The Beauty of Writing For Yourself

Most people write blog posts for views. Ultimately that’s the goal right? Get as many people to read these words as possible. Whether your goal is to sell more of your product, increase your position as an influencer for a given topic, or just to boast your own ego.

Writing for views

Writing for views means you need to follow some guidelines:

• Write about a timely and popular topic
• Use lots of headlines, images and .gifs to keep people engaged
• Write an eye catching (and potentially clickbait-y) title
• Write short — to the point — content or long-form articles
• Plug your article all over social media and leave comments on other peoples posts to create backlinks etc.

I’m not writing for views, I’m writing purely for myself. I used to write straight into Evernote, but decided to challenge myself to writing publicly every day for 30 days. I did this for a few reasons: I didn’t take my time when writing in Evernote meaning my ideas weren’t fully formed or thought out; I consider myself a terrible writer and want some impetus to improve, and lastly, I continually felt resistance to writing and pushed it to the bottom of my todo list. Now that I have to do it everyday, it is close to the top.

Writing has become a priority for the first time in my life.

Writing for yourself

To illustrate why I like writing for myself, I’m going to quote each of the guidelines for ‘Writing for views’ and counter them.

Write about a timely and popular topic

I literally write about whatever I want. Each day I open a blank Medium article and simply type about whatever is on my mind. I have a few topics in a backlog that I can dip into if needed, but I essentially use Medium like an online journal. It’s exciting to know that anyone can read my inner most thoughts and feelings. Writing online makes me write — hopefully — more coherently about my ideas, but doesn’t force me to modify the way I write.

Use lots of headlines, images and .gifs to keep people engaged

I loathe seeing random images and GIFs thrown into an article. I only include images and headlines when I think they add to the story and I wish more people took this approach. Sure a funny GIF might make me laugh, but does it really add value to your message?

Write an eye catching (and potentially clickbait-y) title

This guideline is at the top of any list about getting more views for your blog. I agree with that, but as I care not for views, I can write a title that actually describes what I’m going to talk about. There is nothing worse than clicking on what looks like an interesting topic, only to realise you’ve been scammed into reading about some guy’s new SaaS app.

Write short — to the point — content or long-form articles

This one isn’t to offensive, but it’s another thing I just don’t worry about. I simply write until I have no more to say. I don’t feel the need to cut bits out, I don’t feel the the need to waffle. I just write.

Plug your article all over social media and leave comments on other peoples posts to create backlinks etc.

I love this reason. I have no marketing to do! When I hit publish, I’m done. Social media can seem like a burden when starting out and I’m thankful for not having to worry about it.

Content first, everything else after

How many of us actually listen to that advice? As a web developer, I’ve built countless blogs that have <4 articles in them when their owners close the site. I’m not trying to create “content” with these blog posts, but I am forming a habit of writing—an idea scared the shit out of me before starting this project. If anyone reads these posts and can take anything positive away, that is a massive bonus. One day I will need to write “content”, and I’m certain I’ll be grateful for spending time merely writing for myself.