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How To Start Writing Online: The Ship 30 for 30 Ultimate Guide
We believe there has never been a better
time in human history to be a writer.
As long as you're a Digital Writer.
Getting Started
Whether you are a legacy writer looking
to transport yourself into the future and
become a Digital Writer, or you
understand the benefits of writing online
but are brand new to writing, this
document will give you everything you
need to know in order to get STARTED.
Becoming a Digital Writer is a journey, but
it's one we have lived ourselves. We have
also helped thousands of writers start
publishing online with our program, Ship
30 for 30—co-founded by Dickie Bush
and Nicolas Cole.
Ship 30 for 30 is a 30-day cruise from
legacy land (Hemingway Harbor), taking
writers on a 5-week journey up the Digital
Coast. Together, we will sail to 8 ports,
each one allowing you to learn the
fundamental building blocks of writing
online. By the end of the journey, you will
no longer live in the legacy writing world.
You will live in the digital world, and your
entire writing trajectory will change
forever.
Once you sail Ship 30 for 30, there's no
going back.
Everything we are about to share with
you, we have tested, proven, and
continue to use & teach every single day.
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These are the fundamental principles and
frameworks for writing online and
becoming a writer in the digital age.
Unfortunately, all beginner writers face
the same 10 overarching problems:
Distractions: "I need to do my
laundry" is a common one. So is, "I
need to give my friend a call" or "I've
been working so hard lately, I could
use a night watching Netflix." There
are an infinite number of distractions,
and writers tend to be masters at
finding distractions to keep them at
bay.‍
Over-editing: Writers love switching
out adjectives, debating, "Should I
say 'amazing' or 'astounding?'" The
short answer is: it doesn't matter. In
fact, one of the first big principles we
teach in Ship 30 for 30 is that, in your
first year of writing online, you
shouldn't worry about editing at all
(and we'll explain why further in this
guide).‍
Perfectionism: Ah, a writer's favorite
excuse. "It's not ready yet." OK, when
will it be ready, then? One of the
biggest obstacles writers need to
overcome early on is realizing that
"perfect" is an unreasonable
milestone. More importantly, aiming
for "perfect" slows you down—so
much so, that other writers who
aren't aiming for perfect end up
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zooming right by you. (Here, we
encourage writers to create "junk,"
and we'll explain what that means a
bit later.)‍
Procrastination: "I'll start writing
tomorrow." We have a saying in Ship
30 for 30, and it goes like this: If you
fall off the ship, that's fine, but just
make sure you don't stay swimming
for 2 days in a row (because your
writing habit will drown and die). The
secret to writing is to train and
nurture your Daily Writing Habit. And
in order to build a Daily Writing Habit,
that means you need to get back on
the ship every single day. If you miss
a day, that's fine. Don't beat yourself
up. But climb aboard and get back at
it tomorrow. Otherwise, too many
"tomorrows" will go by.‍
Self-confidence: How do you build
confidence in yourself as a writer?
You write. It's so simple that it's
complicated. The reason why writers
struggle with self-confidence at the
beginning of their journey is because
they are still sitting on the dock,
waiting, imagining. They haven't yet
confronted the brutal reality that,
once they begin, they probably aren't
going to be great at writing. It's going
to take practice. So in order to
overcome this fear and START
gaining self-confidence, you need to
rip the band-aid off and begin.‍
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Generating ideas: A lot of writers
have this fear that someone is going
to "steal their ideas." But writers who
are afraid of other writers stealing
their ideas are afraid because they
don't know how to create more ideas.
Said differently: they value the ideas
they have SO MUCH because they
don't have the skill of creating more
ideas on command. Well, that's why
we created an Endless Idea
Generator for writers to use anytime
they feel stuck. (We still use the
Endless Idea Generator every single
day with our own writing. Why?
Because it works.)‍
Impostor syndrome: The reason
writers experience Imposter
Syndrome is because we are taught
that writing is all about "fitting in"
where readers already are. It's about
becoming a "better" writer than the
next person—which is what leads to
the feeling of being an imposter. We
don't believe this is a productive path
forward for writers, and instead, we
are going to show you how you can
CREATE your own category as a
writer (not compete against someone
else in their category). After all, how
can you be an imposter if you created
something completely different for
yourself?‍
Writing consistently: Consistency is
the key to success as a writer—and
it's a cliché because it's true. Look at
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any successful writer, author, or even
YouTuber, content creator, musician,
artist, etc. Anyone who has stood the
test of time did so because they were
able to create prolifically over a
prolonged period of time.
Consistency, in itself, is a powerful
differentiator. So if you have trouble
being consistent, don't worry: we
have plenty of exercises that will help
you (and if you know yourself and
feel like you need a community to
help you stay motivated, then we
encourage you to sign up for Ship 30
for 30).‍
Choosing a platform: Where's the
best place to write online? The
honest answer to this question is:
anywhere except your own blog.
Why? Because your own blog doesn't
have a distribution flywheel. No one
knows it exists, and you are 100%
responsible for driving traffic there
yourself. Instead, you want to write in
social publishing environments like
Twitter, Quora, Medium. Or, if you
want to set up a Social Blog, we
encourage you to use Typeshare (so
you get the benefits of both a
personal blog and social distribution).
If you want more insight into why
starting with a blog is NOT the best
place to begin writing online, grab a
copy of Nicolas Cole's, The Art &
Business of Online Writing.‍
How To Start Writing Online: The Ship 30 for 30 Ultimate Guide
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Finding time to write: And of course,
one of the biggest reasons writers
don't write is because they "don't
have time." Well, here's the thing—not
just about writing, but about anything
in life: when it comes to making
progress on things that are important
to us, you don't "find" time. You make
time. We call these hours your Sacred
Hours, and encourage writers to
make time where they are a) most
likely to be productive, but b) least
likely to be disturbed by the outside
world. Your Sacred Hours might be
early in the morning, at lunch, or at
night. But it's on you to pinpoint
them, and then protect them.
If you resonate with any of the above,
don't worry. You're not alone. In fact, you
are part of the majority. These are the
issues keeping MOST people from
clarifying their thoughts, writing them
down, and hitting publish. The good news
is, they're all easy to fix—once you learn a
few basic frameworks for writing in the
digital age.
The question is, where are you in your
journey?
1. Sitting On The Dock
How To Start Writing Online: The Ship 30 for 30 Ultimate Guide
Have you wanted to start writing online,
but aren't sure the first step to take? Are
you overwhelmed with the number of
different platforms, topics, and strategies
out there for writing online?
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2. Sailing A Boat With A Leak
How To Start Writing Online: The Ship 30 for 30 Ultimate Guide
Have you already started writing online,
but now feel stuck? Are you hacking
away at blog posts, publishing into the
void, never gaining any traction?
3. Afraid To Go Sailing!
Or maybe you have plenty of ideas, but
struggle to put yourself out there. Do you
find yourself creating draft after draft,
never hitting publish?
If you are feeling ready to start taking
ACTION, there's no better way than to
dive right into Ship 30 for 30: our cohortbased online course & community
teaching you the fundamentals of
becoming a Digital Writer. But unlike other
writing courses, you will put your
learnings into practice by writing and
publishing online every day for 30 days.
Otherwise, we have put together this
master document for you to get started
on your own.
This is the Ultimate Guide to START
Writing Online.
Want a sneak peek of what
you'll unlock once you hop
aboard?
Click here and we'll send
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you the video of our first live
session!
How To Start Writing Online: The Ship 30 for 30 Ultimate Guide
Our Endless Idea Generator live session will
leave you overwhelmed with ideas to write
about.
Your best email
lijingyuan1116@gmail.com
Send me the video!
Framework #1:
Adopting The
Mindset Of A Digital
Writer
Here are the 5 big benefits of becoming a
Digital Writer:
Rapid-fire Feedback Loops
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Before the Internet, writers had to try to
figure out what worked and what didn't
within their writing with very slow,
manual, squeaky wheel feedback loops. A
writer would work on a draft of their novel
or short story, bring it to the local pub,
and see if any drunkards would be willing
to listen to them read a page or two. How
they learned if the writing was "working"
was whether audience members doubled
over laughing or crying, or found the work
so boring and repulsive they forcibly
shoved a mug o' ale in their faces and told
them to shut it. (Not exactly an easy way
to learn.)
As a result, writers would spend months
or years working a piece of material. Then
wait months (or years) for a magazine or
publishing house to consider it. Then wait
months for editors to comb through it.
