The 4 Most Powerful Habits for a Nonfiction Writer
Want to grow, right?
There are four very effective actions you can take to write more fluently; to draw more attention to your work, in as little as a few minutes; to write with more focus. After writing online for almost two years I’ve found these four so helpful in growing me.
I promise to explain the four most effective habits for any nonfiction writer.
Attracting 10x More Readers
The day was as it always was. The sun was shining brighter as we were coming out of winter, though, being the only difference.
Pay had been slashed across the board, essentials were becoming evermore scarce, and I was getting sick and tired of it – of the lack of any excitement or progress. I felt like a waste.
So, I finally made a decision, one that said ‘no more’ to time-wasting:
… I joined Substack.
I published my first Note to the web in a few seconds.
And it turned out, I was raking in hidden gems. 561 people read my post. More than seventy interacted in some way – liked, commented, shared – to show their support. On the other place I would’ve had about ten views.
So how astronomical of an increase is that? We don’t even need to do the math.
I felt over the moon when I saw the results, knowing I can finally achieve something. I know there is hope now – it is possible to go viral.
That is why publishing Notes on Substack is the first extraordinarily useful habit.
- It’s super easy
- You rake in traction
- You get to summarise your ideas
Anyone who doesn’t spend just a few seconds to get new readers in the door is missing out on queues and queues.
Wouldn’t you want to find out how fluent your sentence really is? Wouldn’t you want to look through your reader’s eye to stop any mistakes?
Well, you can.
It’s simple: all you have to do is read over a sentence after you’ve wrote it.
So many writers are in the trap that a good writer needs to edit. Not true. Rather than having to inspect a whole piece, just make sure the sentence is suitable there and then.
It saves time and makes sure your sentence sounds nice to read. It’s what I do.
Being A More Productive Writer
I used to write a little, a lot throughout the day. Being consistent, I was. Yeah, in a world where being consistent is the minimum.
Because I did my writing in such small batches, so to speak, I couldn’t get into ‘the zone’: a productive state. I was constantly going for breaks, instead of putting them all together (when possible) to keep disruption at a minimum.
The third habit is to do as much writing as possible in big blocks. An hour straight is better than twelve ridiculous five-minute sessions, because you would hardly get anything done.
Do I also need to give some kind of expository on why writers should read books?
I’ll keep it brief.
- You get ideas for content
- You might remember old words you forgot
Those are the two main benefits for us as writers but I could go on forever about everything else on knowledge, general literacy, etc.
Keep writing, keep achieving.
Actions:
- Take advantage of Substack while it’s growing – write Notes
- Read a sentence after you write it
- Write in bigger chunks of time with no interruption
- Read books
