medium, I want to write on different blogging platforms and maybe start a blog. I want to write in large publications, such as Inc. or Business Insider.

But most importantly, I want to do something new. At the start of the pandemic, I didn't know how to express myself through writing. I learned something. I improved something. I did something that I didn't think I could do.

Yet, now midway through the pandemic, I learned a new skill. I empowered myself. As an Asian, the entertainment industry, the news industry, and the publishing industry often ignore my voice. My parents told me that 'you will never find a job in media' because I was Asian.

By having others read my writing, respond to my words and hear my voice, I was able to undercut the notion that Asians don't belong in media.

All of this started from a Youtube rabbit hole.