The secret to being a prolific Digital Writer: The Lean Writing...

65 views Dec 07, 2023 ~3 min read

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The *secret* to being a prolific Digital Writer:

The Lean Writing Framework.

Both Mark Manson & Malcolm Gladwell used it to write their critically acclaimed, bestselling books.

Here's how it works (and how you can use ChatGPT to help you become a prolific writer too): https://t.co/gC8u3cW7iA

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What do Gladwell & Manson's hit books have in common?

They both started as blog posts.

This is the Lean Writing framework in action:

1. Test ideas with short-form content
2. Double down on the ones that work best
3. Expand those ideas into long-form content

Let's dive in! https://t.co/VPnW50R2N8

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Step 1: Test ideas in short-form

Start by picking an idea:

• Making your first loaf of bread
• Buying your first rental property
• How to build a daily writing habit

Then, with this one idea, create a mini-headline for yourself:

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Keep this headline simple. 

Answer these two questions:

• WHO is this for?
• WHAT will they learn from reading this?

Let's look at an example.

When I wrote this tweet, it was aimed at Digital Writers to help them write a first sentence that hooks their readers:

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Next, ask yourself: 

What am I trying to communicate?

Are these:

• Tips
• Steps
• Traits
• Lessons
• Examples

All writing is just a list of items: Jenga blocks stacked on top of one another. 

Look at this tweet again. It's a list of Examples:

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The mini-headline I used here was:

"Examples Of Opening Sentences To Help Digital Writers Hook Reader Attention"

Now you have your headline, write your short-form content.

And then hit publish.

Then we move on to the next step:

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Step 2: Double down on the ones that work best

Publishing your idea created some noise. 

Now you're listening for signal:

• Likes
• Impressions
• Comments / Replies

Some ideas people will like, others will fall flat.

Follow the data and then move onto the final step:

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Step 3: Expand proven ideas into long-form content.

Your initial tweet was an "outline" of a longer piece of content.

Each point in your tweet can be expanded with more tips, stories, stats, etc.

Here's your short-form to long-form expansion toolkit:

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And this thread is a perfect example:

1. I published the Steps of the Lean Writing Framework as a standalone tweet
2. It was a popular tweet, so I wrote this thread about it
3. I expanded each Step in my original tweet with Examples or more Steps to write my long-form

Boom!

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This is exactly how Manson and Gladwell wrote their bestsellers:

1. They took a proven piece of short-form content (a blog)
2. They expanded it with stories, examples, etc. into a book

And this is how Ryan Holiday and Morgan Housel write their bestselling books, too.

The key?

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Keep publishing ideas until you find ones that resonate.

But ramping up your short-form content volume can be tough.

So, I created a ChatGPT prompt to help you—give it a try and let me know what you think!

You can access it here for free here:

https://t.co/6ibQd5iVAM

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That's a wrap!

Here's the Lean Writing Framework again:

1. Test ideas with short-form content
2. Double down on the ones that work best
3. Expand those ideas into long-form content

Let me know in the replies what your biggest takeaway was.

Want more ChatGPT prompts?

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Here's a free 5-day crash course to help you turn AI into your Digital Writing Assistant.

Join 30k other AI-driven writers:

https://t.co/Iyy5t6065X

The secret to being a prolific Digital Writer: The Lean Writing...

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