Then wait months for the piece to finally
be published. Then wait some more to
gauge the public's reaction.
One entire cycle of feedback could take
anywhere from a year all the way up to a
decade.
In the Digital Age, writers don't have to
suffer this way anymore.
Digital Writers can publish a 280character Tweet and instantly get
feedback as to whether or not their idea
has merit. If it does, and readers are
clearly engaging with it, they know that
idea is worth exploring. And if readers
don't, and their idea falls on deaf ears,
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they know to move on. These rapid-fire
feedback loops have transformed the way
writers learn what works in their writing
and what is engaging audiences.
In fact, there's no reason to spend 1-5+
years working on a piece of writing today,
wondering whether or not readers will like
it. With rapid-fire, digital feedback loops,
you should be able to validate every
single one of your ideas as you write—
allowing you to learn faster, grow your
audience faster, and create a writing style
that engages readers, faster.
How To Start Writing Online: The Ship 30 for 30 Ultimate Guide
Build Your Audience As You
Write Online
The second major benefit to writing
online and living as a Digital Writer is that
instead of working on a piece of writing
and then trying to figure out how to get
people to read it, you can find your
readers as you explore and refine your
ideas.
We call this Practicing In Public.
While most legacy writers focus on
creating a piece of work and then (in the
final hour) scrambling to put a marketing
plan together to attract readers, Digital
Writers build their audiences as they go.
They share snippets on Twitter. They test
excerpts on Quora and Medium. They turn
pieces that clearly engaged readers
online into new book chapters or longform blog posts (like this ultimate guide
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here). They write, publish, gather data,
and double-down on what's working—
and attract readers the whole way.
For example, when Nicolas Cole started
writing a business book with two other
business leaders, they didn't go the
conventional route, seek out a publisher,
and lock themselves in a room for a year
to write their book in private. They
brought their business book idea into the
digital age and started writing book
chapters online as newsletter excerpts.
The result? Their paid newsletter,
Category Pirates, has generated the
same amount of revenue as they would
have received from a book deal, while
simultaneously building an audience of
thousands of readers. By the time the
book comes out, die-hard readers will be
ready to buy it.
This is the power of building an audience
as you write online.
How To Start Writing Online: The Ship 30 for 30 Ultimate Guide
"Scaling Yourself"
Writing online is the most effective way to
scale who you are as a human being.
Think about how many times you meet up
with someone for coffee and repeat the
same stories, the same life details. Think
about how many times you jump on a call
with someone (a friend of a friend, or a
networking opportunity) and give them
the same 30-second background info.
Think about how many times you
manually explain to people—on the
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phone, on Zoom, over lunch or dinner—
aspects of who you are, your past, your
experience, how you think, how you solve
problems, etc.
Every time you write and publish one of
those stories or insights online, what
you're really doing is "scaling yourself."
You're taking a detail of your life you
would otherwise have to manually explain
to someone in conversation and making it
accessible for anyone and everyone
online.
The result?
You are giving people a fundamentally
different understanding of who you are,
how you think, and how you became
"you," from the very beginning. The more
people who know things about you (to
whatever degree you feel comfortable
sharing), the more opportunities will come
your way. The more people will say,
"Wow, I didn't know you did that type or
work" or "Wow, I didn't know you had that
experience," which will prompt them to a)
reach out to you directly in hopes of
bonding over a shared
interest/experience, or b) introduce you
to someone they feel would get a lot out
of connecting with you, and vice versa.
We can't tell you how many times we hear
from Shippers, halfway through Ship 30
for 30, how the simple act of writing and
publishing online prompted someone in
their network to reach out with a job offer,
a potential client, a new friend they
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should meet, a speaking opportunity, and
so on.
All of these rewards come as a result of
"scaling yourself."
Which is as easy as writing & publishing
stories and insights online.
How To Start Writing Online: The Ship 30 for 30 Ultimate Guide
Clarifying Your Thoughts
If writing is a forcing function for thinking,
then writing online is a forcing function for
measuring how your thinking resonates
with readers.
While we certainly believe there are
benefits to using writing to think more
clearly, the real "stress test" happens
once you publish your thinking in the
world. That's when people have an
opportunity to follow your train of
thought, think about it themselves, and
then share their own interpretations. And
you arguably learn more by listening to
the way your writing/thinking resonates
with other people than you do by writing
and thinking about the topic all by
yourself.
Which is why we are such huge
advocates for Practicing In Public.
Building A Library Of
Content (That Pays
Dividends)
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And finally, writing online has
compounding effects that legacy writing
does not.
Every time you hit publish, you are
"spinning the wheel" and playing the
game of Digital Distribution. You have no
idea whether the thing you write &
publish today will fall flat—or if it will be
your most viral, most-read piece of
writing in history. Wouldn't you like to find
out?
Furthermore, when your long-term focus
is on building a library of content that can
stand the test of time, your daily average
number of views goes up, the bigger your
web becomes, the easier it is for new
readers to get exposed to your work, and
on and on the flywheel spins. At a certain
point, your library will get to be so big
that any reader who steps foot in or
around your category of topic will
inevitably come across your work.
You will "own" that part of the Internet.
How To Start Writing Online: The Ship 30 for 30 Ultimate Guide
Treat Your Writing Like A
Startup
The other way we like thinking about
online writing is like this:
As a Digital Writer, you are (essentially) an
entrepreneur.
And your writing is your startup.
Digital Writers iterate quickly:
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How To Start Writing Online: The Ship 30 for 30 Ultimate Guide
Make small bets
Listen to the data
Double-down on what's working
Repeat
As a result, Digital Writers are usually the
ones who go from never having written
anything online before to suddenly
accumulating hundreds of thousands,
even millions of views—and more
importantly, turning those views and
proven content buckets into paid
products, newsletters, services, and
businesses. Why? Because they're the
ones with the data. They don't have to
guess what readers want. The data is
telling them, objectively, "When you write
about X, readers fall off. But when you
write about Y, readers go crazy. Do more
of Y, and less of X." They treat their
writing like a science experiment.
It's no longer sufficient to just say,
"Someone will spot my genius," and go on
writing by yourself, alone in your
apartment.
If you are a writer in the digital age, you
are an entrepreneur, and your writing is a
startup.
Which means you need to get your
product out in front of customers, gather
feedback, and iterate.
Becoming A Prolific Digital
Writer
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Finally, becoming a Digital Writer is all
about letting go of perfectionism.
Forget holding yourself to The
Michelangelo Standard or believing
anything you publish must warrant praise
from The United States Library Of
Congress. Digital Writers understand that
progress is more important than
"perfection," because progress gives
them data, and data gives them
confidence in what they should write
next.
If you want to learn how to become a
prolific Digital Writer, then keep reading.
These are the frameworks you need—to
come up with new ideas (every single
day), to publish consistently, to make
your writing easy to read (and easy to fall
in love with), and to build a timeless
library of content. And if you are ready to
take ACTION and want to put all these
frameworks into practice, grab a seat
aboard the next cohort of Ship 30 for 30.
Grab your sailing gear, Shippers.
It's time to sail up the Digital Coast.
How To Start Writing Online: The Ship 30 for 30 Ultimate Guide
Framework #2: The
Endless Idea
Generator
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How To Start Writing Online: The Ship 30 for 30 Ultimate Guide
How The Endless Idea
Generator Works
The whole idea of the Endless Idea
Generator is to create a system for
endless ideation.
Why?
Because creating systems to ease (and
strengthen) the repetition of content
creation is how you remain consistent for
years into the future. It’s very difficult to
come up with “new ideas” on the fly, day
after day, week after week, month after
month, year after year. It’s even harder
when you feel like, once you’ve written
about a topic, you can never write about
it again.
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This simply isn’t true.
It just means you don’t have a system for
turning one idea into ten ideas into one
hundred ideas into a thousand ideas.
Which is exactly what The Endless Idea
Generator is all about.
Let’s dive in.
How To Start Writing Online: The Ship 30 for 30 Ultimate Guide
Step 1: The Topic
The Endless Idea Generator works best
with specificity.
As a rule of thumb: the more general the
topic is, the harder it will be to see all the
potential combinations for things to write
about. Conversely (and maybe
counterintuitively), the more specific or
niche the topic is, the easier it will be for
you to see all the potential combinations
for things to write about.
For example: let’s say you want to write
about “money.”
