We’ve interviewed 100+ online writers about why they write and what their biggest challenges are.

A few learnings:

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#1

The vast majority of writers do *not* write to build an audience, accelerate their career, or become internet famous.

They write because it helps them think.

Nearly every other benefit is secondary.

#2

Just about every writer struggles to pick a niche.

Writing-inclined people are interested in lots of things.

Almost everybody struggles to commit to one.

#3

There is no one path to success.

Sometimes, one blog post explodes and brings in thousands of loyal readers.

Other times, a writer spends years building a reader base one-by-one.

We have yet to meet two successful writers who “made it” in the exact same way.

#4

Nearly everybody struggles to make time to write.

Even prolific writers struggle to carve out the time to do good work.

Good writing requires time.

There are few shortcuts.

#5

Writing publicly has produced life-changing outcomes for nearly everybody we’ve interviewed.

Often, the outcomes are career-related, where great writing brings in new clients or new partners.

But sometimes it’s personal, where writing has attracted like-minded friends.

There are plenty more similarities across the scores of writers we’ve interviewed.

If there’s one overarching theme, it’s this:

Writing is like any other craft -- exciting, challenging, and rewarding.