FanMail – What’s your writing process

The other day, someone reached out to me on social media, using a tone as if I was an expert, to ask me about my writing process. How do I stay motivated to create content for people to read. What’s the secret sauce? Is it something they can do?

Initially, I had to pause and let that sink in. I’m being asked a question as if I was an expert. The very guy who did not think of himself as a writer a few months ago… who a few years ago barely managed to keep himself interested in blogging altogether.

First things first, you can do this. You can write. You can be a story teller. You can learn this. You can be a blogger. That said, second thing, just because you can do it doesn’t mean you’ll be famous at it. I’m clearly not famous at it and I’m giving it my best shot.

Third, here is the synapsis of my answer. Writing is not a mindset as much as it is a process. When I first started, it was all about getting into the right mindset. If that was off, I skipped writing. My early posts were weeks and months apart because I never got the right inspiration and the right mindset.

Today, mindset is important but process is far more significant. Trust me, I will expand on this. But first. Context

The early days

Writing was just a necessary evil of communication. You did it because your school teacher required you to or you had to communicate via email to someone. The only time I liked to write was when crafting a letter to impress a woman. That career was extremely short lived because my handwriting was horrible and I was not clever sounding. I had to rely on the old fashioned way of stepping up to a gal and saying hi. Awkward… lol. Joking.

Less Early of Days

I’ve had a few people approach me and tell me that I have an ability to write. This ranged from a few college professors, high school teachers, the very few who could read my love notes, and a few friends. They all said that I had to work at it and it would become something.

Back then, the nerd in me was not trying to hear this creative side thing. So, never cultivated it. Then, about five years ago, facing a few existential identity woes, I needed to channel my journal activities into something that felt productive. I wanted to continue learning about this digital age that was slipping quickly through my fingers.

I had the brilliant idea of starting a blog. If I was not getting the number of photo gigs of old, might as well write about the glory days. But how?

The blog was an excuse to give me focus. Something that would hold me accountable and start writing more seriously. Sure, it was fun when the mood hit me well. It was a lot of fun to know I crafted something and was ready to share. But… crickets though. That is just harsh. No one knows I write and no one is reading with anticipation my writing. That’s when I realized, you not only have to get good at writing, you have to also get good at telling people you write.

Um… an issue for my introversion. Further compounded by the lessons of my youth that says it’s not a good thing to self-advertise. You have to let others do that for you. Self-advertising is pure arrogance and that is not godly. Yeah… mixed with already being very private and introverted… crickets is all I heard.

Mindset Shift

Because I was not going to get much readership from just hitting publish, I had to think of writing as something totally different. I had to first see myself as a writer… which I don’t to this day by the way.

I see myself more as a storyteller. That makes sense to me. My photography has always been about telling a visual story. My speaking gigs has always been about sharing stories that move people. Most of my limited writing experience has been around telling a story.

With that change in view, blogging became a means of telling the story that was inside of me. Now, getting excited to write made sense. I was using one of several potential mediums to convey a story. This helped me on days when I felt no drive to write. I told myself that there was a story to tell, it was just finding the right place, time, quiet, zone, and mood to write. This became easier with time just because I was so excited about discovering how this new vehicle, a blog, fit into my storytelling.