How to Find Enough Content to Write At Least Two Articles Every Day

The prolific writing secret every commercial writer should learn

Most days I write at least two articles. This is how I get enough reader-traction to earn four-figures a month. On the other days I write three to five. Some are scheduled for later publishing. Others are sent to publications as bonus content.

I’m able to write over a million words of content per year without running out of content, even though I choose to write for a particular tribe and don’t vary my topics beyond my people.

How am I able to pull an endless stream of content from the ether?

The process is simple, but it does take a bit of pre-work — and a secret. First, the secret. If you want to be a prolific content creator, the bulk of the brain-work is done before you sit in the chair.

What you put it is what you have the capacity to put out.

If you don’t stuff enough of the good things in your mind, you won’t have enough daily food in their to write an endless stream of content to serve your readers.

We need to make ourselves the Netflix of our tribe.

If a reader wants to binge-read our content, we better be there to provide.

Therefore, we’ve got to have the good stuff in so the good stuff ends on the page. Where the good stuff comes from depends on your niche.

I read 100 books a year, some paper, some audio. I also subscribe to a dozen different podcasts, I read a ton of news, and anything else I can get my hands on throughout the day. I’m a content junkie. I read stuff I like. I ignore the stuff I don’t. I try to read both sides of the argument.

But consuming content isn’t enough.

Not only must we put the good stuff in, but we also need an endless stream of article titles to spark our daily writing sessions.

I keep my content list in my phone. I love paper notebooks. I use them for my to-dos and daily journaling. But the best way I’ve found (for me) to maintain and endless list of articles — is a simple, check-boxed, phone list.

What makes a great article?

Ha, that’s the million-dollar question. I’ve written many successes and even more failures. I never go into an article saying, “this time I’ll write a hit.” Instead, I follow a daily, blue-collar writing process. The work is the process. I write from the best idea I can think of today and tomorrow I’ll write a new best idea.

But there is a method you can follow that will help your writing gain a lot more fans.

Think about your reader as you create your content. Think of the best way you can take her from the position she’s in now, to the place she wants to be. Take her through the steps — a, b, c, d. The title of the article explains the transformation she’ll get if she reads (and follows) your content.

This is what makes a great article.

These are the articles I like to read.

Every time I’ve tried to get clever or stream-of-thought, my readership has shown me I was wrong. I course-correct and return to transformation again.

You don’t have to save someone’s health, or show them how to organize a closet, to provide transformation. Any problem can have a transformation. We don’t like something we’ve got right now. You have a secret recipe to share. If we follow the recipe, our current something will change.

The final secret is purpose.

What is the purpose of your content strategy. I believe every commercial writer should think about their purpose. The content-alone shouldn’t be the end of the game. The content is a tool.

I use my content generation to grow my tribe, earn their trust, and provide so much value they can’t ignore me.

I don’t want to trade hours for dollars, so I make sure my content encourages the most-avid members of my tribe to become part of my email platform.

Email is critical if you want to build a commercial indie publishing business.

Whether you write books, create courses, or do freelance content writing — email is your insurance policy against invisibility. Never entrust all your income to someone else’s platform. You can lose it overnight with the flick of an algorithm.

I’m grateful for all I earn through my content, but I’m under no illusion that the money could disappear tomorrow.

Email will save you from that income drop.

The time to build that list, is now. These are your future readers.

This should be a list you own (instead of relying on social media or some other big-business platform). Tap the link below. Enroll in my Tribe 1K indie email masterclass. I’ll show you how to get your first 1,000 subscribers (and your next 1,000) without spending one hot nickel on ads.

We’re waiting for you.

Enroll in my Free Email Masterclass. Get Your First 1,000 Subscribers

August Birch (AKA the Book Mechanic) is both a fiction and non-fiction author from Michigan, USA. As a self-appointed guardian of writers and creators, August teaches indies how to make work that sells and how to sell more of that work once it’s created. When he’s not writing or thinking about writing, August carries a pocket knife and shaves his head with a safety razor.