It’s fine to start there, but right away you
probably realize how BIG the topic of
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“money” is. “Money” could mean
everything from investing money to
saving money to picking stocks to buying
real estate to even the emotional
relationship you have with money as a
societal construct. Which means you
need to niche down: pick one direction,
and get more specific.
V2: “I want to write about investing
money.”
V3: “I want to write about investing
money in your 20s.”
V4: “I want to write about investing
money in your 20s so you can buy
your first rental property in your
30s.”
As you increase the level of specificity,
you gain clarity (at each step) as to what
exactly you want to write about.
Specificity is the secret.
Here’s another example: let’s say you
want to write about “teaching.”
V2: “I want to write about teaching
online.”
V3: “I want to write about teaching
online to scale knowledge.”
V4: “I want to write about teaching
online to scale knowledge so you
can have a bigger impact, work less,
and exponentially increase
earnings.”
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The goal here is to get so specific that
you feel like you actually can’t get
anymore specific. You’ve made it
abundantly clear who (exactly) this piece
is for, and more importantly, who it ISN’T
for. A lot of writers shy away from this
level of specificity. Don’t be one of them.
How To Start Writing Online: The Ship 30 for 30 Ultimate Guide
Step 2: The Credibility
You don’t need to be Oprah or Tony
Robbins for people to see you as a
credible source of information.
In fact, on the Internet, it’s actually the
opposite. In some cases, you might be
the expert—you’ve been doing something
for 10 or 20 or 30 years, know it inside
and out, and are ready to share your
knowledge with the world. But in many
other cases, you might be the one
curating the thoughts, stories, opinions,
and perspectives of experts. Or in some
other cases, you might just be sharing
your personal thoughts on a subject—but
your opinion matters because you’ve
personally experienced the thing you’re
writing about.
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These are the 3 types of credibility online:
I’m the expert
I’m curating the experts
I’m just speaking from personal
experience
A good way of thinking about credibility
is: imagine you are at a dinner party.
Someone comes up to you and starts
telling you about something random, like
fly fishing. Eventually, you are going to
ask, “How do you know that?” At which
point they are going to give you one of
three answers:
“I’ve been fly fishing since I was in
middle school. I actually won a fly
fishing competition when I was in
college.” (They’re an expert.)
“My dad loves fly fishing and I’ve had
to listen to him talk about it for years.”
(Their dad is the expert, and they’re
curating their dad’s insight.)
“Honestly? I’m just obsessed with
watching these fly fishing shows on
Netflix. They’re so fascinating.”
(They’re just speaking from personal
experience.)
That’s really all credibility is, and can be
communicated in a single sentence.
Here is another example:
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How To Start Writing Online: The Ship 30 for 30 Ultimate Guide
Expert: “I am Roger Ebert and Don’t
Look Up was the best movie of 2021.”
Curating Experts: “According to
Roger Ebert & 9 other famous movie
critics, Don’t Look Up was the best
movie of 2021.”
Personal Experience: “I’m no Roger
Ebert but I have watched over 900
Netflix movies and shows, and I think
Don’t Look Up was the best movie of
2021.”
So don’t overthink it.
Just let the reader know where the
information is coming from, so they have
context.
Step 3: The 4A Paths
When most writers sit down to write, they
usually say to themselves, "I want to write
about X."
Well, X is usually a pretty broad topic. And
there are lots of different ways of
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approaching X.
For example, let's say you sit down and
say, "I want to write about achieving
financial freedom." OK, well that's a pretty
big topic—so how do you want to slice
the pie? Do you want to explain to
readers how they can start saving &
investing money to achieve financial
freedom (actionable)? Did you just read a
study about financial freedom in the
United States and do you want to explain
what the numbers mean for people who
are afraid they don't have enough money
saved up for retirement (analytical)? Did
you overcome a mountain of debt to
become financially free yourself, and do
you want to motivate others to do the
same (aspirational)? Or do you want to
explain to readers why the root cause of
financial illiteracy, and why so many
people struggle to achieve financial
freedom, is because of the emotional
relationship they have with money
(anthropological)?
When you slow down and really break a
topic down, you start to realize there isn't
enough clarity in saying, "I want to write
about X." And the reason so many writers
sit down to write, only to give up 5
minutes later, is because this is the first
BIG realization they have to confront.
They thought they knew what they
wanted to write about, only to get into the
writing and realize, "Wait, there are a
hundred different ways I could say this—
and I don't know which one is right."
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Which is why we encourage writers to
start here, first.
Take your topic, and then challenge
yourself to pick a direction.
Actionable (here's how)
Analytical (here are the numbers)
Aspirational (yes, you can)
Anthropological (here's why)
The idea here isn't to write about one
topic, one time. The idea is to take
whatever you want to write about and
write about it over and over again using
different frameworks: you should write
about it through an actionable lens, an
analytical lens, an aspirational lens, and
an anthropological lens (because each
piece will yield a different result). Then, as
you write and publish each kind, you will
start to learn which ones readers enjoy
the most. You'll learn (objectively through
data), "Oh, when I write actionable pieces
about how to achieve financial freedom,
readers love that. But when I try to write
aspirational pieces, readers don't seem to
engage with that content very much."
This is how you start growing
exponentially as a Digital Writer.
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Step 4: The Proven
Approach
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How To Start Writing Online: The Ship 30 for 30 Ultimate Guide
Once you've chosen a direction, the
second step is to figure out how you want
to organize your writing.
Is this a "How To" article? Then it
should be organized in steps (Step 1,
Step 2, etc...).‍
Is this a "Lessons Learned" essay?
Then it should be organized in
lessons (Lesson #1, Lesson #2, etc...).‍
Is this a "Mistakes" Twitter thread?
Then it should be organized in
mistakes (Mistake #1, Mistake #2,
etc...).
The key here is to structure your piece in
a way where all the main points &
subheadings follow the same pattern.
What you don't want to do is write a "How
To" piece, but then have your first main
point be a "Step," and your second main
point be a "lesson," and your third main
point be a "mistake," etc. This makes it
very hard for readers to know what
they're reading and follow your train of
thought. (Now, you can combine Steps,
Mistakes, Lessons, etc., in each section,
but how you ORGANIZE the piece should
all follow the same overarching pattern.)
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The other reason we encourage writers to
make this decision at the beginning
(before you even start writing) is because
it will give you a skeleton to fill in.
After all, it's always harder to start writing
with a 100% blank page.
It's much easier to create an outline (list
out the 7 mistakes, or 5 steps, or 10
lessons you want to share) and then fill
each one in with a story, example, or
advice for the reader.
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Topic + Credibility + 4A
Paths + Proven Approach =
The Endless Idea Generator
All of a sudden, what originally started as
"I have an idea" becomes "I have TOO
MANY ideas."
With The Endless Idea Generator, you'll
have the opposite problem: instead of not
knowing what to write about, you'll
experience "the burden of opportunity."
You'll start seeing how easy it is to turn
one thing into 100 things, and you'll never
run out of things to write about again.
Just take a look at how many ideas we
can engineer for a topic like "Quitting Your
9-5 To Pursue Your Dreams" using this
framework:
[Actionable + How To + I'm The
Expert] I Just Quit My 9-5 And
Doubled My Monthly Earnings. Here
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Are 5 Steps You Can Take To Do The
Same‍
[Analytical + How To + Curated
Experts] A New Study Shows
Millennials Are The Poorest
Generation. Here's The Advice The
10 Biggest Financial Planners Gave
About Saving For Retirement‍
[Aspirational + How To + Personal
Story] I Used To Have $150,000 Of
Debt. Here's My Step-By-Step Guide
For Achieving Financial Freedom—
And How You Can Do It Too‍
[Anthropological + How To + Curated
Experts] Mark Cuban Just Said
Something In An Interview With
CNBC That Reveals The Real Reason
So Many People Never Achieve
Financial Freedom
And so on, and so on.
Using this framework, we could take one
idea and turn it into hundreds and
hundreds of essays, articles, Twitter
threads, long-form blog posts, eBooks,
email newsletters, products, courses, and
so on.
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General Audiences vs Niche
Audiences
The next big question you need to ask
yourself when writing online is, "Who is
this piece of writing for, specifically?"
While The Endless Idea Generator can be
a powerful way of coming up with new
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ideas, there's a second piece that is
equally as important—and that's deciding
whether your actionable, analytical,
aspirational, or anthropological content is
for a General audience or a Niche
audience (going back to the 3 Content
Buckets).
The mistake writers make here is thinking
their job is to write what they want to
write about, and then figuring out how to
get their writing in front of "millions of
people."
