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How to Write More Content · The Daily Writer

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Hey my friend, thanks for joining me for today's episode.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: I want to do something a little different on the show today, and this is going to become a very, very regular feature of both my email list and my podcast and other ways that I create content as well, and that is answering reader and listener questions.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: I really love doing that.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: And today's question was sent in by email subscriber and a good friend of mine as well.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: Her name is Lori Melton, and she is the author of the fantastic book called Journey with the Giant, Choose Your Guide, Pursue Your Purpose, and Grow in Your Walk with God.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: And she sent in a great question.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: She says this What would it look like for me to produce regularly scheduled content more often?
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: And can you give me a simple process or plan?
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: Well, Lori, I think that's a fantastic question.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: And to keep things simple, I'm going to assume that we're talking about content for emails, blog posts, articles, or social media posts.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: In other words, smaller container type of things.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: Because that kind of material is a really different beast, in my opinion, than writing much longer and more in-depth content for books.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: However, I really do think that if you are writing books, the tips, the tips I'm going to give you today are going to help you with writing books as well.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: So let's dive in.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: Tip number one is define the container for your writing.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: Now, for example, when I write these emails to my list, I know they're going to be in the range of 300 to 400 words on average.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: That's the container that I'm writing for.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: So when I'm deciding what to write for these emails, I'm thinking in basically a 300 to 400 word block of words.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: Now, when you know the size of the box that you're writing in, you know how much is going to fit inside in terms of word count.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: So when you make this decision up front, it greatly reduces your stress and anxiety because you don't have to guess about what the size of the container is, so to speak, or how many words you need to produce on average for whatever that container is.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: So tip number one is define the container for your writing.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: Tip number two is decide on a publishing schedule.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: Now I restarted my email list and podcast in early June.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: So it's been less than a month.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: And I didn't want to start sending daily emails or doing daily episodes right away again because I thought that would be kind of overwhelming to go from, you know, nothing that I had done for a while to, hey, here's daily stuff I'm going to send to your email inbox or to your podcast app or whatever.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: I thought that would be kind of overwhelming.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: So over the past two or three weeks, I've ramped up the publishing schedule to every two to three days.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: And then next week, I'll start sending out daily emails and doing daily podcast episodes again.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: Now you might be doing a weekly blog post or social media content on a daily basis, or you might be doing like a LinkedIn article twice a week, whatever it is that you're doing.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's really important to have a regular publishing schedule, whatever it is, so you can plan your writing.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, hey, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I write an article or a blog post, or hey, every Sunday I send out an email to my list, or every day I post on social media generally at this time, or whatever it is.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: The reason that that's important is because it builds trust with yourself.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: In other words, you come to trust yourself more, which is actually the most important commitment that we ever make in writing, is the commitment and the promise that we make to ourselves.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: And when we keep that promise, that reinforces our identity as a person who shows up in a professional way.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: Even if you're not, quote unquote, a professional writer.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's important for you to show up as a professional, even if you're not making your living as a writer.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: But when you show up consistently, it also sets the expectation for the reader that you're going to show up at certain times in their email inbox or on social media or on your blog or podcast or whatever it is that you're doing.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: Tip number three is make a plan for what you're writing.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: For example, this afternoon I sat down and I planned out the topics for the next two weeks worth of emails and podcast episodes.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: I know what I'm writing about, and I don't have to guess when I sit down at the keyboard.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: And to be honest with you, it is extremely rare.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, I can't actually think of the last time this has happened.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's probably been years.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it's really, really rare when I sit down to write something and I have no idea what I'm gonna be writing.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: I always have an idea of what I'm gonna be working on, whether it's a robust outline for something related to books or, you know, for these episodes, maybe I'll have a listener question or I'll have just a snippet, a few lines of something I want to talk about.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: Even if it's just a little snippet or even just a sentence or two, I always have a plan for what I'm gonna write.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: And I also want to give you a bonus tip here.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: So I've given you three tips.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: Here's a bonus one.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: I would love for you to set aside a block of time to write every day.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: Now I'm gonna dive into this in a future email because that's a whole robust topic in and of itself.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: But when you set aside a specific time that you write every day, no matter if it's 15 minutes or 60 minutes or two hours, whatever it is, that really, really helps you because when you have that sacred slot in your schedule for writing, that is um, I can't think of what the word is.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: You know, yes, folks, I'm a full-time writer, apparently.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: I can't think of what this word is.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: But the idea I'm thinking of is that is a block of time where um you do not violate it, whatever that word is.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: If you think of what that word is, let me know.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, I want to think of the word and violate.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: I don't actually know if that's a word or not, but I'll find out.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: Somebody will tell me, I'm sure.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: But anyway, you want to have a block of time where you do not violate that.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_00: It is sacred, it's on your calendar, and you don't break it unless you really, really have to.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: So, to wrap this episode up, this has been a little bit longer, but that's okay.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: These three tips are gonna go a long way in helping you to write more content more often, no matter what your container is.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: And it really just all comes down to being consistent so that you can build your identity as a writer and also so your reader knows when you're gonna show up, or your listener, whatever the case might be.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: So I would love to hear what you are wrestling with in your writing right now.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: I would love for you to um shoot me an email and let me know.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: I love listener and reader questions.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: You can email me at kent at kent sanders.net, and I will do best.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: I will do my very best to use your question in an upcoming episode.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: So, hey, my friend, as always, thanks for listening, and I'll see you next time.