Hello! Happy new year! What a perfect time to be introducing Word Barista Blog to the world! I would like to share what inspired me to start this blog, what it’s all about, and my plans for its future.
So… What is Word Barista Blog?
I asked myself that same question for months, and while I was able to come up with many different answers and cool ideas I wasn’t satisfied with any of them. Until today that is!
Before I had the inspiration for the Blog title, logo, and branding ideas, my Substack was actually just named “Mike’s Writing”. I knew I had a passion for sharing my ideas and thoughts but I didn’t know quite how I wanted to do that yet. A close friend of mine, Dante, had just started writing on Substack (which at the time I had never heard of) and recommended I try it.
Before that, I had already set up an Upwork to start taking on some small freelance writing tasks.
Before that, I was researching copywriting.
Before that, I was writing an educational E-book.
When I decided to try out Substack, my first idea was to write flash fiction.
Then I created a Twitter because I thought it would be fun to try writing on Social Media whilst also promoting myself. But while I was doing that, I decided I needed something a little stronger than “Mike’s Newsletter” to promote. Eventually, I came up with the idea of titling my new substack “Word Barista Blog”
I chose that name because I wanted the flexibility to write about different topics I was interested in without restricting myself to any single niche. I love coffee, and I liked the idea of being able to “Blend Genres” in the same blog. But deep down, I think I knew it would be difficult to be successful with such a wide scope of writing. Maybe it would work as a portfolio, but not as a blog.
For my first few months of attempting to become a writer, I was a messy ball of unorganized and unfinished projects. Despite trying several different writing styles and niches, I still hadn’t found one I loved or was great at. But during those first months, my significant other (a freelance graphic designer) watched silently in the background. For Christmas, she gave me a copy of “So You Want To Be A Writer: How to get started (while you still have a day job)” by Allison Tait and Valerie Khoo. That book changed everything for me. I haven’t read the whole book yet, but one of the first chapters finally helped me find the answer to my question! I finally decided what I wanted Word Barista Blog to be!
The aforementioned chapter was about choosing a writing style, like creative writing versus content writing. But while I was reading, I asked myself if I really needed to pick just one style. What if I wanted to try multiple styles? And that’s when I realized I could blog about my journey as a writer! Doing this would allow me to:
Maintain the flexibility to experiment with different styles and niches on my own.
Write specific and consistent content on the blog about becoming a writer.
Help other new writers going through similar initial struggles.
Share what worked, and what didn’t work for me.
Share the nuances between the writing styles I try.
Share tools, tips, and resources.
Write unique and genuine content.
That is what this blog is all about. Writing, helping, and sharing. It’s about the gory details, unpleasant moments, failures, hardships, and struggles that new writers might experience. And it’s equally about the successes, happy moments, and good times. I hate to do this, but it’s about the journey (not the destination)!
A Glimpse into the Future
I’m not afraid to admit that I’m not an expert writer. Honestly, I’m excited to be able to admit that! I never liked my English classes in grade school, I didn’t start reading seriously until last year, my college education was in computer science, and my current full-time job has nothing to do with either literature or computer science. Yet here I am blogging, trying to write both fiction and non-fiction, writing on social media, and researching copywriting.
In the future I want to capture all my initial struggles and successes as a writer across different styles and niches, then put them on display here for other writers like you! I want you to be able to take home something valuable that will help you with your own writing. And for any seasoned writers reading this, I hope that maybe I can help you find some new ideas or inspiration.
Above all else, the most important thing I have learned in my first few months of trying to become a writer is the value of community. We all learn from each other to some capacity. Whether that be through classes, blogs, podcasts, or other books. All of that content was written by another writer! After all, Hemingway didn’t learn to write on his own! He read books by famous authors and surrounded himself with some of the most influential writers of his time.
I hope that this blog will someday bring together a beautiful community of writers from all types of backgrounds, experience levels, and styles where we can all meet amazing, like-minded people and learn from each other!
One last comment! I currently have no plans to monetize Word Barista Blog. However, if I change my mind in the future it will be 100% free for all current subscribers. Subscribe now while it’s free!