What Do You Want Your Writing to Do?
Give it a job, before you even create it
Before creating each new article, post or newsletter, I decide exactly what I want my writing to do. I give it a job. Sometimes I give it two or three, and then I design it in such a way that it keeps doing that job, long after I post it.
Generally, I’ll be aiming to do one or more of the following:
Share a message
Teach something
Inspire action
Make my readers laugh
Make my readers think
Attract new subscribers/followers
Sell a product
Get people to do something very specific (click a link, download a freebie, sign a petition, abandon a prejudice, or embrace a new way of thinking)
Your writing can have more than one job. It usually will. Good writing that makes people laugh or think will attract new followers or subscribers. Writing that teaches something or shares an important message will tend to inspire action.
The more intentional you are, the more you can achieve, with just a single piece of writing.
What are you creating today, and what’s its job?
Some thoughts from others I’ve been enjoying this week
I Tripled My Part-Time Writing Earnings With This Substack-Medium Hybrid from
&You’re Closer To Success Than You Think from
Why Your Substack Might Need a Strategy Overhaul from
&
What else I’ve been up to this week
Reading: The Minimalist Budget by by Simeon Lindstrom (free on Kindle Unlimited)
Listening to: Reading Like A Writer by Francine Prose (on Audible)
Making: A new Benable list - Books For Writers
This week’s Medium posts
(Friend links, as always, so you can read for free.)
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