17 Eye-Opening Truths That’ll Give You An Edge Over 93% Of Writers
Insights that exploded my growth and sustained my writing
I wrote 145,000 words in 2023.
This brought me a little bit of success and a mountain of valuable lessons. I’m going to download 17 of my best writing insights for you. This will give you the mindset you need to thrive in 2024.
Ready? Let’s go.
Most of your writing will flop
I thought I’d cracked it.
I’d had a few posts go viral. I imagined I’d discovered the secret sauce. But when I tried to repeat the trick it didn’t work. The difference between a failure and one that resonates is small. It’s a mixture of luck and timing.
The top writers don’t go viral every time. So don’t expect you will. Accept most of your writing will flop. But keep writing anyway.
You can make good money as a writer
I work full-time so money isn’t my main driver for writing. But I’ve been paid to ghostwrite and freelance (without asking). People have offered me money to coach.
All writing isn’t equal though. It’s only when you offer value and solve a real problem that people will pay you for it. But when you do. Trust me. They will pay you well.
The best writing makes people’s lives easier
You don’t write to give people more information.
Your purpose is to inspire self-belief. Save people time. Show them how to do something. To be useful.
Leave your ego at the door and serve your readers. Think about them more often. Imagine their life. What are their struggles? Why haven’t they taken action already? Inspire them. Build their confidence.
It’s never about you.
Writing never gets easy
You’ll have good seasons. Times when you get in the flow. Churning out fresh content. The flow of ideas never seems to stop. But it won’t be long before you have a tough day. And weeks when every word is painful to write.
You never crack writing. Enjoy the good seasons. Persist in the bad ones.
Writing is demanding
It’s tiring and requires your best hours.
Don’t offer your leftovers. Identify when you’re at your best and write then. Close all apps. Put your phone in another room. Use a site blocker (I go Cold Turkey). Put your headphones on. Set a timer for 60 minutes.
And write the best stuff you can.
It’s okay to repeat yourself
This is essential.
When you find something that resonates. Reuse that idea. You don’t need a new truth every week. Listen to the data. Your readers are literally telling you what to write about.
When stuck look at your old stuff and rewrite it for your new audience.
Most people don’t have what it takes
It sounds easy.
Write consistently over a long time and you are basically guaranteed success. But most people can’t do this. Everyone who started when I did has disappeared. This means two things:
- It’s harder than you think.
- You should feel incredible about yourself when you keep going.
Because you are already in the top 5%.
You don’t need to earn money writing
It’s ok to do it for fun.
Get clear on why you write. You may not care about Medium earnings. Or be interested in ghostwriting. Don’t get lured down a path you don’t want. Full-time writing isn’t the Bali experience everyone claims. Money distorts the joy. And creates its own pressures.
Write for your audience but let writing serve your desires.
It takes longer than you think to find success
Commit to writing every day for 12 months.
(at least)
The best way to find success is to forget about it. Think years not weeks.
Write for one
You’re desperate for readers.
But you’ll struggle to resonate if you write for everyone. Throwing your net wide means you catch no one. Write for one person. Visualise who they are. Focus on their pain and their dreams. This will bring clarity and power to your writing.
And give you a small chance of catching the masses.
Keep it tight
Readers are impatient.
Waste their time with bloated sentences and they’ll go elsewhere. Edit every piece with an eye for what you can delete. Be direct and definite in your language. Remove probably’s and maybe’s. Shorten your paragraphs. Slip in a few 1 sentence paragraphs to deliver more value.
And stop showing off with your fancy words. Say what you mean. Brilliant writers paint vivid pictures with clear examples.
Simple wins.
Write what you want
If you are not excited and energised by what you’re writing. No one else will be. You’ll sound more interesting and be more consistent when you feel that tingle in your fingers.
Don’t be an arrogant idiot and ignore what readers want. But go where your energy is.
Give more time to headlines and hooks
You’ve heard this a thousand times. But do you do it?
Your title and first sentence have to grab attention. You can be snobbish in your desire to avoid clickbait. But you’ll suffer the consequence of obscurity. Keep an eye out for tricks others use. Learn how to capture attention.
Never shortcut time on headlines and hooks.
Learn to think
Your status is higher than you think.
You’re a leader, a thought-shaper, a therapist and a personal coach. Words are simply the tool you use. So give time to thinking. Ask great questions. Read quality books. Walk or journal to process your insights. Spend time with interesting people.
Great writing is the overflow of great thoughts.
Say the unexpected
If you want to get noticed. Stop parroting what everyone else is saying. Ask yourself what is being missed. In what ways is this not true? Work out what you think. Say that.
Online writing must be entertaining. The quickest way to do this is be unexpected.
Say one thing
Beginners try to cram everything they know into one post. More is never better. Have something to say. Create intrigue in your intro. Make your point. Illustrate it. Inspire with your conclusion. Then stop writing.
Make every sentence relevant to the single, central problem you are tackling.
Take it less seriously
Take the pressure off yourself and just write. Stop stressing about every piece. You’ll be writing 100s this year. So do your best. Publish. Then forget about it.
Your writing career doesn’t hinge on one article. So you can relax a little.
I’ve gained 4500 followers in 10 months. You can discover my writing system here: