And that's why I write texts that aren't perfect. That's why I write texts that some people don't like. That's why I write "bad" texts.
I learn a lot from writing bad texts. Here are my most important lessons:
1) I know what doesn't work
I didn't fail. I figured out 10,000 ways it doesn't work.
– Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison needed endless jamaica telegram screening attempts to finally find the right material for the light bulb.
Every failure was not a defeat for him. Instead, he ticked a box on his long list: “Ok, so that doesn’t work either…”
Gutenberg had to find the right alloy for his letters. He went bankrupt. He took on debt after debt and died a poor man. But today we have him to thank for the dawn of the modern era.
With every bad text I find a new way that doesn't work. I try a new headline - I see the number of readers drop.
I try a different text structure and hear from readers: “Your text is confusing.”