Knowing the rules.  If you’ve ever taken a writing or language class in school then you know there is a long list of rules you must follow.  You can spend years and years studying the English language and professional writing and just scratch the surface of what you are supposed to know.  It’s no secret that writing can be a challenging and time consuming task. Some people dread the thought of writing, but I will assume that since you are here reading this post that you are at least somewhat passionate about writing.

Now I want to warn you before you assume that I am some expert on this subject. I have never gone to school for writing.  I only have a high school diploma and did not enjoy the art of writing while I was in school.  So I am far from an expert from all the rules of writing.  I sometimes find rules to be constricting and scared they will dampen my creativity.  I would consider myself a hobbyist in the writing world.‍

So you may be wondering at this point where did you shift from hating writing in school to now doing it for fun.  That’s a great question and it’s hard to pin point an exact reason or time when this shift happened.  I will tell you this, I have always had a hard time articulating what is in my mind.  It was frustrating me not being able to share my emotions.  That’s where I found music and writing lyrics.  I dove in and found a new way to express myself and share my emotions and what I was feeling.  This was an eye opening moment for me and I realized there was a whole other world out there that I could unlock a new creative freedom.‍

Now where does knowing the rules come into play. You said the rules felt constricting and dampened this new found creativity you found.  So why should I care to learn or even know what the rules to writing are? However, this was only a lie I had allowed myself to believe.  There is true freedom in following the rules.  If you view them as guide rails they can help you better formulate your thoughts.  My advice today is if you are stumped maybe you need more rules and guidelines for your writing. They can help provide structure and make what you are trying to say less confusing.  Maybe what you are trying to say could be said more concisely. Maybe you are saying something in a roundabout way that is making the reader more confused.

If you are just starting out in your writing journey here are a few things I’ve learned in my experience that could hopefully help you as well.

1 ) Be specific - don’t say things in a broad way.  Explain things in detail and paint a clear picture for the reader.‍

2 ) Show don’t tell - Your readers are smart.  Let them use their imaginations when they are reading your work.  Use descriptive words to describe the situation instead of just telling the reader what happened.‍

3 ) Don’t judge your first draft - We tend to judge our work based on someone else’s final published work.  I promise you that is not how they started out.  Give yourself grace and don’t judge yourself based on your beginning.  Watch yourself grow.

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