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Abstract

ive to a happier state of mind.</p><p id="fea2">And what could be for your readers a better way to network than starting following you and joining your mailing list?</p><h1 id="45fc">Frequency matters more than intensity.</h1><p id="db16">Maybe contrary to our intuition, having many positive experiences is better than having a fantastically positive one.</p><p id="dff9">That’s why you should publish regularly. The more, the better! We’re assuming here that your articles are a positive experience for the readers.</p><h1 id="5b17">Entice your readers into meditation.</h1><p id="75e8">Don’t talk gibberish, be opaque instead.</p><p id="10b9">Do use complicated words in your articles. Make your Flesch reading-test score go down. Use words that aren’t among the 5,000 most common. Pro-tip, use words of Latin etymology, even though this last one derives from ancient Greek.</p><p id="dd5f">Readers will stop and meditate on the true meaning (purport) of your words.</p><h1 id="307e">Give your readers physical exercise.</h1><p id="147f">I don’t see any better way than writing long articles. Readers will have to scroll their way through it, exercising fingers or thumbs along the way.</p><h1 id="4413">Help your readers to fall asleep.</h1><p id="d3e2">Getting enough sleep is key to live a better and happier life, according to the HBR (and many others).</p><p id="753e">That’s a tricky one, however. You want to be boring enough for your reader to get a good night’s rest, but not so much that they won’t finish your articles.</p><h1 id="dcf3">Invite readers to practice altruism.</h1><p id="7822">That one is easy. According to Merriam-Webster, altruism is “unselfish regard for or devotion to the welfare of others.”</p><p id="a70b">What’s fitting this definition more than giving 50 claps to an article that was mild

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ly interesting to you? (Go ahead, show me your altruism!)</p><h1 id="d3e4">Encourage readers to be grateful.</h1><p id="2c8d">Just write some more. Indeed, all your articles are a gift to your readers, after all. Upon reading them, they can’t feel anything but appreciation and gratitude.</p><p id="434c">According to the HBR we should, twice a week, write down three things we’re grateful for and tell someone why. That must be why Internet gave us the comment section.</p><h1 id="f6de">How to be happy — recap.</h1><p id="cdd9">All the ideas presented so far apply to writers as well. Let’s quickly go through them from a writer’s perspective:</p><ul><li><b>Network </b>(and get valuable feedback from your peers)</li><li><b>Frequency over intensity</b> (writing every day 300 words is better than 10,000 once a month)</li><li><b>Take challenges</b> (for example, writing prompts, they develop creativity)</li><li><b>Meditate</b> (especially when you’re blocked, it helps refocus)</li><li><b>Get physical exercise</b> (good for creativity, for example)</li><li><b>Sleep well</b> (and dream of your next articles or chapters)</li><li><b>Practice altruism </b>(review work of others and gain some insights from it)</li><li><b>Practice gratefulness</b> (write beautiful thank you letters to Santa Claus or your parents)</li></ul><p id="a7ba"><b>PS: Answer to the riddle — why 59?</b></p><p id="93ba"><i>The next number in the <b>intended </b>sequence is 59. It’s the street number of the next station on NYC subway line 6.</i></p><p id="69f3"><i>But, following the method in <a href="http://mathforum.org/library/drmath/view/56864.html">this article</a>, you could design (an infinite number of) sequences that would respect the first numbers given and return any number of your choice as the next one.</i></p></article></body>

How to Make Your Readers Happy?

And yourself at the same time

I must say I’m biased as I particularly like to read humor or satire oriented articles. They make me smile or laugh depending on how good they are; they make me happy.

But you don’t necessarily need to be funny to make your readers happy (and coming back for more).

The Harvard Business Review explained it all in an article titled “The Science Behind the Smile.” The authors identify 8 behaviors as the sources of happiness.

Here are how you can apply them to your writings and make your readers happier.

Challenge the readers.

In the earlier days of online writing, you could have directly challenged the readers. As in “I dare you to read this post till the end.” It’s too late for that. It’s not working anymore. We all learned our lessons.

For modern readers like us, riddles taken from a Stanford course on Human Behavioral Biology can do the trick:

Which number completes this series: 14, 23, 28, 33, 42, 51, (.)?

Many riddles are out there; keep in mind to reveal the answer only at the end of your article (in the sequence above, it’s 59).

Invite your readers to develop their networks.

Having rich networks and many social connections is conducive to a happier state of mind.

And what could be for your readers a better way to network than starting following you and joining your mailing list?

Frequency matters more than intensity.

Maybe contrary to our intuition, having many positive experiences is better than having a fantastically positive one.

That’s why you should publish regularly. The more, the better! We’re assuming here that your articles are a positive experience for the readers.

Entice your readers into meditation.

Don’t talk gibberish, be opaque instead.

Do use complicated words in your articles. Make your Flesch reading-test score go down. Use words that aren’t among the 5,000 most common. Pro-tip, use words of Latin etymology, even though this last one derives from ancient Greek.

Readers will stop and meditate on the true meaning (purport) of your words.

Give your readers physical exercise.

I don’t see any better way than writing long articles. Readers will have to scroll their way through it, exercising fingers or thumbs along the way.

Help your readers to fall asleep.

Getting enough sleep is key to live a better and happier life, according to the HBR (and many others).

That’s a tricky one, however. You want to be boring enough for your reader to get a good night’s rest, but not so much that they won’t finish your articles.

Invite readers to practice altruism.

That one is easy. According to Merriam-Webster, altruism is “unselfish regard for or devotion to the welfare of others.”

What’s fitting this definition more than giving 50 claps to an article that was mildly interesting to you? (Go ahead, show me your altruism!)

Encourage readers to be grateful.

Just write some more. Indeed, all your articles are a gift to your readers, after all. Upon reading them, they can’t feel anything but appreciation and gratitude.

According to the HBR we should, twice a week, write down three things we’re grateful for and tell someone why. That must be why Internet gave us the comment section.

How to be happy — recap.

All the ideas presented so far apply to writers as well. Let’s quickly go through them from a writer’s perspective:

Network (and get valuable feedback from your peers)
Frequency over intensity (writing every day 300 words is better than 10,000 once a month)
Take challenges (for example, writing prompts, they develop creativity)
Meditate (especially when you’re blocked, it helps refocus)
Get physical exercise (good for creativity, for example)
Sleep well (and dream of your next articles or chapters)
Practice altruism (review work of others and gain some insights from it)
Practice gratefulness (write beautiful thank you letters to Santa Claus or your parents)

PS: Answer to the riddle — why 59?

The next number in the intended sequence is 59. It’s the street number of the next station on NYC subway line 6.

But, following the method in this article, you could design (an infinite number of) sequences that would respect the first numbers given and return any number of your choice as the next one.