I know. I hear you.
“Wow, another generic article about how to succeed on Substack.”
Couldn’t be farther from the truth. I’m not here to teach you growth hacks, how to gain 100 subscribers in a week, SEO optimization, or anything like that.
I’m here to impart some wisdom that I’ve gathered from writing online for a year.
One year ago, I had never written online.
The only people who had ever read my writing were school teachers and Google Docs.
Fast-forward to now: I’ve gained 600 subscribers (I know, I can’t believe it either). I’ve also made a ton of mistakes—so if you hear me out, you won’t have to make them too.
If I can write online, so can you.
You don’t need to be a writer to be a writer.
I have no formal writing training other than high school English classes and some YouTube videos. You don’t need to be a bestselling author or a ghostwriter for Barack Obama, you just need to speak a language and have access to the internet.
With those two ingredients, you can become a writer.
You just need to start.
You can’t just be a writer to be a writer.
Writing is the name of the game. I spent most of the year doing it—and I expected as much.
What I didn’t expect, was the marketing.
You have to engage with the community. If you don’t, you might as well be writing on bamboo scrolls in the middle of the Atlantic for the response you’ll get.
You need to respond to comments. Yes. Every. Single. One.
You need to use notes. It sounds like social media and that’s because it is, but to win the game you have to play the game. Comment on other people’s posts, be relatable, and recommend other writers.
Just don’t be an annoying, stuck-up prick—this isn’t Twitter X.
Your voice is everything.
If your articles aren’t fun to read, no one will read them. They need to flow, they need to be interesting, they need to be funny—if that’s what you’re going for.
Write like you talk—it’s the easiest way to start finding your voice.
Even a terrible article can be saved by a good writing voice.
Know who you’re writing to.
This isn’t a 20-page final essay for your quantum mechanics class, this is a bunch of bored intellectuals who require a little intellectual sustenance before they go back to living their chaotic lives.
You can’t fake it.
Readers can smell inauthenticity. They’re like airport dogs meant to sniff out drugs. But, instead of drugs, they sniff out fake opinions. And they are very good at it.
Authenticity is something that you can’t force. It’s breaking down your mask and saying what you truly think. Audiences will read you non-stop if you give them your unfiltered opinions.
And—arguably more important—it’ll bring clarity to your opinions.
Writing is hard.
It’s grueling. It’s painful. It’s time-consuming. It’s the intellectual equivalent of running as a hobby.
You are going to write garbage, and you’re going to write a lot of it. You’re going to spend hours brainstorming and staring at a blank screen with the cursor screaming at you to write something.
This is one of the rare cases where quantity beats quality.
Write fast and write often.
Be prepared for the landfill that you will create—it’s part of the process. The hope is that within the landfill there are a few diamonds worth scavenging.
Don’t worry about writing poorly. You need to be bad at writing to eventually be good.
Never stop posting.
It’ll be easy to stop. Almost desirable.
Isaac Newton said: “An object in motion will stay in motion, and an object at rest will stay at rest.”
He was referencing inertial bodies, but it can easily be extrapolated to everything in life. If you stop posting, you’ll lose momentum and be stuck at the bottom of the mountain forever.
Keep climbing, even if it’s slow. Slow progress is infinitely better than no progress.
Numbers aren’t everything.
Stats matter. Your subscriber count—while not at all related to how experienced you are as a writer—is a sign that the people either like what you’re giving them, or they don’t.
Use the numbers, but don’t be attached to them.
I spent far too long pandering to the whims of the algorithm, searching for ways to artificially gain hundreds of subscribers. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how many subscribers you have if none of them read your work.
Focus on building community, not the vanity of social clout.
Patience.
“The harder the climb, the more worthwhile the view.”
Things worth doing are the hardest and longest things we do. It takes years to become successful in anything. There is no other way. I wish I could sell you a one-size-fits-all instant hack to become Ted Gioia, but it doesn’t exist.
Take your time.
Relax.
Oh, and while you’re at it, maybe have some fun too.
—Charlie
PS: Bonus thing I learned: subscribing to my substack makes you a better writer. Trust me.
I really admire your consistency, Charlie! You also have a very good grasp on language and grammar, so hold that close. From you I've seen the fruits of the lesson that is getting words on the page and putting yourself out there. Keep it up!
amazing post man. This is really inspirational