How to Reframe Limited Feedback from Your Work Because You’re a Beginner

The lack of data makes it difficult to assess whether you’re on the right track

Photo by Franco Antonio Giovanella on Unsplash

As a new writer, getting feedback can be a challenging task.

But most beginners also know the solution: Publish enough content to notice a pattern in your metrics. That drove me to publish content 5 days a week on different platforms for 3 months. It was an experiment to gather just enough feedback to reveal my niche topic.

Here’s the number of content I published in those 3 months:

January

• 6 articles (4-min read)
• 18 short-form articles
• 27 Tweets
• 27 Instagram posts

February

• 5 articles (4-min read)
• 20 short-form articles
• 20 Tweets
• 20 Instagram posts

March

• 4 articles (4-min read)
• 23 short-form articles
• 28 tweets
• 28 Instagram posts

Looking at those numbers, made me feel productive. My content creation muscle was stretched. That’s the most content I’ve done as someone with limited time to write.

However, they did not give me the result I hoped for…

Quantity is important but take into account the duration of your effort

The metrics from each platform I posted on did not show a common pattern.

This puts me back to where I was before I started the experiment: overwhelmed with the number of topics I wanna write about. This was my cue to step back and assess the experiment more thoroughly. I can either:

• keep going for another 3 months (or until a pattern shows up in my metrics) or…
• pause for a bit because I’m about to burn out.

Now, I can make assumptions here and there to avoid getting stuck.

It’s better to pick one path (and see where it takes me) than do nothing. Because for every action I take, I also gain feedback. I’m sure that if I do that consistently and long enough, my niche topic will reveal itself.

“In so many areas, from design, to startups, to relationships — improvement comes from feedback. When you’re so close to an idea, you’re victim to your own blindspots. Instead of assuming what’s good, conversations prove it.”

— David Perell

This is why it’s critical to create a writing system that is sustainable.

The more sustainable it is, the less likely you’re going to quit before you create traction. That said, going from beginner to mediocre is a game of perseverance. The harsh truth is: not a lot of readers want to pay attention to you if you haven’t shown enough “writer credibility”.

You show proof of this “credibility” through the consistency of quality and quantity of content you published — not by becoming a one-hit wonder.

Feedback is important but it shouldn’t be your top priority as a beginner

When I started writing online, I read that the fastest way to build an audience was to pick a tiny niche.

So that’s what I did! I mixed the topics I love to write about with other topics I somewhat care about. The weirder the mix, the more unique the topic is, and the fewer writers are in the space — the easier it is to stand out.

While the strategy sounds like an efficient approach, it distracted me from what’s really important for a beginner writer: publishing consistently.

That strategy got me to spend more time theorizing about this mysterious niche topic than learning how to write effectively.

Internal feedback matters as much as external feedback

It’s easy to dismiss an experiment, especially when it didn’t give you the result you hoped for.

What took me a while to realize is that I totally dismissed my “internal feedback”. That is, gauging what I felt after publishing those topics I wrote about. This experiment made me realize the following:

• I got tired of a topic even when I have tons of ideas to write about.
• I ran out of ideas for a topic I thought I could talk about 24/7.
• I noticed the topics I enjoy writing but no one cares to read.

Sometimes, noticing what makes writing less enjoyable is enough to keep you moving forward.

The goal is to find the intersection between what I enjoy writing about (internal feedback) and what the internet enjoys reading (external feedback).

If I had to push myself to write for the sake of following data (and audience building), my creativity and my passion for writing will eventually burn out. When that happens, I won’t be able to stay in the game long enough to create traction. Writing for crickets can drain your writing stamina…

…but only if you fail to look beyond your metrics.

The lack of data strengthens your writing stamina

Sure, no one may be reading your work but don’t forget that publishing is also your key to figuring out your writing voice.

Looking beyond my metrics, the experiment helped me check off some of the most common writing advice for beginners:

• Write every day and build the habit of note-taking.
• Create consistency in my writing (in terms of structure, drafting and publishing).
• Exercise my “creativity muscle” by repurposing content.

If there’s one thing I did not like about the experiment, it would be the part where I forced myself to follow a content schedule. Why? The pressure restricted my creativity. I burned out, which, is not sustainable.

A more sustainable approach is to care less about collecting feedback and focus more on sharing my journey.

“Digital Writers understand that progress is more important than “perfection,” because progress gives them data, and data gives them confidence in what they should write next.”

— Ship 30 for 30

Writing is a skill — you get better at it by publishing consistently (than by going viral).