Howdy!
Writing is an act that cleanses and I’ve been so dirty and grimy for so long.
A chronology of my writing journey thus far:
- High school: Personal blog full of teen angst and rambling, disjointed thoughts. Writing because I wanted to write.
- University: First a contributor to the faculty newspaper, then Head Editor. Exploring what it is that makes a piece of writing ‘readable’.
- Career (first few years): Created an online business centered on marketing and business. Dreamed about becoming THE online entrepreneur. Became structured in writing, followed ‘formulas’.
Now?
Get Aina Ismail’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
I was so caught up in making my writings profitable that the dam just dried up.
When I put that much pressure on my writing to ‘perform’, it instantly became something unnatural. I am better off (mentally) without that pressure.
A lot of people make money from what they write, but I don’t think I’m that ready yet.
Admitting that to myself took the better part of a year. I invested a lot of time and money into my online business because I felt passionate about the topics. I wrote so much. I wasn’t making any money (because I wasn’t really trying) and I thought, “Hey. No problemo. Passion and all that.”
But… the passion dimmed. Now it doesn’t make sense anymore to write on those topics.
On this platform, I want to write about my experience as an inhouse counsel. I want to write about work. Because funnily enough, I’m becoming more and more passionate about work.
So, goodbye old dreams. Howdy new ones.
