One of the most common misconceptions people have before they start writing is that they think they should already be capable before they begin. But in reality, it is doing the work that creates the person capable of it. Writing is what makes you a writer. You can spend forever learning how to write, reading tips and tricks, learning how to introduce a character, or how to draft a decent sentence. All of that helps, but none of it matters unless you actually put it into action. That is where you truly see your skills.

You have to understand that you don’t need some special talent to become a writer. I always encourage my peers to write badly. Write so badly that even you lose interest in reading your own draft. It sounds strange, but it is actually a useful exercise because you stop expecting perfection from yourself. You stop trying to impress people. Instead, you simply put your thoughts onto paper and see what is actually there in your mind.

Think about this scenario for a second. I believe every person has experienced this at least once. Someone you care about is in distress, and you start talking to comfort them. You don’t have a script prepared. You didn’t rehearse anything. Yet somehow, you know exactly what to say. You understand their perspective, and the right words come naturally. That is a great example of not fully knowing your thoughts until you express them out loud.

Writing works the same way. Instead of speaking it, you write it down. “Writing makes you a writer” sounds like a vague statement at first. The next question that usually comes is: what should I even write about? My answer would be: anything. Since this is just an exercise to get started, write whatever comes to your mind. It could be: Your day, something you are feeling, someone you like, a random scenario, literally anything. The goal here is not perfection. It is a rhythm, and getting comfortable with expressing yourself.

A personal tip from me is journaling. If you already journal, that is actually a very good start. It slowly makes you comfortable with writing regularly and helps you understand your own thoughts better. After that stage, challenge yourself a little more. Start building stories. They don’t have to be masterpieces. Start with:

• “Once upon a time…”
• A dialogue
• A monologue
• A random situation

Your story is yours. You can take it anywhere you want. Let your imagination play around freely. What I found interesting while doing this exercise with one of my fellow writers was that people indirectly write who they want to become. While reading their stories, I started noticing patterns: How they wanted their characters to stand up against dominant people, what they wished they could say in real life, how victorious they wanted their characters to feel.

Their ideal version of themselves slowly appeared through their writing, even when they did not intentionally try to do that. That is the twist in all of this. Writing is deeply connected to psychology. Even while reading books, you can often notice similarities between authors and their protagonists. Their fears, beliefs, desires, and emotions quietly find their way into the story. Once you become comfortable writing, the next phase is challenging yourself with topics that make you slightly uncomfortable.

After that comes one of the most important stages: feedback. You need different eyes on your work. Different perspectives help you see things you would never notice on your own. Not everyone will agree with your opinions, and that is completely fine. Feedback can go either way, but learning how to receive it is part of becoming a better writer. It teaches you to look at your own work more objectively. I always take feedback seriously, that doesn’t mean you should become a people pleaser, because you can never satisfy everyone. There will always be criticism, but staying grounded and understanding why someone feels a certain way about your writing can help you improve tremendously.

At the end of the day, writing is not about waiting to become perfect before you begin. You begin first, then somewhere along the way, through practice, mistakes, thoughts, rewrites, stories, and feedback… you slowly become a writer.

Divya Priya Rajalingam