Nine lessons from my 9th Anniversary

I celebrate my 9th Anniversary on WordPress this week. Anytime you do something for that many years you learn a thing or two.

Here’s a few of the things I’ve learned about writing a blog:

—Put it out there. It’s better to let others in than to hold back your feelings. I’ve written on everything from super sensitive topics that have brought out my own tears to other topics full of whimsy and humor. I’ve been surprised countless times with what I’ve thought would and would not touch readers. You never know.

—Grammar and punctuation matter, but what matters more is intent. You should always try to make it easier for the reader. However, if someone is going to be turned off by a misplaced comma or an incorrect word choice, than so be it — we wouldn’t have been a good match anyway. They wouldn’t have enjoyed my humor, style of writing, or spin on things.

—Speaking of grammar, “effect” is what happens, “affect” is how it happens. Effect is more often than not the noun, and affect is the verb. Forget about a career in Journalism or Corporate Communications. It took writing a blog for me to figure this one out. Thank you WordPress.

—Be kind to others and to yourself.

—You have something unique to say. Trust your gut, it’s there, let it come out. I wrote early in my experience that someone influential in my life called my blog silly. Even though they once encouraged my writing, they didn’t understand why I needed the blog as an outlet. Years ago, that would’ve crushed me. I’ve since let them go from my life and I’m better for it.

—Be authentic. Be true to who you are. People respond to honesty and integrity. They get turned off by hypocrisy and actions that don’t mesh with everything else they’re seeing. Be you.

—Get it down on paper. You can always edit later. In the words of Author Jodi Piccoult, “You can always edit a bad page. You can’t edit a blank page.”

—Create a daily writing habit and write ahead, as much as you can, so that you can edit and make changes and not get caught up in the emotions and trying to publish in the here and now. I’m always amazed how an idea starts out one way and after some editing and polish, it becomes something shiny and wonderful.

—Write what your heart calls you to write. When asked this same question about what to write, Author Joan Didion wrote, “I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I see and what it means.” Oh, I write for my readers, but there’s a part of me that’s eyes-wide-open, learning for the first time what I believe in too.

Thanks for reading. Thanks for joining me on this journey.

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What’s your favorite post from the past year? Here’s five choices. Let me know below which you would choose:

• Things your parents never told you
• A tribute to strong women
• A small change for the better
• Coming face-to-face with toxic leadership
• Making up my own rules