Why is writing a blog worth it?
‘Thoughts’ constitute 95% of day-to-day life while a conscious stream of thoughts takes up to 90% out of that 95% and the remaining 5% comes right in between the hours of sleep when the brain goes into the resting state; repairs, re-wires and refreshes. Studies show that our mind never truly rests even when we sleep and to mentally compose yourself to sit down, gather your thoughts and put them on a piece of paper, is quite frankly, daunting.
Neurological studies have also shown that humans, by the end of their life journey, have only used 7-10% of their cerebral capacity. Dolphins are the perfect example of what humans can do if they could use 20% of their brain; imagine communicating with each other through sonar. For now, let us not get into the fact-finding of ‘what if’ we used 100% of our brain and let us look at what amazing things we can do with just 7% of cerebral capacity.
I read a book sometime back that said, ‘writing has a similar effect to our brain as monks have during their meditative state’. The spikes shown during neurological experiments conducted on both writers and monks have shown results in the same neighborhood. In simple terms, writing puts your brain in a conscious flow of meditative state. Honestly, it would be amazing to see many of the readers pick up writing as a part of their daily chores and in the process, find a way to let off some steam from their stress-filled days.
My intent here is simple, to nudge you a little – to push you to take up writing a blog. Here’s a few pointers I picked up reflecting on my own blog experience –
1. Feel good about yourself – Give yourself a pat on your back for taking the initiative of writing your first blog (maybe second or third).
2. Pick an idea or a topic – Pick a topic around your area of interest, something you are passionate about. If you are confused, then ask your supervisor to help you with an idea that can be fronted on a corporate website.
3. Research and multiply – Curiosity is not everything and your writing can only be as strong as your research on the subject, it should add value and give readers a different outlook.
4. Shoot some bullets – While your brain is busy churning on an idea, use that time to narrow down on bullet points that you think will be important.
5. Naturally and emotionally – When you pick a topic, think of yourself as a reader and ask yourself one question – “Would you read something that is devoid of the writer’s emotion?” – Write naturally and fill it up with emotions.
6. Hook your readers – Do not get into the habit of approaching an idea broadly but think of a clear angle. Always think and write a strong opening statement, back it up with facts, figures, and studies.
7. Structure – Match your article with those bullet points to make sure you have infused all the points, read the entire piece as a reader to see whether it free flows, make necessary changes if you think something does not fit and finally, critique yourself as a reader before sharing it for proofread, suggestions and advice.
8. Closure – Close the article with your natural viewpoint; value add, if possible. If you strongly disagree with something, be gentle while offering a negative bias.
9. Every artist seeks credit (yourself included) – The best ways to keep your readers engaged is to ask them to respond. Keep the forum open for people to share their two cents and do not forget to ask them to share it on social media. At the end we all seek reward for our labor!
10. Momentum – Do not be too hard on yourself just because you cannot find an inspiring topic. Momentum is the key; keep at it and I am sure you will keep coming up with great ideas worth writing about.
Most people never take up writing with the fear of being criticized for their writing style. I have known people in my professional career who were amazing writers and seen them abandon their passion of writing, languishing in some dark corner now, because they could not find inspiring topics amongst other reasons.
It took me a few years to motivate myself to write, so I decided to reach out to experts and my supervisors on how to express myself better and within a few weeks of receiving help, I moved from mute to motivated and realized there was a common thread – “You don’t fear being criticized, you were afraid to reach out.” To end this on a positive note, I know some of the leaders at ATMECS take great pride in expressing themselves through writing. Why can’t you be one of them? Isn’t writing a blog worth your time?
Author – Tushar Nayak, ATMECS Content Team
