5 Lessons from 10 Newsletters
Reflecting on two months of weekly writing
Welcome to Morning Pages, a newsletter sharing inspirations to help you cultivate creativity and fulfillment.
Today marks the 10th volume. 🎉
To celebrate this humble milestone, I want to share my reflections on 2 months of weekly writing.
I still remember the evening in July when I had the idea of writing a newsletter. I stayed up to midnight and drafted the announcement email and the first volume. I had everything ready to go. Yet, I waited for almost two months to officially send it out. I was skeptical about whether I have what it takes to do this. Writing and publishing weekly felt like a lot of work for an ESL (English as a Second Language).
When I finally shared the news in my network, the feedback was heart-warming. Starting this newsletter has brought me closer to the people and community that I care for. As the newsletter is reaching 200 subscribers, it’s important for me to remember what I intended to offer. I want to keep the topics artful and personal. I intend to offer this newsletter for free. Your attention, kind words, and support have been instrumental to keep me going.
Here are 5 lessons that I've learned from 10 newsletters.
1. Writing weekly is rewarding.
Creating on a regular basis is not a new challenge for me. In 2014, I did my first 100-day project which I created one painting a day for 100 days. Before the pandemic, I've been going to a figure drawing studio every week for 1.5 years.
80% of success is showing up. — Woody Allen
Morning Pages is a new way for me to share and express regularly. Yet, I still waited for 2 months to break this news. Because I was self-doubting and worrying about other people's opinions too much. Those thoughts were holding me back from sharing my work. Once I got clear on what was in there for my own purpose, writing became more enjoyable and rewarding.
2. Create an inspiration commonplace book
Morning Pages curates inspirations from creators from around the world. For the first few volumes, it was easy to choose what to feature. Soon after, I realized that it'd be great to have a content engine that can generate ideas for my future volumes. It'd save lots of effort for planning and streamline my writing process as well.
I spent one weekend creating an inspiration database in Notion. It was a total game-changer. I began using it to collect quotes, artists, articles, and personal stories. And I created a new page that links to the source, so I can plan for each newsletter ahead of time. The Notion system became my digital commonplace book.
I'm a huge fan of keeping a commonplace book. It's a habit that made me appreciate Chinese literature and elevated my writing skills in school. They remain a valuable resource for me until today. I'd be happy to share my commonplace book practice in detail in the future.
3. Choosing my own topic is motivating.
At the beginning of the journey, I thought about the topics that Morning Pages would include. It comes down to a simple question:
What's the topic that only you could write?
I want to write and share what inspires and motivates me to create. And I want to be able to do this consistently. The strongest way to stick to a habit is to do what feels good. There were plenty of times that I featured some quotes because I needed to hear it myself. Choosing my own topic keeps me grounded and motivates me to keep going.
Remember, you are both the creator and the audience of your own work. You must make the things that you’d want to engage with yourself.
— Wellness Wisdom by Patrica Mou
4. Treat writing as "talk" on paper
In coaching, I sometimes receive questions from clients who are ESL (English as a Second Language) on how to write better. It's common to feel that our feelings and thoughts can't be fully expressed in English. It always takes longer to draft an email, compose a Tweet, and get started on that blog post.
I often go back to the advice someone once shared with me:
If you can talk about it, you can write about it.
When we talk, we rarely deal with much anxiety. Writing should feel like "talk" on paper. Focus on communicating your point across first. Don't worry about using the perfect word or the rules of grammar. You can also write in your native language first and then translate to a different language. Tools like Grammarly and Hemingway can also be your friend.
5. Energy attracts like-minded energy.
The purpose of my work is to unleash the creative and leadership power of women and people of color. That's the kind of energy I've been putting into this newsletter.
In the past two months, it's been fulfilling to see this community grow. Writing regularly attracts like-minded people into my orbit.
One of my old limiting beliefs about going into solo entrepreneurship was that it would be a lonely road. The past few months have taught me an important lesson. Channel the energy that you wish to attract. Like-minded people and opportunities will start pulling towards you.
Own who you want to become.
Thank you for reading this volume of Morning Pages. All views in this newsletter are my own. If you’re enjoying this newsletter and want to express your appreciation, spread the word and support the studio for the price of a cup of ☕️.
Yuan Studio offers a series of coaching offerings to support creative professionals to play bigger in their careers and lives. Want to get in touch? You’re welcome to comment here or reach out on Twitter and LinkedIn.