Why I write online

In 2019, I was frustrated.?

I was reading many books, but remembering what I read was another story. I could say, “hey, I read this book,” but communicating what I read to other people constantly drew a blank.?

Why was it that things I read seemed so vivid when I closed the book, but slipped through my mind when I tried talking about them to other people?

"Well, why not write about the books you read?"?

While browsing Instagram, I came across a niche community called bookstagram; readers who start Instagram accounts to talk about all things bookish. From reviewing books they enjoy, taking part in themed reading challenges and finding creative ways to relate books to other parts of their lives,?

I was hooked.

It was the perfect way to solve the problem I was facing of remembering what I read while plugging into a supportive community while practicing my photography skills.?

I started off with simple posts of my Kindle against a plain background. Nothing remotely eye-catching, but it was a start. It was my experiment of learning in public, noting down things I read and sharing those reflections in public.?

Two years later, I still turn to that mindset when I approach any form of personal writing.

To date, my journey into bookstagram became my most dedicated foray into writing online.?I’ve started blogs in the past and written on Medium, but those writing projects always fizzled out after a few months.?

This one, however, stuck.?

My bookstagram account has led to many opportunities and real-life friend connections. I connect with people in Singapore, but also around the world about books.

I’ve joined book clubs of smart, thoughtful readers, which have opened worlds of their own.?

All because I started writing online consistently.

A year later, I took David Perell’s Write of Passage course, which redefined my entire paradigm of writing and sharing ideas online. It taught me to see beyond the metrics-focused world of content marketing into deep, meaningful connections with individuals.?

The Internet can be a wonderful place.?

With a press of a button, your ideas and thoughts online get shared with legions of people. These thoughts live on a searchable index of information, attracting like-minded people to consume your ideas, sparking immense possibility.?

Even better; writing online is inexpensive. You don’t need to have an immense following to reap the benefits.

Why write online? Here’s three reasons.

1. I write to think better

Have you experienced a gulf between what you want to say and what you’re actually saying??

A perfectly formed argument that makes sense in your head.?

But it all falls apart when you try to structure your thoughts into coherent sentences.?

For me, writing forces me to disentangle these threads of half-formed thoughts and turn it into coherent paragraphs that express my ideas.?

To do that, I need to sit with my thoughts and my research material. You read, you absorb, take notes and synthesize the material to structure it into an interesting argument.?

This only comes with time and discipline to confront the limits of your own knowledge and thinking. Give yourself time to head down the rabbit holes of the topic you’re investigating.?

But don’t just stop there.?

Distill all that learning and research into published writing. It could be a long-form essay, Twitter thread, a thoughtful caption on Instagram. Only then will you find out how clear your thinking really is.?

“I’m encouraging each one of you to have (a blog). Not to have a blog to make money, because you probably won’t. Not to have a blog, because you’ll have millions and millions of readers, because you probably won’t. But to have a blog because of the discipline it gives you, to know that you’re going to write something tomorrow. Something that might not be read by many people — it doesn’t matter — it will be read by you. If you can build that up, you will begin to think more clearly. You will make predictions. You will make assertions. You will make connections.?

— Seth Godin - podcast interview?

If writing is the act of putting your abstract ideas into concrete words and phrases, the focused act of writing helps you plan your thoughts and get them out of your head.

I feel like a stuck dam when I stop writing - full of stagnant water, begging to be released.?

If I stop exercising my idea generation muscle through writing, I find it more challenging to develop new ideas. Even sitting down and going into your own mind to create something becomes more painful.?

2. I write to contribute to the community and people around me.?

Write about what you’ve learned and put it in public.?

You may think we have expressed before all valid points about a topic and you have nothing original to contribute.

I like to think of it as chord combinations in music.?

There’s only 4,017 possible chords on the music scale, but it’s how these chords are voiced, the timbres, instrument combinations, texture driven by the unique voice of the musician that makes them sound unique.

Same as writing containing ‘unoriginal’ ideas.?

It’s your unique voice and perspective that makes it different from other existing literature on the topic.

Even if it was unoriginal, you writing about an idea that’s covered before helps in its discovery.

Even if only one person learns something from your article, you’ll feel great, and that you’ve contributed — even if just a little bit — to this amazing community that we’re all constantly learning from. And if no one reads your article, then that’s also okay. That voice telling you that people are just sitting somewhere watching our every step and judging us based on the popularity of our writing is a big fat pathetic attention-needing liar. - Sara Soueidan

3. I write to skip the small talk

Meeting new people without context sucks.

What do you talk about? How do you know what the person likes or dislikes? What are they passionate about? Can you connect with them??

By publishing your ideas online, people now have a way to reference what you are passionate about. It even gives you a concrete way to show your passions and expertise.

In March, I connected with fellow Foster community member Chiara Cokieng after seeing her article about how she used Craft, an unknown note-taking app at that time as her personal knowledge management system.?

We hopped on an enriching ‘curiosity conversation’ where we chatted about note-taking, writing and her experience living overseas and she asked me about some of my essay topics as well.?

With a blog, your blog posts become conversation starters. You have more nuanced conversations with like-minded people. With a blog, you attract others with similar interests and others get an idea of your personality.?

You can skip the small talk because you already know the person's personality and interests and get to the meatier bits.?

You don’t need a big audience to reap the benefits of writing online.?

