A Guide to Writing on the Internet

So many people want to write on the internet. They are bursting at the seams to get their ideas out into the world (and the world really needs what’s in their heads).

Part-Time Creators worry that they don’t have the time, knowledge or words to write on the internet. So this incredible knowledge stays stuck in their heads. And money is left on the table. 

But I’ve been writing alongside my day job for 3 years. One million people have read my writing so far this year. Here are the 5 simple tips to writing on the internet for Part-Time Creators everywhere. 

Rule 1: Write without expectation

Not everything you write will be good.

In fact, about 9% is any use. For most, some days that’s even less. I’ll write for hours and look back and the page and render it all completely useless. That’s the deal with writing. 

I’ve written over 1,000 articles on Medium, I am able to be write so much because I have zero expectations of the writing. I just need to write.

Write first, edit second.

Try not to overthink it too much, the market will decide what ‘good enough’ is. It’s your job to just keep tapping away.

Rule 2: Write with emotion

So many writers write about the stuff they couldn’t give two hoots about.

You know lifeless writing almost kills me. Don’t write about the stuff you don’t care about. Write about the stuff that makes you feel something.

• Write about the stuff that keeps you up at night
• Write about the time you drove around in circles at night time trying to battle your own emotions.

That stuff, that real stuff. That’s the stuff we want. Writing is about emotion. The best place to start is with your own. 

I write about the stuff I chew over on my dog walks, the stuff I wake up thinking about, the stuff that I have to get out of my head. And the stuff I feel the most about always ends up resonating the most. Like this article that was written in a rage about ‘quitting the rat race and move to Bali hype’. 

Rule 3: Allow yourself to make mistakes

Perfectionism kills progress.

Get on. Press publish. If you misspell a word don’t worry about it. I misspell, miss words, and misread all the time. I don’t care. It’s part of deciding to write every day. Nobody gets it right all of the time.

My batting average is like 70% of the time. I’m okay with that. I like to write a lot. It helps me think.

Quantity makes quality.

4. The UI of writing

People read with their eyes.

Writing needs to feel like it’s making your reader’s life easier. That means you need to think about that when you are writing, here’s some things I think about:

• Short sentences. 
• Lots of white space. 
• Bold words where necessary.
• Using bullets when I’ve got succinct points 

When you show a reader a block of text they feel like they’ve got a mountain to climb and they’d rather not. You could have written your best piece in the world, but nobody’s reading it because it scares them. 

Make your writing look good. All in an effort to make the experience more enjoyable.

Rule 5: The ethos of writing 

Treat writing like a product you’d pay for.

Don’t skimp. Don’t hold back information. Don’t skip the steps. Make writing about the reader, give them something they’d pay for and ask for nothing in return. 

Building a brand is about giving freely and asking sometimes.

That’s the recipe. That’s the mindset. Get comfortable with giving everything to your craft and expecting nothing in return. If you can do that, you can build a great life for yourself as a writer.

To wrap it up

Writing on the internet is an emotional and logical marathon. 

They’ll be bad days, they’ll be good days. Your aim during that time is to simply keep typing. You do that by writing without expectation, writing about the things you care about, allowing yourself to mess up and considering the design of your writing. 

You can write part-time and work a 9–5. 

It’s not a dark art. It’s totally possible for those that are willing to put the work in. And if you can stick the course, you’ll find your life totally changes.