Lessons from writing 10 newsletter posts

by

In a shocking turn of events, as of this post I’ve successfully published 10 articles for my newsletter!

I’ve struggled a lot with consistency in the past, and I often give up on new projects pretty quickly if I don’t get some kind of instant gratification. I’m proud (and sad) to say that this newsletter is my first creative project that I’ve been able to maintain for a substantial stretch of time since I started working “in the real world.”

3 tips I learned to write more consistently

  1. Use a framework. Whether it’s a listicle, how-to guides, or a case study, I find it much easier to write when I add a bit of structure. It also helps with comprehension.

  2. Keep the tools simple. I chose Beehiiv for my newsletter platform because it has a simple interface and makes it super easy to go from writing to publishing an article. As a CS major, I used to think it would be really cool to code my own blog from scratch or integrate my website with WordPress. Ultimately, I found that all the technical guides I had to work through added way too much friction and prevented me from doing the most important thing—writing.

  3. Time boxing. I experimented with this one in real-time a couple posts back. It turns out Parkinson’s law is real: “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” Initially, I was very much caught up making tweaks and edits for hours or days, even after the core of my post had already been completed. Eventually, I realized done is better than perfect, and the more I write the more I’ll naturally improve. Now, I try to finish writing each post in one ~2-3 hour sitting, so excuse my occasional sloppiness 🙂 

Why I’ll continue writing

  1. It lets me take a step back and reflect. Writing a newsletter has been a nice way for me to process recent experiences, whether it’s observations from traveling to a new city, or reflections on work-life balance after a grueling workweek. It’s very much like a public journal, and I’m excited to look back at my posts in the future and go “oh hey, that’s what was going on in my head during that period of time.”

  2. It’s helped me develop more clarity in my thoughts and writing. Marcus Aurelius once said “You need to get used to winnowing your thoughts, so that if someone says, ‘What are you thinking?’ you can respond at once (and truthfully that you are thinking this or thinking that.” The process and pressure of writing for an audience has helped me refine my thinking and forced me to develop a stronger perspective on topics of interest. Over time, I hope this bleeds into my verbal communication as well.

  3. It’s a good way to stay connected! After sending out my posts, many of you reached out with words of encouragement and your own reflections. It’s nice to discover when someone is like-minded, and it’s also interesting to hear different perspectives.

I’m still working on exploring what kind of topics I enjoy writing about the most, but so far it’s centering around money, travel, and 20-something soul-searching. If you have suggestions for more topics to write about, let me know!

See you next week 👋 
– Tim

🔍️ Interesting things I found this week


Powered by beehiiv