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My Writing Journey – Mistakes are Good (10/27/2016)

klwalker2 My Writing Journey, The Walker Estate , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Have you ever made a mistake?

If you answered yes, then good.  You’re a human.

If you answered no, then you’re either conceited, a liar, or some kind of machine.

Mistakes are good.  Yes, you heard me.  I did just say that.

But why?  Think about it.  When you’re working towards a finished product, mistakes are necessary to get to the next step.  If you are fixated on having a finished product on your first draft, you will not make any progress.  Make a mistake and move on.  Get something out there.  It’s better to have a mistake then to have no product at all.

If you look at the most successful people in history, a lot of them made numerous failures.  They failed a lot before they become very successful.  Success is built on many failures, so you will be making a few mistakes before you get there.

I can vouch for my own mistakes.  On a lot of my entries, I can’t tell you how many times that I found a mistake that I had to correct after I posted it.  The important thing is that it got posted.  The mistakes can be corrected later.  Preferably as soon as possible when you detect them.  So I make mistakes and I revise them later.  Are my mistakes intentional?  Absolutely not!  For most people, no one really intends to make a mistake.  It just happens.  And when you do in writing, you go back and correct them.

So the next time someone asks you about a mistake, tell them that mistakes are good.  Although they’re not really that desirable, they’re an opportunity to improve.  Many successful people have made mistakes, and now it’s your turn.  Make that mistake if you can.  And if it doesn’t happen, good job!  But if it does (and it usually does), don’t be too hard on yourself.  Mistakes are building blocks to success and each one of them will help you get there.

See you next week!

Your friend in writing,

Kyle

My Writing Journey – What do you Offer? (9/22/2016)

klwalker2 Me & My Muse, My Writing Journey , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

What do you offer?  This will be the primary thing that you will be focusing on when you’re writing your blog.

When you go to a store, you usually know what that store offers before you go there.  A sporting good store will provide products that you need for outdoor activities.  A clothing store obviously provides clothing and a grocery store provides food and domestic products that you need for your home.

But what does your blog provide?  If I were to visit your blog, what “products” would I find there?

From the inventory that I began a week ago, I was able to boil this down a little bit myself.  My blog provides writing exercises for defeating writer’s block and a creative journal for those who are here for the entertainment (if you are that audience, Me & My Muse is right next door!)

I am also working on a third product.  This one.  The goal of My Writing Journey is to provide an informative and insightful learning experience for everyone who aspires to write, or make a blog about writing.  It’s for all audiences and experience levels.  While Me & My Muse is a lot of fun to write for me, I feel like this product provides more appeal to a wider audience.  How many people want to read about an imaginary character that I dialogue with?  Am I detecting some nods?  That is the very thing that My Writing Journey is here to address.  This product is just for you, with you in mind.  Don’t understand something?  Don’t worry.  I might be at the same point that you are.  We can learn this together, but I’m always determined to find an answer.  If I am an expert on a particular subject, I will take special care to make sure that everyone is on the same page before proceeding on.

So those are the products that I have.  This is what you start with.  What have you currently created? What products do you offer and can they be monetized?  What do you want to create in the future?

I would focus on what you already have before creating brand new products.  Establish these products first and get very proficient at producing them.  Then work on the new products.

What do you have to offer?  Remember.  The home page is the first thing that the reader is going to see, so you better have a “product” list up front.  10 seconds is all you get and then they’re on another page.  Consider what you already have, the products that you offer, whether you can monetize them, and if you want to create some new products down the road.

It is also important to note your competition, which is what I will address next time.  Who is your competition? What can be learned from them?

See you next week!

Your friend in writing,

Kyle