041 • Your biggest competition as a writer

Perusing the Substack app a short while ago, I came across an eerily accurate Note from Tim Denning...

'Your biggest writing competition is the writer you were 12 months ago.'

And that hit home.

Because 12 months ago (there or thereabouts), I was just starting to ramp up pace in my online writing journey.

The initial awkwardness related to the first few times you press ‘publish’ online had gone, and I was brimming with ideas that I really wanted to share with people.

Now although I'm not going to be stopping writing, the allure of starting something new and exciting has definitely worn off. This is what puts the 12-month-old-and-upwards writer at a slight disadvantage compared to the beginner.

Yeah, you might have figured out how to write more entertaining and insightful pieces, but the process of doing so is no longer novel. Publishing your writing is based more on discipline, rather than because you like the thrill.

So how do you outperform the writer you were 12 months ago and continue to improve?

There are a couple of really important points I’ve identified...

1. Make Writing a Habit

I mean even more so than you might have done already.

It's hard when you're sporadic with your publishing, easier when you don't even have to think about sitting down to write.

You have something that the writer you were 12 months ago doesn't have - a more refined and effective writing workflow. So use this to your advantage. Maintain the habit, but don't spend longer than you have to writing. Stressing for hours over a single newsletter issue is for numbers 1-10, not when you've been publishing weekly for almost a year.

If you can, carve out the same time ever day to get a little bit of writing done. This further reduces the number of decisions that stand between you and sitting down to create. Capturing your ideas and acting on them quickly, whilst they're still fresh and enticing also helps.

2. Write about what you want, how you want

Chances are you're writing close to the topics that resonate with you already - they're topics you have insight worth sharing about.

But leaning even further into what evokes your emotions and fascination is a way to make sure you stay engaged with your writing ever further into your journey.

Last week's issue was about creating content vs art, and I think that this idea is something similar.

Write and share what resonates with you even if it doesn't perform well. It means you're writing for the sake of writing and sharing, rather than writing as a means to gain something else, whether income or other metrics.

---

The Tim Denning quote that I gave at the start of this issue took me aback when I read it, but it's been a timely reminder to maintain the fire for writing that I had back when everything was new and exciting to me.