One of the most valuable parts of learning to write effectively and efficiently is learning how to build a system. A system is simply a set of steps you take redundantly and hone as you move along in the craft/journey. As you practice and build on your skillset the system allows you the freedom to think harder about the content and the research so you can write fluidly, in flow. This whole system is built on habits.
Systems are Organization
A system allows you to break a project into manageable pieces and you systematically hone the steps into repeatable, dependable, and predictable concepts. This has a synergistic and inspirational effect, Removing doubt or arduous confusion, the writing itself becomes more enjoyable, potent, and scalable.
The skillset is dependant on having a good system, and a good system isn’t something you just build from steps, it’s a version of growth hacking that tunes up the environmental resources, skill (which grows in time), and creates an environment that generates order from chaos. This is simultaneously amping up your skillsets, time management, and overall ability to write like you breathe.
Order from Chaos
In the end what you want is to be able to schedule a time to write, have all your ducks in a row (what to do next, then next, then next etc) and liberate your mind from the drudgery of trying to randomly generate order from chaos).
The human mind is generally in a constant state of chaos. Information in your head is like a google search before they gave you a way to parse and search the billions of pages on the web. Google has a system that allows you to take your finished article, get eyeballs in front of it (the right eyeballs). As you post more, the power of Google’s system (search engine technology and powerful sifting concepts makes the whole effort powerful and efficient- useful to both sides) works better and better. There is a ramping up effect over time.
Search Engine Technology is the Uber for Your Page Taking Your Content to the Right Place
What’s brilliant here is that Google has done the heavy lifting. They built a way to index and serve content in the most efficient way possible, and it works incredibly well- if you craft, post, and build your content/site in such a way that Google can simply read your content and using complex and amazing algorythms move the content to the right people.
Knowing the Other System (search engines) Helps You Prepare Your Own!
Now that you understand the basics of the overall system, you can use this system in tangent with your own personal system.
Much like a writer will learn to write by becoming aware of the other writers writing on the same system.
You can discover how other successful writers write and format their content. You can see how successful content looks and feels and develops over several successful articles. You get a feel for what other articles you found in a search on Google, are situated. Knowing this system, you can decompile it all back to what you need to know to get your finished article published and successful itself, before you write a single word.
Once you understand the Google E-A-T guidelines, why your work, before context, needs to be formatted and set up in such a way so it will fit on the platform and the platform will get it to the right eyeballs, then you will intuitively know what you need to learn.
Writing and Researching
- Focus is the first step in any journey. Your environment needs to be acclimated to your task. Since you will be researching to write, you want as few distractions as possible. Your mind has a limit on focus, also willpower. The more decisions you make the more you use up your ability to think clearly.
The goal here is to control your decision making quantity. Try to make less decisions to do more work. Keep things simple. If you have to comb over a lot of different articles to find the information you’re looking for, that will use up your will power. Learning to research correctly, efficiently, effectively, will save your will power for writing your article.
Research Tips
- When researching, try to think of any terms that may be relevant to your query. Main keywords and similar phrases help you nail down the right information. If you can grab the right keywords, phrase them into the search box as a long-tail keyword, you are more likely to find the information faster and more potently
- Using tools built into the search engine like Google Images, you can visually see what comes up with those same keyword phrases you used to find content. Using this technique, you can visualize better what information is out there.
- While researching potent articles in your query, start to find more keywords to trigger more research. You want to know what you don’t know, then after understanding it, you’ll see a lot of angles.
- Pay close attention to how the top search results look. How is the page formatted? How long is the article? What does Google consider a good article? And how did they set up the page, the content, formatting of content, etc…?
Mindset
Writing is part creativity, part growth hacking, and part comprehending many facets of a concept. It’s sharing your unique insight and perception of the information through the lens of everything you’ve ever learned and know. You have a unique perspective on research, and see different pages than other writers writing on the same topic.
You also see the information basically the same but with a twist; you may see things they didn’t think of. Information triggers associations in the mind allowing us to think creatively.
You have a unique perspective to offer the reader that only you can write quite in the flow you write it in. This is true of all writers everywhere and beyond the shared information, perspective is also shared and valuable in keeping the mind entertained (it likes new perspectives/fresh angles) and thinking outside the box. It also carries with it the fascination of seeing the context through another’s eyes!
Conclusion
A system is the mechanism you use to compress time, effort, and to free the mind from having to think too much, and more importantly, to use up your attention/willpower. Every time you have to make a decision your will power is taxed and wears down the mechanism that allows for energetic creativity, interest, and writing with no mental fatigue or blocks.
By setting up a system for redundant things, you free your mind to concentrate more attention to the things that require your attention, focus, and work. One thing to start with is if you’re going to write for a living, write every day. If you want to write a book, write every day, on anything just to get the mind in sync with the goal, to make it easier to “want” to write because it’s a habit at some point. If you’re just wanting to research better, most of these points will help you.
having a system is also valuable in any walk of life. A system is a plan that you will practice, including boundaries, schedules, and breaks. The movements become habits, and writing becomes easy and even exciting. A system is a set of atomic habits, small adjustments that over time optimize your ability to write powerfully.
As you do it, it gets easier- that goes for anything. Make your system simple and build on it over time. As you do this your priorities will start to stick out and you’ll course adjust. A system automates decision making liberating your mind to play in the sandbox, without having to build the sandbox every time, so to speak. Good Luck!
