One of the lessons I have learnt about life is to always reach out for help when you feel you are not doing the right thing. Everyone is striving to become successful in what they do, and we need some good people who would be willing to listen and provide tips, like advice, for us to get along. There is a saying that if you want to go fast, go alone and if you want to go far, move with someone or a group of people if necessary.
This has proven to be true, and if I must understand it clearly, sometimes, going fast and alone can bring many mistakes because we are on our own without someone guiding us. Two heads are better than one, particularly two good heads.
I reminisced on these words as I sat down, resting my back on my chair stuck while staring at my laptop for how to make my post smoother because I felt it was disorganised, and reading it aloud didn't make any sense to me. My fingers were placed on the keyboard, waiting for the magic to happen for the right structuring, but my head was blank. There was no idea coming. I felt restless like someone who is being chased by an invisible object. I felt the slow beating on my chest like I needed to get it done with as soon as possible.
I had so many things on my plate for that day, but this particular one was taking a big chunk of my time, and as I looked at the time below the screen, it was running faster than normal, even though it was very early in the morning. "The day will soon end," I said as I kept struggling for inspiration. I needed someone to save me from this dilemma before I lost my mind.
I thought I had it all figured out with my writing skills until my sister pointed out my mistakes that day, and how I have been working myself out when I ought to make things easier for myself. Sometimes, I want to give up on writing, but when I remember how it all started, looking at my past works and seeing the changes so far, it wasn't like I was regressing; I only needed to improve more.
I have watched countless videos on YouTube, signed up for online courses just to be better. I would say to myself, "I would be a better writer someday," and it has always given me a boost to keep striving hard.
However, I had stopped sending my drafts to my sister, who understands writing better, and because I knew she'd find errors in all I had written, I decided not to seek her opinions anymore. Little did I know I was wrong for not doing that. "She is too harsh," I would scream out loud, but it's her way of bringing me to do the best work.
With what she'd always said in the past, coupled with the videos and courses I had gone through, all were saying the same thing, which was for me to always draft a rough sketch of my content first, and then it would be easier. But I always thought all is in my head and I don't need to jot down ideas when I could easily scan through any information online and use my words to explain. It works for me on some days, actually, but the disadvantage is that it strains my brain. It gives me a hard time articulating my words, which then makes me feel stressed at the end of the day.
"Go through my content and see how I structured everything accordingly and smoothly," she said when I went to her, expressing my situation and sending my post for her to check through. I was ready for whatever she would say. I wanted her to find me a quick solution. Truly, I read most of her works on the Medium platform, and I kept whispering, "wow...wow...wow. She writes so well."
Sis, how do you do it? It's as if you know the right words to begin your content, which I do struggle with every time." I said as I got more worried.
"Busayo, I have gone through your post, and I don't need to read to the end because your words do not make any sense. You kept repeating everything you have said in different words," she replied. Her words left me disheartened, but I overlooked them. I needed to take a leaf out of her book.
She continued, "One thing you need to understand first is that as a writer, you don't have to repeat what you have said again. It makes your work unenjoyable. Your readers might get bored reading the same thing over and over. This is why you need to draft your content first, sit down to structure how your post will look by outlining the guide. Then start working on it. You will save yourself from saying the same thing over again in a different paragraph," She typed. I knew what she said was right. I have been doing it my way and failed to do it the right way, which could have saved me time and stress.
"Also, another thing," she continued, "make sure what you say in the first paragraph isn't like repeating yourself in the second unless you need to summarise your points, which only comes at the end of whatever you are passing across. Introduce new points in each paragraph, and your work will be interesting to your readers."
I felt a big relief, like warm water was poured onto my head, down to my body. I was ready to apply the method she had taught me. I wanted to experiment and see the outcome.
That short moment gave me clarity and with her help, I followed all her suggestions and before I knew it, I had rewritten my post which I felt was like a struggle the last hours. Everything felt so easy and without stress. Immediately, I made up my mind to adopt that method and today, I feel proud of having someone to guide me and for me willing to learn, also.
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