Table of Contents

1. Preface

2. Main Article

3. Readers’ Favorite

4. Stuff

Preface

Issue number 100!

Happy Birthday, Friday’s Digest!

It’s been two years since I started writing this newsletter, but it feels like much longer. So much has happened on a personal, family, and national level.

So how do we celebrate 100?

At first, I thought about doing a “greatest hits” newsletter, summarizing the main topics from the last 99 issues.

But then I stopped.

You don’t need a newsletter just for that!

Instead, you can click the “Read Past Newsletters” button at the bottom of each newsletter.

Or search my website using the magnifying glass icon 🔎 in the top right corner.

So, after briefly celebrating our 100th birthday together 🎂, I want to share something I learned while writing 100 newsletters:

What makes people want to read what you write?

Let’s dive in.

Happy 100th birthday!

Main Article

Writing online is the new type of writing.

It’s everywhere - emails, text messages, manuscripts, social media, websites, and more.

But because it’s everywhere, we can’t read it all.

I remember the days when I read the spam mail that arrived in my mailbox 📪.

Can you imagine doing that today? No way!

But there’s another side to this story. What happens when you're the writer, not the reader?

When you write an email and wait for a response?

When someone ghosts you after you text them?

(For those unfamiliar with the term “ghosting” 👻, it means not responding to any of your messages anymore).

After writing 100 newsletters, I noticed 3 things that make people WANT to read what you write.

From text messages through email to social media and long-form content (like this newsletter).

Here they are:

🔵 Get To The Point (Very Quickly)

You have to respect people’s time.

People will stop reading if you don’t get to your point quickly.

This means that you should state why you're writing in your first or second sentence.

If it's an email, state the reason for your message ("I'm writing because I need your help with...").

If it’s long-form content (newsletter, proposal, abstract, introduction to a manuscript), include the problem you're trying to solve (”Today I will share how I managed to overcome my stage fear, so you can too!”).

🔵 Embrace The Emptiness

This is one of the most important lessons I learned and the easiest to implement.

You want blank spaces in your writing.

You can achieve this by using short sentences.

Or leave a line break before and after an important sentence.

You can use a big font.

Or even bigger.

These empty spaces relax the eyes of your readers. It allows them to pause and think. To enjoy the content.

It also lets them skim through your writing quickly to get to the main point. Then, they can decide whether to read the entire piece.

🔵 Use Your Own Voice

I love this tip, but it requires more effort (and some courage 👨‍🚒).

Many people try to imitate how others write, and that's perfectly fine. Some will imitate several writers and mix their styles to create their own. And that’s great!

But some will use AI to write for them, making their writing boring and similar to everything else on the internet.

I’m not talking about using tools to check for grammar mistakes and improve your language.

I’m talking about asking AI to improve what you wrote and ending up with something that looks like someone else wrote it.

I’m talking about the AI button with the cute star next to it that offers to “rewrite with AI.”

Using your own voice will impact others.

Again, it requires a bit of courage. You might think people judge your writing and think you don’t know how to write.

But in the end, people will enjoy what YOU have to say in YOUR OWN way.

Happy writing!

Readers’ Favorite

How Can Getting Up at 5:00 am Be Exactly What You Need?

Get to know my 5-5-5 system.

You can read about it here.

Stuff

Ridge wallet

That wallet has been in my pocket for 5 years.

It still impresses me, and I don’t see any reason to replace it anytime soon.

Top it off with a lifetime warranty and excellent customer service. Check it out at Ridge.

Epilogue

If you received this newsletter from a friend and would like to join Friday's Digest, visit https://newsletter.shaysharon.com

That’s it for this issue.

Hope for better times.

Shay