James Carran

The Craftsman Writer. Published author, ghostwriter, novelist, poet, comma maximalist. Join my newsletter for every secret I've learned in a decade of writing.

[James Carran @getpaidwrite]

All of writerly wisdom is contained in this short post.

No really.

Read on...

To almost quote something from one of my favourite books:

Until the day when God will deign to reveal the future to man, all writerly wisdom is contained in these three words ‘Write and hope.’

Write and hope.

Despite what anyone tells you out there in guru land, there are no "sure bets". There are no "psychological hacks" that guarantee a viral tweet. There are no certain best-sellers.

Write and hope.

There are ways to increase your chances, ways to boost things in your favour, like learn to write faster so you increase your chances, but you never know for certain until you publish.

There are two responses to this.

One is to give up. After all you never know what's going to happen when you publish. You might pour your soul and heart into a part of your work and you hit publish and...

...Nobody cares.

The other approach is simple.

Write and hope.

You might throw it out there into the wild and it succeeds beyond your wildest dreams. I wrote my kids book hoping my daughter would read it and enjoy it one day.

To date? Nearly eight thousand copies sold last I heard, which was six months ago.

It hit the top fifteen percent levels of ALL PUBLISHED BOOKS for its first year. And I was starting from straight zero. No audience, no name, no marketing skills.

On the sillier end of the spectrum I once sent a tweet out and got replied to by Elon Musk. Sorry, did I say once? Thrice now.

Write and hope.

Two things happen when you write and hope.

One, individual pieces pop more than you thought they ever would.

Two, you build a body of work that slowly, piece by piece, word by word, failure by failure, success by success, sentence by sentence, book by book, song by song, makes your name known as someone who creates. Who produces. Who Writes.

Throwing my thoughts into the swirling void has connected me to phenomenal writers, copywriting legends, email marketers extraordinaire, theological powerhouses. I'm gonna name-drop because why the heck not.

Ben Settle. John Bejakovic. David Deutsch. David Garfinkel. Joshua Lisec. Kieran Drew. Jim Clair. Thomas J. Bevan. Sinclair B. Ferguson. Kevin DeYoung. Michael Foster. Scott James. Eddy Quan. Harrison Schenk (of Save Your Sons and Sherwood fame).

Many more as well. All people who I've learned from, connected to (even if it's only a few messages back and forth) and would never have known nothing about me if I didn't put my words out into the world.

I've made a ton of friends (some on the list above, others who I won't name in case I forget someone). All because one day I decided I was gonna stop waiting for certainty and start to...

Write and hope.

You might think it's a waste of time to write because you don't have an audience, don't have a voice, don't have a list.

Gurus will encourage that feeling so they can sell you audience-building programs. I call bullshido on that. You attract an audience when you start to write. Sure, you can boost it by audience-building alongside it. And you should. But the most important thing is to write and hope.

Write and hope.

Not in a vague, fluffy, way that says "Oh, I hope this does well..."

But in a sure, settled way that says:

I will write until I make it, come hell or high water, because until the day when God will deign to reveal the future to man, all of my wisdom is contained in these three words:

Write and hope.

And until that day, may your pipe burn bright and your words burn brighter and your hope burn brightest of all.

Write and hope.

And also sign up for my email list which will help you both to write and to hope.

Link's in my bio.

Yours,

James Carran

[James Carran @getpaidwrite]

95% of writer's block can be attributed to not reading enough fiction.

[James Carran @getpaidwrite]

Read old books.

I'm learning more from a few masters of the English language from a century ago than every book I've ever read that was published in the last decade.

Most people will never put in the extra effort to work through an old book though...

[James Carran @getpaidwrite]

I've been writing for over a decade, sold over 10,000 copies of my children's book, and made $100k+ and counting online.

And I break down all the key things you need to know into a weekly newsletter.

Sign up here to get it free:

https://t.co/lT9uttO0Xx

[James Carran @getpaidwrite]

95% of writer's block can be attributed to not reading enough fiction.

[James Carran @getpaidwrite]

@MichaelFKane @DavidRoomeAuth The fact you'd struggle not to laugh makes you pretty good. I would just laugh 😅

[James Carran @getpaidwrite]

I spent 7 years in science and if you want to think well, read classic literature and learn to write.

Trust me: STEM is overrated.

[James Carran @getpaidwrite]

I've been writing for over a decade, sold over 10,000 copies of my children's book, and made $100k+ and counting online.

And I break down all the key things you need to know into a weekly newsletter.

Sign up here to get it free:

https://t.co/lT9uttO0Xx

[James Carran @getpaidwrite]

The more deeply you study the masters of great writing.

The more creative and original your own writing will be.

[James Carran @getpaidwrite]

I've been writing for over a decade, sold over 10,000 copies of my children's book, and made $100k+ and counting online.

And I break down all the key things you need to know into a weekly newsletter.

Sign up here to get it free:

https://t.co/lT9uttO0Xx

[James Carran @getpaidwrite]

If I was starting over as a writer:

1. Read 2-3 novels a week
2. Read 1 poem and 1 short story daily
3. Write 1 hour per day

This would put you in the top 10% of writers by the end of 2027.

[James Carran @getpaidwrite]

I've been writing for over a decade, sold over 10,000 copies of my children's book, and made $100k+ and counting online.

And I break down all the key things you need to know into a weekly newsletter.

Sign up here to get it free:

https://t.co/lT9uttO0Xx

[James Carran @getpaidwrite]

Writers write.

If you are not writing, you are not a writer.

If you are writing, you are a writer.

Nothing else to it.

[James Carran @getpaidwrite]

The problem is not consumption.

The problem is mindless consumption.

[James Carran @getpaidwrite]

@OKCFOX Route 666

[James Carran @getpaidwrite]

Social media today is all:

"BREAKING: Salacious gossip I made up five minutes ago."

And

"Here's what happens next: Elaborate fantasy I made up five minutes ago."

Etc

Look, just admit nobody knows anything, least of all you. Log off for a week or two.

You'll feel better.

[James Carran @getpaidwrite]

@BowTiedHomeBake I had two girls and a boy...

...and then I had another boy just so idiots like this couldn't give my girls grief.

[James Carran @getpaidwrite]

I've been writing for over a decade, sold over 10,000 copies of my children's book, and made $100k+ and counting online.

And I break down all the key things you need to know into a weekly newsletter.

Sign up here to get it free:

https://t.co/lT9uttO0Xx

[James Carran @getpaidwrite]

When C. S. Lewis said:

"You can make anything by writing."

I felt that.

[James Carran @getpaidwrite]

I've been writing for over a decade, sold over 10,000 copies of my children's book, and made $100k+ and counting online.

And I break down all the key things you need to know into a weekly newsletter.

Sign up here to get it free:

https://t.co/lT9uttO0Xx

[James Carran @getpaidwrite]

Writing is thinking.

The more concretely you write, the more effectively you think.

[James Carran @getpaidwrite]

I've been writing for over a decade, sold over 10,000 copies of my children's book, and made $100k+ and counting online.

And I break down all the key things you need to know into a weekly newsletter.

Sign up here to get it free:

https://t.co/lT9uttO0Xx

[James Carran @getpaidwrite]

Great writers love silence and hate distraction.