The Difficulty of Intermediacy

People are often scared to begin a new endeavor because of the difficulty of it. If you have never written before and have no formal training in it, you are probably going to be overwhelmed with all the knowledge you don't know.

Being a beginner, though, is pretty easy. All you have to do is find somebody willing to teach, and listen to them. You will also need to practice and think about the teachings and really put in effort, but as a beginner, your sole duty is to absorb.

Once you have been at it for a while, you reach the stage of intermediacy. As an intermediate, you now have knowledge and experience. You have learned lessons and developed your techniques, as well as your endurance. You have a fair amount to talk about. You can share your experiences with beginners or swap stories with fellow intermediates.

When you're in the middle, you are generally part of the club (as opposed to a beginner, who is often seen as testing out the waters), but you are by no means a master. You still have plenty to learn, as well as acquiring more experience.

This is where the difficulty of intermediacy kicks in. You totally can talk and share because you are not a beginner, but you can still benefit from being quiet and listening to others to learn from them. You now have the additional task of figuring out when it would be beneficial to talk and when you are better off listening.

It is good experience in itself, though. As an intermediate, you are somewhat on your own to figure out the balance between teaching and learning. As you progress through the tiers, you will increasingly require more independence and self-confidence, so this beginning part is a great start.