”How do you write good content? Why do people like your stuff?” A question I got asked more than once and, to be honest, I usually don’t really know what to answer. Most writers, painters, and other artists probably know this feeling. The feeling that your art actually kind of sucks and you can’t understand why people seem to like it.
I’ve tried to give a short explanation how to write a good science post but even that is just a suggestion and doesn’t work for everyone. Some fail while attempting to follow my advice, some do the exact opposite and succeed. There is no formula for success.
Okay, there is: A travel blog with many pictures of a half-naked pretty girl. But we can’t all do that, can we? There would be too many after a while and the payout would drop again.
So, how did I decide on what kind of blog I want to have? Let’s give you a peek behind the scenes.
When I joined Steemit at the beginning of June 2017, I had no idea what I was doing here. I was invited and told to ”just write something!”. I’ve been a writer since I could write, but I doubted that fantasy stories would interest many people. I also wanted to do something unique.
As my introduction post mentions, I study Biology. I also have a part time job where I work with mice, so that was the first thing I wrote about. And people actually liked it!
From then on, I decided to stay in the scientific niche of Steemit. I became a part of steemSTEM and combined scientific facts and theories with fictional stories to entertain and educate.
How do I write my posts?
At first, there is an idea. Be it Toxic Make-up, A new kind of zombies, Sentient Plants or a Conspiracy theory about cats, there is always an initial idea that catches my attention.
Based on my already accumulated knowledge of this subject, I go on a search for more information. One very useful database is NCBI but when I don’t find anything there, I look for other reliable sources on google. Relevant info and the links to the sources are collected.
Then I start to write. Facts and speculations come together and weave a story that wants to make the reader think. Believe it or not, that’s the easiest part for me. The hardest is to find a topic to begin with.
When everything is finished and I can finally post it, I watch the comments more than I watch the upvotes, because the comments are what makes this whole thing worth it. Sure, the payout is nice, but I won’t touch any of it that soon anyway. I’m saving it up to pay for my Master’s degree in Immunology and Global Health.
So please, if you enjoy my stories, leave me a comment! And I hope that if you haven’t found it yet, you’ll soon discover your niche on Steemit. After all, this community needs many great minds to be able to grow!
Got a scientific topic which you want to see as a story? Leave me a comment!
Check out @steemstem and the #steemSTEM channel in steemit.chat to support scientists on steemit!
Picture taken from pixabay.com
I love and enjoy the transparency you're bringing to your page @suesa . It is so easy to get stuck in thinking that all new posts need to be amazing and provide a fully new insight to the reader. One forgets that we are all, both individually and collectively, on this little journey with steemit, and seeing how others approach their writing can be just as interesting (or more).
You certainly succeed in making me think when reading your posts. Which is, I have to say is quite rewarding, and another reason to keep coming back to your posts. I'm sure others here feel the same way! So keep it up :)
Hi @suesa. I am a newbee on Steemit and to read a post that helps you stay on the right part on Steemit is of vital importance to me. I have choosen Archaeology and Anthropology as a niche to write on, which is my life and passion and have received an overwhelming support from the community and yourself as well. Interacting with fellow steemians regarding your passion is truly rewarding and uplifting. Thank you so much for the advise and support.
Very useful information for newcomers, I also had trouble creating first time posts I joined here, and finally I chose art as my post and I see many people love it. Now I turn to photography but have not got good results because I am new beginner in the field of photography. Maybe I should go back in my past. Art
Hello @suesa. After joining on the early past of June and hitting the hot page regularly, you really must have done something right for yourself there. Good to know that you have found your niche so early in your Steemit days. And your take on comments over upvote is heartening, which actually made me upvote your post😊. Best of luck for your masters plans. ✌️✌️
Thank you 😊
I just hope everyone finds their niche, because being integrated into the community like this feels really good.
In case you still wonder why people might like your posts, it's maybe because they are just so light-hearted.
Just love what you do and do it your way as people will recognize exactly that. That's the formula to success IMO but of course you can't name any details to others on what to do to succeed as everyone's just different.
Thank you for your kind words!
I think a certain passion for what one does always produces better results than when one does something just because it has to be done. :)
For sure it does :) That's why most people will never succeed just by copying someone else...
It is always tough to write great contents that manage to resonate with readers. I admire you for your determination and wish you all the best in your pursuit of contributing wonderful contents to your readers. Just remember, persistence brews winners and you could very well be one of them.
Finally. I've been waiting for a post in which nobody dies. Maybe humanity has hope after all.
Spoiler: I will die at the end of my life
gasp
So.. it'll be a happy ending after all?
Thank you for your advice, i always try to position myself differently to see which could gain more readers so we can spread more science~
In the mean time i will keep trying~
Good insights, it's true that a lot of successful people don't necessary feel like they are "masters" of anything... they just work hard.
