My process for writing this newsletter
From 💡 1000+ ideas all the way to publishing newsletter articles!
Intro
When I started writing the Engineering Leadership newsletter back in October 2022, I had zero clue how to write a good article, as I had never done any online writing outside of my work before.
I more or less just opened my Notion page and wrote what came to my mind.
After many learnings, I found a process that works for me to have been able to send out 90+ consistent weekly newsletter articles.
And in this article, I am sharing my process with you!
Here is the index of the sections of this article:
So many ideas, how to store all of them?
Now that we have all the ideas stored, how to select what to write about?
Using LinkedIn / X posts is also a great way to select what to write about
I also prioritize articles that would be helpful to me when I was growing as an engineer or as a manager
I have a few simple high-level rules for writing articles
How I structure my articles
🔒 How I review an article after the first draft
🔒 How I create visuals
🔒 The article is published, what to do after?
P.S. This is my first try creating a longer article which is partially free and partially for paid subscribers. Let me know what you think!
So many ideas, how to store all of them?
Have you found yourself having a million ideas, but then you just forget about them over time?
Well, that’s certainly the case for me. I need to make sure I note down the idea the moment I think of it.
Luckily I always have my Notion at hand at all times. Either on my laptop or on my phone and whenever I think of something, I note it down immediately.
Just a disclaimer, I am not sponsored by them, just a big fan of it and can’t imagine my day-to-day without it anymore.
Over almost 2 years of writing online (Newsletter, LinkedIn, X), I have more than 1000 future ideas combined in my Notion workspace (there are definitely some duplicates :)).
Also an archive of more than 700 already posted newsletter articles, LinkedIn posts and X posts combined.
This is how I store them:
I store all of my ideas for the articles on the “Articles” page, where every idea is then a new page. This article started from the idea and the notes that I added:
And a similar process for everything else, LinkedIn posts, X posts, Books that I find interesting, Products, Partnerships, etc. I have a lot more first-level pages (this is just a picture of the first 11 of them) and 1500~ second/third level pages and growing!
Now that we have all the ideas stored, how to select what to write about?
An idea is just an idea without actually executing it. So I ask myself 2 things:
Will writing this article be interesting for the readers and will they get value from it?
Will I learn something while writing this article?
I always like to think that writing online not only helps others, but also helps you to cement your knowledge on particular topics. That’s why I recommend to start writing online to everyone.
I intentionally sometimes pick a specific topic or collaborate with another writer, just so that I learn something new. Writing is one of the best ways to learn new things!
So the criteria for selection is very simple:
If the answer to both is YES, then I am definitely prioritizing it.
If I see numerous requests for a specific topic, I am also prioritizing it.
If there is a specific topic in the industry that is very interesting, I also prioritize it - for example, when Developer productivity was a big topic some time ago, I prioritized this article: How I measure developer productivity (paid article).
Using LinkedIn / X posts is also a great way to select what to write about
Another way I prioritize and select what to write about is based on the feedback and engagement I get from LinkedIn and X posts.
If I see a certain post being very interesting and people comment/engage + provide a lot of interesting questions and insights.
That’s a great indicator that the topic is interesting to read.
Here is an example of a LinkedIn post that turned into an article:
And this is then the article, which I created a couple of months later: Going from impostor one day to feeling like a superhuman the next day (paid article):
I also prioritize articles that would be helpful to me when I was growing as an engineer or as a manager
That’s also one of the key reasons why I started writing this newsletter. I didn’t have similar resources available when I was growing as an engineer or as a manager.
And that’s why a lot of articles that I write are written in a way that my past self would benefit a LOT from.
Here are some examples (paid articles):
The mindset is like this: If I was craving for a particular topic back in the day, then there are for sure at least some that would benefit from an article like this.
I have a few simple high-level rules for writing articles
Here are the 3 high-level rules, which are very important to me:
The article is around 5-8min read
It’s better to write from experience and share examples than just theory
3+ visuals per article
These are the constraints, which I follow. Very important to me especially is the second one. If you are a regular reader, you might have seen a common theme in my articles.
I write a lot from my personal experience: share examples, mistakes + what works for me. I believe that that’s something that people like to read and that’s what is the most useful.
