Why Your Writing Isn't Being Read

"Nine people."

That was the view count on the first note I ever wrote.

It had already been three days since I posted it, you know? Three whole days and that's all I got?

I mean, surely those nine views must include my own, right? If that's the case, then in reality, maybe only three people actually read it.

It was so painful that I haven't updated that note account since, but at the time, I thought about it seriously.

"Why isn't my note being read?"

The number nine was such a shock that I put some real effort into thinking about it.

Wednesday night.
I finished work, took a bath, changed into my pajamas, cracked open a beer, and thought about it seriously. I'm pretty sure it was a "Nodogoshi Nama." I was trying to save money, so I couldn't afford Yebisu.

That night, with a beer in one hand and a sheet of A3 paper spread out on my desk, I wrote down every reason I could think of for "why it isn't being read."
After I finished writing everything down, a certain phrase I had jotted caught my eye.

"Because I'm not making the effort to be read."

Isn't this it? The reason my note isn't being read.

After all, an incredible amount of content is posted on note every single day. It's like a waterfall, a literal waterfall.
My manuscript gets posted into that raging torrent.
The note I wrote just gets buried under the massive number of notes written by everyone else.

Out of the staggering number of notes posted every day

Did I make any effort

to get people to choose my note?

I did not. I can say that in a second. I did not. I absolutely did not.
I am confident that out of the hundreds of thousands of people writing notes, I am the one who has made the least effort.
I can say that with pride.

I gave the title no thought, the thumbnail was just a random free image I picked, the opening hook was a failure, and the content lacked the power, momentum, and passion to make the reader even want to scroll.

When I analyze it, it was so bad that I think that way.

I've already made it private, so I'll expose the titles, but these were the kinds of notes I was writing.

Who would read that?

That is what I honestly think when I look at it now.

If I were a super popular idol representing Japan, I think plenty of people would read these titles.
But when I wrote these notes, I was a beginner who had just started on note. I only had three followers.
There was no way they would be read...

A massive number of manuscripts are posted on note every day. If you don't make an effort to get people to choose your note from among them, it naturally won't be read. Without even realizing that,

I feel a bit embarrassed that I was shouting that.

At that moment, I thought. Maybe...

Maybe it's better to write under the assumption that "no one wants to read my writing."

Because if you write your manuscript with that assumption, you'll think to death about "how to get people to click."

Writing doesn't end when you finish writing.

It ends when you deliver it.

Getting it to the reader is the writer's job.

So, I think to death about how to deliver it. It makes my head feel like it's going to explode, but I think it's an important job.

Because if you can't deliver it, your writing won't be read. If it's not read, there's no point in having written it. That's why I think "delivering it" is the job of us writers.

So, what exactly should you do?

I thought about it a lot, and I think this is it.

Pour 90% of your effort into the title.

Write the body text with the remaining 10%.

Because if it doesn't get clicked, it won't be read, right?
So, clicks are everything. Clicks are everything.

To get those clicks, I really think the title is the most important thing.
Pour 90% of your effort into the title, and write the body text with the remaining 10%.
This was the correct answer I arrived at.

Just look at this.

I mean, note has a staggering number of manuscripts being uploaded one after another, doesn't it? You have to overcome the difficult hurdle of getting people to click on your note from among this massive amount of content.

“Oh, what’s this? Looks interesting.”

To get people to think that and click, I really think you should put all your effort into the title.

If it doesn't get clicked, the writing you did will never see the light of day.

The writing you poured your heart into, like your own child, will die without ever being born.

That is why, as the mother who gave birth to that writing.
As a writer who bears the responsibility of delivering it to readers.
You have to refine and polish your title over and over again.

I think you have to do that, even if it means sacrificing your life as a writer.

I think this is where it is decisively different from paper.

With paper, you see, once someone has bought it, if the previous page was interesting, they’ll flip to the next one feeling excited, wondering, “What’s written next?” Right? And often, they’ll just keep reading. Probably. I don't know for sure.

But the web is different. If it doesn't get clicked, the writing you did will never see the light of day.

It’s the click.

Getting clicked is everything.

That’s why I got serious and wrote my first note. I poured 90% of my effort into the title.

Here is the note that was born from that.

What do you think?

I think there are at least a few people who would want to click on a title like this (sorry if there aren't).
But thanks to putting all my effort into the title, the view count is still growing and has reached an incredible number. I've never seen PV numbers like this in my life.
Even now, when I look at the dashboard, I find myself pointing and counting, saying, 'Wait, what is this PV count? One, ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand...'

But even if you manage to write a title, there's still a problem.

Yes, the body text.

Even if you succeed in getting someone to click, if the body text is no good, they'll think it's boring and leave in an instant.

I'm the same way.

Even if I find a note that makes me think 'Oh!', if the body text is lackluster, I close it right away.

That's why, when I wrote that first note about my messy room, I seriously wrote the body text with all my might. But while writing, I realized something. I had forgotten one important thing.

When you get absorbed in writing body text, you end up forgetting something, don't you?

What is it?

The 'benefit to the reader'.

I forget this really often.

