How to Become a Writer

To be defined by a title one must first embody the person they wish to become. That means taking action to do the very thing that makes them who they want to be.

The person I wish to become is a writer so for me that activity is writing.

Writing (or any activity) can seem daunting to undertake. Measuring one’s progress can seem arbitrary, further complicating matters.

Let’s break it down to its essence. Put simply, a writer is someone who frequently writes. The challenge isn’t so much as to whoconstitutes as a writer, but rather committing to the process of writing consistently.

In his compelling talk ‘1% Better Every Day’ James Clear argues that sticking to a habit is sometimes as simple as breaking it down to its smallest actionable task.

If you want to hit the gym every day, start by putting on your running shoes. As Clear shared about his process for becoming a writer, his goal was simple: write one sentence every day.

Adopting this strategy led him to publish 100 articles a year for three years straight. Of course, the micro strategy of writing a sentence often leads one to write more. However, breaking down the writing process into something nearly failproof leads to results.

If it worked for Clear, arguably the leading expert on habits, it should be good enough for me.

With that, I’ve made myself a mid-year goal: write one sentence every day for the rest of 2021.

As Clear notes, accountability is important when aiming to instill a habit. That’s why I purchased an accountability calendar (it’s just a calendar, but I gave it a fancy name). I’ll draw a big X on each day where I complete my writing. I hope this will build momentum to the point where I’ll keep the streak going at all costs.

This is my first post as a writer. What started as a simple Tweet quickly turned into an entire blog. It gives me hope for the process.

As for what I’m working on, it will be a combination of the following: my book about my life as a high stakes poker player, new blog posts like this one, and social media posts where I share ideas.

Onwards.
Alec