I think a lot of the work is in the long-term. Sticking to one topic and writing or VLOGing about it EVERY DAY, taking as few breaks as possible, and slowly building an audience.
You can't appeal to everybody... just gotta find that niche.
Really nice article. When I first joined Steemit I also had no idea what to write about, but I decided that since I know a few things about freelancing and since I work on Graphic River creating design packages, I should write about that.
It took me around 30 minutes to write something that I considered to be decent, and I was amazed when I saw that people liked it. I had no idea why, and I had no idea how I did it, but it happened.
I guess you should not ask yourself what you could write to get the attention of others. Doing that you may end up writing whatever you can to get upvotes and comments. Instead, I think you should always write about things you like and things you have some experience with. There will always be people who experience the same thing or who are interested in the topic you write about, and that may help you form a community around your content.
Great article, keep up the good work and best of luck! :)
Thank you for a very informative post. I am in that situation of deciding what niche I should occupy. I have lots of life experience and stories that I am sure will resonate with certain people but there is that nagging doubt, should I share all that stuff? Reading your post has helped me reach a decision. Followed and upvoted.
Only way to find out if it's a good idea or not is to do it :)
You are right! Time to move ahead.
Your posts are definitely unique. I love that they are short and punchy too, I'm not always in the mood to read something super long. It's great that you managed to find a niche you did well in so quickly.
Really happy to hear that!
When everything is finished and I can finally post it, I watch the comments more than I watch the upvotes, because the comments are what makes this whole thing worth it. Sure, the payout is nice, but I won’t touch any of it that soon anyway. I’m saving it up to pay for my Master’s degree in Immunology and Global Health.
Recently came across a Rothko quote that expresses this sentiment, couldn't really put it any better than he did -
"One does not paint for design students or historians but for human beings, and the reaction in human terms is the only thing that is really satisfactory to the artist."
Sadly there is a lot left to be desired when it comes to that reaction on Steemit. I mainly blame the system encouraging programmatic sycophantic behavior. There are users who are putting forth great effort into commenting, but organic conversation still feels rare.
Everyone has difficulty in writing when we are beginners in making posts, because we are still hesitant in making posts.
Because what we have written later can be read by the crowd, because the post could be experience, tricks, tips and so forth. The more writings we write and the more we can share with our readers. If our post is good and useful for others will certainly more and more visitors who come to our posts to find and read our writing.
The first 8 seconds or it's over!
The ethics of people using search engines, what they want is the answer, and it becomes the job search engine to provide answers. Like people reading a blog post, viewing an infographic, or watching a video, they want answers to gain knowledge. One important tip for you, people not only want answers, but they want answers quickly. So make your content easy to read so that people can. Try reading titles or subtitles from non fiction books or articles. Readers will be made to wonder or feel curious. It is the author's job to provide answers and present supporting information. thank you
good advice for newcomers, u're right many authors or myself criticizes their work always thinks its bad why would anyone like it, i think a good way to start to write anything is find information or content that u love or are interested in and just use ur instinct and write what comes to mind :) i love the way u quoted this sentence "Facts and speculations come together and weave a story that wants to make the reader think." thanks for this article
Very interesting post, just as you say, thank you for sharing for all of us and hopefully our next post is easy to understand and quality.
Woow outstanding post
@abutaleb365
Thank you sir @suesa this post is very valuable to me who just started in steemit I still very difficult to choose the right topic and many enthusiasts, maybe this lesson is very valuable for me so that can determine topics of quality, again I say thank you
The post is very interesting sir, you send your experience in steemit this is a motivation for novice steemit users like me this and I learn a lot from every post you in this steemit and I really enjoy every post you because almost every post you have a science Useful for people, thank you for sharing your posts that are not only useful to you, but also useful to many people. People like you must be very eagerly awaited by someone like me in this steemit and hope you keep on like this sir, once again I again thank you for your lord @suesa
really, a useful post @suesa
Writing is fun, in fact you can create your own virtual world writing.
I think my niche on steem is bringing other valueable people to steemit!
Well it seems I'm on the other side of the fence, I believe Im wiring very good quality content meanwhile I'm receiving minimal up votes and views... Any advice?
Sign up for steemit.chat and socialize. Don't ask people to upvote you but interact, make friends and maybe ask for feedback.
A good network helps significantly.
Thanks a bunch!
Nice post..
code>WELCOME TO STEEMIT
I appreciate if you follow me!
Your comments are always welcome,
I will try to answer as much as possible.
Good luck with your trip in this communitas,
the best combination with all your friends is no exception, and upvote to your friends as much as possible, and the reverse
Regards community steemit
Thank you
Thanks for sharing!