How To Make More Time To Write And Compel More People To Read It

Answering the two biggest challenges us writers face today

About a month ago, I instituted a fancy new set of submission guidelines for my publication, The Ascent; within them, I added a new author request form.

In an attempt to learn a little more about our incoming writing talent, I added the following optional question to the form:

What’s the biggest challenge you have in your business, career, or life right now?

I was genuinely curious about what most people’s answers would be. After all, the question was rather philosophical, and definitely a little broad. I thought, “Who knows? Maybe I can help somebody.”

Fun fact: I borrowed the question from bestselling author, Lewis Howes, whom I met briefly in 2011 in New York City, and whose story I recently encountered again while reading Crushing It! by Gary Vaynerchuk.

As expected, I received a smattering of answers that were all over the board; things like trying to follow a new career path or land the right job, balancing time between work and home… everything, really.

But out of the 325 new authors who have already filled out the form (yeah, a lot of people are starting to write things on Medium), two very specific answers have already emerged:

1. Becoming more consistent with my writing.
2. Gaining more exposure for my written work.

Even knowing that everyone who would come to fill out this form over time would be an aspiring writer, this still came as a bit of a surprise to me.

Was this really the biggest challenge these people were all facing in their lives?

I recognize that it’s entirely possible that most of these individuals simply answered the question in the context of how it was presented (i.e., in a writer’s request form), whereas others took it as broadly as intended.

Regardless, in my opinion, these are very much the two questions that plague myself and most writers I know — how do I make more time to write, and how do I get more people to read what I’ve written?

Well, given my experience, I think I can help provide a few solutions.

Time is what we want most, but what we use worst.

Before I dive in here, let me ask you a question: Do you know anyone who has categorically mastered the management of time?

Me neither. As 21st century human beings, we all really kind of suck at it…

But here is what I do know:

• We all have the same 24 hours in a day.
• The best time to do something is now.
• You don’t find time for things; you make it.

There are tons of articles on this very platform that are engineered to provide helpful tips and information on productivity and time management…

And the truth is, you and I could each read every single one and still suck at both.

So, how do you become more consistent with your writing, then? Well, here are some suggestions you might just be willing to try:

1. Eliminate every distraction you can actively control.

I’ve spoken recently about how we could all be more intentional with what we consume, share, and create online. Well, when it comes to digital distractions, we could certainly afford to be more intentional there as well.

A while back, I turned off almost all notifications on my phone. Everything that wasn’t from a messaging app or financial institution was deemed unimportant in what I’ve come to call my new algorithm. I missed nothing.

Nicolas Cole even recommends taking things a step further, advising to turn off your phone altogether whenever you’re trying to write:

“The more times I am pulled out of the flow, the longer it takes for me to write a piece.”

If your primary goal is to make more time to write, start freeing some up by rendering more of it uninterrupted. That time will add up; use it wisely.

2. Keep a running list of ideas as you have them.

This one has been another game changer for me. Every time I read, watch, listen to, or dream up something, I open up my phone and jot it down.

Then, whenever I sit down to write, I recall my running list of notes, select a topic, and I’m off to the races. Sometimes, this act even inspires a new topic.

The idea is to cut down on the time it takes you to commit to a specific story. When you sit down to write, you’re there to write, not to try and recall the same kernels of ideas and inspiration you had hours, days, or even weeks ago.

3. Make time to write at least something every day.

I understand that for many of us, no two days are ever exactly the same; but for the far majority, they really kind of are.

Whether you have a morning routine, a daily commute, summer Fridays, or every other weekend off, chances are, you have time to write consistently.

I’m all for the idea of setting goals in the form of articles per week or words per day, but to start out, just try to write something every single day.

Ayodeji Awosika recommends writing at the same time each day, even:

“Being a prolific writer requires a lunchpail and steel-toed boots kind of attitude.”

Even if you only have an hour or two per day when you first start out, make them count. Over time, you will have become a more consistent writer.

Capturing attention is easy; Keeping interest is hard.

Okay, as a marketer by trade, this is where I really excel. Everyone wants to get more eyes on their work. That’s why writers do things like submit articles to publications, build email lists, and sign up for new social media platforms.

Distribution is a numbers game, just like writing more consistently is; but it’s also a relationship game, too. The more robotic you are, the less you win.

The key is understanding the trade-off that exists between how you can help someone and how they can help you.

As a writer, you tend to come into your own once you start considering who the primary audience for each article you intend to publish is going to be.

Whenever you write a new piece, ask yourself the following questions:

1. Who is my intended audience for this post?
2. Who is most likely to gain value from consuming this information?
3. Where do these people spend the bulk of their time?

Once you’re clear on the answers to each, it’s time to create a value exchange. In the same way I asked new writers what their biggest challenge was above, it should be your goal to reach out to as many people who comprise your audience as possible and basically do the same thing.

Or, as Michael Thompson so eloquently put it:

“Make life easier for the people you admire.”

Let your audience know you actually care.

Start by letting each person know that you’re a writer who recently drafted a post on X that you really thought they would love. Then, tell them why you admire what they’re doing and ask if there’s anything you can do to help.

Does this take more time? Yes.

Does this create more work for you? Absolutely.

But here’s the thing: It will end up being much more effective than doing what everyone else does, and it has the residual effect of solid networking.

Provide value without any expectation of receiving it in return. If you do that enough times, you will get a ton of new eyes on your content.

Whatever you do, do not take shortcuts.

This tactic works to a higher degree of certainty simply because us humans are able to recognize when somebody is spamming us versus going out of their way to do something nice, intentionally.

This is not a copy/paste type of strategy.

Smedian has a tool called Signal that “auto-tweets your articles on repeat to help you share your stories and grow your audience on your schedule.” I love the tools Smedian provides, but could not disagree with this concept more.

Having built a rather sizable presence on Twitter over the last decade, I can honestly tell you that taking these types of shortcuts is an utter waste of everyone’s time. Trust me when I say every one of those tweets will get ignored.

Instead, invest that time into creating meaningful relationships, one-by-one. You can supplement your outreach with content, but try to keep that same sentiment in mind. Utilize each platform the way it was meant to be used.

Obviously, this is the other half of the puzzle that requires you to make more time. After all, it is extremely easy for a writer to mail it in when it comes to distribution. Don’t. Do whatever you can to leverage your time wisely.

Hold interest by improving the quality of your work over time.

After you’ve gained others’ attention through writing, keep going with your work. Mastering any craft takes practice, so don’t get hung up on details.

Consume information that will help you alongside that which you are creating. Once you have 100 articles under your belt, for instance, you will be able to physically go back and see how far you’ve actually come.

Things like grammar, punctuation, and formatting are always important elements to master as a writer, but each can be perfected along the way just like articulating thoughtful ideas and utilizing intelligent platform hacks can.

Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there as a writer. The market — the world — will let you know what they think of your content either by their engagement or lack thereof.

Once you start to gain engagement on your articles, more ideas will inevitably surface. If you don’t see any interest right away, you won’t have lost anything; you’ll have gained the perspective that you just need more practice.

Either way, I consider that a winning situation, and once you hone your skills utilizing the information laid out above, I hope you will too.

Before you know it, your greatest challenge as a fledgling writer will be making time to write even more.