Writing FAST - Jeff Bollow 2012

No comparison
Squeeze the most out of FAST
The payoff

At the moment, there are about 6.5 billion people running around on this planet. And every single one of them is unique. Because every single one of them is taking a different journey through the walk of life.

Your own journey has never been experienced by anyone else who has ever walked the face of the Earth. And no one that follows will take the same path, either.

So why do we compare ourselves to other people?

Our use of the language is unique, as well.

Sure, a writing style can be copied, or duplicated, or mimicked. But if we write in our own natural style, each of us will communicate in a way that’s one-of-a-kind.

For example, I was raised in Los Angeles, but have lived in Australia and New Zealand for the past eight years. My style of speaking and writing is predominantly American, but with some very heavy Australian and Kiwi influences.

If you were raised in Melbourne, but moved to Sydney for six years, and then up to the Gold Coast, you would adapt to the local lingo. And it would blend into your own style.

But you’re also influenced by people you’ve known and spent time with. You take on borrowed mannerisms — how they speak (and your reaction to how they speak), and what you’ve read, heard on the radio, and watched on television.

All in all, your voice is just about as unique as it gets.

If you don’t know certain words (or never use them), they’ll never enter your writing. If you’ve amassed a gigantic vocabulary, you’ll draw upon it for unique shades of meaning.

One is not better than the other.

Whatever you write, however you have evolved, you are unique — not because it’s a “feel-good” thing to say, but because it’s true from a sociological angle.

Embrace it!

Naturally, your writing is for your reader, so you want to write it in a way they will understand. But if you don’t use that unique voice, you’re forever struggling against yourself.

Forget about comparing your writing to that of another writer. Appreciate writing you respect and admire. Enjoy it.

And master your craft as best you can.

But you are you. And your voice should reflect it.