Three Actions That Changed My Writing from Crickets to Likes

16 Apr 2025 #writing

For almost 5 years, I wrote and only heard crickets.

Then, everything changed when I bought my first writing course and started taking writing seriously, not just for fun, but something I was committed to improving.

I started to see more likes, comments, and shares on my content when I started doing these three things:

1. Study writing subskills

There’s more to writing than just typing.

Writing is a set of subskills to master: headlines, introductions, outlines, storytelling, copywriting, cliff-hangers, and conclusions.

I took a notepad and wrote a list of 10 writing skills I wanted to learn. Then I started working on each of those subskills one by one.

Instead of long and boring introductions, I started using one-sentence openings to attract readers into the rest of my writing.

2. Hand-copying to go to the writing gym

“Writing is learned mainly by imitation”—Writing to Learn by William Zinsser

I started copying sample pieces by hand as an exercise to learn enough copywriting to be dangerous. But I also applied it beyond copywriting.

When we write by hand, we’re forced to slow down and notice and absorb patterns. So next time, we sit down to write, we’ll have those patterns in the back of our heads.

Grab a post or a book section from your favorite writer and copy it by hand. These days, I’m hand-copying some of James Altucher’s books.

Copy, imitate, and then adapt it to your own style.

3. Tell more stories

“Let Wikipedia spit out facts, you have to spit out stories”—Tim Denning

There’s a reason why a Wikipedia article or a scientific paper sounds soulless and emotionless. They’re full of facts. They’re written for a selected few. They’re not written to be remembered.

The easiest way to make our writing memorable is with stories.

I could tell you, “No job is safe.” You’ll probably nod in agreement and forget it. But if I tell you, “The day my boss called me to his office and asked me to hand in my company ID, I learned there was no safe job.” Chances are you’ll remember the second one more.

We’re driven by stories. That’s what we’ve been doing as humans since we climbed down from trees and sat around the fire in caverns.

Thanks to sharing my stories from my past jobs, I finally saw traction with my writing. I finally got more than two likes and not just “Thanks for sharing” as comments.

If you want to stand out from AI-generated content, don’t just share facts. AI can generate facts. Only you can generate stories that connect.