## Summary There are three main frameworks that digital writers use to do their work: - [[Lean Writing]] - Applies [[Lean]] methodology to writing: write small, modular bits of work and incrementally add to them over time. - Atomic essay > Twitter thread > Long-form article > Free email course > Digital product > Online course/community > Business - Test the waters with smaller bits of content, and then add to it depending on the interest, demand, and engagement. - Validate your ideas before putting too much work into them. - [[Data-Driven Writing]] - _Make noise_: Don't worry too much about what you're putting out there, but make sure you try a lot of things. - _Listen for signals_: Watch out for internal and external signals in response to the noise you made. - Let the signals (the analytics) guide what you work on next: double-down on things that work. - [[Puzzle Pieces Writing]] - Analog Writers write linearly, but Digital Writers write organizationally, starting with the biggest ideas. - _Prep the page_: Use templates to pre-populate a format for your work, and then write out your major points before you fill in the smaller ones. ## Log Feel free to share everything we've learned in this course. "Nothing we have is proprietary or behind a veiled garden." Weekly Q&A sessions - submit specific questions in the post on Circle. **Visuals competition**: anyone who creates or shares a visual of their learning in Ship 30 for 30 get access to a bonus AMA webinar. Respond to the post on Circle. It doesn't even have to be visuals. It's just any sort of remixing in public of what you're learning here. > Digital Writers don't write FOR their readers. > Digital Writers write WITH their readers. ![[analog_vs_digital_writer.png]] Analog writing is outdated. It's a perfectionist approach: you don't share until it's perfect. They write one thing and then sell it. Rinse repeat. Digital writing: write one thing and remix it into different avenues. 3 main frameworks digital writers use - Lean writing - Data-driven writing - Puzzle pieces ### [[Lean Writing]] - Atomic essay - Twitter thread - Long-form article - Free email course - Digital product - Online course/community - Business Blog posts are almost like old-school writing because you don't have that flywheel with it. Validate your ideas: get feedback on your ideas first, and then figure out how you need to change your approach. Get ideas out, and listen to what the market tells you about them. 3-step lean writing framework 1. Test lots of ideas by publishing them in their most atomic form (essay, tweet, thread) 2. Double-down when an idea catches fire. 3. Expand proven ideas into longer formats. Anecdotes - Malcom Gladwell (started with a newspaper article) - Mark Manson (started as a tweet) - Ryan Holiday (started as a blog post) ### [[Data-Driven Writing]] > Make noise; listen for signal. Your niche should be something that resonates with you AND resonates with readers. After Ship 30 for 30, you will have 30 data points to analyze to figure out what that actually means. Signals you should be listening for: - Internal - Ease: _Wow, this was so easy for me to write!_ - Enjoyment: _I had a list of ideas and this one jumped to the top._ - Friction: _This topic was really hard. I thought I wanted to write about this but turns out I don't._ - External - Views - Likes - Comments - Shares - Other signals - Headline: *Do readers like this headline style or another heading style I've used before?* - Format: _Which format is grabbing readers' attention most? This one or that one?_ - Topic: _It seems like this topic/content gets more engagement for me than anything else I've written in the past._ > No book is ever finished; the author merely abandons it. Every author has hit publish knowing that they _could_ make it better but don't want to. ### [[Puzzle Pieces Writing]] > Analog Writers write linearly, from start to finish. > Digital Writers write organizationally, focusing on BIG ideas first. > How? > By Prepping The Page. Prepping the Page means starting from something. This is why they have templates, so that you can go and just start populating information even though you haven't gone linearly through it yet. This is all about reducing friction and making it easier to _start_. These are the puzzle pieces: - The headline - Introduction - Main points - (optional) Conclusion ## Next Actions