I believe every writer has a unique journey before settling the scores with ‘self-doubt,’ resistance, fear, and God knows what.
I want to share “my story” as my first Medium story of the year 2022. Last year I provided a brief bio in my only story for the year 2021. I landed on Medium.com with the hope of making a somewhat sustainable livelihood here but soon realized that my region is not Stripe-approved. Soon, the passion to write on Medium also faded away. I am raised by my step-grandmother, which is a divine gift for me. I lost her the same month (October 2021) when I thought to give Medium a try. What do you expect after that? Losing her was like losing everything. I kept on journaling, but I was not able to overcome fear; the fear of not being good enough. Some childhood traumas haunt us down the line in life where we least expected.
Here am I once again with all the courage to bounce back with a new strategy after doing my research work on the benefits associated with writing on Medium. I realized there are many other ways in which I can benefit from Medium, and build a career as a writer; although, I am working as a freelance writer for a few years now. Despite having experience in writing, I have yet to share my art and craft with the world. I am here now to contribute something unique to the readers. Before I dig into different niches, topics, and thematic areas which I am going to be discussing, I would like to share the story of “my journey as a writer.” The purpose is two-fold. Firstly, writing to motivate other writers who are facing, or have faced at one point in time or the other during their respective writing journeys. Secondly, to finally break the barrier and create some readers. I am very enthusiastic about the second part where I would be interacting with some readers, and getting their valuable feedback.
My writing journey started in the year 2005 when I finished reading my first complete book from cover to cover in summer vacations after appearing in exams of 10th grade. It was a book in the Urdu language, “Zawia,” by Ashfaq Ahmed. Ashfaq Ahmed is a renowned Urdu writer from Pakistan with a significant fan following. I was not good with English because it was not my first language, but I learned it over the last 17-years. During the summer vacation of the same year, I started taking English language classes in Peshawar, a provincial capital city in the northern province of Pakistan. Over the next five years, I kept on improving my English through the four skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking. I went on to work for call centers that provide services to clients in the United States, and slowly things started working out for me. In the year 2010, I got admission into Econometrics and Statistics program at a reputable economic think-tank in Islamabad, Pakistan. Since 2010, my struggle remained in the federal capital city of Pakistan.
For six years (2010–16), I kept on exploring different things and jobs. I started getting offers to work from Media, INGOs, and think tanks due to my active participation in workshops and conferences. However, I realized over the same period that I am not someone who is going to remain an employee for the rest of my life. The journey in the freelance world was not linear, and due to easy income through freelancing tasks, I started making good money. This is where everything got messed up in my life. I started asking philosophical questions about my passion and other stuff. I was a “Research Analyst” for most of my early carrier, but I came to grasp the idea of a writer being much more than merely performing academic research. Once at a national conference I met a senior Pakistani journalist, Farrukh K. Pitafi, for advice on becoming a writer. He advised me something that I never practiced, that is, to write a few pages on daily basis. It was advice from his mentor to him.
One of the good things about the COVID-19 pandemic was that it brought me back to the very place where I started my journey. What do I need to do to become a writer? So, I went on exploring some good books that could possibly provide me with an answer. I stumbled upon Julia Cameron’s “Artist’s Way” and there I found the same advice which Farrukh Pittafi gave me years back, but this time with detailed insight into the way I shall be approaching writing. Over the last 17 months, I finished writing my 1 million word count in journaling. It started with the “Morning Pages” ritual, and soon I was completely involved in writing. Writing became my refuge. I spent a significant amount of time writing 1 million words in journals before having the courage to start contributing here. I feel that I have started to become familiar with my Writer’s voice, which can be the key takeaway from “Million Words Marathon.” I flushed out my life's story in bits and pieces in those handwritten journal notebooks, which might someday take the form of a Memoir (#ProhibitedLife).
I am turning 33 this year and would like this year to be my debut as an Author, Blogger, and Screenplay writer. I am a curious soul, and always hungry to make sense of the world outside and inside. There are so many pending ideas for exploration that are haunting me for ages. Writing for me now is like an adventure into the unknown. Writing is something that intrigues me, and it motivates me to perform research work. Just like mapping pieces of a puzzle to form a comprehensive image. However, this time I am going to share stuff from adventures in the realms of thoughts, ideas, and history. I want to know more about the people in different parts of the world, living in distinct regions. So, first, I am going to start writing about different regions of the world on regular basis. Beginning with the identification of the different regions, followed by regular posts on the history of governments, people, ideas, events, and places. Secondly, I want to write more about writing itself because every writer is experimenting and coming up with something useful, which is worth sharing with others. Last, but not least, I will keep on exploring random topics that I feel are worth discussing.
I hope we make each other’s journey worthwhile :)
I have a question below, and your response is definitely going to assist in my writer’s journey.
Shall I create my own publications for the things I want to share and discuss on regular basis?
