Why Your Articles Suck
And what to do about it.
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Most online writers fall into the same cycle:
- You realise that you like to write, and you’re pretty good at it, so you start publishing content online.
- At first, it’s fun. You get some positive feedback on your posts and you’re enjoying the process.
- You continue to write, hoping that one of your pieces will gain more traction than the others and take you to the next level.
- Alas, nothing happens.
- You lose interest.
- And stop writing.
It’s a sad commonality for many of us. We wait patiently for our writing career to take off, but unfortunately it never does.
Why? Well, it might be because the algorithm doesn’t work in your favour. It might be because your subject is too niche. It might be because your title isn’t that great.
But I have an alternative explanation, and you’re not going to like it.
Your articles suck.
Why I’m Right
Christ, what an arrogant subheading. But it got your attention, didn’t it?
I used to always think that the most important factor in the context of article virality was luck. But recently, I deleted one of my most popular posts and re-uploaded it elsewhere.
Exactly the same content, a slightly different title, and yet my results were the same. Thousands of reads, likes, and over one hundred comments.
Those results blew my theory out of the water.
It’s not about luck. Or at least, not really.
Sure, there are some miraculous factors outside of the realms of our control that may give our content that little push that it needs. But here’s the analogy I always like to use.
A fisherman could use stale bait and spend hours waiting for his first catch, only to have zero bites. The lake is abundant with hungry fish, but he sees no results.
The problem isn’t the pond, or the fish’s appetite, or the weather, or anything other than the simple fact that the fish don’t want to eat the food he has to offer.
