I launched my blog in 2018 and I could count only my family as readers.
Five years later, I’m still writing online everyday as a journalist, two-time author, and blogger — and my work has been read by millions.
Today I’m sharing five dead-simple ways to supercharge your writing and skip some of the trial-and-error I made when I first started.
1. Bulletproof your routine using only 1 sentence.
You won’t follow a writing routine unless it’s specific and concrete. Boiling it down to one sentence prevents it from becoming unwieldy or too broad.
If your plan is simply, “I will write everyday,” then you will fail. It’s too vague.
A better plan is: “I will write every morning.”
But even that lacks detail. The more specificity you pack into your single sentence, the more likely it is you can fulfill that aim.
Give it a time of day, place, and duration, so it looks something like this: “I will write for 15 minutes starting at 9:00 AM everyday, sitting at the desk in my living room.”
2. Stick to 1 platform at a time
I started my journey on my own blog, but also expanded to Medium and Quora. I spread myself too thin right off the bat, and that slowed down my progress in mastering any one platform.
Doing too much, too soon is how you drown yourself with overwhelm, and it makes it hard to stay consistent and build a body of work.
Start with bite-sized goals, and commit to a specific volume of work. Eventually, you can scale that goal on the same platform over time.
Currently, I’m focused on writing daily on Twitter — short-form, punchy language squeezed into 140-character blurbs. Since I’ve written thousands of articles and relatively few tweets, it’s a new challenge. I find it harder than long-form articles.
3. Become a prolific idea generator
Most writers and creators struggle with writer’s block, and it doesn’t just afflict industry veterans.
Writer’s block usually prevents an outpour of content and ideas, which means it cuts off your ability to build a portfolio of online writing.
The best way to get over writer’s block is to become a master at generating ideas. You can do this by simply asking yourself what problems you currently face, and then solving them in public via writing.
Think of one problem you’re trying to solve, then write about your steps, thought-process, and goals surrounding this issue.
A good problem provides:
- A project and puzzle you can try and complete
- Ideas for producing content
- A magnet for a niche audience that is on the same journey as you
People are starving for solutions they can replicate. Solve your problems in public and your idea pipeline will never run dry.
4. Use high-impact language
Writing online means you have a split second to catch someone’s attention. Today, everyone has too many options for what to read and click.
High-impact language packs a punch. You can do that with short sentences.
And short words.
And simple statements.
Avoid big words, complex sentences, and scientific or business jargon. Few want to read something online that they can’t skim.
Here’s the key: Big words don’t make you sound smart. They make you lose readers.
5. Get comfortable with bad writing
I mentioned writer’s block above as it relates to idea generation. But it’s also possible to be insecure about your work to the point where you refuse to publish anything.
That clogs your work flow and prevents you from building up a high volume of work.
The solution? You should not only get extremely comfortable with bad writing, but you should expect it.
Crush your own expectations of perfection so you can keep the ball rolling. To produce good ideas, you have to slog through many, many bad ones.
That means the best path forward is writing out everything — even your half-baked, weaker words.
Embracing bad writing will help you get over yourself and minimize insecurity.
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