But that's making a pretty big assumption.
That's assuming "millions of people" are
interested in the topic you just wrote
about. And especially with more niche
topics, that's probably not the case.
Instead, we encourage writers to start
with the end in mind:
How To Start Writing Online: The Ship 30 for 30 Ultimate Guide
Every single piece of writing, in some way
or another, is answering a question for the
reader. That's why they clicked in the first
place—"I want to know the answer."
So, if your Atomic Essay or article or longform blog post or book is answering a big,
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overarching, universal question ("How do
I make more money?"), you are going to
have an easier time reaching readers
because that's a question a LOT of people
have. Whereas if your writing is answering
a smaller, more niche question ("What are
tax laws in Illinois?), you are probably
going to reach less readers—but the ones
you do reach are going to be much more
engaged.
And this is the trade-off.
General topics tend to attract larger
audiences, but the engagement you
receive will not translate into long-term
readers. You'll see comments like, "Nice
job!" or "Love it!" But that's about it.
Views are high, but loyalty is low.
Niche topics, on the other hand, tend to
attract smaller audiences, but the
engagement you receive will be potent.
Niche topics are usually exactly what a
reader is looking for, prompting them to
respond with thoughtful comments or
questions, or bookmark the piece to
come back to again and again. Views are
low, but loyalty and engagement is high.
Neither one is right or wrong.
It's just worth understanding which goal
you are trying to work toward.
Otherwise, you'll write something for a
Niche audience, and then get frustrated
when views are low. Well, that's because
you're measuring the wrong outcome!
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How To Make General
Topics, Niche—And How To
Make Niche Topics, General
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As you begin writing and publishing
online, you will learn which types of
content engage your target readers.
However, there are benefits to writing
both for General and Niche versions of
your audience.
General: Introduces new potential
readers to your category.
Niche: Engages current readers in
your category.
Think of General & Niche audiences as a
dial, and in everything you write, you are
choosing how far you'd like to twist the
dial in either direction.
For example, let's say you want to write
actionable pieces about how to become a
better designer.
Here are a few ways to make your
content accessible to a wider number of
people (General):
These 4 Drawing Exercises Won't
Just Make You A Better Designer—
They'll Help You See The World More
Clearly‍
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7 Timeless Examples Of How Light
Can Change The Mood Of A Room‍
The 10 Most Beautiful Car Designs In
Human History
Each one of these headlines is attracting
more than just designers. You might be a
car fanatic who wants to see beautiful,
timeless car designs. Or you might be an
architect who wants to learn how to
better utilize light. Or you might be an art
student who has no idea what to do as a
career long-term. The point is, your
content is not singularly focused on a
Niche, but still has to do with the general
category of "design." As a result, wider
audiences are able to get introduced to
your work.
Now, let's flip it.
Here are a few ways to take these same
exact headline ideas and rewrite them
through a more "niche" lens—let's say
"building a career as a designer."
If You Practice These 4 Drawing
Exercises Every Morning, You Will
Have No Problem Getting Hired As A
Designer Anywhere‍
Why Every Designer Should Master
How Light Can Change The Mood Of
A Room: 7 Timeless Examples‍
Want A Career As A Luxury Car
Designer? Study These 10 Timeless
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Designs
All of a sudden, the same "ideas" become
much more niche, much more targeted to
a specific type of reader, and in many
ways exclude the general audiences
you're likely to attract in the first set of
headlines. This is a good thing.
One of the biggest mistakes writers make
is thinking they need to "create
something for everyone." In reality,
creating something for everyone means
making something for no one. You do not
want to try to appeal to EVERY type of
reader in the world. Instead, your goal is
to use specificity to force a binary
decision: either this piece is exactly what
the reader is looking for, or it's not. And
the more binary you can make that
decision, the more likely you are to attract
the readers you want, and repel the ones
you don't.
How To Start Writing Online: The Ship 30 for 30 Ultimate Guide
Other Ways You Can Make
General Topics More Niche:
Name the audience: If you write
something like, "How To Make More
Money," that's aiming to answer a
pretty general, universal question.
But this topic immediately becomes
Niche if you name the audience
specifically: "How To Make More
Money As A Writer." Or, even more
Niche: "How To Make More Money As
A Multilingual Translator." If you aren't
a writer or a multilingual translator,
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you aren't going to click & read this
sort of content (and again, that's a
good thing). Same goes for naming
places and demographics: "How To
Make More Money As A Writer In
Chicago." Or, "How To Make More
Money As A Millennial Writer."‍
Name the outcome: Sticking with the
above example, if "How To Make
More Money" is General, then a
different Niche version might be,
"How To Make More Money So You
Can Buy Your First House." Or, even
more Niche: "How To Make More
Money So You Can Build A Music
Studio In Your Backyard." Naming the
outcome is another way of very
clearly telling readers WHO this is for
and who this isn't for.‍
Name the process: If the audience is
who you're writing for, and the
outcome is what the audience gets in
return, then there's another
opportunity for specificity here by
naming the process by which that
outcome gets unlocked. For example,
"How To Make More Money As A
Writer Without Leaving Your Couch."
Or, "How To Make More Money As A
Writer Ghostwriting For CEOs."
Naming the process gives readers
another point of context, helping
them decide whether this is
something they'd be interested in
reading or not.
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All of these things are decisions you have
to make as a writer.
And will become the foundation of your
headline.
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Want a sneak peek of what
you'll unlock once you hop
aboard?
Click here and we'll send
you the video of our first live
session!
Our Endless Idea Generator live session will
leave you overwhelmed with ideas to write
about.
Your best email
lijingyuan1116@gmail.com
Send me the video!
Powered by RightMessage
Framework #3:
Writing Headlines
Readers Can't Help
But Click On
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How To Start Writing Online: The Ship 30 for 30 Ultimate Guide
Before readers click and read anything on
the Internet, they need to know the
answer to 3 very important questions:
WHO is this for?
WHAT is this about?
WHY should they read it? (What are
you PROMISING, and what do they
get in exchange?)
Instead, what many writers (both
beginner and advanced) do is they write
headlines that attempt to be "mysterious"
or "creative" (whatever that means), but
in no way answer these questions for the
reader. As a result, headlines look
something like this:
"A Forgotten Moon"
"The Trees"
"Don't You?"
And so on.
What these writers fail to realize is these
types of headlines are actually quite
selfish.
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They expect the reader to adjust to the
writer, to give the writer their attention
without knowing what they're going to get
in return.
Instead, we encourage writers to write
headlines that answer these questions
directly. Over time, you can certainly
shape your headlines to create your own
distinct style, however it's important to
learn the building blocks of effective
headline writing from the beginning. Make
no mistake, even the most "artistic" or
"creative" essays, articles, and stories
follow these same underlying principles.
Just take a look at the front page of The
Atlantic.
How To Start Writing Online: The Ship 30 for 30 Ultimate Guide
Each article title, minimalist as it might be,
is still hinting at a) WHO this is for, b)
WHAT this is about, and c) WHY you
should read it.
So, in order to learn how to do this on
your own, we encourage writers to start
with longer, more descriptive headlines.
Answer these 3 questions directly. And
then, over time, whittle your headlines
down into your own distinct style (while
still answering these questions for the
reader).
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Let's walk through how to write headlines
readers can't help but click on.
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The 5 Pieces Of Every
Headline
Every single headline is composed of the
same 6 pieces (some of which are
optional, some of which are absolutely
necessary).
How Many? All "listicle" articles and
essays start with a number. 6 Ways...
7 Reasons... 8 Brutal Truths... 9
Heartbreaking Movies... That's
because readers love containers, and
numbers/lists make it easy for a
reader to understand exactly what
they're "getting" in return for their
time spent reading. Words on a page
are a "product," and so the clearer
the container (the "box" your words
arrive in), the more likely readers are
to be excited to open it up. (If an
article or essay doesn't have a
number in it, that means the number
is the invisible "1." The article or
essay is talking about one thing, one
topic, one overarching idea.)
WHAT? This is an essential piece of
every headline. Before the reader
clicks to read, they need to know
what it is. What are they looking at?
What's inside this black box? Is this
an essay about political arguments?
Entrepreneurial mistakes? Cooking
recipes? WHAT is it? (If your headline
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doesn't have a clear WHAT, your
ability to attract readers is going to
go down exponentially.)
WHO? Not every headline has to
have a WHO, but when you are
writing for a Niche there are benefits
to naming the audience directly.
