I observe. I'm like a sponge, always trying to absorb good ideas. There are a few writers I follow with great fascination. The ones that interest me most are those who are new. Those who build audiences effectively.
Over the past decade, I've built up several audiences on several platforms. I've come to understand one thing: methods change and evolve. Trends appear and disappear. Algorithms change. Themes, ways of building posts, social issues… You can surf on them or not.
Depending on the year, you don't build a career on social networks in the same way. What worked yesterday doesn't necessarily work today. Today's rules won't be tomorrow's rules.
Writing is a living entity. It evolves over time. And writers who want to make their mark on the landscape must evolve with it if they want to remain relevant.
That's why it's so instructive to follow the new stars. They understand what the world needs, right now. Their success is merely the echo of a gap they fill in society.
These successful writers or content creators have identified levers and capitalize on them. By following them, we can try to understand what their audience appreciates. We can try to understand what they've figured out.
What I notice in their writings is that there are two schools:
- Great tutorials, but where you can feel the author's style. These are writers with many skills or life experience. Sharing their knowledge in a captivating way.
- Highly emotional content. Writers who will take you on a journey as soon as you enter their world. In a few minutes, they make you feel a wide range of intense emotions.
Sometimes, a mix of the two. But listicles and essays tend to disappear. Drowned in the ocean of generic content. I predicted it a few months ago. Non-authentic writing is in peril. It has a new competitor capable of regurgitating masses of generic content: AI.
If you want to shine: you're going to have to put some "you" into your writing.
AI can't generate:
- Your ideas
- Your life
- Your experience
- Your personality
You're AI bulletproof.
Readers crave authentic reading. Whatever platform they're on, they're gorged on generic reading material. They're bored to death between two lifeless listicles. They're looking to learn, to laugh, to be sad, to think, to feel something.
Successful writers give to their audience. Quality information or emotion. Or both. When you read their writing. You appreciate their style. But more than that, you feel things.
AI has taken writing into a new era. Able to generate a lot of content without emotion. We have every reason to go the other way and inject a lot of emotion into our writing.
This doesn't mean we can't still write listicles and essays. It means that we'll have to inject an extra dose of soul into our prose to prevent it from looking like generic content.
It's a fantastic time to be a writer. Faced with the massive robotization of every part of society, writers who write from the heart will become a bulwark.
They're bound to find an echo, the world we know is dying. It's becoming cold, ruthless, emotionless. As a writer, it's the best time to warm hearts.
So be daring. Have fun. Add lines that please you. Use the words you want. Invent your own. Personal turns of phrase.
There's too much generic content. We want to read your style.
Your audience follows you because you're a unique human being. Give them readings that only you can produce.
I'm putting all my experience as a content creator and writer into three posts that I send each week straight to your inbox. If you'd like to receive them, you can sign up here.
I also have a free booklet on how to start a medium audience. If you want to gather your first 100 followers. It's here.