Dead Writings

As a beginning writer, I used to worry about the length of my posts. When you ask Google the optimal length for a blog post, you find anything between 1000 and 2000 words.

The truth is we shouldn’t settle on a specific length. What’s more important is the process to become a prolific writer, meaning, a writer that can produce work consistently for her audience to read.

I prefer publishing my writings on a daily basis because it forces me to put in the work and gives me something to share, but daily writing is not an end in itself.

I do not wait for articles to be big enough for SEO or to give an illusion of professionalism. Instead, I just focus on one idea a day. One atomic thought I can confront to reality and get feedback on.

The problem with focusing on long-form content can be summed up in one sentence: when you hit publish, some of it becomes irrelevant. It might take a day or a few years, but it will. You change as an author, and the world changes as well.

Often, length gets in the way of relevance. Writers cram in memes and references that do not stand the test of time.

Instead, it’s primordial to focus on frequently adding small value over time, especially when the underlying topic is vast and complex.

Once the content is out, the writer can still iterate over it at a later time—to curate, extends, or merge it into longer, richer content. Writings should never feel “dead”, it’s the writer’s job to stay relevant and actualize his thinking.