How to Start Writing Online: The Ship 30 for 30 Ultimate Guide

Every single piece of writing, in some way or another, is answering a question for the reader. That's why they clicked in the first place—"I want to know the answer."

How do you build confidence in yourself as a writer? You write. It's so simple that it's complicated. The reason why writers struggle with self-confidence at the beginning of their journey is because they are still sitting on the dock, waiting, imagining. They haven't yet confronted the brutal reality that, once they begin, they probably aren't goi... See more

For example, anytime you find yourself writing a paragraph that is "listing" things out, it's worth questioning whether that paragraph can be re-formatting in the form of a bulleted list. "The first thing you want to do when writing online is prep the page. Then, once you've prepped the page, see where you can turn long paragraphs into short bullet... See more

The reason writers experience Imposter Syndrome is because we are taught that writing is all about "fitting in" where readers already are. It's about becoming a "better" writer than the next person—which is what leads to the feeling of being an imposter. We don't believe this is a productive path forward for writers, and instead, we are going to sh... See more

Every time you write and publish one of those stories or insights online, what you're really doing is "scaling yourself."

Readers on Twitter, in particular, love essays and threads that:

WHO is this for?WHAT is this about?WHY should you read this? (What PROMISE are you making to the reader? What do they get in return?)

When you slow down and really break a topic down, you start to realize there isn't enough clarity in saying, "I want to write about X." And the reason so many writers sit down to write, only to give up 5 minutes later, is because this is the first BIG realization they have to confront. They thought they knew what they wanted to write about, only to... See more

Uses lists and bullets whenever possible. Tweets are small, which means you need to figure out how to compress a lot of information into a teeny tiny container. One of the easiest ways to do this is to swap prose for lists. Besides, readers enjoy “skimming” bullets way more than they do sifting through prose. As a rule of thumb: anytime you have a ... See more

The Endless Idea Generator works best with specificity.