It's Not Me, It's You

Flipping the Narrative in Your Writing

What is your favourite thing to talk about in the whole world? I bet I know what it is! You're favourite thing to talk about is you! After all, you are your number-one fan. As you should be! But when it comes to writing for an audience, this self-focus can be a stumbling block.

Because your interests and insights are uniquely yours, you want to share them with the world through your writing. Great! Go for it! But allow me to make a few suggestions first.

If you want others to read your writing and care about what you're writing about, it's worth keeping this fact in mind: Deep down all humans are kind of selfish. Yep. You know how you love yourself and your interests so much? Well, everyone else is in the same boat too.

With that in mind, why would someone else care about reading what you like, what you are interested in or what is on your mind?

They will read it, but only if they feel they will get value from it or benefit from it in some way. Think of your reading habits and search for the truth in that statement. If we don't receive some form of self-gratification from what we choose to do in our spare time, why do it?

So, with this in mind, I'd like to teach you a cool little trick straight from the content marketing handbook.

Instead of focusing on what you can give your readers, focus on what they can get from you.

This simple mental shift will flip your writing on its head. Let me give you an example.

Perhaps you wrote something like this:

'I'll be sharing my favourite banana bread recipe, three romance book recommendations and a playlist of songs I love right now.'

Cool, that's nice for you. Why should I care? Try this instead:

'You'll get my super easy and delicious banana bread recipe that's perfect for the kids, if you love enemies-to-lovers romance with lots of spice, you'll love these romance book recommendations and if you need some relaxing tunes to unwind to after a long day, this playlist will do the trick.

Notice how all the ‘I’ statements have turned into ‘you’ statements? I’ve also added context that explains to the reader why they should care.

Now how much more enticing is that? If I read that Substack post, I'll get an easy recipe that the kids can hopefully eat too, a book that suits my tastes and some songs that will help put me in the right mood after a long day. So many wins for me thanks to you!

But this trick doesn't just apply to Substack posts. Use this trick in anything you write where you want the reader to take action of some sort, and yes one of those actions can be as simple as simply reading what you wrote.

The whole point here is to focus on the reader. The person who clicked on your article and decided to read it. What do they want to get out of the experience of reading what you have to say?

A perfect example of this 'focus on the reader' sentiment on Substack is posts like this one by

E. Jean Carroll

from Ask E. Jean. Her posts are very short and simply contain a couple of questions for the readers to answer in the comments. That's it! Each post gets hundreds of comments because she has opened her Substack up to her readers entirely, allowing them to share a bit of themselves with others focused on niche topics.

But this isn’t a call to copy this format and reduce your writing down to a few questions. You do you! Just so we’re all clear here, I don’t want to deter you from sharing a part of yourself with the world through your writing, instead, I’m simply prompting you to adjust your approach slightly, if you want to.

The words you write and topics you share are filtered through the unique lens of your life experiences and perspective on the world. If writing and sharing what you write brings you joy, that is the most important thing. Your voice deserves to be heard whether you heed my advice or not.

I read writing from others here on Substack to get a glimpse into the worlds and minds of others. I enjoy reading topics that I find relatable, inspiring, and interesting and align with or challenge my beliefs. I assume your reason for being here and reading posts like mine are similar too.

So when you come to write your next piece, here are a few other things to keep in mind:

• Consider if it would be a topic you would be interested in reading yourself or if you can think of a person who would like to read it and why.

• Would the title draw your reader in?

• Does the writing match the topic expectations set by the title?

• What feeling, action or message should the reader walk away with after reading your writing?

I hope my mad ramblings from the ‘content marketing’ portion of my brain have sparked a bit of interest or inspiration for you today. If it did and you’d like to read something similar, you may like my piece about ‘When Sentiment is Lost’. Thanks for reading!

If you enjoyed this topic, give it some love and please let me know in the comments below. Thanks again!