A young man had dreams of visiting a legendary city.

His head was full of tales about this wonderful place. The streets are a wonder to behold. The gardens were stunning, and sweet wine flowed in the fountains.

Between this man and the City was a massive forest.

He stood at the edge of the forest and paced back and forth.

He had a map, memorised the directions, confirmed that he had everything he needed for the journey and just waited.

He waited for the perfect moment to start the trip.

He just wasn’t quite ready right now.

So he waited and kept preparing.

One day, an old wanderer passing by noticed the man just standing there.

“Why do you stand here, day after day?” The old wanderer asked

“I want to go to the City, but the path is long, dark, and I’m scared I’ll get lost or come to some uncertain fate.” The young man replied.

The old man stared at him for a while and hummed gently.

“Then take the first step.” The old man advised, smiling. 

He took the first step.

Then another.

And another.

By the time his enthusiasm wears off, he’s well inside the forest.

But it was not the scary place he had imagined.

The trees formed a large canopy.

The fallen leaves made each step soft and bouncy.

Light rays escaping between the leaves provided such a beautiful sight.

The bird songs made the journey a fun experience.

When he got to the city.

It was all they said it would be.

But all he wanted was to return to the serene forest, once more.

This time, taking the first step will not be as difficult.

That is the power of the first step.

If you did it once, you will not struggle so much to do it again.

You might hesitate a little, but it won’t be the first time.

The difference between a newbie and someone who’s adept at doing a thing is often in the starting.

So, to anyone trying to begin, the first and most important thing is to begin.

A question I learned to ask myself when I’m scared to try something is: What’s the worst that can happen?

I may succeed or fail.

I often wonder why we fear failure so much.

The more you fail at a thing, the better you get at not failing.

Each failure brings you closer to succeeding.

So stop waiting for the right time.

Do it anyway.

What if you succeed?

If you follow the simple steps I recommend in this piece, you will succeed.

 

Step One: Ideate

Ideas rule the minds of people.

People often follow whoever has a superior ideology.

Politics, culture, religions are built around ideas.

To become a successful writer from day one, you must never run out of ideas.

There has to be someplace you find the most inspiration.

For me, it’s in the shower. I have a thing with water, and whenever I am drenched, my mind runs amok with ideas.

For some people, it’s the toilet or a garden.

Some people need to climb a mountain or a tree to have the rush.

Others have to meditate. I do that too, and it helps a lot.

When the ideas come, write them down.

Have a way to document your random ideas.

If they flow away like the waters of a river, you may never get them back again.

Sometimes, it’s just a dope quote. 

Dont let it escape.
Capture it.

 

 

Step Two: Sew

Ideas are like pieces of fabric.

You must learn how to join them to make a good piece of writing.
Every piece of writing has three basic parts: the introduction, the body and the conclusion.

Remember these three parts, they are very important.
Your introduction is how you begin your story. It has to be interesting and capture the reader’s attention.

In modern content creation, it’s called the ‘hook.’

The part you are reading now is the body. It has the bulk of the main details your writing is about.

If your work is about African Masks, then this is where you dump all the main information.

Your conclusion is where you do three main things: summarise your message, discuss next steps, that is to say, ‘now that you know this, do that’. Finally, it provides an opportunity to link with the next piece of writing.

Realise that you would like to have your readers read more of your writing.
Linking your work and making recommendations could never be overemphasised.
This will be much easier if your writing is in the same niche.

 

Step Three: Review

You have a draft, but is it perfect?
No.
So if you proofread it, will it be perfect?
No.
Your writing will never be perfect.
Review it and publish it immediately.
Don’t talk yourself out of any opportunity to publish your work.

The trick is this: you will always have the opportunity to review your work.
This can happen weeks or months after it is published.
The beauty of publishing in these times is that digital platforms allow you to edit your writing long after it was published.

The more you write, the better you get at it.

 

Step Four: Tech

There’s no better time to become a writer than now.

You have computers. Software that corrects and improves your writing.

Writers no longer have to write a piece. Then mail it to another human who would review and make notes. Then mail it back.
Stories could never get out as quickly as they do now.
But does tech perform better than people?
Not at all.
Humans write better than any computer because the so-called ‘intelligence’ of computers is designed to imitate humans.
The only advantage it may seem to have is the power to aggregate the opinions of many people to form one solid opinion.
However, we know that two heads are not always better than one.
Some flawed ideas fed into AI systems can lead them to produce false information.
It’s garbage in, garbage out afterall.
The goal should be to learn how to make your writing better.

 

After all is said and Done. Where do you start?

 

The biggest irony I see in new writers is their preoccupation with monetisation, niches, and similar subjects.
Your first goal is to learn how to write.
Having money as a motivation is a good thing if it can keep you writing.
But just to let the money matter rest, know this.
You will not make serious money in your first year of writing. If you need fast cash, writing may not be the place to start.
What about finding the right niche?
Dont you worry about that either.
When you have grown the capacity to write through thick and thin, you will be able to write about anything, ranging from ad copies for Fortune 500 companies to children’s books and even financial reports for government agencies.
If you worry so much about finding your Niche, I have something that might help.
Remember the young man in our story at the beginning. After he arrived in the city, all he wanted wasto return to the forest.
When your audience discovers, then you can finally niche down.
Read my article embedded below to learn how to find your audience.

 

Do you ever read what you write? How do you like it?

Medium Link: Do you ever read what you write? How do you like it?

Substack Link: Do you ever read what you write? How do you like it?

 

If what you need is a challenge.
A kicker.

Maybe you used to write but feel the need to start again.
Build consistency.
Something that will help you to remember why you started writing in the first place.
Something that will get you wanting to write every day. Then you should check out this other piece.

 

I wrote 42,000 words in 14 days. Here’s what actually happened to my life, sanity and writing.

Medium Link | I wrote 42,000 words in 14 days. Here’s what actually happened to my life, sanity and writing.

Substack Link | I wrote 42,000 words in 14 days. Here’s what actually happened to my life, sanity and writing.

 

I wish I could find a good excuse for why you shouldn’t write something today.
Trust me. It’s not going to be perfect.
But it will set the pace for many great writings to come.
If you feel anxiety for the first piece, here’s a little motivation for you.
The first thing you write will suck. But it’s all good.

Your first story will suck, and that’s exactly why you should write it immediately.

Medium Link | Your first story will suck, and that’s exactly why you should write it immediately.

Substack Link | Your first story will suck, and that’s exactly why you should write it immediately.

So all that is left to do now is to impart the writer’s blessing to you and send you on your merry writing journey.
If you are ready, take a deep breath.

“May your ink flow ceaselessly,
Your paper never runs out, 

And your words flow like the Nile
Bringing life to the entire world.”

 

Lest I forget, the blessings only work if you write something today.
Go on your merry way and take the first step.
Go become the great writer the world needs you to be.