Make it weird

I haven’t put out anything these past couple of days because I hated what was on the page. First, it was about Waylon & Willie. That was dumb, so I trashed it. Then I started writing about writer’s block, which I was suffering from, hence the stupid entry about W&W. Getting in a flow isn’t hard for me, and it won’t be hard for you either once you’ve written a lot of words (I believe it was my friend Wade who said the magic number is around one million).

Well, according to my best judgment, I’m right around the one million mark, and I have to agree: it is a lot easier now than it used to be to slip into a flow state and write. We all know Hemingway’s famous quote about how writing is easy.

Did Hemingway actually say this? I have no idea; I wasn’t there. But it works to illustrate my point.

I also have realized there is more than just letting it all out. Writing, at some point, is about expressing your innermost thoughts, ideals, and history. I’ve followed a lot of the Twitter Gurus since starting on this journey 3 ½ years ago, and frankly, most of them are unfollowed, muted, or blocked now.

Why?

Because they’re full of shit.

You can see right through their facade once you have played the game for long enough. But mostly, their content is stale and boring, and that’s really the point of this little article. But there is still one out there who I not only still follow, but take to heart a lot of his advice. That guy is Eddy Quan. His pivot has been great, and he suggests what I have heard from like 2015 when I was listening to the Tom Woods show religiously: build your email list.

I didn’t get it at the time, but it all comes together now. Especially when you see X go from whatever it was to an all-politics platform, it’s obvious. But his other advice resonates: humans are hardwired to crave a good story. This is why Hollywood exists at all. This is why I spend like $200 a month on used books (I have a problem 😔).

Storys matter. We all have one, and for the most part they’re interesting. And going back to my comrade Wade, who has exceptional advice so make sure to follow him at @understorybard, make it weird. I paraphrased it and I’m too lazy to look up his tweet, but that was the gist of it.

Weird is not the devil you think it is. Weird differentiates you. You know what I hate? When I sign up for a brand or corporate newsletter that I think will be useful, I just read it and find it was either written by an intern, a third-world freelancer, or AI. Immediate unsub.

The one I enjoy and read until the end of every week is Ahref’s SEO newsletter. It’s kind of quirky and it is fun to read about a topic that isn’t all that fun to read about. They’re a little weird, and it sets them apart from the 300 other SEO email lists I’m on. If they offered a service under $150 a month, I’d buy it in a heartbeat just based on how they present themselves. Buuuuuttttt I’m cheap and there are other SEO services that are way cheaper. Sorry guys.

Anyway, weird is good. Be weird. Unless you aren’t weird. But if you aren’t a little weird, you’ve probably already unsubscribed from my list.