OK, unlike my previous writings in Bahasa Indonesia, at this time I'm trying to write an article or essay in English. Please, don't get me wrong. I didn't mean to show you that I'm very good at English. No, I'm just an English teacher who have been teaching this subject since 2008 and been writing 3 books about English (published by an Indonesian publisher). My English is not perfect. The main reason I wrote this essay is just because I want to practice my writing skill. OK, here we go...
It seems that many people like to be a writer nowadays, especially during this pandemic when every one is forced to be stayed at home. I think that's OK. In fact, it's very good because we can use our time to do something positive: writing. What would you like to write? Fiction or non-fiction? What is your favorite topic: social, culture, life style, hobby, traveling, religion, philosophy, or anything else? I'm sure every topic is nice as long as we have enough knowledge about that topic.
How many writing works should we write every day? One? Two? Three? Or more? I guess there's no certain limit about it. Just make sure we write it in happy mood and positive feelings. Why? Because the feelings inside ourselves somehow can be seen through the works we have written. Moreover, positive ideas usually come out from positive feelings by the time we start our writing. In the end, our readers can get positive feelings too aside from the good content we try to deliver from our works.
Does the heavier the topic mean the better we are as a writer? No, don't even think about that. Political-type writers are not better (or worse) than life style-type writer. Classical music writers are not more intellect (or dumb) than pop music writers. Just write something we like and never assume that you're smarter than other writer or readers. Of course, we absolutely need to know the basic rules of writing, especially related with good capability in both vocabulary and grammar (any language). That's because our readers are not stupid. Some of them are linguists or editors.
How about the length of our writing? Well, I guess it depends on the media's regulations to whom we'd like to send our works. I myself prefer to write short and simple writing because I'm sure most of the readers are busy people who don't have much time to read long writing. Besides, long-type writings don't always mean the work is good nor the writer is smart.
OK, let's say we'd better write medium-length writing, that is not too long or too short. How many words, then? Well, that's very relative. Just read enough books or articles, then we'll know the length of writing we should write. It's very subjective. I mean, every writer will know the limit naturally.
Lastly -- to avoid you from becoming bored in reading this essay-- try to be a good writer. OK, what is he/she like? Firstly, a good writer is never assuming themselves as "better" or "smarter" person than other people. Secondly, a good writer is a good reader. We must make reading as one of our hobbies. It's up to you how many books/articles you read every week. I guess there's no certain limit for that. Thirdly, a good writer --especially in Indonesia-- should have other side job(s). It's not only because we still cannot earn enough money from writing, but also we can broaden or knowledge by having more friends from various of jobs.
I think, that's all. Sorry if my English is not as good as you might expect. Just like I said, simple and short writings are sometimes better. Anyway, am I already a good writer? Hmm... I just like to think that I always try to be one.