"How To Start Your First Side Hustle
As A College Student." The WHO here
would be "College Students." And if
you aren't a college student, you
probably aren't going to click and
read this piece. (Writing that aims to
attract General audiences tends to
not name any audience directly—
because the goal is to attract lots of
different types of audiences, not just
one. Whereas writing that aims to
engage with a Niche audience tends
to mention that niche audience
directly.)
FEEL: Another crucial piece in your
headline is how you want the reader
to FEEL about the topic. For example,
"I Just Ate An Entire Barrel Of Ice
Cream" doesn't really tell the reader
how you want them to FEEL. Should
they be happy for you? Sad? Should
they feel your shame? Or should they
feel your love and self-acceptance?
Notice how dramatically different this
headline becomes when we tell the
reader how to FEEL: "I Just Ate An
Entire Barrel Of Ice Cream. Here's
What I Learned About Loving Myself
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Through My Mistakes."
Outcome/The PROMISE: The final
piece of your headline is what the
reader gets in exchange for reading.
Your headline is a proposal to readers
trying to "hook" their attention and
convince them this thing you've
written is worth their time. So, what
do they get in return? "7 Ways To
Cook Healthy Lunches" is a good
headline. But "7 Ways To Cook
Healthy Lunches, Lose Weight, And
Give Up Fast Food Once And For All"
is way better. The end of your
headline is your PROMISE, and it's
essential for readers to understand
what they're going to learn, feel,
and/or receive as a result of the 30
seconds or 3 minutes they spend
reading your writing.
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The Curiosity Gap
These 5 pieces of your headline, together,
create what we like to call The Curiosity
Gap.
All great headlines give the reader
enough information so they understand
WHAT this piece of writing is about, WHO
it's for, and WHY they should consider
reading it—but not enough where the
headline reveals the final answer
(requiring them to click). Said differently,
great headlines tell readers the beginning
of the story & the end of the story, but
not the middle.
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For example, take a look at the headline
below. The bold line chopping the
headline in half is showing the beginning
and end of the story—but notice how
there's no "middle." In order to learn what
the "9 reasons writers suffer from writer's
block & give up writing forever" are, you
have to click and read the article—and
that's the point.
How To Start Writing Online: The Ship 30 for 30 Ultimate Guide
"Isn't That Clickbait?"
The BIG question we get from writers
here is, "Well then isn't that clickbait?"
And the answer is no—as long as you
keep your promise.
Clickbait is when a reader clicks on an
essay or article thinking they are going to
get one thing, but then the writer fails to
keep their promise. They use language
that implies some big, massively
transformational outcome for the reader,
and then the reader starts reading and
the information turns out to be vague,
cliché, and nothing new. "I've been
baited," the reader says to themselves—
not because of the way the headline was
written, but because the content of the
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piece didn't live up to the headline's
PROMISE.
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Clear > Clever
If there is one overarching rule we want to
encourage you to live by, it's to aim for
"clear" instead of "clever."
Headlines that try to be clever almost
always end up falling short. The point
doesn't get through to the reader. The
joke or pun falls flat. And as a result,
readers end up confused—and if the
reader is confused, their default answer
is, "No," as they scroll past your content
and move on to someone else's.
Instead, it's far more effective to practice
the art of clarity in your writing—
especially when it comes to headlines.
Try to be as specific as possible. "This is
what it's about. This is who it's for. And
this is what you're going to learn/get out
of reading this as a result." Don't
overthink it. If you are writing How To
articles for Project Managers, name the
audience in the headline: "7 Productivity
Tips For Project Managers." This is a far
better strategy than hoping your target
audience will discover your content via
their own curiosity.
10 Proven Headline
Formats
Not sure where to start?
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Here are some of the most common
formats when it comes to crafting
headlines that make readers stop in their
tracks, pause, and decide whether or not
they want to click and read.
BIG Numbers: "3,000 People Just
Filed For Unemployment In This Small
Town In Arkansas. Here's Why"
Dollar Signs: "$400 Million Is How
Much You Need To Make In Order To
Afford This Insane Mansion In Malibu"
Credible Names: "Will Smith's Advice
On How To Live A Fulfilling Life Will
Change The Way You See The World
Forever"
"This Just Happened": "Michael
Jordan Just Gave A Press Conference
And NBA Executives Are Furious"
Question/Answer: "Can't Be
Productive In The Office? Try
Organizing Your Calendar Like This"
The Success Story: "How This Small
Team Managed To Secure A SixFigure Investment In Less Than 1
Week"
Things That Shouldn't Go Together:
"7 Things KFC And Miley Cyrus Have
In Common"
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For The Industry: "3 Things All
Successful Small Business Owners
Do To Stay Profitable"
Topic Within The Topic: "7 Ways The
Real Estate Industry Is Changing (And
How You Should Be Investing Your
Money)"
X Number: "13 Things Mentally
Strong People Don't Do"
How To Start Writing Online: The Ship 30 for 30 Ultimate Guide
The Golden Intersection:
Answering The Reader's
Question x Telling A
Personal Story
The final framework we share with writers
when it comes to writing headlines and
content that speaks directly to readers is
what we like to call The Golden
Intersection.
If you notice, the best content on the
Internet does two things simultaneously:
Answers the reader's question
Tells a personal story
For example, if you write an article or
essay titled, "The 7 Secrets To Becoming
A Millionaire," and you give readers
actionable steps they can take to become
a millionaire themselves, that's great. But
what makes that essay or article 10x
more memorable is if you pair that
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actionable advice with a personal story
(even if it's only a few sentences in the
introduction): "When I was 19 years old, I
How To Start Writing Online: The Ship 30 for 30 Ultimate Guide
was broke as broke could be. I was living
with my mom, who was unemployed. My
dad had left when I was a kid. And I grew
up on food stamps. Fast-forward to
today, I just turned 30 years old and have
a little more than $1,000,000 in liquid
assets. The path I took to becoming a
millionaire is something anyone can do.
Which is why I want to share the steps I
took with you. My goal is to shorten your
own growth curve so that you can get out
of whatever bad situation you're in,
become a millionaire, and achieve
financial freedom yourself."
Those few sentences immediately make
the content more relatable, more
trustworthy, and more memorable. They
also act as a doorway for readers to
connect directly with the author's
personal story. They will remember those
details.
Similarly, if you are writing about
achieving financial freedom but going on
and on about your personal story (without
giving the reader anything they can do
themselves), your content might be
emotionally engaged but it isn't very
actionable.
Readers want both.
So, answer their question, and then tell
them a (short) story about how you
learned what you're explaining to them, or
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how you overcame the obstacle you're
encouraging them to overcome, etc.
Readers usually come for the actionable
advice, but stay for the personal stories.
How To Start Writing Online: The Ship 30 for 30 Ultimate Guide
Framework #4:
Formatting Your
Writing For
Skimmability
Here's a brutal truth that takes new
Digital Writers a long time to learn:
Readers on the Internet don't read—at
first.
What they do is they skim. And then,
once they've decided whether or not this
piece of writing speaks to their interests,
then they go back and start reading.
As a result, what separates content that
attracts millions of readers versus content
that falls on deaf ears (even if the words
on the page are identical) usually comes
down to formatting. If your online writing
is full of big, blocky paragraphs and no
subheads, readers are going to think,
"Wow, this looks taxing. I have no idea
what this is even about—or if it's going to
be worth my time." Whereas content that
alternates between big paragraphs and
short, single-sentence lines, and is
organized with bolded subheads makes it
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very easy for readers to get a sense of
what the piece is about before they even
start reading. Visually the piece looks
actionable, easy to follow, and quick to
read.
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Skimmability = Readability
If your online writing isn't skimmable, it's
not readable.
For legacy writers and "purists," this is a
hard pill to swallow. Legacy writers want
to believe they are the one who is
important (not the reader), and that
readers should adjust to their
expectations. If you want to know why so
few writers from the legacy world
succeed on the Internet, this is why.
Digital Writers, on the other hand, are
masters at formatting. They understand
how to present information in a way that
makes it easy to understand at a glance—
without "dumbing down" the content.
Again, the idea here isn't to write
Buzzfeed-style listicles all day long. The
idea is to take your content (however
complicated) and organize it in a way
where readers can quickly skim, figure
out what's going on, and latch onto the
pieces of information that most grab their
attention.
So, how do you do that?
Skeleton Your Piece (Before
You Write It)
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The easiest way to nail formatting is to
create a skeleton of your essay or article
before you start writing.
Headline: What is this piece about?