Especially when there is SO much theory available on the internet.
I strongly believe what makes an article interesting are: the personal touch, examples and experiences.
I am curious to hear if that’s true for you! Let me know either by responding to this email or by writing a comment.
How I structure my articles
I have a fixed structure for articles. You can see it here:
And I have a simple rule that I follow for writing:
Make every section useful.
So even if the reader would read just 1 section → they would get something useful from the article. I believe that’s how you keep your reader’s attention. By providing value in every section.
Not just at the beginning or waiting for the catch of the article at the end.
Here is an example from a recent article I am not a fan of heroism in the engineering industry:
🔒 How I review an article after the first draft
I write the first draft of the whole article in Notion and immediately after I am finished, I start reviewing the article. Here is what I do:
I use Grammarly to correct all the spelling mistakes
I take every suggestion subjectively, as some are preferences.
I used to use Hemingway Editor, but not anymore. The reason is that my writing style got a bit different after I used it and some sentences became a bit robotic. So my preference is to just use the sentences that seem right to me. They also define my personal style.
I revise the spacing and word count between the paragraphs and sections to make sure that it’s easy to read. My rule of thumb is to keep sections short and keep paragraphs short. Therefore more spacing is better than less.
I move the article from Notion to Substack editor and see how it feels. I am mostly checking spacing and the overall size of sections and paragraphs + thinking about the visuals.
I then start creating visuals + insert them in the article (there should be at least 3 of them).
After visuals, I send a test email, where I read through the whole article and make the last adjustments. Sentences, spacing, order of sections, etc. I read the whole article on my phone, as I already proofread on the laptop before.
🔒 How I create visuals
The tools I use for creating visuals are:
Adobe Illustrator and
Canva.
Obviously, the first step is to have the idea. So here is where I ask myself, what would be useful to create so that the message from the article comes across more clearly.
So once I know that, I go immediately to Adobe Illustrator’s board and start crafting the main visual (hero image) and after create others. I use the pen tool and the colors are the Engineering Leadership branded colors (blue, gray and black)
Throughout 20+ articles, where I created the visuals, I have now a lot of different templates, which I can use in different cases. I am always looking for ideas on how can I create more of them.
So in Adobe Illustrator, I create the visual and then export it:
Then I move the export to Canva and create a png that is prepared for the article. The size is around 800x(400-600px).
And voila! The image is prepared to be inserted in the article.
🔒 The article is published, what to do after?
So after reviewing and when I am happy with the article, I finally send it out! Sometimes I set the time for sending or I send it out immediately, it depends on when I finish the article.
The only constraint I have for sending it is that it needs to be sent out on Sunday, every week.
Currently, I don’t have a specific time for sending, because I am a big believer in daily and weekly goals and not a believer in perfect timings.
So what do I do after I publish the article?
It’s really important to spend time to spread awareness of the article after it’s published.
You can write the best article in the world, but if nobody knows about it, it won’t be perceived this way.
I have already noted this in this article: How to start, grow and monetize your engineering newsletter.
I create a post of the preview of the article on LinkedIn, where I also add the link to the article.
I post it on X as well:
I share it on Reddit (r/programming)
Last words
Let’s end this article with this:
Finding the right process that works for YOU is the key!
That goes for every process, not just creating newsletters. We are all different. Make sure to try out different things as much as possible and see what works for you.
If you reached the end, hope you enjoyed this version of the newsletter article. Let me know what you think. I would love to hear from you.
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Whenever you are ready, here is how I can help you further
Book a Coaching and Mentoring or Consulting and Advising call with me here.
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Get in touch
You can find me on LinkedIn or Twitter.
If you wish to make a request on particular topic you would like to read, you can send me an email to info@gregorojstersek.com.
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You are more than welcome to find whatever interests you here and try it out in your particular case. Let me know how it went! Topics are normally about all things engineering related, leadership, management, developing scalable products, building teams etc.
Gregor thank you for this step-by-step guide of how you write, do research. collect ideas and create graphics
It gives so much inspiration
tks Gregor, your post is super helpful as Im starting my newsletter journey also!