“The Email” that got me kickstarted with Content Writing
I was never a writer. But I wanted to write.
Just because I knew I could not, and that was not acceptable to me. Not when I just took up a Marketing Head role for a SaaS Startup.
I had ideas. I wanted to write the first blog for the product and wanted it to be a big success. Something I could write home about.
It was not going to be easy. It was not.
I sat for hours. Reading blogs, articles. Looking for inspiration.
I would write a few lines. Not like what I wrote. Delete it.
Can't remember how many times I did that. Countless!
I was losing hope.
And then, out of nowhere, I get this email from Sanjay Shenoy at Pixel Track. Like he was snooping on me and then felt pity at what I was going through.
The email did it for me.
Yes. Seriously!
Today when we just posted our 100th blog for Quixy, I thought t was only appropriate that I share the email that did it for me.
So here you go.
Hi Vivek,
Have you been there?
Sometimes you feel like writing.
Words rush like a fresh stream of water.
But, then you wonder…
What’s the right order to write them.
That’s it.
The flow stops.
Words dry up.
And the blank page stares at you.
The moment is gone.
Prashanth is having the same trouble.
He gets plenty of ideas and words but wonders what’s the right order to write.
And that is stopping him proceeding further.
It’s a common mistake many of us do.
We tend to overthink when it comes to the simplest tasks, and we make them big enough to stop us from proceeding further.
What should be the title of the post?
What’s the right word to use?
What image should I use?
How to open the post?
How to conclude the post?
What should be the H1 and H2 tags?
We tend to think about all of them even before we put the first word on the document.
And in search for answers to those questions, we miss our train of thoughts.
We miss the opportunity to write a good post.
The solution is simple.
Don’t worry about the order or anything else.
When the words flow, just write them down.
Whether it’s the introduction or the middle or the conclusion, don’t bother about it.
Write it down.
Because you aren’t writing in stone.
Writing is not like constructing a building.
It isn’t something you can’t fix once you have finished.
The first draft is always rough.
That’s how it is supposed to be.
And that’s how it is even for the best writers.
It’s like the unearthed diamond.
The magic happens in the editing.
That’s where you polish what you’ve written.
That’s when you should wonder about the right order and rearrange your sentences or the information flow.
Not in the beginning.
In the beginning, focus only on the creation.
On the other hand, If the words aren’t flowing and you want to write, then start with an outline.
Create an outline of what you want to write.
It’s the crudest representation of your thoughts.
You can start with the leanest outline and then add items to it.
Then start writing about each of the items listed in the outline.
You can rearrange the order anytime when it makes sense.
You can edit them as many times as you wish.
Like I mentioned earlier, none of it matters in the beginning.
All it matters is starting.
Starting to write.
Forget everything else.
When you want to write, just start.
Everything else will follow.
Cheers,
Sanjay Shenoy
There has been no looking back since then 🙏
