We are made for it, and here are the pros and cons
I started to write online around two years ago. I found Medium, and I’m passionate about personal development.
I tried to let go of my overthinking and my stress from it. I had (still have sometimes) trouble sleeping because of it.
Of course, it was also a bit about making money online next to my job. But it is mostly for me mentally. And I never thought it could make such a big difference to write about my problems, my lessons learned, and reflect on some good and bad experiences.
To embrace online writing as an introvert is personal; it requires courage and self-acceptance to overcome feelings and share thoughts and experiences with the world.
As an introvert, I struggle to connect with people and, in general, in this loud world, find quietness to think and reflect.
So writing online is like an escape from the loud environment to have quiet time for me.
Here are the pros I found:
- Alone and quiet time to write
- writing down all the overthinking and making money with it
- letting go by writing
- empathy -> good storytelling
Alone and quiet time to write
I consciously take time for myself every morning to write. Before I started, I only did that when something happened, and I needed to think (which happened every few months).
This quietness in the morning after meditating calms me and helps me let go of any overthinking before I start the day.
I have a clearer mind after that.
This brings me to the next point:
Writing down my overthinking and making money with it
I’m writing down my thoughts about all the experiences and lessons in my life. I overthink and worry a lot. Writing online helps me reflect and connect the dots.
And the cool thing is: I’m making money with it.
I’m publishing my first online course soon about productivity, and I’ve been overthinking this topic for around 10 years now.
- how to be more productive,
- how to overcome procrastination
- what are the best tools
- how not to get into burnout,
- how to feel good with efficiency
You can imagine how many thoughts went into this.
Of course, it’s also about being vulnerable. And it’s not easy to hit publish on these stories.
But it’s necessary to share them with the world to help others suffering from the same problems.
Letting go
By writing down my thoughts, they are leaving my brain, and it’s a great feeling!
Writing is like emptying your mind. All the todos, overthinking, and worries make your brain slower. It’s like having a wand and using it to take a thought out of your mind and onto your paper.
This doesn’t mean that you are forgetting or losing experiences when you write them down, but you are strengthening them for better or worse.
Empathy -> great storytelling
Of course, we are not born great storytellers, but we have an advantage because introverts can feel and understand another’s perspective more easily.
We feel the emotions too. I’m a big crier at sad movie scenes. I can totally understand the feelings.
You should use this advantage and write down your or someone else’s stories.
So now that we have looked at some pros of writing online as an introvert, we need to check out the cons too.
They are as important because online writing is not just about sitting alone and thinking and writing; writing a book is not just that.
It’s also about finding an audience, getting vulnerable, and connecting with other creators, possible mentors, or employees.
The cons are:
- you have to interact to get followers and readers
- you have to open up and get personal
- you get messages from people you don’t know, and it’s hard to open up fast -> first impression problem
Interacting to get followers and readers
Unfortunately, just writing and hitting publish is not gonna find your audience. You have to attract them.
It’s not about sales or weird DMs. But about social media.
To get people to become your readers they have to find you online. The best way to do that is to post on social media parts of your writing and thoughts.
This is the first step. The second step is to interact (comment, repost…) with other creators, followers,… to be seen. You cannot trust the algorithm of the platform to find your perfect readers.
They will find you by seeing you on someone else’s profile they are following.
In the beginning, it’s a bit outside of your comfort zone, but you don’t have to post selfies or videos (yet). Just some text and comments, and after a while you get used to it.
Get vulnerable
Here’s a big lesson I learned: you need to get a little vulnerable to connect with people.
The best stories are usually the ones you are afraid to hit publish. People love personal experiences and feelings.
The stories about my introversion, my stories about getting bullied, and my quarter-life crisis are making the most impact (and money).
Don’t be afraid! It’s actually a good feeling to find people having the same problems.
DMs and strangers writing you
I don’t like it when I see a new DM in my messages. It’s extra work next to writing to reply.
Connecting with people is an important part of an online business, and I’ve talked with nice creators already. But it’s always a step out of my comfort zone to write DMs with someone.
Here, honesty is the best option, and I will talk with them about introversion. Other creators usually understand.
If they don’t, it’s usually because they want to sell you something.
Don’t be afraid of opening your messages. Those horror stories of weird or sexual DMs never happened to me (they usually link immediately to some website, so just don’t click on it).
Conclusion
There are a lot of new possibilities for introverts to shine on the internet. And I’m really grateful for being able to share my experiences, thoughts, and lessons learned.
Different kinds of social media can help you show a different side of yourself. I don’t like posting pictures of myself, so X and Medium were a great way to start for me.
If you like to show your art or graphic design skills, Instagram or Pinterest would be a good option for you.
Let’s show the world what introverts can do and what they are missing when they underrate us!
Do you have any more pros for writing online?
Less Stress. More Time. Less Overwhelmed!
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