Writing for Practice

Profit comes later…

Photo by Darius Bashar on Unsplash

I wonder what the breakdown is for the reasons why people write.

For getting thoughts out there? News that other people need to know? Some write for work, persuasive copy, or content. How-to articles are very helpful. Many people are of the helpful sort, and they genuinely want to help others. I think we’re all very grateful for those people.

Some people have been through the trauma of abuse. Getting it out on paper helps both the writer and the reader who may have gone through similar situations. It helps the writer to make sense of what happened and to eventually maybe realize that it’s not them. It’s not their fault that they were mistreated. It also helps the reader realize that what happened to them was not their fault.

I remember diaries. Then journals. Which are diaries? Sort of?

I never wrote down my thoughts. You always heard about parents reading through their kid’s diaries, an absolute invasion of privacy. My dad went through my dresser drawers once, a massive fight ensued.

Yeah, writing down thoughts on paper, that could one day be used against you, wasn’t happening.

I have to imagine that those that wrote in diaries probably have a cohesive thought pattern. I wonder if it helped with their attention span? It probably did. Now I’m really wishing that I had written more often. In a very well hidden diary/journal.

Medium might not be a profitable place for writers like me, who don’t write very often. Plus, I tend to write more about the unimportant. Trying to keep it light.

But it is good practice. It’s a good spot to use as a portfolio too, if you’re looking for work, link it to your resume, your LinkedIn and Twitter accounts. Add it to the portfolio website. Save everything you’ve written in docs or something.

Having been an avid reader since before kindergarten, I’m just glad my spelling and grammar aren’t something I feel like I have to worry about. I write better than I speak, until I get too relaxed writing, then it drops into a speech-like level. Then I edit the crap out of it, and it’s all good.

Thank you Medium, for being here, even if I’m only making cents per month. You’re helping me get my scrambled thoughts into a cohesive order.