The advice I would give to my younger self.
But first I want to slap her in the face
After the open thread of Medium Creators, I find out I have so many things to tell my younger self.
Grammar
Grammar is boring, everyone knows that. But that is the first thing I need my younger self to think twice about.
Grammar is what makes or breaks any writing.
And this is what I want to slap her in the face for because me right now is suffering from the wobbly grammar base she built. I struggle for a long time at work because of that.
Even the tiniest mistakes can harm your reputation as a professional writer, which I am aiming for. And I REALLY want my younger self to know this.
Practice your logical thinking
Another thing I need to slap her in the face for making me struggle so much when writing.
Logic is everywhere, and that is something my younger self never understand. And with bad logic, it doubles the time for a person to write a fluent and good article.
Don’t ask me why I know, I am facing it every day now.
“ You don’t have to be familiar with every client you handle. Just research, then everything is pure logic, as long as you can write.”
I may not have the best relationship with that boss, but these words she said are engraved into my heart. It is rebuilding part of my view on writing. And second later, I start to hate my younger self.
And I am working hard on my Grammar and Logic right now, as someone close to her thirties. And this is a much harder task to conquer.
Write more and make them count
Write to the best of what you can give, on every single chance you get. Make them count, because this means you get more out of each challenge.
As Hong Konger, we write bilingual, English and Chinese, since being a child. And my younger self tends to flop on one side at different points in my life and study.
Now looking back, hell knows how many chances I have missed.
Writing more is something everyone is saying on Medium, but writing every single piece with all of you is far more important. People know if you are writing trash. And you can learn nothing from writing trash. And my younger lazy self sometimes does write trash.
Keep journaling
I want her to know, that this will be your lifesaver in the future.
And this is also how to store all the ideas you got when traveling or working or daydreaming.
Guess what, when you are bullied at school like you always will, your journal is the only place you can write and flourish at some point in your life. So please don’t give up on journaling.
Ending
There are so many more tiny things for her to work on, but I think solving these big things will be hard enough for her already. Don’t be so hard on a seriously depressed and bullied child, especially when it is the younger version of myself lol.
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