In fact, I’ll call having a small audience an advantage when writing for yourself online

We marvel at big publications and writers. But it isn’t the only model for success for writing online.?

As a content marketer, I think of engagement as numbers; likes, comments, shares, email subscribers, and social media followers.

Higher month-on-month goals and growth are worthy goals, but they shouldn’t be the only measure of success when you're writing for yourself.

Having a small audience means you can experiment with topics. Explore the vastness of your mind and interests. Write like you’re speaking to your friends. Get better at writing.?

Instead of yearning for a bigger email list, more Twitter or Instagram followers and chasing metrics, what about optimising for thoughtful engagement??

Here’s how I’ll define thoughtful engagement:

• Rekindling old friendships
• Connecting with people usually out of your social circles.?
• Deeper conversations with new people arising from something you wrote
• A reader left a comment on one of your essays that sparked a new perspective

All this starts from finding something you’re keen to learn and share more about, and putting it out online to attract thoughtful engagement.?

Writer Tom Critchlow calls this the small b blogging model in this amazing essay where his writing gets a relatively small number of page views, but led to amazing connections, opportunities and stories he references often in conversations.?

“It’s a virtuous cycle of making interesting connections while also being a way to clarify and strengthen my own ideas. I’m not reaching a big audience by any measure, but the direct impact and benefit is material.”

Okay Joshua, I hear you about the benefits of writing online. But hang on, isn’t blogging dead??

Yes, countless blogs are started and abandoned.

As much as we say that it’s okay if no one reads our writing online, there’s still an inner voice that craves recognition and exposure.?

Maybe I speak for myself, but if I truly wanted no one to read my writing, I wouldn’t be writing in a public domain. Instead, I’ll be writing in a private journal. I find it better to acknowledge that desire for recognition and discoverability.?

Maybe you feel this way too. And in a world designed for more, it’s easy to be disheartened when you see page views in the single or double-digit domains.

But there’s value in speaking to a smaller audience.?

You don’t need to have over 100k Twitter followers and thousands of email subscribers to share your ideas with your audience. Even a smaller, intimate group of personal friends and subscribers is a great audience to have.?

I’ve had my email subscribers (many of whom are my personal friends or former colleagues) talk to me about something I wrote in my newsletter, sparking a lively conversation.?

And even if you don’t have an audience and no one reads your blog, does it mean you’ve failed??

No.

You still reap the benefits of constructing your thoughts and putting them online.

And perhaps the most important benefit of writing consistently:

Writing consistently develops discipline.

Developing and shipping ideas becomes easier through routine.?

In January, I took part in the #Ship30for30 daily writing challenge.?

Its premise was simple. Ship an atomic essay of up to 250 words, every day.?

A daily writing challenge was empowering and freeing. The pressure of shipping regularly forces you to get ideas out in the open and put them in a digestible format. It didn’t matter how big your audience was, all that mattered was if you shipped an atomic essay today.

Perfection wasn’t the aim.?

Good enough and consistency of habit is.?

If you’ve always wanted to write online but aren’t sure where to start:?

I’ll give some tips that worked for me:?

• Is there a burning topic/topics that you’re passionate about? For me, that was about reading, thinking about books and reading other people’s thoughts on books. Think about the stuff you can’t stop talking about, or the rabbit holes you’re naturally drawn to. If you aren’t sure what you want to write about, think of something you want to learn more about and explore. It’s fine if you don’t know it or change tracks halfway, sometimes you need to explore to find out if you love them.
• Is there an existing community on the Internet that is passionate about the same thing? When you’re starting out as a writer online, you’ll feel you’re shouting in the void. Yes, some writers love the solitary aspect of writing, but as I’ve covered above, if you feel the desire to write online in public, there will be some part of you who wants your work to be seen. Plugging into an existing community online (e.g the bookstagram community, movie communities) makes this part significantly easier. You meet people on your own terms who love talking about the things you love to talk about. They become the early readers of your work, provide feedback and encouragement - something every new writer may thrive on.?
• What is the creative medium that works for you? I thrive writing long-form essays, but I got started with shorter captions on Instagram. Instagram also got me to combine my love for photography and writing in a fluid way. Twitter works for the written word. Podcasts work for people who aren’t shy about hearing their own voice. I recommend working with a medium you see yourself comfortable working with and interacting with fellow creators.
• Finally, have fun! It takes time and effort to write. But remember to have fun. Try not to see it as a chore, rather see it as an opportunity to explore your own brain. Writing gives you a voice, a way to reference your own thinking. These thoughts become intellectual assets that compound over time. How cool is that?

Resources to get started with writing online:

Some of my favourite resources that sparked my writing journey?

The Ultimate Guide to Writing Online - David Perell: the original inspiration for this collection of notes. This guide distills his writing philosophy into readable, yet actionable information. A must-read. Also, check out his 50 days of writing email series.?

Why You Should Start a Blog Right Now - Alexey Guzey: another one that changed my perspective of online writing?

Measure what matters: this spoke to me on how to reconcile traditional digital marketing metrics with the mindset of a writer; forging deep connections with people who you want to attract.?

The small b blogging model: “chase interesting ideas over page views and scale”. Another perspective on going mass media versus an independent voice oozing with your personality.?

Embrace your small audience:?this one turns the perspective of having a smaller audience on its head.

Originally posted on my personal blog: