Why I Ventured into Writing

So, I have been toying with the idea of venturing into writing for so long-as early as the year 2000 while I was almost completing my primary school. I remember telling this girl who was my desk mate that one day I will write a novel and I will look for her to gift her a copy. I used her as my accountability partner but too bad, my first novel is yet to see the light of the day. But I must pen it before kicking them buckets, so help me God!

Fast-forward to 2011 and I complete my undergraduate and land a job in January 2012. Being away from home I find myself with tons of free time and the writing idea comes back to me. I start this free wordpress site in 2014.

However, I didn’t get serious with writing, partly due to lack of commitment and motivation and partly due to tight schedules and some events in my life like changing jobs.

The influence of my friend

My friend, Bernard, had got into freelance writing before me, around 2016 and that was after leaving his previous job. I would often call him and ask him what he was doing with his life since he had left his 8 to 5.He would tell me he does online marketing and writing and I would wonder what that was all about.

I got curious and arranged to meet him to find more about what he was doing.Oh Boy! Didn’t I like what he was doing? I asked him to show me how to do it too, and off I started my freelance writing journey in May 2017.Bernard would offer me my first writing gig and hold my hand until I could write reasonably well and I must say I am ever thankful for that.

But why have I kept writing and have even gone ahead to put up a writer’s website- Incisive Writers?

Here are some of the reason I got into writing:

I like and enjoy writing

I have a great liking for the various forms of writing be it poetry, stories, articles and many others. Writing allows me to express myself, and I put this to test when I was courting my wife. I used to pen for her  poems that would make her smitten with this chap who was almost as poor as a church mouse but had big dreams, great vision and a heart overflowing with love.

I also like writing since it helps me to impact others positively by giving them useful information and even entertain them. I have been doing some random posts on my Facebook page and my online friends have always expressed being touched by them. Some even ask me if I have ever considered writing for a career. Of course, not all mean what they say but I believe a few of them, and that’s what matter that they see something in me. I also feel and believe in that thing in me and it is time I unleashed it.

Writing is therapeutic to me

What do you do when you are stressed or worked up or feeling like your world is crumbling? Well, I know some of us take to drinking, others to talking with a friend or anyone who cares to listen, and others take a walk or do any other thing. I find solace in writing. Writing anything. Back in my early years I used to have small books which I considered by secret and silent companions.

I used to put down my thoughts in them while growing up, since I could find no one to confide in. I would write about my feelings towards some random girls, my struggle with getting through school, my fears, and my dreams and aspirations. I would feel relieved after writing in those diaries. Nowadays, I post my random thoughts on Facebook or write them on my phone’s notebook and delete them later. For my posts on Facebook, I am glad to look back on them and realize how things change and to hear from others facing similar things. But just a caveat: whatever I write on those social platforms is not necessarily what I may be going through!

To make money doing what I enjoy

“If you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.” -Anonymous

Well, do not take that quote literary.

But imagine waking up to paint if that’s what you love. Or to write if that’s your thing. Isn’t it exciting? It’s like you are not working but you are earning.  Pretty awesome, huh?

One thing though-you will still need to put in the work, but it will be in something you enjoy doing.

Writing is no simple task, especially writing for clients. I can tell you it is so hurting to have some work rejected for not meeting client’s expectations. You may contemplate calling it quits with writing!

I have been writing on various topics now for slightly over two years, and it has been so interesting and enjoyable. At times, I have had to write on not-so-interesting topics but I have pulled myself to do it, because I tell myself that I got to do what I have to do, and I need to tackle even those topics to learn a few things. But with time I am planning on settling on a niche so I just write on what I feel I am well-endowed in and enjoy writing on. That is one of the reasons I work with a pool of talented writers so they can come in for such areas and I tackle what I am good at.

Writing is a growing industry and it can only get better but only for those who will  put in the efforts to hone their writing skills and invest in writing courses, top-notch tools and keep on improving themselves. I want to be among those writers and I can attest that I have already seen that it is possible.

And those are just but a few reasons why I ventured into writing. But most important I wish to nurture my God-given gift, sharpen my skills and soon live off something that I enjoy. Something I can do from anywhere in the world and at any time provided I have access to the internet.