I published my first article in November 2014. I had no idea what I was doing, but I had fun. Ironically, the only way to keep this fun around long-term was to consider writing the most serious job I’ve ever had. So I committed.
Now, over four years later, nothing is the same. Except that part. The fun’s still here. I even have a slightly better idea of what I’m doing. But writing online is different from anything I’d ever imagined or associated with that word.
Here are 3 lessons I rarely see others mention, but that helped me get to now.
1. People aren’t waiting to change their perspective. You have to do it for them.
No none walks around saying: “I wish someone changed my mind about productivity.” That’s not how humans work. We’re intensely focused on our day, ourselves, our next task at hand, zipping through everyday life with tunnel vision. Browsing the web and reading online are no different.
If anything, we hope to bump into ideas that confirm our worldview, not challenge it. This onus lies entirely on you, the writer. People don’t just underestimate it but, often, abandon this challenge altogether, going the easier route of telling people what they know they’ll want to hear.
This works for a while, especially when you’re just beginning, but it gets old really quick. Readers don’t know they’re driven by these biases, but from feeding them, even subconsciously, they still get bored. And that’s a feeling they know. So they move on.
What they might not know they want — but need — is an idea that cracks their perspective. A tiny fracture, just big enough for them to raise their eyebrows. To blink twice. To scroll up again. Presenting this idea is what I try to do in most of my headlines. The article is just the fulfillment center.
The line between offending people and making them think is infinitely small. But learning to dance on it is one of the most important skills you’ll ever learn.
2. The only agenda that works is to have no agenda.
That sounds weird. Of course I have an agenda. Everyone does. I want dollars. Followers. Views. However, the single…
