The Ultimate System to Streamline Your Writing Success
Steal it from me and make it work for you, I don’t mind.
When I was a kid, following directions was never my strong suit. Probably because I was an energetic maniac looking for something fun to sink my teeth into (not literally).
Nowadays, I can’t live without a good step-by-step. What I would do without one of those instruction manuals for the parted Ikea desk, I do not know.
The thing is, systems just work.
If you could systematically run your life, it would make things a whole lot easier. So why not do the same thing for your writing?
As soon as I started implementing systems for my scripted thoughts, I started pumping out more content; faster, easier, and with far more quality.
If that sounds like something interesting and you want to use the same one as I do, follow along. I made this up myself and you can do it too.
See what works and what doesn’t, keep whatever you need, change whatever you don’t. No hard feelings.
The ultimate system to streamline your writing success
First things first. Any guesses?
Yup, you got it.
TITLE AND SUBTITLE
Yes, I know, everybody freaks out about having the perfect title to make everyone and their grandma read their precious article.
I’m in a similar boat, but it isn’t that deep.
I try to do two simple things with my title:
- Create curiosity
- Promise value (and deliver it later)
Let’s dive into the first one as I think it’s most important.
The first obstacle you face as a writer is getting people to click on your words. You have to give them a reason to do it. There is a lot of stimuli out there so making an impression on the reader is vital.
Therefore, create a little curiosity. Take the title above for example.
The article you’re reading right now is called, “The Ultimate System to Streamline Your Writing Success.”
As the reader, what do I think when I hear that?
“hmm, I wonder what the system is. Since I want to streamline my success as a writer, I should probably check it out.”
That creates curiosity. Simple! Each day, try to come up with a few headlines that do this. Answer the curiosity question as you go.
Next up, I like to promise value. Again, in this article, I am promising you a writing system to succeed as a writer. We will be getting into the structural details next so be sure not to miss out.
For clarity, you as the reader are about to receive something of value.
As for the subtitle; I am less worried about it usually. I still think it matters and can be a good tool for SEO purposes, but I usually like to make it a continuation of the title. I honestly just try to make it sound good.
In this article, I told you to steal it from me and make it your own. Also, that I don’t mind.
If you’re going to do anything with your subtitle, make it something friendly or useful. It should counteract the assertiveness of your title.
SYSTEMATIC STRUCTURE
The structure of your article is imperative. Without it, your reader will be all over the place. Here’s how I like to set mine up:
You can also see how I use the style in this article you’re currently reading. You’ll notice that I like to change it up and get a little creative, so you can do as you please to make it your own.
With that said, I’ll walk you through the structure of my system.
We went over the title and subtitle, so obviously start with that. You can change or edit it to fit the article as your write. Don’t think otherwise, because sometimes the article takes a turn as it’s being written and the title may need to be adjusted.
Next is the picture, which should convey the emotion or theme you wish for the reader to experience. This is another important element in convincing the viewer to deem your article as click-worthy.
After that, I try to simply entertain the reader with a taste of either personal experience or something thought-provoking. It should be a mild intro so just try to hook them in any way you can.
I like to then repeat my title and dive into the meat and potatoes of the article. You can see how I did this up above.
I put my main points in title font all listed out before I start, and then I just fill it all in! The screenshot should help you visualize this and you can find it in any of my articles. Pay attention to others too!
I finish off with a takeaway or some final thoughts and slap a footer on it!
Not so difficult was it?
REVISIONS AND EDITING
Now, I like to step away for a while after I do the initial drafting. I’ll usually come back and do some revisions or read it through and fix things as I go.
Typically, this will happen one or two times until I think it is publishable.
After that, the only thing I have to do is run it through Grammarly and read it over through and through to make sure nothing slipped through the cracks.
Voilá!
MARKETING AND TAGS
Tags are über important. They add discoverability to your article which is one of the most impactful decisions concerning your success as a writer.
You can use your SEO skills and also research how to get millions of views from using marketing strategies.
Medium will show you how many followers a tag has and the more the merrier. Use these tags in your articles and make them related to what you talked about.
The tags I’m using for this article are: Writing, Writing Tips, Productivity, Blogging, and Marketing.
I also recently added a Twitter strategy to my marketing efforts. I post threads highlighting my articles and link to the original posting at the end of the thread.
Final thoughts
The moral of the story here is that you need to act with a purpose. When you use a system like the one detailed above, it helps in maintaining consistency.
Readers like that. It’s almost as if you are holding their hand the whole way through. You don’t want their eyes to dance around the page losing focus, you want them paying attention to your words.
Develop or use a system to keep them there. It will help you in the long run.
Takeaway
The system!
The takeaway is the system! Let’s recap:
- Make a good title that provokes curiosity (choose a compelling image)
- Set up your draft with a systematic structure (then fill it in)
- Revise and edit until you arrive at perfection
- Don’t forget to use good tags and market your hard work
Last but by no means least, speak from the heart. Even if you don’t follow this system word for word, if you can manage to speak from your heart with a little bit of strategy, I think you will be successful as a writer.
Also, remember this can be used for any and all of your beautiful writing, not just for Medium!
Now get out there and write ASAP!
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