In November 2013, I joined Youth Are Awesome and began a writing journey that I have never anticipated embarking on. I had friends from school who were bloggers here and I figured that I’d come out to a meeting and see what it was all about. Now, it’s three and a half years later and I’ve recently completed my 100th post. I’ve learned so much about writing, networking, and myself in general during my time at YAA, more than I could ever put into decently coherent words. That said, here are 50 little tidbits that YAA has taught me.
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Coming up with an original idea can be the hardest part of writing.
- Some days, you’ll end up staring at a blank screen before giving up on coming up with an idea and going on Facebook.
- You’ll probably end up resorting to a random post title generator at some point, which probably won’t be much help and just ends up wasting even more time.
- If all else fails, you can always recycle a Social Studies assignment (because pretty much anything written about Trump is relevant).
- Citing sources is important.
- Making sure that the sources don’t mess with your post’s aesthetic is even more important.
- The Oxford comma will haunt you until the end of your days.
- Reading other peoples’ writing helps you to improve your own.
- In time, you’ll eventually find yourself becoming a Grammar Nazi.
- People may occasionally get annoyed at you due to your Grammar Nazi tendencies.
- If fellow bloggers or classmates ask you if you could proofread their writing for them, the Grammar Nazi inside of you jumps for joy at the opportunity to critique without bounds.
- Sometimes simpler is better.
- The first interview you ever conduct will probably be super awkward.
- This might make you dread subsequent interviews, but as you get more and more practice, you realize that it’s not so bad.
- You still come to love phone interviews because you can wear sweatpants and sit in bed and not have to worry about looking “professional.”
- You will look back at your old writing and realize just how cringeworthy it is.
- In all honesty, I’ll probably look back at this list in a few months and wonder, “What was I thinking??”
- That said, your old writing may prove to be an insight into the person that you used to be…
- … And make you even more grateful that both you and your writing have matured over time.
- People sometimes think you’re pretentious when you first mention that you’re a blogger.
- It’s only once they come to understand what you actually do that this myth is debunked.
- Once people know that you’re a blogger, whenever something relatively interesting happens, they always tell you that you should write about it, even if it has nothing to do with what you normally write about.
- Sometimes they might even guilt you into it.
- On some very rare occasions, you’ll realize that their outside-the-box idea opened you up to something wonderfully unexpected.
- SEO is important, even if you don’t know what it is.
- Once you find a post style that you like, it becomes hard to write in any other form.
- It can take some serious experimentation, as well as trial and error, to break out of a stylistic rut and still be happy with the final product.
- At the same time, developing a sense of consistency and continuity is still somewhat important.
- Inspiration can come from the strangest places.
- That being said, lots of it will probably come from Pinterest.
- Even if you never read blogs before you started blogging yourself, you’ll find yourself reading several blogs religiously.
- In fact, you’ll probably have an entire folder of bookmarks on your Internet browser dedicated to the blogs that you follow.
- You inevitably discover hidden gems in your own community through reading and writing local blogs.
- Covering events and doing reviews of local restaurants and businesses makes you realize just how much is going on in the community that you never realized, and makes you feel more a part of it.
- Getting mentions on social media will always be thrilling.
- Especially when they’re from some random business from overseas (believe me, it happens!).
- At the same time, you develop a sense of awe toward people who manage to maintain an engaged social media presence once you realize how difficult it truly is.
- Recipe blogs are really difficult to write, especially if you have no photography skills.
- Even if you’re a decent photographer, unless you have an aesthetically pleasing place to stage your images, your results will still feel subpar.
- You may have a great idea for a post, only to write it and not have it reflect your original vision.
- You might start writing something and leave it alone for a few days, only to reread it and realize that it makes absolutely no sense.
- It’s okay to sometimes give up on a piece when it just isn’t working out.
- Failure is part of the process, even if it can be difficult to accept.
- Getting your first media pass is a magical experience.
- Walking around an event and having people take you seriously is even more magical.
- You gain a sincere appreciation for people who blog for a living.
- Starting a blog series isn’t a simple undertaking, and can take many tries to get a rhythm going.
- Collab series are even more difficult, and can seem downright impossible to coordinate at times.
- But once everyone is on the same page, new series have the potential to turn out pretty fantastic.
- Finally, and perhaps most importantly, blogging opens you up to an amazing community, a community that I will be forever grateful to be a part of.
Many thanks to YAA for making my blogging experience incredible!
