If you are a new writer, you need to be practicing in public. There is no other way to help you get better as a writer than writing and publishing. The more you practice in public, the better you will get. And there are some great benefits to it too.
What do I mean by practice in public?
Well, it is exactly what it sounds like. You go out every day and practice your craft in public. That’s what social media posts and blog posts are all about. Each one is a way to practice your craft in public.
Like a comedian goes to a smaller club or dive to practice new material, we need to go where the people are, share our writing, and see what happens. But, before I share the three benefits, let me share a critical piece of advice.
Pick a platform and stick it out for 100 posts.
So many new writers get started, and they sign up for five different platforms. They start publishing content on each platform, and nothing seems to stick. Then, they get frustrated and give up.
My advice to you: pick one platform and stick with it for at least 100 posts.
Doing this will simplify your life, give you a better idea of what people are reading on that platform, and give you a lot of content to reuse in the future. Most of all, it gives you something steady when you are starting.
Every writing platform has specific things to them. What works on one may not work on another. However, you can use one, practice for a while, and then later adapt what you have written to a different platform.
I have done this with the multiple platforms I write on, which has served me well.
The Benefits of Practicing in Public
You can hold it up in your home and write to your heart’s content. However, that will not help you grow as a writer in the way that will help you move toward self-publishing your books or creating courses online.
This kind of mentality will be slow and lead to a lot of pain when you start writing and realize you might not be as good as you thought. I know because I have been there.
There are benefits to practicing in public as a writer, and I want to share them with you.
№1 — Instant Feedback
There is no better way to get feedback than putting your work out for people to see. At first, you will get some rude comments. But there will be people who are encouraging too.
Then, as you get better, people will give you constructive feedback that will help you take leaps and bounds down your writing journey. It will be one of the most helpful parts of your trip.
After a time, you will experience a phase where you will get to help others who are starting their journey. These are the most rewarding times. You will also begin to make strong connections with other writers too.
This is the beauty of practicing in public.
№2 — Promoting Your Work
Instead of being a used car salesman on Twitter, where you promote your work in every sleazy way possible, you will have the chance to share your work quickly through consistent publishing.
This is why you start an email list, even in the beginning. You can collect emails and promote your work through that list. Over time, it will grow, and you will be able to share with them a book, course, or other resources you create later on.
This kind of promotion is helpful, natural, and very organic. It also gives you more confidence when sharing your content because you already have social proof that people are interested.
This is helpful for the future.
№3 — Fail with Purpose
Sometimes articles and posts fail. Like, no views. And that is okay. It’s better to get those out early on when no one is watching than when you have thousands of followers and subscribers.
The key is to remember that you fail with a purpose. You learned something that flat doesn’t work. So, you can stay away from it later. Or find out what does work about that topic. It gives you a valuable lesson for the future.
Most of all, failing while practicing in public is helpful for your confidence. Instead of writing a book for a year without anyone seeing it, and then it flops (humiliating), you have a chance to test drive things in your practice.
Practicing in public makes failing useful.
Final Thoughts on Practicing in Public
Practicing in public gives you an upper hand.
It helps you get feedback, promotes your work, and allows you to fail safely. Most of all, you can learn valuable lessons along the way to succeed later on.
The more you practice, the better you get. It is valuable to have a daily writing habit and, therefore, a regular publishing schedule. As you grow as a writer, you will see considerable gains in your success.
And I want that for you.
How do you practice in public? Do you write and publish daily? Where do you write? Share in the responses below!
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J.R. Heimbigner is a #1 Bestselling Author on Amazon who loves helping people grow in their faith, find productivity success, learn about investing, and help writers become authors. You can connect with him on Medium, his website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Ko-fi!
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