Five Short Articles in Five Days
How Showing Up Small Can Build Something Big
When I first launched my newsletter, I thought every post had to be a masterpiece.
Ten hours of drafting. Then rewrites, edits, and more edits. By the time I hit publish, I was exhausted and nobody cared.
It took me months of spinning my wheels to realise: your audience doesn’t reward perfection — they reward consistency.
That’s why I started writing short. Short enough that I could publish every weekday and then test what worked.
This way I could realistically stick at it until the green shoots of results started showing.
You Must Keep it Simple
Most writers freeze because they overcomplicate their goals.
You don’t need 2,000 words every day on Substack. You need 300-ish — if those 300 shed some light on what your audience actually wants from you.
Here’s the secret: the themes that stick are never clear on day one. They’re revealed by showing up.
For me, it turned out my readers love two things: personal stories that crack open a hidden lesson — and practical frameworks they can use today.
When you write five short pieces in five days, you collect tiny signals:
Which headlines get clicked
Which lines get highlighted
Which stories get replies
Which themes get likes
Add these up and patterns appear. Do it every weekday and you’ll see what to double down on.
That’s how you build a real audience — not by guessing, but by testing small, over and over.
So Keep it Short (At First)
Until you build an audience and know what they want from you, write shorter than you think you should.
Publish more often than feels comfortable, and use every piece as another line in the water to hook some engagement.
Over time, your audience will tell you exactly what they need — if you have the courage to listen.
Ready To Go Fishing?
If you’re ready to cast some hooks in the water and build your audience one small article at a time — join Weekday Writer and get the encouragement to turn up daily.
👻 Writing Wraith Ghostwriting
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📧 loz@contentchampion.com