Scott H. Young speaks about the #1 rule for writing — write about what you like to read, regardless of what others think.

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I've written a lot of stuff — over 1,600 articles, 5 books, 10 if you include those originally published directly to my blog, countless video scripts, email newsletters, and more. Quantity, of course, is no guarantee of quality. There are still many things I would like to improve about my writing, and hopefully given a few more decades of practice I'll be able to do so. But by this point, I can at least claim to have some experience. Given my history, budding writers occasionally ask me for tips. My usual reply is to write a lot. Write and publish 100 essays before you start to scrutinize your own work. The thought of publishing something, even just online, is paralyzing to most new writers, so overcoming that hurdle is bigger than finessing your prose. But supposing you're writing regularly, what should you write about? Write what you like to read. So the only rule I've ever kept for myself as a writer is to strive to write the kinds of things I enjoy reading. Writing for yourself may sound narcissistic, but it's closer to the opposite. If you don't care about what you're writing, why should anyone else? Writing for yourself can be harder than it sounds. For one, what we like to read is generally smarter, wittier, more imaginative and thought-provoking than what we feel capable of producing. Especially in the beginning. Taste outpaces proficiency. A second difficulty with writing for oneself is that, for nonfiction at least, we enjoy reading about things we don't know already, and we also dislike writers who don't know what they're talking about. Thus, writing what you like to read requires scrutinizing the ideas and knowledge you take for granted. How would you judge this writing if you didn't already know everything it discusses? Writing what you like to read leads to better prose. Do you hate rhetorical questions? Don't use them. Clearly, I'm okay with them. Do you like it when writers open with a story, or do you wish they would just get to the point and give the evidence for their argument? Do you like short sentences, or are florid elaborating the subject in meticulous detail more to your liking? Do what works for you. There isn't a correct answer. Write what you like to read. There are no rules in writing other than this. Now, it can take some reflection to figure out what kind of writing you actually like. First impressions can be misleading. I've done exercises where I study writing I like, and often what I thought I liked about a piece of writing turns out to not be there at all. Upon rereading an author I admired for the depth of his research, I found out that the book only contained a handful of citations. Only when you really start examining why some writing appeals to you, do you have any hope of recreating it in your own work. The perils of writing for someone else. Now, writers don't always have a choice about how they are to write. Publications have house styles, corporate gigs expect you to match the boilerplate, scientific journals want you to have your research papers conforming to a particular template. Thus, the advice to write what you like to read must always be viewed within the constraints of the place you choose to publish. However, even within those sometimes confining shackles, you can identify writing you enjoy and writing you don't. Our ability to simulate the thought processes of others is worse than we typically think. I don't like this, but so and so will. It's not only condescending, it's almost always false. People may like different writing styles than you do, but it's rare to reverse engineer that appeal without also enjoying it yourself. The joy of writing isn't making tons of money or having people laud your work. Those things are rare enough to frustrate even the best writers. Instead, it's the satisfaction that comes from writing something that you think is good. Write what you like to read and regardless of what others think, you'll have something you can be proud of. Thanks for listening to this episode. If you'd like to get five of my audiobooks for free, just go to scothyoung.com slash podcast.