How I Wrote More Than 60 Articles in 12 Months
You don’t need motivation, you need a writing system
You can write more than you think, if you build systems, not pressure.
Six months ago, I came across a quote by one of the writers that completely changed my approach to writing — “Your first 50 articles are going to be messy anyway.” That sentence flipped a switch in my head. I stopped worrying about results, readers, and reach.
All I wanted was to hit 50 articles — messy or not.
I didn’t care if anyone read them.
I just wanted to build the habit of showing up.
Today, I have written more than 60 essays. And along the way, I learned something far more valuable than just writing tips — I learned how to stay consistent without burning out.
Here’s exactly how I managed it.
I focused on building systems, not the outcomes
When I started, I thought discipline meant pushing myself harder every day.
Turns out, pressure doesn’t sustain you — systems do.
I built small rituals instead of big promises.
I set aside fixed hours to write
I stored my ideas in my Notes app
I refined them later during my free time
I learned to separate the act of writing from the act of editing
A simple system helped me write without anxiety.
Once I stopped trying to make every article perfect, the words came easier. I realized the only way to write 50 pieces is to stop overthinking the first one.
I was consistent — but I did not write daily
Every writer talks about consistency, and they’re right.
But most people confuse consistency with daily repetition.
I tried the “write every day” challenge. I failed within a week.
That’s when I realized consistency doesn’t mean “every day.”
It means “often enough to stay in motion.”
For me, that looked like writing three times a week. For someone else, it might be once a week or even once a month.
I learned that consistency is useless if it’s not sustainable.
Because if your system burns you out, it’s not consistency — it’s punishment.
Once I found my own pace, I stopped feeling guilty about missed days. The rhythm mattered more than the streak.
I wasn’t looking for ideas all the time
At the start, I was obsessed with ideas.
Every moment turned into potential content.
While shopping, I was thinking about writing.
If I was out with family, I was thinking about writing.
It made me less present everywhere else.
I realized I didn’t want to trade my relationships for reach.
As Justin Welsh once said — that’s “hustling in reverse.”
So, I built boundaries.
I wrote at my desk. I brainstormed during solo walks or commutes — times I’d already set aside for thinking. I trained my brain to enter “writing mode” intentionally, not constantly. Yes, I still captured spontaneous ideas on my phone, but I stopped living in that mental loop of “What should I write next?”
That shift brought balance.
Writing stopped invading my life — it started fitting into it.
I failed multiple self-imposed challenges
In the early days, I set challenge after challenge:
Write and publish daily.
Post every day on both Medium and Substack.
It sounded productive but it wasn’t.
I failed most of those challenges — and that was the best thing that could’ve happened. Because failure taught me how I work best. I wasn’t someone who could write daily, but I could definitely write often.
So, I adjusted. I went from —
Writing five or six days a week instead of two.
Publishing three articles a week instead of one.
That balance created a feedback loop. The more I wrote, the more I wanted to write. Now writing became something I looked forward to, not something I had to survive. I stopped treating it like a job and started treating it like a craft.
And that’s when it started working.
I focused on honesty, not perfection
When I first started, I wanted to sound smart.
I wanted people to think I was wise, experienced, insightful. But the truth is — readers don’t want to be impressed. They want to be moved.
The only way to move them is through honesty.
This article itself is proof.
I’m not here telling you how I wrote 200 articles or how I made $1,000. I’m here telling you how struggled but still manage to write 60 articles and made just $3 in the last six months.
That’s it.
But those 3 dollars mean more than the $1,000 I dreamed about — because it represents —
60 finished articles
60 attempts
60 lessons
That’s my win.
I don’t write to impress people ten steps ahead of me. I write for those two steps behind me. People who are starting, failing, and figuring it out, just like I am.
Honesty connects. Perfection alienates.
And once I chose honesty, my writing found its voice.
Don’t build pressure
If you take away one lesson from this, let it be this:
You don’t need to be a genius to write consistently.
You just need to be genuine.
Don’t build pressure. Build systems.
Don’t chase perfection. Chase progress.
Don’t pretend to be an expert. Be honest about where you are.
Sixty articles in, I’m still not perfect but I’m better than who I was a year ago.
And that’s all I ever wanted.
I've been focusing on writing a hell of a lot more, regardless of how imperfect my writing is. You can't avoid the reps and messiness if you want to get really good at what you do!