I see hundreds, actually thousands, of online writing courses popping up on the Internet. Nearly all of them involve some cohort based model that trains people on how to write consistently for an online audience (for engagement).

The creators have already solved the riddle of content-driven writing, and they will show you how to crack the code.

Life... See more

If you write to please others, you are selling out. You are in the process of audience capture. This way of talking, which is how the fear in me talks, is common—as if writing for an audience and writing for yourself are at odds with each other. I really used to feel like that.

But I no longer think that it is quite right. The relationship between... See more