You Can’t Predict Which Ideas Will Gain Traction

That’s why volume and consistency matter so much more.

When it comes to writing, you can’t predict what will resonate, become shareable, or be helpful. There’s just no way to tell and there are way too many factors that can contribute to the final outcome.

That is why I want to suggest an easy solution to trying to predict what ideas you should write about.

Focus on the volume of writing and consistency.

This one idea has been responsible for most of my success as a writer. The truth is that I’m not that smart, wasn’t trained as a writer, and I’m mediocre at it. I’m okay with all of that and it brings me peace knowing that even with that enormous handicap, there is still fulfillment and meaning that comes from my work.

All I’ve ever done is publish every single week and disconnect from whether what was written was quality, a masterpiece, or normal shit you can read somewhere else on the internet. Who the heck am I to be the judge anyway?

Every day there are emails that find their way into my inbox asking me to validate someone’s work and give them permission to keep going. I am not god and my opinion as a novice writer doesn’t really matter.

What matters is volume and consistency in writing, and in life too.

The Need to Predict

Where does the need to predict what topics will be shared and appreciated come from? It comes from the idea that we can hack our success and use analytics to skip the queue that other writers have waited in for years.

Skipping the queue is a lie.

A piece of writing can be highly shareable or become incredibly useful for so many reasons, such as:

• Timing
• Current world events
• The hour of the day you posted it
• The person who shares or comments on the post
• A publication’s ability to artificially put your work on the homepage

There are so many ways to game the system. What you can’t hack is whether what you are saying has value, because that is subjective.

Trying to be valuable to millions of people is tough because you end up going too wide with your writing and that can often cause you to fall flat and speak to nobody.

The internet has become highly segmented. Gone are the days of Hollywood where there are a few big names at the top that get all the attention and awards, while everyone else dies in the shadows of their low self-esteem.

Everyone nowadays can be the hero of their own narrow niche, and personally, I freaking love it that way amigo.

Now everyone gets to be useful to somebody instead of having a few big platforms that are the gatekeepers of what reaches the light of day and what doesn’t.

You can’t predict usefulness. Game over.

The Two Roadblocks to Producing Volume and Being Consistent

The trouble with producing volume and being consistent is that two things stop us in our tracks subconsciously and tell us little white lies that screw up any chance we have of ever having our work seen.

1. Overthinking

It’s easy to spend hours planning, researching, and reading other people’s work to gain inspiration.

All of this time spent could have been used to write, which is how you get better at your craft and discover those stories hidden in your past experience that you may have forgotten about.

Overthinking gets in the way and it’s the default mindset if you don’t see it for the roadblock it is.

• You will never be ready
• The article will never be completely finished
• There will always be a writer who can say it better than you
• It’s never the right time to publish

2. Perfection

This one explains 90% of Instagram culture. You can’t be perfect, ever, and neither can your work. None of us are driving around in Lambos all day through Beverly Hills with Rolex watches and the latest Armani suit.

The culture of perfection is a lie and if you aim for it, well, you are going to find it impossible ever to get anything done and be consistent. This one is going to blow you away and it has been the feature of all my most shared articles:

Imperfect art actually sells ten times better and is enjoyed for years after.

The crappy nonsense I wrote earlier in my career full of spelling errors, walls of text, and no photos is still being enjoyed today. Every article that has been highly shared is imperfect and people love it because it makes the message relatable.

It’s easier to relate to imperfect work than it is to relate to impossible perfection that can never be achieved.

Hitting Publish Will Set You Free

Set yourself free and focus from this day onwards on the goal of pumping out a high volume of work above all and being consistent with the process.

It’s scary to hit publish sometimes, but it’s also freeing when you look back on it. Hitting publish gives you all the results while staying in draft mode makes you have regrets and produces hidden frustration.

The act of hitting publish is a subtle way of saying to yourself, “This idea is done for now and it’s time to move onto the next article.”

Then, when more time has passed, you can revisit the same topic with more life experience and add more wisdom and thoughts to the idea. Repeating this process has been an important part of my own writing process.

If you produce a decent volume of work, you will:

• Find your voice
• Have work that can impact the lives of others
• Discover what works for your unique approach
• Gain the fulfillment that comes from doing your life’s work

Choose volume and consistency over trying to be perfect—and don’t overthink your way to guaranteed failure.

If you want to increase your productivity and learn some more valuable life hacks, then join my private mailing list on timdenning.net