I started writing in public some years ago. I was an active lurker on LinkedIn, scrolling through posts endlessly finding anything interesting or useful. I’ve actually found many posts or content that taught me useful things. I did that for a while until I’d come to a realization that my experience and knowledge could be useful to some people, too. Just like I benefited from the posts of others. That’s when I started writing on public, particularly on LinkedIn. Not to be cliche, but I wanted to give some back to the community.
Year after year, I became more active on LinkedIn. I started a tech blog and a newsletter. At this point, writing became sort of a habit for me. It still takes time for me to write a piece of content. If you think about it, English is my second language, Japanese being my native tongue, it’s not easy to put my thoughts into written content. But I continue writing in public because:
- I enjoy writing content and building something tangible.
- Writing solidifies my understanding.
- My written content like LinkedIn posts and blog articles are my assets, and not of anybody else’s (I mean technically, LinkedIn posts are of LinkedIn, but you get what I mean).
I believe there are many more benefits in writing in public. But I’d think these 3 points are good enough to start with.
Writing is a way of communicate. Just like anything else, the more you do it, the better you’ll be at it. It’s a communication skill. As you work on writing your content, you’re developing one of the important communication skills in life.
If you’re thinking of starting writing in public, I encourage you do to so sooner than later. Perfection is your enemy. Just start writing and see where it takes you. I’m not surprised if it takes you 30 min~ to write your first content, whether it be your blog article or LinkedIn/Twitter post. Where you publish your content doesn’t really mean much when you’re first getting started. Getting the ball rolling is the most difficult part.
Time is the most important component in life. I spend my time on writing in public. I also write in my journal consistently. I believe developing the habit of writing will be such an important skill and an asset you’ll appreciate over the next decades in your life.