What’s Your Writing Process? [Sneak Peek At New Data]

A few weeks ago I asked if you’d share your insights on How You Write in an annual survey conducted by my friend Andy Crestodina at Orbit Media.

Today, you get a sneak peek at some early results from 1,112 of us.

This brand-new data hasn’t been shared before. (See how the charts are blinking rapidly in the sunlight, adjusting their newborn eyes…?)

Making their debut on the Orbit Research stage this year are two questions:

1. Do you write every day, even if you don’t publish every day?
2. What’s your process for creating a first draft?

Before we get to the results, let’s back up…

* * *

WHY are we asking about your writing process? Why does it matter in 2024 more than any other year?

Here’s why: Countless pundits and prophets remind you that you need to keep the HUMANS in AI. That your content needs your body and soul, heartbeat and hoofprints to make it your own.

That it needs to come only from you—your brand, your point of view, your voice yadda yadda yadda.

Even the extremely pro-AI group—those Really On Board with Outstanding Tech (the ROBOTs)—will tell you that. Humans matter, the ROBOTs say. Be the real-real.

But the question is:

With AI embedded everywhere, creeping into everything… how do we do that?

How do we shore up the role of the human? How do we keep it human-first when the tech companies are making it harder? When the ROBOTs are constantly chomping at the bit and chirping at the cursor to give us a hand…?

AI is like a modern-age, souped-up Clippy we can’t easily turn off. The tech companies are intent on making us buy it, whether we want to or not. (Literally, pay money for it; metaphorically, buy into it.)

That’s what this data reflects. It starts the conversation around… So how’s your creative process changing? (Or is it?)

* * *

It’s not just tech companies making it harder. It’s also… us. We are fundamentally lazy. Writing is hard. Writing is work. Writing requires commitment to the craft.

Why write a first draft if AI can do it for us? It’s so much easier. And faster. It’s magical! Add prompt and stir vigorously… and voilà!

It’s birthed a fully formed blog post right there on the hot WordPress!!!

All ready for us to *mAkE* *huM@n*.

Not a big deal when you’re writing an SEO snippet. Or a term sheet. But over time…? A very big deal.

We have it backwards.

The first draft is the thinking draft. That’s where you need to be fully present. On board. Just you and your glorious ideas.

Otherwise, you undermine yourself. You shortchange your growth and creativity. You put the ROBOTs first. You put yourself second.

The first draft is the thinking draft. (Said twice for emphasis.) Protect the part of you that truly makes your content, your writing, your voice your own.

Why? Because otherwise and over time, your skills will atrophy. You will doubt yourself more. You will build a dependency.

We will begin to rely on the Really On Board with Outstanding Tech (those ROBOTs!) in exactly the way the tech companies want us to. In exactly the way the lazy part of us is willing to.

Again, I’m talking first drafts here.

Gen AI is useful in many situations. I use it. It’s helpful. But not in the actual getting ourselves onto the page part.

Choose wisely.

Rant over. 

Let’s get to the survey results!

1) DO YOU WRITE EVERY DAY?

You see my hand-drawn Sharpie chart in the header: Half of us write every day, even if we don’t publish every day.

(My brain that craves order in chaos is delighted that the two camps have an exact number of campers. In this case, EXACTLY 556 each—swoon.)

We didn’t ask what you are writing: Is it emails? Carburetor manuals? Political rants on Facebook?

It doesn’t really matter.

But I am hoping & heartened by the thought that the 556 of us who write every day have developed some kind of writing habit purely for the fun of it. Maybe you, like me, recognize the value of that habit.

We know it strengthens our muscles and our craft. We know that the only way to grow our skills is to commit to the joy of a deliberate practice we’re doing… just for fun. Not for ROI results. (⬅️ That comes later. Like in the next chart, below.)

I worry about the 50% of you who don’t see the value. If you are among the other 556 who checked NO… please try it for 90 days—even a sentence or two a day scribbled in a journal—and see if you don’t feel more creatively plugged in to yourself and your daily life.

See if it doesn’t focus your attention. See if this doesn’t deliver better results in your work.

Because…

2) WHY DOES WRITING EVERY DAY MATTER THO?

The correlation between writing daily and strong results is real:

• 23% of marketing writers who write daily report “strong results.”
• 16% of marketing writers who don’t write daily report “strong results.”

In other words, those of us who write every day are 44% more likely to report strong results with our writing.

3) WHAT’S YOUR PROCESS FOR CREATING A FIRST DRAFT?

Dear pen/paper crowd: You are my people. Amazing that even a tiny 5% of us put pencil to paper as a quietly powerful way to focus. It’s a dead-simple escape from the digital chaos and relentless pings that define our work lives.

Science shows that writing things down longhand helps us remember them better.

I find that it helps us anchor onto ideas better, too. Ideas take root in my mind better. They cling to the bedrock and manage to grow no matter what chaos is whirling around them. My brain continues to work on it long after I put the pencil down.

That’s why we have Eureka! moments while we are doing something basic and mindless, like unloading the dishwasher or taking a shower.

The analog approach is the most effective way to barricade that souped-up Clippy from entering the process just yet. Even an outline hastily sketched longhand or by voice is a valuable way to connect you more closely to the work. It also gives you a leg up when you sit to write at the computer (45.5% of us).

The first draft is the thinking draft.

4) FINE. LET’S TALK ABOUT THAT 5.1% USING AI TO WRITE A FIRST DRAFT.

(DEEP. SIGH.)

I urge you to reconsider doing this regularly. You know where I stand; I ranted all over your inbox already.

The more often we invite AI into our first drafts… the harder it’s going to be for us to remember what it was like when we didn’t outsource our thinking to Team ROBOT.

The harder it’s going to be to differentiate our brand (if you need a marketing reason).

The harder it’s going to be to warm up that creative part of ourselves that makes life worth living (this is the actual reason).

* * *

Marketing needs you. Humanity needs you.

We need your skills.

We need your voice. And most of all: YOU need it.