Be you
And have fun with it.
Hello from absolutely gorgeous Budapest.
Budapest is the opposite of Paris.
You go to Paris with such high expectations, and it’s hard to be impressed. Best case scenario, you’re like, yeah, it’s really nice.
But with Budapest… It’s my second time here and I’m always in awe. I can’t believe how beautiful, big, modern yet historic this city is.
That’s one of the things you can do a lot as a successful solopreneur—discover the world with family and friends.
And I don’t know if it’s the spring sun or the new environment or or what, but I decided to send you a new kind of newsletter today.
Instead of going deep into solving one specific problem, I’ll share with you a few helpful things I’m learning and doing lately.
In this newsletter:
The BIG lesson from my $950-in-one-month Medium story.
The most important thing when writing a novel.
Writing a best-selling e-book with Chat GPT. For paid subscribers only.
Have you considered public speaking? Here’s how you can start. For paid subscribers only.
The BIG lesson from my $950-in-one-month Medium story.
After in-depth analysis of my Medium stats (I’ve published over 380 articles on the platform), I’ve come to the conclusion that the best way to make it big on Medium is to be you.
Because here’s what I found out about my most successful stories.
They’re 3-5 min long, even though everyone says 7 min is the perfect length. My $950-in-one-month boosted article is 3 min long. It’s just that I’ve always been a to-the-point writer and forcing myself to go deeper still feels unnatural.
My successful articles were interesting for me to write & then read. Don’t try to fit into topics and styles just because you think they work. When you’re excited about a topic or a breakthrough, it shows in your writing.
I write a lot and can never predict which piece will “make it”. So write a lot. Test a lot of ideas, styles, topics. You never know where you’ll hit gold.
The most important thing when writing a novel.
After writing 2 first drafts that never became finished manuscripts, I’m using everything I learned about how to write a novel in my 3rd manuscript.
This time around:
I’m not outlining but I know exactly what I’m writing. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t outline, it’s just something I’m trying out.
I’m writing the first draft on my phone, so I can pick it up any time.
I’ve made it easy. I write about what I know—a fictional version of my live in London as a 25 year old. I’m not worried about world building or elaborate characters.
I don’t have a goal with this. It’s just fun to write, and I think that’s key.
If you want to write a novel:
Learn the basics of writing fiction. I recommend “Save the cat writes a novel”.
Write a book you can genuinely have fun with (instead of trying to write the next great American novel).
Writing a best-selling e-book with Chat GPT.
It always seemed a bit scammy to me, writing books with Chat GPT. I’m a writer, you know?
But the truth is, you can use Chat GPT to cut your writing time in half while also providing authentic value (rather than churning out something anyone could write).
Here’s how I’m currently doing it: