In an earlier, I asked you what the biggest problem you were facing with your writing was. Maybe it was procrastination. Maybe it was time, or writing ability.
I have good news, and I have bad news. Unfortunately, Hostwriting isn’t a magic bullet. Hostwriting is about drafting writing: creating higher quality drafts at a higher frequency, resulting in more output. You still have to revise and publish what you create with the hostwriting process.
The good news is that, whatever problems you face with your writing, Hostwriting is a powerful solution. As far as I can see, Hostwriting solves the main problems most writers face. Here’s the countdown of those problems:
#5: Expert Bias and the Curse of Knowledge
You have something unique and powerful to say. Unfortunately, most experts have trouble explaining their ideas - at least initially. It’s hard to see outside of their area of expertise, and into other people’s perspectives. Hostwriting helps you understand your readers and share your ideas with them.
#4: Excessive Use of Chronological Ordering
Unless you’re writing an autobiography, chronological ordering of your ideas is rarely best. (Even if you are writing an autobiography, a nonlinear narrative will probably be more engaging!) Yet most writers present events and ideas in chronological order!
As far as your readers are concerned, reverse chronological ordering is often a huge step up, to say nothing for a non-chronological ordering principle. If you work with me individually, I’ll suggest ordering principles for you that best fit your topics.
#3: Writer’s Block
In my experience, procrastinating writing means you either don’t have your fingers on the keyboard, or you have a blank screen in front of me. That’s why I like to call it Blank Page Syndrome. Without Hostwriting, the solution is to keep your fingers physically on the keyboard. With Hostwriting? Keep talking. Talk to a friend. Talk to me. Talk to your cat.
#2: Limited Time
Busy is the status quo. I'm busy. You're busy. Your kids are busy. Busy, busy, busy.
I originally designed the Hostwriting process to work with email. The idea was that I would send someone a question by email, and they would reply when they were able to. One question, one answer, one email at a time. If you have time to write an email, you have time to do Hostwriting. Too busy for that? No problem- I'll just text you!
#1: Conflating Stages of Writing
This is it. The first and final boss. The root problem of every other problem.
Consider driving. When you drive a car, you don’t try to start the car, reverse, accelerate, turn, stop, and park all at the same time. That’d be madness.
Unfortunately, most people don’t recognize that writing is a generic term for a series of discrete phases. They share the same output - words, shared - but have very different mentalities. Research is not brainstorming is not drafting is not revising is not publishing. Hostwriting makes it easier to discern which stage you're in, and what the appropriate action is to take at that time. It smooths the transitions between the stages, making it easier to write, and get more work published, faster.