How I Started Writing

How I Started Writing

To be honest, I would have loved to write this piece in my native language. I believe that one can only express their deepest emotions and most honest thoughts in the language they dream in. However, having reached a sizeable global audience, I didn’t want to leave anyone out of this story. So, I will continue to write in what I call Tarzanish, which is my own brand of English.

This isn’t a technical manual. It’s a journey through the turning points, the philosophy, and the mindset that brought me to where I am today.

The Courage to Start from Zero

When I first started writing, there was no grand goal or audience expectation. It was purely for myself, just technical reminders and messy notes. I was writing in my native language, it was disorganized, and frankly, I was the only one who could decode what I was saying. This went on for about a year.

Technically, the content wasn’t bad. But the result? My follower count never moved past three. One was a colleague, and the other two were almost certainly bots.

At one point, I realized something: this information could actually help others. That’s when I made one of the hardest decisions of my life. I deleted every single thing I had written for a year and started over from scratch, this time in English.

Zero to One is Harder than One to N

After hitting delete, I couldn’t write anything for a long time. You only realize it when you experience it: the hardest thing in life is going from zero to one.

Going from one to n is relatively easy. Once you have a draft, you have something to copy, improve, or iterate upon. But when you are doing something for the first time, you aren’t just producing; you are inventing.

I fell into the perfectionism trap with my first English post. I wrote, erased, and rewrote. Even on the day I published it, I kept asking myself: should I wait a bit longer? Looking back, there is a massive gap between my first post and my latest ones. But that’s exactly why I can say this: experience is gained by making mistakes, not by overthinking.

This doesn’t mean jumping into things blindly. Rather, it’s about having the maturity to know that some things will remain imperfect.

The Power of Visuals and the Critics

Over time, I noticed a crucial detail: adding visuals changed everything, not just for the reader, but for me too. A visual makes a concept concrete. Even months later, I can recall a topic just by remembering the image I used. If you’re writing anything, always use visuals. Pure text fades in the mind; images stick.

As my view counts grew, so did the comments. And no, they weren’t all positive. I received comments saying that what I wrote was too basic.

At first, these got to me. Then I realized: the person who never makes a mistake is the person who never does anything. My early posts were flawed. I didn’t use tables of contents, I gave away the conclusion at the start, and I had no idea about reader psychology. I learned this trade the hard way, by getting punched by reality until I got it right.

The Turning Points: From Me to You

My journey had three distinct phases:

1. The version of me who only took notes for himself.
2. The version of me who wondered if I could help a few people.
3. The version of me who enjoys others’ learning more than my own and thinks how can I be more helpful to people?

If you had told me ten years ago that I would reach millions of readers, I would have laughed. My career in the database field was the catalyst; it gave me a niche. And having a niche means having a story to tell.

Advice to Aspiring Writers

Today, I receive hundreds of thousands of views a month and millions a year in my specialized field. The motivation this provides is hard to put into words. But I’m not writing this to brag about numbers.

If you want to start writing, remember this:

• Don’t wait for perfection.
• Don’t over-index on negative comments; they are just the natural tax you pay for growth.
• Use visuals.
• Most importantly: don’t wait until you feel ready.

In most cases, the feeling of being ready only arrives after you’ve started walking.