Content tip from C.S Lewis

Reading.

This happened because I took advice from internet writers who were selling courses and cohorts on writing.

They kept repeating: Write a lot.

So I did. But what happens when you try to write a lot but don’t have anything to write about? Well, since I wasn’t reading, I spent my time on socials. 

This led me to consume a lot of basic content, and in turn, I produced a lot of basic content.

Garbage in. Garbage out. Simple.

But instead of seeing this reality, I doubled down on the hoax. I kept collecting hooks, viral swipe files and a plethora of dead prompts. Of course, they led me nowhere, I just got efficient at producing mediocre content.

Around this time last year, my father passed away, so I took a 2-month break and in that I read a lot as a coping mechanism. 

So, when I started writing again after that, I could immediately see that I started borrowing smart arguments from the authors. I started copying their style. I had really solid fundamentals to back my claims.

My writing improved because my thinking improved.

Again, this never happened overnight. It’s tough to turn your notes into content. It required a lot of reps. My note-taking system underwent under serious system change. But after a couple of months, it came as naturally to me as that mediocre writing did.

Now, I measure my productivity and output based on the number of books I read each week and month. On top of that, I keep a tab on how many notes I’m adding to my slip box each week.

So I urge all new writers to simply pick up books.

Read to train your writing muscles. Read anything without any boundaries. Read almost all the time. 

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