story by LOUIS CHEW
Some time earlier this month, I was just routinely checking my profile and story stats — like all aspiring writers do — when I noticed that I was named a top writer in Self Improvement. A week later or so, I somehow got top writer status in Life and Life Lessons as well.I never expected to attain top writer status in any category.In fact, I’ve barely been on the platform for 2 months. I’ve only had 8 posts during this time, and none of them went viral. Most people wouldn’t consider me a top writer as well.
Joel palostre notes that the 3 best ways of doing so are to write quality posts, write frequently and grow a loyal audience. Here’s the post:
Quality
It’s been said many times before, but it’s always worth repeating. Here, content is king. The platform’s algorithms are extremely helpful in surfacing good stories.Write stories that are worth reading, tag them appropriately, and Medium will do the rest. You have to do some marketing and promotion yourself if you want your story to really go viral, but otherwise Medium does the majority of the leg work for you.Good stories don’t just magically appear out of nowhere. It takes time and effort to write good stories. The ones that the best writers published often aren’t the only ones that they write — good and average stories are deleted before they are seen. The 5 minute read you see probably takes at least 5 hours to be written. There are plenty of success stories which detail how they got there. There’s actually a large pool of stories which detail how the writers found success — you just have to look hard enough.That said, don’t spend countless hours editing your work. You’ll only end up with a blank page, just like I did. Ship a minimum viable product and learn from your mistakes. You’ll know what works and what doesn’t, and improve on your next story. That way you’ll be able to post frequently.Which brings me to my next point.
Frequency
Unlike quality or having a large following, the frequency of your posts is well within your control.Writing frequently allows your stories to appear on feeds more often, which in turn gets you more views and a larger following. Your name is recognised more easily when you publish often — it’s exactly the same way advertising works.Forcing yourself to write consistently also causes you to put more time into writing. You probably don’t want to put something that’s mediocre in front of a large audience. Use this fear of embarrassment to help your skill in writing grow rapidly. More quality stories equates to more reading time.
Loyal Following
This is probably the hardest part after writing your story. It’s often said that blogging success is 20% writing and 80% promotion.It seems almost like a catch-22 doesn’t it? How do you gain a following when you aren’t even noticed at the start? My first story which clocked more than 1,000 views was made possible only when I got published in Joel Mwakasege's publication, Be Yourself. Only when I wrote vulnerably was I able to write this piece. The relative success of my first post gave me much needed encouragement to continue writing. It made me believe that my writing could bring value to the lives of others. It motivated me to continue writing. I’ve always wanted to write on self improvement, so the next place I tried to get published in was The Mission. It’s a large publication, with a lot of quality pieces. It wasn’t easy for me to get published in there — I certainly sent Chad Grill a number of emails before he published my first piece. That got me about 2,500 views.
Once I was accepted as a writer, the quality of my writing somehow improved. Perhaps it was a placebo: associating myself with other top writers gave me greater confidence and motivation hence improving my writing. Momentum was certainly working in my favour. The bottom line is that publications are a great help when it comes to being noticed. You don’t necessarily have to be in the biggest publications to be noticed — in fact you may be overshadowed and forgotten if your work was indeed featured there. Look for fit instead of followers.
If you’re a seasoned writer, this won’t matter. But if you’re a beginner like me, you’ll be more motivated to produce quality content frequently. One of the unforeseen benefits of wanting to be heard was that I also learnt to promote myself, something which I’ve not always been very comfortable with. The journey has definitely been beneficial to my learning and development.I’m still looking for my own breakthrough. All this while I’m bearing in mind that one successful post is all it takes.The one successful post could well very be your next, so keep writing.
STORY CREDIT: BY LOUIS CHEW (writing cooperative)
ANALYTIC OPINION
story by Louis chew was shared to provoke a thought on every one who reads it. its on you to be successful both as a writer and a steemit blogger. personal development and self improvement is something eveyone should always aspire for, doesnt matter if you are struggling or you have already succeeded on this platform, you should seek out ways to challenge, motivate and improve yourself.
if that is your goal then think D-W-G . our project is focused on providing that platform where members could improve each other via critiquing to help you become a better writer and to help expose you to numerous opportunities here on steemit and off it. if you havent read our introductory post do so here https://steemit.com/introduceyourself/@d-w-g/introducing-decentralized-writers-group-dwg-project-a-future-and-purpose-for-writers.
membership is open to everyone, kindly join us on discord here: https://discord.gg/ruJBMc8