The Guide to Writing Online
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The Guide to Writing Online
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Re: The Guide to Writing Online
#2Quick guide to Americans writing for a European public (or who want to make business with Europe, especially Germany).
Writing something like this:
>“I’ve interviewed more than 70 of the world’s most interesting people on my North Star Podcast, built a weekly email newsletter with almost 10,000 subscribers, and my most popular articles, such as What the Hell is Going On?, have been read more than 100,000 times. I’ve done all this in just a couple of years.“
will attract contempt and make you look like a moron. Boasting your achievements in such a straightforward way might be ok for a US public, but in Europe everyone just thinks “so what” and then “what the hell is this person trying to sell me”?
Re: The Guide to Writing Online
#3One of the things I've been struggling with is that once I've mastered a topic enough to feel comfortable writing about it, everything I write sounds obvious to me, and from there there is an easy leap to "it's probably obvious to everyone", and I start questioning whether I should write at all. Anyone has dealt with this? Tips would be appreciated.
Re: The Guide to Writing Online
#4Quick guide to Americans writing for a European public (or who want to make business with Europe, especially Germany). Writing something like this: >“I’ve interviewed more than 70 of the world’s most interesting people on my North Star Podcast, built a weekly email newsletter with almost 10,000 subscribers, and my most popular articles, such as What the Hell is Going On?, have been read more than 100,000 times. I’ve…
I don't know if it's exclusive to us - I hope not - but I am German and that's pretty much what I thought.
I'm aware that people have to make a living. I'm much more open for advertising at the end of an enjoyable piece, if I have developed an appetite for more.
Re: The Guide to Writing Online
#5One of the things I've been struggling with is that once I've mastered a topic enough to feel comfortable writing about it, everything I write sounds obvious to me, and from there there is an easy leap to "it's probably obvious to everyone", and I start questioning whether I should write at all. Anyone has dealt with this? Tips would be appreciated.
I know the feeling. What has somewhat helped me is to not write for publishing to the general population but for somebody who doesn't know about the topic. A gentle introduction that they consider not too demanding to follow but feels like they have a better understanding after reading. You can publish later, but I find it easier to focus on a single person and make it useful for them.
Re: The Guide to Writing Online
#6One of the things I've been struggling with is that once I've mastered a topic enough to feel comfortable writing about it, everything I write sounds obvious to me, and from there there is an easy leap to "it's probably obvious to everyone", and I start questioning whether I should write at all. Anyone has dealt with this? Tips would be appreciated.
I feel this too, and the way I deal with it is writing targeting the audience that you can still remember being a part of, for whatever is interesting to you.
So think back to what you knew and thought 6-9 months ago, and write for people in that boat. You probably learned a nifty trick or two since then, or had a recent revelation. Write just about that. Once you have an audience you can start to listen to their reactions and further questions to decide how to back-propagate from there even more (because not everyone arrives at that point from the same path).
The cool thing is that this works even for stuff you aren't a master at -- there's always someone who is just a step or two behind you in whatever it is you are doing, even if you are only on step 4 or 5 from being an absolute beginner. As long as you care about the topic and can pinpoint a meaningful thesis for your writing.
Re: The Guide to Writing Online
#7One of the things I've been struggling with is that once I've mastered a topic enough to feel comfortable writing about it, everything I write sounds obvious to me, and from there there is an easy leap to "it's probably obvious to everyone", and I start questioning whether I should write at all. Anyone has dealt with this? Tips would be appreciated.
Derek Sivers wrote about exactly this:
Obvious To You, Amazing To Others https://sivers.org/obvious
There's also an animated video version, if you prefer video.
Re: The Guide to Writing Online
#8Quick guide to Americans writing for a European public (or who want to make business with Europe, especially Germany). Writing something like this: >“I’ve interviewed more than 70 of the world’s most interesting people on my North Star Podcast, built a weekly email newsletter with almost 10,000 subscribers, and my most popular articles, such as What the Hell is Going On?, have been read more than 100,000 times. I’ve…
I don't know if it's exclusive to us - I hope not - but I am German and that's pretty much what I thought. I'm aware that people have to make a living. I'm much more open for advertising at the end of an enjoyable piece, if I have developed an appetite for more.
It's exclusive to non-American, ie, doing this "always marketing yourself" thing whenever you talk or write or communicate in any way is kinda exclusive to Americans (as being acceptable and normal). The "sell yourself" culture is pretty deeply ingrained in this country in almost all personal communication, except with very close and trusted friends, and even then you'll often find inclinations to sell themselves socially.
Re: The Guide to Writing Online
#9Quick guide to Americans writing for a European public (or who want to make business with Europe, especially Germany). Writing something like this: >“I’ve interviewed more than 70 of the world’s most interesting people on my North Star Podcast, built a weekly email newsletter with almost 10,000 subscribers, and my most popular articles, such as What the Hell is Going On?, have been read more than 100,000 times. I’ve…
He is giving some weight to his advice on writing online, not just boasting, is my impression.
Re: The Guide to Writing Online
#10Quick guide to Americans writing for a European public (or who want to make business with Europe, especially Germany). Writing something like this: >“I’ve interviewed more than 70 of the world’s most interesting people on my North Star Podcast, built a weekly email newsletter with almost 10,000 subscribers, and my most popular articles, such as What the Hell is Going On?, have been read more than 100,000 times. I’ve…
I don't know if it's exclusive to us - I hope not - but I am German and that's pretty much what I thought. I'm aware that people have to make a living. I'm much more open for advertising at the end of an enjoyable piece, if I have developed an appetite for more.
This makes me want to move to Germany