I first started writing in 2020.
Originally, I just did it because I had always been an okay writer in school, and it seemed like an easy side job that I could do while I pursued Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. I was half right about this.
Writing isn’t the hardest job in the world to do — it’s just hard to do it profitably.
I went from writing emo Medium blogs and Quora answers to social media posts for local businesses and eventually up to ghostwriting. I have ghostwritten books, tweets, and everything in between. I’ve ghostwritten for creators of Twitter with hundreds of thousands of followers, and I’ve ghostwritten for people who literally made a Twitter account in the early days of us working together.
I’ve learned some tough lessons over the years of writing, but none harder than a big one that I have learned recently:
What got you here doesn’t get you there.
You can’t use blue belt moves at black belt.
In Jiu-Jitsu, I cringe when I watch my old matches.
It’s like watching a shadow of myself flop around the mat with no idea what he’s doing. Sure, it’s the same sport now as it was back then, but my understanding of it has changed completely.
In a few years, my understanding will hopefully change again, and I will once again look back and cringe at my current self, which is the current best version of myself.
My writing development is similar.
Rereading my first articles hurts. Rereading the stuff I used to write on Twitter hurts. Reminiscing on my old tactics to grow my writing hurts.
I sometimes think it’s a miracle that I’ve written a book, built The Grappler’s Diary to reach hundreds of thousands of readers each month, and ghostwritten for some huge creators on Twitter, but I did.
And in that humble brag, I think lies the key lesson here.
In the moments while doing the stuff I've done that I'm most proud of, I've felt completely clueless.
What gets you to point A doesn’t get you to point B, and if you’re not at point B yet, you don’t know what’s going to get you there.
The only way to figure out how to win at black belt is to compete at black belt and figure it out. The only way to grow your writing to the next level is to keep going and figure it out.
What this means…
I’m at a bit of a crossroads in both my Jiu-Jitsu and my writing.
In order to take my Jiu-Jitsu to the next level, I have to build skills I’ve never had and win matches against the caliber of opponent that I’ve lost to many times. This is an exciting but, at times, daunting challenge. In some matches — like ADCC last year or PGF — I rise to the occasion. In other matches, like the recent AIGA, I fail.
I’m realizing I need to give more to be greater.
In order to build my writing business to the next level, I am having the same realization.
In order to make The Grappler’s Diary what it could be, I need to do more. In order to build The Modern Writer to its true potential, I need to do more.
More self-education. More writing time. More pitching. More creating. Spending money to make money (a concept I couldn’t fathom when I first started writing). Investing in myself. No longer trying to be a one-man show.
Realizing that I never really was.
Gritting my teeth and pushing through in the face of adversity when I fail.
More of the hard stuff and less of the low-hanging fruit.
Closing Thoughts
The Modern Writer is back — I’m hoping for good.
Every Wednesday at around 9 am, you can expect a short article on content creation, the writer’s life, and insights from someone who’s dedicated pretty much every morning for the last 5 years to becoming a better writer.
Hopefully, you can learn something from my mistakes, lessons, and challenges.
Today, the big lesson was this:
The cause of your early success is probably not the cause of your advanced success.
When I first started Jiu-Jitsu, I won matches with wrestling and passing. Now, I win mostly with leg locks and guard play, integrated with my older skills.
Writing is the same.
Your early wins do not give you your advanced ones.
But don’t forget where you’ve come from.
Thanks for reading The Modern Writer!
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I’ll see you next Wednesday!