Publish 7 Articles a Month
I didn’t think I could do it.
But I did. A little bit at a time. And sometimes one article all at once. I used a great strategy that landed in my email inbox one day from Tim Denning — when you think of a good headline, email it to yourself.
Why does this work better than keeping it in my notes app? Because I see it again later when I check my email. It reminds me to migrate it to a draft.
When you do put it in a draft, write the first sentence. The thing that made you think about writing that headline in the first place usually makes a good one.
Now write like you’re talking to someone and you’re telling them everything you think that could possibly be interesting that would fit under that headline.
Nice work. You’re basically halfway done. Don’t even think about deep edits or misspellings. This draft had my as ym the first time around. I didn’t go back to fix it.
Now, this is a critical moment. You may have done everything you felt that you need to do for the first draft. Either stop and celebrate the work you completed or give a glance at what you’ve already written. No deep edits. Just fix a thing here or there.
Let it marinate. You’re going to think of amazing stuff to put in this article, write it down on a note or keep it in the back of your mind.
Return to the piece over the next few days and try to turn it into something you are ready to publish. But not too ready! You’re not going for a Pulitzer prize here, you’re trying to publish good work, often.
Give it some final edits. This is where I beat myself up a little.
“Wow, that was a painful way to say that.”
“Big thesaurus guy, eh?”
“Why did you even say that to begin with?”
Chances are you’re a little bit critical of your own voice when you edit a draft. Good. Just don’t let it stop you from writing in the first place.
Publish it.
If you’re like me, you don’t really have to contend with too many comments on your work. You’re pretty much done at this point.
If you have the energy, start thinking up that next headline or revise another draft. Work on this process and you’ll be ready to publish multiple pieces every month.