90% of writers will quit in the next 6 months (how not to be one of them)

(stick around to the end to check out my Medium article which got boosted yesterday)

I’m shocked by how many writers give up.

I have a list of Medium writers whose content I read. But 90% have quit in the last 6 months. What’s the lifespan of a writer? My experience suggests it is very short.

This has 2 startling implications for you:

• If you keep writing you’ll be in the top 10% because the other 90% have abandoned the arena.

• The odds are against you. You are very unlikely to last and still be writing in 2 years.

Let’s be honest. Writing online is brutal.

Every writer feels like giving up at times. It’s hard to keep going when you don’t see results. You can only write into the void for so long.

You need a new way of thinking to sustain you.

I’ve been writing on Medium for 9 months and have 1200 followers. But without the tools below I would have quit.

If you want to last as a writer you need to find your way through these 3 stages:

1. Uniformed optimism

You start because you believe you can do it.

The endorphins kick in and you feel great. You realise in theory it will be hard or there will be bumps in the road. But you don’t pay any attention to potential problems.

You are uninformed about how tough it is going to be.

For my first 3 months, I was not bothered by my low views:

• Month 1: 24 views

• Month 2: 68 views

• Month 3: 408 views

I was too busy being impressed I had written an article. And it was on the internet. I was proud I’d put an idea into practice. The lack of interest in my stuff bounced off me.

But a darker day was coming.

Blind optimism is necessary at the start. Otherwise, we’d never get going.

2. Informed pessimism

After the initial excitement has worn off you discover how hard it is.

Anyone who has started a business, run a marathon, or been married — all reach the point when they think:

I knew it’d be hard — but I never thought it’d be this hard

After 3 months I was no longer satisfied with spending 2 hours writing an article. I wanted people to read it. I longed to be one of those writers earning $$$.

I decided to get better. I devoured all the writing tips. Crafted sizzling headlines. Learned how to write compelling introductions. My stats improved but not by much. It was a lot of effort for very little growth.

I started to feel discouraged.

When you discover how hard it is. You start to doubt you can do it. I was now informed and pessimistic I could make it.

Most quit at this point.

But I knew others had made this work. I researched how they had done it. I adopted their advice.

New hope was birthed as I headed into the 3rd stage.

3. Informed optimism

You need more than consistency to get to stage 3.

You need to consistently improve. And if you keep doing that. One day the green shoots of hope will appear. You'll see evidence this is going to work.

• You get feedback people are finding your writing helpful

• You see your writing is getting better 

• Your numbers start to rise 

And your confidence gets stronger.

You know this is going to work. It's only a matter of time. All you need to do is keep going.

So you focus on your inputs and trust the process.

Uninformed optimism only sees the benefits

Informed pessimism only sees the costs

Informed optimism — sees both but knows the rewards will come if you keep going.

…

I got a Medium boost!

If you write on Medium you’ll know how important a boost is.

(A boost is when a human editor likes your writing and decides to boost it in the algorithm, Resulting in loads of views & $$$).

I like to look at articles that get boosted so I know what the editors are looking for.

Here’s the article:

What I’m reading…The Psychology of Money - Morgan Housel

because it’s got great reviews and I’m interested in Wealth/Happiness.