WRITING
My First Year As a Writer
A writers story — 7 lessons after 12 months as a part-time writer
It recently dawned on me that in a week from now I’ll reach a milestone as a part-time writer — my first year anniversary.
Since November 2019 I’ve written between 6 to 30-plus pieces a month, totalling 232 articles, plus 7 this month and this piece, so 240 in 52 weeks.
Until now I hadn't given much consideration to my output over time. But as I approach my first year anniversary I decided to explore and share.
232 articles + 7 in November & this piece = 240
240 articles / 52 weeks
= 4.6 articles per week
I was surprised that I found the time to write 240 pieces in a year. This was an eye-opener. So it’s quite possible to punch out consistent content as a side-gig while working in a full-time job. If I can do it, you can too.
This article is about the lessons I learned in a year as a part-time writer.
The Beginning
It all began when I published my first piece on November 17th 2019, The Ultimate Guide to Innovation — 3 Types of Innovation. This article represents my first step into the unknown world as a writer. I was hooked.
Since I wrote The Ultimate Guide to Innovation others followed; 239 to be exact, below is a list of some top-performing pieces for your review.
Top Articles
So far 14 articles I’ve written have attracted 1,000+ views, in addition to dozens more with over 500 views. Here are my top 10:
In January 2020 I wrote A New Style of Leadership Is Emerging, which is still my best performing piece, so allow me to drill down into the Top 5.
№1 — Leadership
A New Style of Leadership Is Emerging was quickly accepted and published by The Startup in early-2020.
As you can see it was a decent earner.
№2 Marketing
Then there’s Nando’s Case Study: A Restaurant With Excellent Execution of Basic Marketing Principles which was published by Better Marketing in March 2020.
The Nando’s piece was not a great earner but tops the table for reading time.
№3 — Health
What You Don’t Learn At The Gym was published by The Ascent in January of this year.
This piece about health and fitness is a 4-minute read that I wrote in less than half an hour, so probably my best in terms of return on investment.
№4 — Entrepreneurship
The Top 7 Mistakes I Learned From Hundreds of Entrepreneurs was also published by The Ascent late last year, in December 2019.
The “Top 7 Mistakes…” was my first semi-viral piece.
№5 — Business
The Difference Between Toxic Micromanagers and Leaders was published by Dr Mehmet Yildiz in ILLUMINATION.
As of today, this piece sits second for reading time.
Honourable Mention And Data
In recent months a few pieces have threatened to crack my top 10 list, but the article below is showing the most promise so far.
Published by Nicole in the wonderful publication known simply as Publishous, the article entitled Must-Read Books That Can Change the Way You Think is my best performing piece in the last 2 months.
Best month
Last month (October) was my best ever in terms of distribution ratio whereby 7 out of 9 articles, or 78%, were chosen for further promotion.
As you can see Great Leaders Sacrifice Themselves for Those Under Their Watch is gaining traction.
Analysis
As a writer I find the stats function quite helpful to gauge what type of articles appeal to readers. Views correlate to earnings and vice versa, but over the next 12 months I intend to focus on topic and time to perfect engagement.
- Leadership (6 mins)— 27,000 / $1,165.19 = $0.042 per view
- Marketing (18 mins) — 7,400 / $21.83 = $0.002 per view
- Health (4 mins) — 6,600 / $190.25 = $0.028 per view
- Entrepreneurship (7 mins) — 4,600 / $173.68 = $0.037 per view
- Business (6 mins)— 4,400 / $166.62 = $0.037 per view
The sweet spot for me so far is 6–7 minutes reading time based on the best performers above. Do you know your sweet spot?
Traffic
Online traffic is a great indicator of overall appeal. My average monthly traffic tends to hover around 10,000 to 11,000 views a month.
Occasionally my traffic spikes, but I have yet to crack the formula to attract and grow consistent visitors, so work in progress.
For any writer, realtime data shines a light on some of our best work. However, metrics are by no means valid, rather a useful indicator of high-performing online article potential.
Writing Tips
As a rookie-writer, I’ve learned many lessons over the last 12 months, which I’d like to share with you, my fellow readers and writers.
Writing lesson №1 — Write
It’s that simple. Don’t overthink too much as it can lead to inaction, just write. The only cure to the ailment known as writer's block is to write. So write no matter what. The more you write the more you improve. Every experience brings an opportunity to share a story.
“The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.” — Louis L’Amour
Writing lesson №2— Find your flow
Flow is undoubtedly intuitive, unique to all writers. Flow is beyond rational explanation, perhaps beyond words or teaching. It’s difficult to define, but not impossible.
Flow is instinctual, it takes practice to unlock what works best for you. The goal is to train your unconscious mind to achieve a state of conscious flow. As such it takes practise to refine this skill. One strategy is habitual writing as noted in lesson №1 above, plenty of writing with a healthy dose of reading.
“Read a thousand books, and your words will flow like a river.” — Lisa See
Writing lesson №3 — Niche
This boils down to choosing one topic and being very good at it 80% of your time. For the other 20%, do what you like.
“You don’t start out writing good stuff. You start out writing crap and thinking it’s good stuff, and then gradually you get better at it. That’s why I say one of the most valuable traits is persistence.” — Octavia E. Butler
Writing lesson №4— Diversity
As mentioned above, for the other 20% of your time write about any topic outside your field of expertise to expand your thinking and writing agility. Off-topic writing is writers-yoga.
“Writing off-topic is a brilliant way to reach and start biasing that second group of people toward you and your brand.” — Larry Kim
Writing lesson №5—Ebb and flow
Like any discipline, writing has its ups and downs. The best writers learn to surf the waves of ambiguity whether motivation or inspiration is present or not. So accept that your writing will ebb and flow like an ocean.
“There is no rule on how to write. Sometimes it comes easily and perfectly; sometimes it’s like drilling rock and then blasting it out with charges.” — Ernest Hemingway
Writing lesson №6 — Connect and Engage
Our generation has tools to connect and engage with an audience on demand. Shakespeare, Austen, Dickens, Hemingway, Joyce, Wilde or Tolstoy would envy what we have at our fingertips today. So use every channel at your disposal to interact with your readers.
“I’m obsessed with giving the audience something they don’t see coming.” — Jordan Peele
Writing lesson №7— Babble
Like you, I’ve written plenty of junk. But the mountains of below-average articles that we write bring us closer to our masterpiece, so keep it up.
“You don’t start out writing good stuff. You start out writing crap and thinking it’s good stuff, and then gradually you get better at it. That’s why I say one of the most valuable traits is persistence.” — Octavia Estelle Butler
To hone your craft as a writer I’d highly recommend leaning towards quality over quantity, it separates the ordinary from the extraordinary.