Who is it for? What will the reader get
in exchange for reading through to
the end? AND, why should they trust
you (what's your credibility)?
Introduction: (Repeat the information
from the headline with slightly more
detail.) What is this piece about? Who
is it for? What will the reader get in
exchange for reading through to the
end? AND, why should they trust you
(what's your credibility)?
Main Points: What "proven approach"
are you using to organize this piece?
(Is this piece organized by Steps,
Lessons, Mistakes, Tips, etc.?) How
many do you plan on including? 3
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Steps? 4 Lessons? 5 Mistakes?
‍
Conclusion: What's the final
takeaway? What do you want readers
to walk away with after reading this
piece? What's the morale of the
story?
By creating a skeleton of your piece in
advance, it becomes significantly easier
to know where to start.
Nobody likes staring at a blank page.
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How To Start Writing Online: The Ship 30 for 30 Ultimate Guide
The 2 Most Important Uses For
Subheads: Wheels & Spokes
When organizing your content, there are
two different types of headings you
should use.
Wheels: Big headings (H1) that
signify the beginning of a new
overarching section.
Spokes: Small headings/subheads
(H2 or H3) that separate important
sections within the overarching
section.
Since most essays and articles online fall
between the 300-800 word range, you
usually don't need to use both Headings
& smaller subheads (because there's only
so much room). For example, in the "Prep
The Page" example above, each "reason"
in the article is listed out using a heading.
In this case, it really doesn't matter if your
headings are big (H1) or smaller (H2 or
H3) because they are all fulfilling the
same purpose: separating ideas.
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However, in longer-form blog posts and
ultimate guides (like this piece here), it
makes sense to use both to make sure
readers are following your train of
thought. Each major section would open
with a big heading (H1), signifying the
purpose of this overarching section. And
then each sub-section within would be
separated by subheads (H2 or H3),
signifying where one idea stops and the
next idea begins.
Using headings are an easy way to make
your writing more "skimmable," and to
also make it easy for readers to scroll and
find a section that hooks their attention. If
they find a section that speaks to their
wants, needs, desires, or questions, that's
where they are going to start reading.
And if, when they start reading, they find
your content valuable, insightful,
memorable, etc., they that's when they
are going to scroll back to the beginning
and start reading.
Here's what Wheels & Spokes look like in
action:
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Lists, Bullets, and Bolded
Sentences
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Ah, but the fun has just begun.
Once you have your essay or article (or
book) organized in Wheels & Spokes, you
can then start adding decorations: lists,
bullets, bolded sentences, italics, etc.
These smaller lists make it even easier for
readers to quickly get an idea of what
you're writing about and, more
importantly, what's in it for them.
For example, anytime you find yourself
writing a paragraph that is "listing" things
out, it's worth questioning whether that
paragraph can be re-formatting in the
form of a bulleted list. "The first thing you
want to do when writing online is prep the
page. Then, once you've prepped the
page, see where you can turn long
paragraphs into short bulleted lists. Third,
get rid of any excess description—
readers don't want to hear you say the
same thing eight times."
Instead of writing all of that out, you can
compress it by turning it into a quick
bulleted list.
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How To Start Writing Online: The Ship 30 for 30 Ultimate Guide
Proven Writing Rhythms
Improving the way you format your
writing is the fastest way to accelerating
your growth as a digital writer. You would
be astounded at how many people write
and publish content online that is really
great, but never gets read simply because
of the way it is presented.
But formatting is only the beginning.
Headings, subheads, and bulleted lists
are the visual cues that are easiest to
spot. But there is another aspect to
formatting that rarely gets talked about
and is equally important.
Rhythm.
What separates writing that is fun, easy
to read, even musical, is writing that
alternates rhythms—fast vs slow, quick vs
descriptive, etc. The more your writing
alternates between opposites, the more
movement it has, and the more the reader
feels like they are being taken on a
journey (opposed to hacking their way
through a textbook).
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Here are some of the most common
writing rhythms and how you can
immediately put them into practice.
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1/3/1
This first sentence is your opener.
This second sentence clarifies your
opener. This third sentence reinforces the
point you're making with some sort of
credibility or amplified description. And
this fourth sentence rounds out your
argument, guiding the reader toward your
conclusion.
This fifth sentence is your strong
conclusion.
What makes this 1/3/1 sequence "work" is
that the first sentence and the last
sentence act as bookends to the bulk of
the content in the middle. These singlesentence lines make the reader feel as
though they've reached a checkpoint,
which acts as a small dopamine hit
encouraging them to continue reading.
1/3/1 is an especially great framework for
introductions and openers, but the truth
is, it can be used anytime, anywhere
within your writing. In fact, you could
write an entire essay or article (or even
book) using the 1/3/1 sequence and
readers wouldn't realize you were
following a pattern. They would just think
to themselves, "Wow, this thing flows so
well! It's so easy to read."
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Here's an example of the 1/3/1 sequence
in action:
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You can read the piece in full here.
1/5/1
The 1/5/1 sequence is the exact same as
the 1/3/1 sequence, except with two more
sentences in the middle for added
description and/or explanation.
Here's how it works:
This first sentence is your opener.
This second sentence clarifies your
opener. This third sentence reinforces the
point you're making with some sort of
credibility or amplified description. This
fourth sentence builds on that credibility
or description, giving added context or
new information. This fifth sentence
explains to the reader why you're telling
them what you're telling them. And this
sixth sentence drives home the point.
This seventh sentence is your strong
conclusion.
If you notice, the part of the sequence
that is being expanded in the middle—not
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the beginning and not the end. That's
because you want readers to have easy
"on-ramps" and "off-ramps" to the most
important parts of your content (which is
usually in those big, bulky paragraphs).
So, to make those big, bulky paragraphs
feel more accessible, make the sentence
leading in and the sentence leading out
clear, concise, and most of all, short.
Here's an example of the 1/5/1 sequence
in action:
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You can read the full piece here.
1/2/5/2/1
Now, if you want to start getting fancy
with things, you can expand the middle of
your sequence to add even more
dynamics into your writing.
The key here is to build up, and then build
back down. In music, this would be called
creating a "crescendo" (gradually
increasing in loudness) and then creating
a "decrescendo" (gradually decreasing in
loudness). Notice again how the first
sentence and the last sentence remains
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short, whereas the middle is slowly
building.
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1/3/1 + 1/3/1
With any of these writing rhythm
sequences, you can then start to
copy/paste them on top of each other,
creating "stacks."
Here's how it works:
This first sentence is your opener.
This second sentence clarifies your
opener. This third sentence reinforces the
point you're making with some sort of
credibility or amplified description. And
this fourth sentence rounds out your
argument, guiding the reader toward your
conclusion.
This fifth sentence is your strong
conclusion.
Now, here's a new first sentence as a
second opener.
This second sentence clarifies your
opener. This third sentence reinforces the
point you're making with some sort of
credibility or amplified description. And
this fourth sentence rounds out your
argument, guiding the reader toward your
conclusion.
This fifth sentence is your strong
conclusion.
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Here's an example of the 1/3/1 + 1/3/1
sequence in action:
How To Start Writing Online: The Ship 30 for 30 Ultimate Guide
You can read the full piece here.
Writing Rhythms That
Sound BAD!
1/1/1/1/1/1/1/1/1/1/1
2/2/2
5/5/5
Writing rhythms that sound BAD are ones
that don't alternate between short
sentences and long sentences or
paragraphs. For example, online writing
where every single sentence is its own
paragraph tends to read like the author
drank too much coffee. Writing where
every single paragraph is 5+ sentences
sounds like it's tired of itself. And writing
where every paragraph is two sentences
sounds monotone.
The way you solve this is by alternating
between fast and slow, long and short.
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How To Start Writing Online: The Ship 30 for 30 Ultimate Guide
For more writing rhythms, grab a copy of
The Art & Business of Online Writing by
Nicolas Cole. There is an entire chapter
dedicated to writing rhythms with dozens
of templates you can use in your own
writing.
Rate Of Revelation
The final formatting piece we encourage
writers to think about in Ship 30 for 30 is
what we like to call Rate of Revelation.
This is how quickly you are revealing new
information to the reader.
On the Internet, writing that optimizes for
SPEED tends to be the writing that gets
the most traction. If you notice, the
essays or articles or Twitter threads that
go viral aren't the ones that spend 7
paragraphs describing the details on a
doorknob. Readers don't have the
patience for that. Instead, readers want
every single sentence to push the story
or point forward.
