I’m seven days into my “daily writing for a month challenge“.
This isn’t my first time writing/publishing daily, but I’m reminded about the pros and cons of committing to daily writing. These ideas are a combination of what I learned before and what I’m noticing now.
Below are a few of the pros of daily writing and publishing so far. Tomorrow I’ll cover some of the cons.
1. Writing daily allows you to be more creative.
When you need to write daily, it forces you to dig deep to come up with ideas. These ideas build on each other and become interconnected over time. Your ideas get richer, your writing becomes better, and your creativity gets sharpened out of necessity.
2. Writing daily helps you see hidden principles in everyday life.
There are all kinds of principles being demonstrated around us at all times. When you look for things to write about each day, it makes you notice things that would otherwise be invisible or unarticulated. Writing daily opens your eyes to the invisible forces that guide our world.
3. Writing daily makes you more visible to the world.
When it comes to marketing, I like to think in terms of surface area. The more content you create and the more places you share it, the more likely people are to discover you. Daily content gets you noticed (and good content keeps people around).
4. Writing daily helps you create diamonds.
It is estimated that Pablo Picasso created more than 50,000 pieces of art. No doubt, many of them are embarrassingly awful. But today he’s regarded as one of the greatest artists of all time. When you write daily, you’re bound to create at least a few diamonds in the rough.
5. Writing daily makes you remarkable.
Writing daily is hard. And when you do it, people notice. They may not read every word you write, but the fact that you keep showing up is as remarkable as it is rare. And when you’re remarkable, people share your story. That’s how ideas spread.
6. Writing daily helps you learn more deeply.
When you write, you teach. And when you teach, you learn. Daily writing forces you to explore the edges of what you know and analyze your ideas well enough to form a coherent piece. You learn by teaching.
7. Writing daily helps to establish you as an expert.
We live in a knowledge economy where many of us work more with our heads than our hands. Writing demonstrates what you know and how you think. When you do it long enough, people see you as an expert.
8. Writing daily helps you go deep on your topic.
When you write daily, the surface ideas go away quickly. You’re forced to dig deep on topics and find the gold. Daily writing helps you go deep enough to find and surface the underlying gold on any topic (see “diamonds” in number 4 above).
9. Writing daily helps you build an audience.
When you write daily, your chances of developing an audience increases. When people like what you share, they subscribe or follow along to stay “in the know”. Writing daily speeds up the audience building, which is an extremely valuable asset.
These are just a few pros, I might write more again later as I think about them, so check back again here.