If you want to improve at something, look to a big name in your field. Unfortunately, when it comes to the arts, many practitioners get a little too flowery. We’ve all heard the pretentious author say “writing is agony.” Call me a cynic, but I doubt Eric Carle endured Guantanamo Bay levels of torture while penning The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Because of this, today’s writing advice comes from Robert Heinlein.

For the unfamiliar, Robert Heinlein was a science fiction writer who published 32 novels and 59 short stories. He also won a bunch of awards, and is probably best known (to the general public) for creating Starship Troopers (though the movies are way different than the book).

Anyway, Heinlein is from the tail end of the pulp fiction era where writers had to pump out a lot of content if they wanted to succeed.

Because of this, I think his advice is still relevant today. Especially for anyone creating digital entertainment.

The following is great advice if you’re a blogger, YouTuber, podcaster, etc…

Robert Heinlein: Five Step Writing Advice

Heinlein has a simple but effective 5-step writing process:

Rule One: You Must Write

Rule Two: Finish What Your Start

Rule Three: You Must Refrain From Rewriting, Except to Editorial Order

Rule Four: You Must Put Your Story on the Market

Rule Five: You Must Keep it on the Market until it has Sold

Now let’s look a little deeper at each point:

1. You Must Write

Ask an expert in any field for success advice, and “do the work” is usually their first response.

If you want to be a professional bodybuilder, you’ve got to start lifting weights. Or if you want to make video games, you’d better practice coding.

Writing is no different and you’ve probably heard the generic “write 1,000 words a day” advice from a dozen successful authors. Why? Because that’s the prerequisite.

A writer, or a podcaster, or a marketer, who doesn’t practice their craft is just a dreamer.

2. Finish Things

(Sometimes You Can Write 10,000+ Words No Problem, Other Times It’s A Slog)

This second piece of advice is a little more nuanced. Not every project is worth finishing. However, if you think you have a good idea you’d better see things through to the end.

I’m sure Robert Heinlein had many projects he started then scuttled. But he also published a ton of short stories and novels.

Sometimes there’s a project you absolutely love doing and you’ll knock the whole thing out in record time. On other occasions you might encounter something you’re not too passionate about, but it pays the bills.

In this case, tough it out and listen to the sage wisdom of Michael Caine when he discussed staring in Jaws 4:

I have never seen it, but by all accounts it is terrible. However, I have seen the house that it built, and it is terrific.

3. Avoid Rewriting, Except To Editorial Order

Many creative types struggle over tiny details. It takes them weeks to write a few hundred words, or put out a new YouTube video.

The reason?

They’re constantly trying to make everything “perfect.” A good goal for sure, but you still need to set deadlines and “get it all out there.” Likewise, obsessing over infinitesimal details is pointless when you have bigger challenges to face.

Constantly tweaking your website’s theme doesn’t matter if nobody is visiting it.

Do the best you can and always work on improving yourself, but don’t constantly change things unless you’re getting specific and credible feedback about them.

4. Market Yourself

(You Always Have To Put Yourself Out There)

You can be the greatest writer or YouTuber or podcaster, but nobody will know this unless you market yourself.

In the days of Robert Heinlein or HP Lovecraft that meant submitting tons of stories to various magazines, or meeting with literary agents.

You can go this route, and we’ll talk about it in a moment, but marketing is also a lot easier now. You can join a forum or use social media and build a fan base for free. If you make good content, people will come back again and again.

On the flip side, there are these traditional institutes like magazines, TV, or radio stations. And they’re quite lucrative if you do choose that path.

To give a personal example, my Mom self-published a book. It sold less than five copies. She took the title off Amazon, split each chapter into individual articles, and sold them all off to various magazines for a couple thousand dollars each.

So again, you have two options. You can sell directly to customers, or you can sell to an institution. Either way, you’re still marketing yourself.

And that’s the only way to gain exposure.

5. Continue Marketing Your Work

Once you get the ball rolling, it’s easy to build your fan base. You’re going to get word of mouth referrals, or other popular people will shout you out.

That said, you’re job is to always look for the next opportunity. Maybe you reach out to a new market, or create some merchandise, or repackage something into a new medium (an easy example is hiring a narrator to create Audible versions of your books), things of that nature.

In the case of Robert Heinlein, he sold a lot of his books and short stories to Hollywood for film adaptations.

Just because you’re popular in one area doesn’t mean you shouldn’t branch out.