For example, here's what a SLOW Rate of
Revelation might look like:
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How To Start Writing Online: The Ship 30 for 30 Ultimate Guide
When it comes to building a daily writing
habit, the hardest thing for most writers is
remembering the importance of just
sitting down and writing. It can be difficult
to get yourself to write, but that’s part of
the name of the game. And in moments
you can’t write, you have to remember
that all writers go through this—it’s just
part of the craft.
Now, here's what a FAST Rate of
Revelation looks like:
When it comes to building a daily writing
habit, there are three things that usually
get in a writer’s way. First, they over-edit.
Second, they talk themselves out of the
idea (“This will never work. I’m better off
just doing laundry.”) And third, their
laptop runs out of battery at the coffee
shop (this happens more often than you
might think).
Notice how in the second example, every
single sentence is moving the idea
forward.
A good rule of thumb here is to ask
yourself, "Am I continuing to describe and
repeat something I already said? Or am I
moving on and saying something new?"
Aim for the latter.
Want a sneak peek of what
you'll unlock once you hop
aboard?
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Click here and we'll send
you the video of our first live
session!
How To Start Writing Online: The Ship 30 for 30 Ultimate Guide
Our Endless Idea Generator live session will
leave you overwhelmed with ideas to write
about.
Your best email
lijingyuan1116@gmail.com
Send me the video!
Powered by RightMessage
Framework #5:
Content
Differentiation
Writers will see a 10x improvement in their
writing (and their ability to get the
attention of readers) just by learning how
to write engaging headlines and
formatting their online writing using
headings, subheads, and bulleted lists.
But the real growth happens when you
learn how to write things that are
different.
Content differentiation is all about one
thing and one thing only, and that's
mastering the skill of saying what hasn't
been said yet. On the surface, this might
seem like a futile aim considering how
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much content there is in the world, but
we've come up with a fun exercise that
immediately reveals just how easy
content differentiation can be.
We call it...
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"The Tequila Test"
The Holy Grail for writers is to learn how
to say what everyone else isn't. So, how
do you do that?
A fun exercise we like doing with Shippers
is asking them to think of all the things
they might say in an article about how to
build an effective morning routine.
Here are the most popular answers:
Wake up early
Drink coffee
Stretch
Workout / go for a run
Meditate
Journal
And so on.
When we do this exercise (usually with
150+ Shippers), what immediately starts
to happen is that people's answers begin
to overlap. 27 people all say, "Journal." 24
people all say, "Stretch." 35 people all say,
"Meditate." And so on.
As a result, everyone's answers "sound
the same."
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How To Start Writing Online: The Ship 30 for 30 Ultimate Guide
The idea here is for writers to realize that
when they are saying "the same thing(s)"
as everyone else, their content isn't
actually differentiated. They might format
it differently. They might throw in a
personal story. But the root of what
they're saying, their message, is the same
as everyone else's.
So, how do you fix this?
We call it "The Tequila Test" because if
everyone else is saying, "Meditate,
journal, workout, drink coffee," etc., your
job is to figure out how to say something
DIFFERENT. For example, "First thing
when I wake up? Take a shot of tequila."
That's DIFFERENT.
Because that's not the same thing
everyone else is saying.
The way you put The Tequila Test into
practice is to start by writing down all the
things most people would say about your
topic. Make a list. What are all the things
you've heard people talk about? What's
the conventional wisdom? What are the
cliché answers? Write them all down.
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Now, don't use anything on that list.
What ELSE could you write about?
This is the secret to content
differentiation.
How To Start Writing Online: The Ship 30 for 30 Ultimate Guide
Write The Ship
After writers complete Ship 30 for 30, we
have an exclusive video course in our
Member Ship area called Write The Ship,
which is a masterclass in content
differentiation and category creation. We
walk through the three sides of The
Magic Triangle for writers, and how you
can differentiate via Voice, Format, and
Content.
The Magic Triangle
Framework #6:
Twitter Threads
Ship 30 for 30 takes place on Twitter.
The reason we use Twitter as the primary
publishing platform is because Twitter is
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the largest social publishing platform on
the Internet for written content. Quora
and Medium are other great publishing
platforms for written content, and we
have mini-masterclasses on these other
publishing platforms in our Member Ship
for writers who would like to branch out
and start publishing elsewhere.
Twitter also has the fastest feedback
loops of any written publishing platform
online, and is the easiest way for writers
to start learning (by gathering data)
what’s resonating with readers.
However, Twitter is its own language.
How To Start Writing Online: The Ship 30 for 30 Ultimate Guide
The most common question we hear from
writers is, “What do I do if I’m staring with
zero followers on Twitter?”
The reason we use Twitter as a publishing
platform, and why we encourage writers
not to start writing on their own personal
blog (at first) is because these social
platforms are designed to get your
content in front of the right people. That’s
how these social algorithms work. It
doesn’t matter if you have 1 Follower or
100,000 Followers—if the algorithm sees
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people engaging with your content, it is
going to serve it up to more and more
people. The number of followers you have
is sort of irrelevant.
For example: here’s a Tweet Dickie wrote
when he had around ~20,000 followers.
How To Start Writing Online: The Ship 30 for 30 Ultimate Guide
How was he able to reach 4.6 million
people if he only had 20,000 followers?
Because the social algorithm saw people
engaging with his content and decided to
keep serving it up to more and more
people (and Twitter has ~600 million
users).
For new writers, this should be inspiring.
You don’t need a million followers in order
to be heard. Everyone starts at zero, and
algorithms reward you based on your
ability to engage readers with your words.
As we’ve said many times: online writing
is a game.
So, how do you beat the game on
Twitter?
Let’s dive in.
The Lead-In Tweet
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How To Start Writing Online: The Ship 30 for 30 Ultimate Guide
Your lead-in Tweet is what introduces
readers to your writing.
If you are writing and publishing Atomic
Essays as part of Ship 30 for 30, your
lead-in Tweet is going to be the “hook”
you use to get people to read your 250word essay. If you are writing Threads on
Twitter, your lead-in Tweet is going to be
the “hook” you use to get people to read
your Thread. And so on.
The secret to writing effective lead-in
Tweets is to answer three very important
questions for the reader (going back to
our Headline framework):
WHO is this for?
WHAT is this about?
WHY should you read this? (What
PROMISE are you making to the
reader? What do they get in return?)
Readers on Twitter, in particular, love
essays and threads that:
Tell a story
Share a framework
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Provide actionable takeaways
(teaching the reader how to do
something)
Notice, not every idea you have is going
to fit nicely into one of those two buckets.
And that’s fine. But if your only goal is to
figure out how to “go viral” on Twitter, it’s
worth thinking about how you can fall into
one of these three formats.
Let’s walk through each one.
How To Start Writing Online: The Ship 30 for 30 Ultimate Guide
Stories
Stories are, without question, the hardest
content format to execute on Twitter.
First of all, it’s hard telling stories lots of
people find interesting. Most of the time,
the stories that “go viral” on Twitter are
curated stories of famous people, littleknown moments of success, unlikely
outcomes in the public, etc. It’s much
harder for a personal story to go viral.
That said, regardless of what type of
story you are telling, your lead-in Tweet
should be structured like this:
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How To Start Writing Online: The Ship 30 for 30 Ultimate Guide
Here’s the end of the story (big, crazy
outcome)
Here’s the start of the story (humble
beginnings)
Read to find out the middle
All great lead-in Tweets follow this
structure in some way or another. They
tease the ending, they show you the
beginning, and then they encourage you
(the reader) to click and read to find out
how someone down there got all the way
up here.
Frameworks
The second content format that performs
best on Twitter is any kind of framework
readers would find valuable and
applicable to their daily lives.
The vast majority of the time, frameworkstyle Threads on Twitter aren’t original
frameworks, but curated frameworks
from people readers want to be like.
For example:
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How To Start Writing Online: The Ship 30 for 30 Ultimate Guide
Elon Musk’s Frameworks For Making
Decisions
Steve Jobs’ Frameworks For Building
Next-Generation Products
Stephen Kings’ Frameworks For
Writing Best-Selling Thriller Novels
Etc.
The idea here is to take one way of
thinking pioneered by someone
successful, break it down, and make it
accessible to the average reader.
That said, you can also create your own
frameworks as well—however, it’s
important to be very clear about what the
reader can expect to unlock in their own
lives in using your framework. Remember:
what are you PROMISING them, and what
they can expect to get in return for
reading?
