I have a few rules & habits that help me with my writing and specifically to write more efficiently, more often whilst not compromising on the quality of my content.
These rules & habits have especially helped considering that I publish through so many different channels: this blog, my newsletter, the PublicBeta blog, Medium, Svbtle and everywhere else that I guest-post from time-to-time.
Here's the random list of things that help me:
1. Using Markdown
I write using Markdown, because I don't like removing my hands from the keyboard whilst writing or when I'm in the zone.
2. Avoiding Planning
I (mostly) never plan to write and mostly try to produce the content well in advance of any "deadline". Instead I write when the inspiration hits.
3. Take Notes
If I can't write when the inspiration hits, I use this cool little app to effortlessly collect my thoughts. Later when I review those little notes, I write whatever sparks my interest. (Which also means that some of those notes never turn into actual articles.)
4. Get it into Draft
When writing longer articles that I anticipate revising a couple of times before, I use Draft to help me make progress on those improvements to my content. If it's shorter form content, I write in whatever application or interface that seems best at that moment.
5. Writing for Myself
I mostly never write with an end-goal in mind. First and foremost I write for myself. So if it helps me to communicate these thoughts, I assume that others (whether it is 1 or 1000) will find it valuable too.
6. Be Open to Prompts
I'm open to any kind of prompt that might inspire me to write. Sometimes when I've helped someone via e-mail and I get a "thanks that was very helpful" response, I use that validation to publish a post about that. This post about kickstarting your blog was one such example.
7. 1000 Words
I try to stick to writing at least 1000 words a day. Sometimes that means that I just have an open Draft and I just add words, phrases or paragraphs there as thoughts pop into my mind. Most of the things I've written there has never been published, but if I can get the bad words out of my head, I'm bound to stumble onto a few good one's soon. :)
Did You Enjoy This Post?
If you did, here's some related links from my "Best Of"-collection that you might enjoy as well:
- Stop Being The Writer You're Not, Just fucking write whatever you want and that'll be great.
- Writing For Myself, Start by writing for yourself. It's like therapy, but better.