Blog Myth: I’m Not a Good Writer

30. Jun, 2010 View Comments

Annoyed Kid Each and every one of us has a story to tell and more than likely, whether we want to believe it or not, people want to read those different stories. Unfortunately, this belief is one of the main barriers that almost every beginning blogger goes through…however, fortunately, it’s also one of the easiest barriers to break through.

“Blogging” is Not Defined by Writing Skills
When I started out, I felt that I was a terrible writer. I wasn’t exactly considered a “Wordsmith” and my personal vocabulary isn’t one to be impressed with. I don’t throw out many eye-catching article titles nor do I use glitter-words to spice up my posts. If I had any number of English Majors reviewing my blogs, they’d more than likely petition to never see me write again.

Why this is a good thing is because regardless of how ‘immature’ my vocabulary may be, I consider myself an average Joe and I reach out to other average Joe’s (and Jane’s) and I’ve learned that I don’t need to pretty up the words in order to deliver the actual message. When it comes to blogging, you have to consider the joys of SEO and tie in some valuable search engine fodder, but more importantly, your words need to have even more value to the eyes of your readers.

Writing Ability and Beautification Does Not Tell the Story
The last thing I want to do is condescend the writing abilities of anybody based on the fact that it is the story, and not the grammar superiority that hits home. I’ve read hundreds of blogs in my own online career and there have been some very painful blogs out there to consume. However, although it may require some effort to comprehend a sentence, the underlying message that those bloggers are sharing is what matters; not necessarily if they used “their” or they’re”, correctly.

Many bloggers have ventured down different information delivery mediums such as video blogging or developing podcasts to get their message out. Sure, the most common medium is written posts but as long as you break beyond your own limitations and destroy those anxieties enough to realize that your story does matter, make it work for you in whatever way you’re comfortable with.

Everybody Starts Somewhere
If you read any of the A-listers, you may immediately envision a fear of not being able to ever be “that good”. Here’s a secret…even the A-listers had to start somewhere. More than likely, you’re in a very similar or better position than they were years ago. Compare this to one of today’s popular and famous athletes…do you really think they were born with their given skill? Do you believe that the pros didn’t have to spend hours and hours of practice, trial and error and failure before they made it big?

The same thing is true when it comes to blogging; sure, you probably passed your required <insert language here> courses, but that doesn’t make anybody a professional writer. As much as I would like to say that I could help everybody, it doesn’t mean that you will fire up a blog and become a professional blogger overnight. Blogging takes practice, keep at it and although you may not improve much on your actual writing skills, who cares? Learn to tell the story that you have inside of you, that’s what truly matters.

Takeaways:
They myth of believing that you cannot be successful at blogging is indeed a huge myth, but it’s just not worth placing that hurdle in front of you by your own hand.

Writing skill is not as important as sharing the message
Grammar is useful, but connecting is critical
Participate in varied mediums to get your story out
Nobody is perfect
The Pros weren’t born with a keyboard in hand

There are many other myths out there that have caused potentially successful bloggers to stop dead in their tracks. Either that, limiting beliefs in writing ability prevent those from breaking through into a satisfying blogging career.