Nicolas Cole
@Nicolascole77 · Follow
Memorable Writing 101
- Framework
- Story
- Actionable Advice
This is the simple 3-section format I use (every single day)
to ensure anything I write is memorable, unique, and
Actionable Takeaways
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How To Start Writing Online: The Ship 30 for 30 Ultimate Guide
The final content format that performs
best on Twitter is creating a list of
actionable takeaways with the purpose of
achieving some sort of end goal.
For example:
15 Marketing Tips To Help You
Jumpstart Your Paid Newsletter
11 Copywriting Secrets To Help You
Sell More Products
12 Meditation Mantras That Will
Connect You With Your Highest Self
And so on.
The reason readers love this type of
content is because it feels immediately
actionable. “If I read this Thread, I will
know how to do X to achieve Y.” As a
result, “actionable takeaway” Threads and
content tend to be some of the most-viral
within niche communities. For example, a
thread on copywriting might not be as
universal of a topic as “happiness” or
“how to make more money,” but within
the copywriting community, it will spread
like wildfire. So if you are focused on
writing for a niche, consider writing more
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about actionable takeaways for people
within your chosen category.
How To Start Writing Online: The Ship 30 for 30 Ultimate Guide
Formatting Matters
Regardless of what type of content
format you choose (Story, Framework,
Actionable Takeaways), the formatting of
the Thread itself should follow a few basic
rules:
1. Give each Tweet its own “mini
headline.” The first sentence of each
Tweet is the most important. If you
are writing an “actionable takeaways”
Thread, the first sentence of each
Tweet should be the actionable
takeaway. This allows readers to
quickly scroll through your Thread,
skim the mini-headlines, and then
decide if they want to dig deeper and
read the entire thing straight through
(remember: skimmability =
readability).
2. Uses lists and bullets whenever
possible. Tweets are small, which
means you need to figure out how to
compress a lot of information into a
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teeny tiny container. One of the
easiest ways to do this is to swap
prose for lists. Besides, readers enjoy
“skimming” bullets way more than
they do sifting through prose. As a
rule of thumb: anytime you have a
paragraph of 3+ lines on Twitter,
consider turning it into some sort of
list (or axing it altogether).
3. Play with the 1/3/1 framework to
make your Tweets clean and
presentable. The 1/3/1 writing rhythm
is terrific for writing individual
Tweets. The single-sentence opener
can act as your “mini-headline,” the
three sentences in the middle can be
turned into a bulleted list, and the
one-sentence closer acts as a strong
conclusion.
How To Start Writing Online: The Ship 30 for 30 Ultimate Guide
The CTA
At the end of your Thread, there are a few
things you can do to wrap up the
experience for readers.
The first is the CTA: Call To Action.
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Your CTA should direct readers to more of
your great content. If they just finished
reading a Thread about writing advice,
consider linking them to your BEST
Thread about writing advice. If they just
finished reading a Thread about a
business story, consider linking them to
your BEST business story—or, better yet,
a master Thread you’ve created curating
ALL your business stories. Think of your
CTA as your Twitter Thread Gift Shop:
“Thank you for shopping, can I interest
you in a souvenir?”
How To Start Writing Online: The Ship 30 for 30 Ultimate Guide
The TL;DR
The TL;DR is our favorite Twitter growth
hack.
Think of this final Tweet as a supercompressed version of everything the
reader just read.
Take your list of actionable takeaways, or
framework steps, or story, and distill it
down to a handful of bullets. The reason
the TL;DR is so effective is because when
Twitter distributes content in people’s
feeds, it presents readers with your first
Tweet and your last two Tweets. That
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means readers see your lead-in Tweet,
and your “here’s the nutshell” TL;DR
conclusion. These two, together, increase
the likelihood of someone deciding they
want to click and read (because they
caught a glimpse of the end).
More times than not, you’ll find readers
end up engaging with your closing TL;DR
Tweet just as much (if not more) than
they do with your lead-in Tweet.
How To Start Writing Online: The Ship 30 for 30 Ultimate Guide
Recommended Tool:
Typeshare
This is our own software product
designed specifically for Ship 30 for 30
members.
Typeshare is the hub for online writing,
allowing writers to create a Social Blog,
connect their social accounts, track their
performance and engagement, and learn
what works and what doesn’t about their
writing. We also provide writers with
dozens of online writing templates to get
started on Twitter, Medium, etc.
Whether you participate in Ship 30 for 30
or not, we encourage you to use
Typeshare and all its tools to begin your
online writing journey.
Want a sneak peek of what
you'll unlock once you hop
aboard?
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Click here and we'll send
you the video of our first live
session!
How To Start Writing Online: The Ship 30 for 30 Ultimate Guide
Our Endless Idea Generator live session will
leave you overwhelmed with ideas to write
about.
Your best email
lijingyuan1116@gmail.com
Send me the video!
Powered by RightMessage
Framework #7:
Rewriting Your Bio
If you stick with writing online
consistently for just a few weeks, you will
learn so much about yourself, your
audience, and what you want to write
(and what resonates with your target
readers), that you will need to rewrite
your bio.
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One of the most common mistakes
writers make when presenting
themselves online is they write their bio
as if they’re talking with their friends. I like
reading, cats, and Spongebob
Squarepants. Well that’s great—but
readers have no idea what to expect
from you.
The key to writing a great bio is to say,
very clearly:
Who you are
What you do
Why readers should trust you
That’s it.
Going back to our “Clever vs. Clear”
framework, a great bio is not about being
funny, or witty, or “punchy,” or cool. Your
bio is, quite literally, the most important
piece of real estate you have on the
Internet. And because social bios are
short, it’s your job to get the point across
quickly, clearly, and efficiently.
How To Start Writing Online: The Ship 30 for 30 Ultimate Guide
Your Bio Checklist
You’re probably noticing a trend: clarity in
your headline, clarity in your lead-in
Tweet, clarity in your bio…
So much of writing online (and becoming
a digital writer) is learning how to present
100% clarity to readers. Confusion is the
enemy. If a reader is ever confused about
what you are presenting them, their
default answer is, “No.” Within a
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millisecond, they’ve moved on. They’ve
scrolled past you—or swiped back to
TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube.
Which means the way you present
yourself in your bio is crucial.
How To Start Writing Online: The Ship 30 for 30 Ultimate Guide
Readers make snap judgements about
whether or not you are someone worth
reading, listening to, and following based
on your bio. They really don’t care
whether you like cats, or what your
favorite show on Netflix is. The only
question they’re asking themselves is,
“Am I interested in this type of person?”
And the fastest, most effective way to
answer that question for readers is to
make it very clear what you write about—
and, even better, what readers can
expect to learn or experience in return.
If the reader is interested in that
topic, they follow.
If the reader is not interested in that
topic, they don’t follow.
This sort of binary decision is what you
want.
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Framework #8:
Naming & Claiming
Your Category
How To Start Writing Online: The Ship 30 for 30 Ultimate Guide
One of our goals within Ship 30 for 30 is
to help writers gain clarity over their
category.
If throughout your 30 days of shipping
you feel like you’ve figured out what niche
you want to create for yourself, that’s
great. Then that niche should be “Named
& Claimed” in your bio. And if not, no
worries—most people repeat Ship 30 for
30 multiple times, each cohort learning
more and more about what they enjoy
writing about and what readers are
clearly engaging with.
However, once you gain some clarity over
what your niche is, it’s important that you
Name & Claim that niche in your bio—
along with telling readers who you are
and what you do, what makes you
credible, and what your category is
(“data-driven online writing & category
design”).
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Using Data To Refine Your
Category Over Time
How To Start Writing Online: The Ship 30 for 30 Ultimate Guide
That said, one of the most important
lessons we strive to instill in writers is that
your category & niche can (and most
likely will) change as time goes on.
Or, as we like to say: The more you write,
the more you write.
The more you write online, the more you
learn what works and what doesn’t. The
more you learn what works (for you), the
more clarity you will have around what
specifically readers resonate with—and
what sort of content you feel is most
valuable to create. The more clarity you
have, the easier it becomes for you to
explain, “This is what I write about,” which
makes it easier for readers to decide
whether or not they want to follow you
and give you their attention.
And round and round your flywheel spins.
If you found this Ultimate Guide helpful,
we can’t stress enough how much we are
only scratching the surface here. Ship 30
for 30 is a cohort-based masterclass in
online writing, and the entry point for
anyone who wants to become a Digital
Writer.
We hope to see you in the next cohort!
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