Jan 19, 2022
This Is My System for Consistently Putting Out Content as a Digital Writer
Doing anything consistently requires a system or framework developed specifically for you. You can’t rely on your willpower every time. You need to reduce all friction and make it a seamless process.
My system has evolved since I joined #ship30for30 and it will continue to evolve as I continue through the program and even beyond that.
The system is never perfect. It’s an ongoing experiment where you:
Iterate. Reflect. And improve. And the cycle continues.
Complete the whole process in under an hour
There are multiple steps that happen before and after the writing that are as important if not more. While I make sure everything takes less than an hour, I usually don’t complete all the steps in one sitting. Doing everything sequentially can sometimes take more time for me.
What happens before writing (5 minutes)
I have a growing list of ideas that I review every night before going to be. I pick 3 ideas for the next day and in the morning I pick the one that I have more to say about.
What happens during writing (20–25 minutes)
I don’t use templates. I get overwhelmed if I don’t follow the template 100%. I have my own process for quickly going from an empty page to having a rough structure with a few words on it.
I start by answering three questions. What is it about? Who is it for? Why is it important to them?
Then I write 3 to 5 sentences to capture the main ideas I want to talk about. I write everything I can think of under each section without deleting or editing.
What happens after writing (20–25 minutes)
I restructure the text, complete incomplete sentences, and remove as much as possible to keep it between 250 to 300 words. I then finalize the headline and publish the essay.
