I wasn’t an expert in anything and I’ve always suffered from imposter syndrome. The guilt of a failed business in my 20s has stayed with me too.
When I discovered writing online by accident, because a guy named Joel asked me to write on his website, everything in my life changed.
While working a dead-end banking job I’d stay up late or wake up early to write on social media.
For the first 5 years I didn’t make much progress. In years 5–10 my writing online has been more successful than I thought it could be. It’s let me quit my job and do it full-time.
If I’d quit these things below, I could have got traction with my writing far sooner than I did.
If you’re a writer struggling to get traction, these things will help you get more writing breakthroughs faster, so you can finally build an audience and monetize.
Asking gatekeepers in tight jeans for permission
Most of the gatekeepers are drastically under-qualified.
Or they’re so bad at what they do that being a mall cop gatekeeper was the only low-paying job they could find.
What helped me was when I stopped paying attention to publication owners and kissing the a$$es of writing platform staff.
This shift happened when I made it a habit to look up gatekeepers on LinkedIn. Often, what I’d find is they had no online audience themselves and had changed jobs regularly because they never managed to add much value.
Or they had one viral article 10 years ago and now use that as the reason for them to dish out harsh criticisms to people like me. Someone’s career history tells you a lot about them.
Stop asking for permission and write on permissionless social media.
Using popular shortcuts that seem smart
Let’s get controversial.
The internet is full of writing hacks. I’m not supposed to say this but here goes…
- Engagement pods
- Trading comments
- You like my essay and I’ll like yours
- Buying bot comments/likes to make your engagement look higher
I’ve made this mistake so you don’t have to. None of this stuff works. The only cheat code is to write helpful stuff humans want to read and let them click the share button if they think it’s good.
You can’t jam your writing down people’s throats and expect them to read it — and pay for it.
Quit being a circus clown. No more hacks. No more trying to cheat because you’re only cheating yourself. Instead, get better at digital writing.
Digital writing:
- Writing great headlines/hooks
- Copywriting
- Being more concise
- Getting to the point faster
- Telling well-formatted stories
- Using better images
- Making subheadings mini-headlines
- Engaging with the comments on your posts to generate more genuine conversation
- Backing up points with research
- Structuring sentences so they rhyme and become more memorable
- Using a stronger writer’s voice
Digital writers get more traction. It’s more human writing that respects people’s attention and saves them time. Learn it.
Only writing on one platform
I started out only writing in one place.
It seemed smart. My audience grew quickly. Then the platform started randomly banning people. They tried to play god.
They banned certain topics. They labeled articles “misinformation” because they could. And they let their political beliefs shape how they ran the platform. It taught me a valuable lesson.
After this moment I started writing in more than one place. When I copped a temporary ban or got sick of controlling platforms, I could just write elsewhere.
The best thing I ever did was not rely on one platform.
Instead, I spent all my time and energy building an email list so I own the audience instead of rent it from a big tech company that doesn’t give a fudge about me.
Build an owned audience. Treat social media like a rented apartment with an angry landlord who keeps randomly raising the rent.
Switching writing platforms every few weeks
There are always new places to write.
The temptation to go from Bluesky to Mastodon to Farcaster all in one week because some random says “it’s the place to be” wasted years of my life. Most startup social media apps don’t stay in business. They make big promises, underdeliver, and run out of money or go out of fashion.
Assume the place you write right now will go bankrupt.
This is why I’ve always spent my time on platforms like LinkedIn/X. They’ve been around for decades and will be around for many more.
Comparing my progress to other writers
The vanity metrics of writing make you feel like cr*p.
There’s always someone with more likes, comments, or followers than you. Someone is always going viral — and it’s not you. This used to hold me back.
Now I ignore it. A lot of these so-called successful writers are gaming the system anyway. They’re using ghostwriters, buying mass comments on their posts, and doing a bunch of other shady sh*t.
I just stay in my lane. No hacks, no gimmicks.
Being famous and/or viral is a nightmare. Just be yourself. Go at your own pace. And don’t worry about what everyone else is doing — they’re not you.
Trying to go viral
I used to think I could make my writing go viral.
A certain photo. A specific type of headline. Posting at a certain time. Getting Brad Pitt to share my essay on his Instabam.
Looking back, I was foolish.
The definition of virality is that it’s a random occurrence. So trying to manufacture it is just stupid. You don’t have mind control powers and can’t make someone love an idea or essay.
If you write for long enough you’ll experience virality. But don’t try and aim for it because it’s impossible.
Never getting external feedback
For the first 5 years I wrote in a dark bedroom by myself.
I’d write, edit, then hit publish a few minutes later. Often my work would be full of spelling errors or there’d be entire sections that made no sense.
I eventually got the gift of writing with a group of other writers and trading feedback on their essays for feedback on mine.
They often see errors in my writing that I can’t see. And they’re great at helping me make a piece of writing shorter and simpler.
Write in wolf packs. Edit each other’s work.
Playing stupid lottery games
I once got paid $500 USD by a platform to write an article.
It felt like winning the lottery. I deluded myself into expecting more of these paydays. I didn’t get another one.
All platforms offer lottery-like incentives. Don’t fall for them. And dare to do the math of the lottery game you’re tempted by.
In my use case, I figured out there were tens of thousands of writers and only a hundred or less opportunities every month to write these $500 pieces. So instead…
Focus on incentives and making money in ways that are predictable and repeatable. In other words, treat writing like a real business because it is.
Trying to be the fortune-teller who studies the algorithm
Other than X, no other platform shares publicly how their algorithm works. So anyone who says they understand the algorithm is lying. And…these algorithms change daily.
Hint: the algorithm isn’t stopping you from being successful. You are.
Algorithms focus on distributing quality work that’s shareable. So write stuff people want to read and share and you’ll do well. And quit being an algorithm fortune-teller who wears their underwear around their head.
Final Thought
If you give up these things above, I’m confident you can get traction with writing. But if you fall into these traps like most writers do, it’ll probably only ever be a hobby. Choose wisely.
