4 Writing Lessons I've Learned Recently—Two of Them After a Viral Post

12 May 2025 #writing

#1. Use Fear, Curiosity, and Desire to write attention-grabbing headlines.

Credits to Ron Markley on Medium.

Recently I’ve learned that when we write content, we’re in the business of writing headlines.

A good headline is like a good welcome sign. People will only stop by if they see a good one.

No matter how thoughtful our content is, if the headline doesn’t hook readers, they won’t stop to read it.

#2. When writing stories or fiction, a point in time creates expectations in the readers’ minds.

When we write “It was a sunny summer day when I saw her for the first time…“ readers expect to hear more about what happened.

And if we abruptly shift subjects, it’s like breaking readers’ expectations. Avoid those abrupt shifts. It’s like cutting off a conversation mid-way.

#3. Listicles attract higher engagement on social media.

Listicles work online and offline.

The 10 Commandments, the 95 Theses by Martin Luther, the 48 Laws of Power… All of them are listicles.

Since last year, I’ve been experimenting on LinkedIn. And listicles have worked like a charm.

My most viewed post was something like “12 lessons after 10+ years in Software Engineering (In less than 1 minute)” followed by 10 one-liners and a question to invite people to the comment section. Boom! Over 80,000 views. I felt like an Internet celebrity for a couple of days… Here’s the post, if you’re on LinkedIn, by the way.

When reading listicles, people tend to comment on the item that resonated the most.

#4. One single post can boost your follower count.

You know the Pareto principle, right? 80% of results come from 20% of effort.

Well, 80% of followers and engagement come from 20% of posts. And one viral post can boost your follower count. It has happened to me on LinkedIn and Medium recently.