There’s Practice And Then There’s Prepared Practice

At some point in the near future I need to go into Substack settings and make my articles prettier. I quickly perused the stuff I’ve received from Substack in my inbox and realized how much more there is to the platform beyond writing. The truth is people really do judge books by their cover and mine sucks.

People prefer reading well constructed pretty things.

This may manifest in a few ways.?

Some people like to go hard with the bold.?

Sometimes there is tons of information that gets dumped into a single paragraph. The signal sent is this article is for the avid readers. We aren’t trying to create any pop/digestible content over in these parts. There will be in-depth coverage going over every possible angle with all the detail necessary to make a compelling point. The style chosen is deliberate as the content is not for the faint of heart.

All that to say is now that I have a foundation there is a lot for me to build on to succeed as a writer.

You need to write for yourself but also the platform you are writing for

I get real life feedback from people that say I can write well.

It’s never solicited and it feels authentic. The few times something I’ve written has blown past my social circles I was also complimented for my skill. Someone even thought that I had used AI once, which I took in a pleasant way.

The problem I now face is how to crack the algorithms.?

For one thing I don’t focus on titles like I’m supposed to. I don’t take the time to read other people’s stuff with a critical eye. There is 0 tactic theft happening for me at the moment.

Since Substack is where I’m calling my home, it makes sense that I learn how to write for the Substack audience.?

It’s important for me to learn who exists here and what makes them want to share other people’s content.?

My goal this year is to write every day and given my current workload it’s all I can handle consistently.

Thankfully as the year goes on I should be able to unlock the time necessary to learn new skills.

Until I learn how to write for Substack I can’t be shocked if my content don’t pop.?

Adapting your message for each platform is where mastery is born

When you truly understand what you are writing about, you’ll be able to convert that message to fit onto any platform.

You’ll be able to compress the top-level points into Tweets. You’ll be able to convert the lessons into a fact based lead-gen post on LinkedIn. You’ll be able to write a script for a video essay off the premise of your research alone.

All that comes with the caveat that you know the rules for writing in each format.?

Most of this boils down to style.?

Some platforms prefer short, to the point sentences with lots of emojis (LinkedIn, Facebook).?

Some platforms are verbose and let you get into all kinds of details (Substack, Medium).?

There are all kinds of platforms that let you write in all kinds of ways. You need to be able to tackle most of them appropriately. To do that follow the easy 2-step formula:

1. Find posts that perform well
2. Study what they do differently than you

As you ingest successful content, you will start to develop the writing habits that make sense for your work on that platform.?

It’s basically the art of selling out to the format’s algorithm while keeping the content real deal.

There are no shortcuts to this learning curve, there is only practice & preparation

Even my limited success on SubStack so far has provided me with some data.?

Once I hit 90 articles I can go look at the 10 that performed the best. Then I look at the worst performing ones. Then I can do more of the stuff that worked and less of what didn’t.

The more I practice titling and structure I will stumble onto the format that works for the content I produce.?

As people start to comment and interact more with my work, I can learn from it.?

The practice part is clear however to really get better I need to focus on preparation.

Nicolas Cole in his book The Art and Business of Online Writing: How To Beat The Game of Capturing And Keeping Attention put forth an exercise one can take to always have titles ready.

I haven’t gotten around to it and while I keep writing, I clearly am not growing.

One of these days I’ll do some edibles and just lock in and work on titles. Once I get that initial list done, I won’t keep going through the “what do I write about? “phase.?

Preparation matters as much as practice does. Preparing lets you focus where the practice should go. They are pieces of a bigger puzzle.?

Unfortunately for me part of preparation requires taking the time to study.

It’s on you to figure out how to fit something into your life

I want to be a writer and in order to be a writer I need to make time for all the aspects that go into writing.

This year has been busy for me as I work 2 main gigs with extra hustles and do some podcasts. While some don’t like the hustle life, this has been quite liberating for my spirit. I feel like I’m moving towards my goals.

That is until I realize I’m rarely home, with free time, doing some of the research and other “at home” tasks I keep neglecting.

In some ways it’s like I’m stuck in a hustle and while my money is moving in the direction I want, I’m otherwise stuck.

This is perhaps the curse of where I’m at until my debt is clear.

I can still practice writing daily so that when the time comes to optimize, I’m not starting from zero. It’s been a hustle to find the time to write a solid 1000 words every day. I’ve missed 2 days in total since Dec 30th, 2023, and I’m real proud of that.?

There have been sacrifices, mostly video games. I still never finished Phantom Liberty.?

I want to make money writing more than I want to make money playing video games. So I must put my time where I think the value will be. You make the choice to practice something every moment, lazy or productive.

I will get past this busy year and be better for it, but until I can make the time to improve, the status quo is what it will be.

Live Long and Prosper Everyone