4 Simple Things I Do to Help Me Write 1,400+ Articles for Past 3 Years

They help. Really.

Sarina lamented about this to me before.

“How did you do this? Like, this is 1 article daily? Like, what do you do to write this volume?”

It was an interesting question, one that Denis shared.

To be honest… there is nothing special.

I do these 4 [simple] things daily.

And it might not be writing, per se.

I don’t know how you do it.

And yes, you have my respect [utmost respect] if you, actually, write, daily. Man, you are good. I cannot.

I need rhythmic breaks in between. Therefore, I avoid writing daily.

But that does not mean I don’t think about writing daily.

Big difference.

The craft of writing, per se, is the final 30% of creative work. It captures our thoughts and expresses them in ways others can relate to.

Copywriting, hooks, punchlines, storylines, yadda yadda, they belong to the last 30%.

They happen when we write. This is what many writers I know focus on.

Me? Not so.

I care about the idea, the message, and the story I put out.

They are larger-than-life topics [to me] like money struggles, retirement stories, personal finance, and workplace mechanics. They swim in my head during my waking hours.

Because they are important, so,

• I work on them.
• I study them extensively.
• I write a lot about them.

And — this is an important point — I know such topics are heavy-hearted.

They invite left-swiping action if it is boring. So, I spend time thinking about the package.

And you might ask.

What is that?

The package = 4 elements of my writing

In short, they are,

• People,
• Conversations,
• Regrets,
• Stories.

My articles have a heavy human orientation. I use this anchor to package facts, boring rules, and hard-to-deliver financial struggles.

Factual delivery can suck the life out of our readers.

So, I try not to be boring. I try.

These 4 elements help.

1* People

People are interested in people.

Strangely enough… that brings me to Artificial Intelligence.

Many writers are already using ChatGPT to ‘type’ their articles. I am neutral about that. After all, that is a tool, and it is open for use.

Why not use it? Sure man. More power to you.

But we must know what Generative AI is good at.

I think… we have no chance writing about facts and make a living. Current affairs, maybe. Facts, nope.

ChatGPT can spit out more words than Encyclopedia Britannica, Wikipedia, and all history books combined.

And. ChatGPT can do so at record speed.

I won’t bother about facts.

Do I trust what ChatGPT spits out? Now, that is a different issue. Not every reader fact-checks. That is a sad fact, unfortunately.

That doesn’t mean ChatGPT is irrelevant. It has flaws as a product, and it will continue to evolve for the better.

That is why I focus on people, not facts.

We are naturally interested in people.

• We want to know how our admired boss got there.
• We seek the writing secrets of our respectable Top Dogs.
• We want to learn from Warren Buffett to become rich and tap dance to work.

I imagine it is the same for you.

Right?

2* On conversations [and articles]

Books get me to think.

Conversations? Same.

Every conversation I am involved with triggers my curiosity bomb.

I want to know why you say what you did and why you publish what you did.

Let’s imagine you wrote this.

‘5 Things I Learned from a Millionaire Electrician’

This headline, this hook…

… works on me.

Here’s why.

• There might be something I don’t know.
• I want to figure out how an electrician made it.
• I want to find out whether investing plays a big part in his journey and if so, how?

I have simple thinking.

If someone else made it with their methods — I may, too.

There must be 1, 2, or 3 stupidly simple tips I can [steal and] port over to my personal finance journey.

And yes, articles are conversations.

I believe in that.

3* Regrets

Ahh~ This one~

I am sure you have one. Or a ton.

Are you in your 20s? 30s? 40s?

If you have a boat of regrets at your age, imagine people in their 60s, 70s, 80s.

How many regrets do they have?

100? 500? 1,000?

What if we can learn about these regrets and prevent them from happening?

Wouldn’t that help us live a better life?

I think so.

That is why I write what I write.

4* Stories

Life experiences are stories.

Your life experience is an untold story.

And you will eventually tell your story to your family. Why? Because the young will ask you.

• “What did you study in university, Papa?”
• “Is there a reason you chose to become a consultant?”
• “Do you think you can retire by 65?”

You will tell your story, right?

You believe your life story will help your family, especially the younger ones, to make better life decisions, right?

Then…

Why not publish it to the world and benefit the young outside your family?

Everyone seeks clarity.

Life is never easy.

Your story helps.

The close

I use these 4 elements to produce a repository of 1,400+ articles.

In brief, curiosity pushed me to write what I write and what I believe in.

You can, too.

Article inspired by a conversation between Sarina Chiu, Denis Gorbunov, and Matt | Financial Imagineer

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