10 Writing And Creative Lessons I Learnt In 2024.

Becoming A Writer

10 Writing And Creative Lessons I Learnt In 2024. - Part 2

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10 Writing And Creative Lessons I Learnt In 2024. - Part 2

Episode 34 of Becoming A Writer podcast.

Rubina Gauri Gomes

Feb 22, 2025

Transcript

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Show Notes -

Episode Summary: In this episode, we continue discussing the rest five Writing and Creative lessons I learned last year, covering insights on slowing down, enjoying the process, recognising my own expertise, embracing independence, and stepping into my author life.

Key Points Discussed:

Slow Down, You Crazy Child - Reducing excessive content creation allowed me to focus on my core goal—writing books.
Enjoying Yourself Is Super Important - Slowing down makes the creative process more enjoyable, leading to greater productivity.
I Know More Than I Realize - A conversation with an aspiring writer helped me recognize my depth of knowledge.
It’s OK Not to Have a Mentor - Not finding a mentor forced me to learn independently and develop my own writing process.
Now My Author Life Begins - After ten years of learning, I am ready to step into the role of an author.

Takeaways:

Prioritising fewer but more meaningful projects leads to better creative fulfilment.
Enjoyment enhances productivity and keeps burnout at bay.
You often know more than you give yourself credit for—sharing your knowledge can be eye-opening.
Not having a mentor can push you to develop a more authentic and self-sufficient approach.
Every phase of the writing journey has its lessons—embrace each step fully.

Transcript -

Podcast Intro -

Welcome to Becoming A Writer podcast, where writing inspiration is served fresh in 20 minutes or less, every 2nd and 4th Saturday.

I am Rubina Gauri Gomes, and together we'll learn how to explore, experiment with, and express our writer selves.

If this speaks to your writing journey, give the podcast a listen! If you enjoy it, I'd love for you to leave a review so others can find it, too. Don’t forget to share your suggestions or questions through the form in the show notes, and let’s grow this community together!

You can find more conversations like this and download your free Writer's Mental Toolbox PDF at rubinagomes.substack.com.

Now, grab a cup of your favourite drink, and let's have a quick chat.

Episode -

Well hello, my writer friends! Rubina here.

In our last conversation, I shared the first 5 Writing and Creative lessons I learnt last year.

Shall we continue our thirty-fourth conversation by discussing the rest 5? Let's do it!

Lesson 6 - Slow down, you crazy child.

For the past five years, I have been frantically working on content creation. I hoped to build an audience for the books I publish in the future. My aim has always been to write and publish my books; content creation was supposed to be an extra arm to help me reach out. But the more I was busy creating weekly content, the further away I was going from working on my books. And the more I wasn't able to work on my books, the more depressed I became.

I had enough of that. I knew I had to make changes.

I started by cutting out the almost-dead Medium, reducing my essay publication schedule from weekly to twice a month, and doing the same with my podcast uploads. Then, I removed the multiple projects I had going on and brought it down to two WIPs—once in the writing phase and the other in the editing phase.

The changes are still in motion. For this new year, I am removing essay publication completely and focusing just on my podcast. I am in the process of revamping my Substack and website to make them more reader-focused and friendly. I am also focusing on editing my new self-help book for writers, which I'll be publishing by year-end.

The point is that the kind of fulfilling and meaningful creative life I want to live requires me to live a slow life. This means I have to remove all the fluff and focus only on the things that matter the most. Instead of trying to do it all at once and ending up with a half-cooked work, I now intend to focus on doing one thing at a time and doing it well.

Lesson 7 - Enjoying yourself is super important.

See, when you slow down, you get the chance to live what you're doing. And when you get the chance to live, you start to enjoy yourself.

When you feel enjoyment, work feels lighter and gets done quicker than when you're stressing yourself out. You are then more satisfied with your work, stay longer in the blissful and productive flow state, and feel more energised even after you are done with your writing. This also leads to not feeling the need to indulge in addictives like scrolling Instagram for that dopamine hit.

Another win-win situation.

Lesson 8 - I know more than I realise.

Last year, I had the privilege of meeting a schoolboy who wanted advice on becoming a writer. His parents are my brother's friends and knew I was a writer, so they invited me over one evening for a conversation.

We were there for over four hours. For the first time in my life, I was the one talking, and others were listening. We talked about everything related to writing—how to get started, how to keep going, the difference between traditionally published and self-published, the ins and outs of the industry, and the roles the parents can play in helping their son. I even read a couple of chapters of his spy thriller and shared my thoughts.

The parents and the boy found our conversation helpful and could now see the next steps they needed to take. I, too, was glad to be of help. But what surprised me more was how comfortable I was talking about Writing and how much I knew about Writing. Until I had audibly shared it with someone, I didn't realise how much knowledge, skill and wisdom I had picked up in my 10 years of being on this writing quest. I could talk on the spot about Writing without any hesitation or anxiety - again, an unknown feat for an introvert like me. I felt I had gained a superpower!

Lesson 9 - It's ok not to have a mentor.

I can't explain to you how desperately, for the last ten years, I have been looking for a mentor—someone to show me the way on my writing journey. I had applied for scholarships, tried building a relationship over email, tried working with someone, applied for courses, and couldn't afford some of them as they were priced too high. I wasted a lot of time and money on people who promised they'd help me but just told me what a couple of hours on Google or YouTube could have told me anyway.

No matter what I did, I could never find myself a mentor.

And that was the best thing to happen to my writing journey.

Since I couldn't get the help and guidance I needed, I looked for it myself. I read books. I watched videos. I experimented, failed, and then tried again. I kept repeating this cycle until I gathered what I learnt and forged my own unique process.

In looking for help, I became my help.

If I had had a mentor, I would have copied their process. I would have embodied their values and beliefs without questioning them or figuring out my own. But since I worked it out on my own, what I have learnt now is customised to my personality, values, and lifestyle.

Ten years later, I am fine without a mentor. Not that I think I would never need help, but I know I have the ability to figure things out.

Lesson 10 - Now my author life begins.

Last year, I also celebrated ten years of being on this writing journey. What began as a sudden hit of realisation from the gods has now turned into a lifelong devotion to the craft.

In these ten years, I have gone from crying every day because I wasn't able to write a scene to have written over 20 short stories, brief outlines of two novels, over 190 essays, over 30 podcast episodes, two published books, two in the process of publishing, and a handful in the pipeline.

I have gone from a person who knew nothing about writing to becoming a writer others call for advice.

I have gone from having no clue where I am heading and fearing the unknown to knowing exactly where I want to go and how, while staying open to the subtle nudges life brings me.

I have spent ten years of my life as an apprentice to the Writing and Creative Gods. There was blood, sweat, and tears through it all. There was labour without any reward in sight. There was dismantling of my identity and building of a new, improved, and aligned one.

And now I have graduated. I know it; I can feel it. Based on the signs I received throughout last year, I know I am ready for the next step.

The first ten years of my writing life were spent learning how to become a writer. Now, it's time to learn how to become an author.

And there you have it! The 10 Writing and Creative lessons I learnt last year.

What are your thoughts on this? And what are the lessons 2024 taught you? I’d love to hear from you in the comments on Substack and YouTube!

Before we call it a day, I'd like to inform you about the changes the podcast and my Substack newsletter are going through.

You must have noticed the changes in the show's intro. The same has happened in the outro.

I am also working on making the feel of the podcast friendlier and conversational, which is why I encourage you to share your thoughts in the comments or in the form in the show notes.

The Substack newsletter is also seeing some changes, the major one being the name. I am changing the name from Rubina's Bojra to Becoming A Writer. This newsletter is now no longer just about me, it's about us. So I believe the name should suggest so.

Also, I will no longer post essays on Wednesdays—I am saving my words for the books I write.

If you have any other suggestions, feel free to share them with me. The more I improve, the better I can serve you.

Well, that's it for today. Next time we meet, we'll discuss the steps you need to take to make sure you actually write and finish the first draft of your book in this new year.

Until then, keep writing, my friend.

Podcast Outro -

Thank you for catching up with me today.

I hope you found some inspiration to help you grow a deeper relationship with your writer self.

If you enjoyed today’s episode, don’t forget to follow the podcast and drop a review! You can also share any suggestions or questions with me through the form in the show notes.

You can find more conversations like this and download your free Writer's Mental Toolbox PDF at rubinagomes.substack.com.

That’s a wrap for now! See you later!