'What benefit does the reader get from reading the text I wrote?' I think it's inexcusable as a writer to forget this, but if I let my guard down, I forget it in a second.

I thought a little about why I forget it, and I realized it's because I'm under a major misconception. What kind of misconception, you ask?

That misconception.

No, I think this style is perfectly fine. Actually, I think there are plenty of types of notes where that style is required. So, I don't think it's a mistake to write in a style where you decide what to write.
But, I'm still a complete amateur who just started writing notes. So, I thought that the "I decide what I write" style wouldn't work for me.

Then who decides?

"The reader decides what I write."

That's what I think. Of course, it depends on the type of writing.

That's what I think. Of course, it depends on the type of writing.

For example, let's say you write a note reviewing "newly bought sneakers." Then the reader has various questions, right?

They have various questions, right? I think we writers can weave our writing by answering these "questions that readers might have."

Writing doesn't work just by writing what the writer wants to write. You have to write what the reader wants to know.

That's why I think it's the "reader" who decides what to write, not the writer. Because I wasn't writing that kind of text, my notes weren't being read by anyone.

So, I wrote a note with all my might about what readers want to know. I added the title, "I spent 1 million yen to escape my messy room."

I was really anxious after I posted the note I had written.

As the view count increased to 5, then 10, I wondered, "How was the writing I did?" I seriously thought, "Was it okay?"

I thought about whether there was any way to judge if the note I wrote was "okay," and I found one: "Oh! There is this way!"

It comes down to whether or not you get comments.

If you get comments, I think you can judge that the note you posted was "okay." Because

writing is communication between the writer and the reader.

You don't write just because you have something you want to convey.
There is someone who has something to convey and conveys it.
And then, there is someone who listens to it.

In everyday life, we use the medium of "voice" for that exchange, but in writing, it has simply shifted to the medium of "text."

Therefore, writing is a "conversation" between the writer and the reader.
In other words, it is "communication." Since it is communication,

I think writing that "receives no reaction from the reader" is a zero.

Because if there is no reaction from the other party, the communication has broken down. I don't think you can call it communication if you just talk unilaterally and that's it.

That's why, if there is absolutely no reaction to my manuscript, I

as a lesson.

A good manuscript always gets a reaction from the reader.
When I wander around note, I really feel that.

Even if there are only single-digit likes and it hasn't gone viral at all, there is still a proper reaction.
When I find notes like that, I straighten my posture and think, "I should learn from this."

I think you can only do this if the writer truly understands that "the reader is a living, breathing human being."

When you're writing a manuscript, you're sitting in front of a computer monitor, right? There's no living reader in front of you. So, you end up writing

like you're talking to a wall, like you're talking to yourself.

I seriously tend to do this all the time. My writing ends up sounding like, 'What is this? It's just someone talking to themselves.'

That's why, in the first place, I don't really like the term 'writing' that much.

When you say 'writing,' it sounds like the task of sitting at a desk with no one in front of you, weaving what you want to convey into text, right? Since there's no one there, it easily turns into a monologue where you're 'not talking to anyone.'

So, rather than 'writing,' I think an expression like 'having someone listen to my story' is probably just right.

When I wander around on note, I occasionally come across people who can write 'the kind of prose that feels like a female friend from college is talking to you at an izakaya.'
When I see writing like that, I bury my head in my desk and writhe in agony, thinking, 'What did you eat growing up to be able to write like this?!'

The person themselves is probably writing these monster-level sentences without even thinking about it (sorry if that's not the case), but for someone like me who, if I let my guard down, ends up writing 'just a monologue,' it's truly enviable.

Because I'm like that, I always keep one thing in mind when I write.

'There is a living human being on the other side of the monitor.'

I try to be conscious of that somewhere in my head. If I do that, it results in a good manuscript that is close to the reader and gets a proper reaction from them.

When you become conscious that 'there is a living human being on the other side of the monitor' like this, a really good change happens. As for what kind of change, the writing you weave becomes...

a 'love letter' written to just one person.

It becomes writing that says, 'I wrote this for you, and you alone.' It becomes that kind of piece.

I thought this was really great. Because writing that is filled with such tremendous passion, like a love letter, will absolutely, seriously, reach the reader.

You know the singer Hikaru Utada, right? Utada-san also says,

That's what I was saying. I realized it's the same for writing.

But you know, when you write for that "one single person,"
I think the writer is required to be "sincere" toward that one person.

I looked this up before, but

In other words, if a manuscript is 4,000 characters long, you are taking 10 minutes of that person's time.

10 minutes, just 10 minutes. It's not just 10 minutes. Because

time is that person's life itself.

As writers, we are "receiving" that person's 10 minutes of life.

Because we are in the position of "receiving" their life, I believe it is the writer's duty to polish the text until it is worth reading.

The reader is using their precious time to read the text I wrote.
We are taking the reader's time. Therefore, we must strive to make that time as short as possible. That is why, for writing,

what you don't write is

billions of times more important than what you do write.

This note you are reading right now was also heavily edited and compressed. After I finished writing it, I compressed it to one-third of its length. To avoid stealing the precious time—the life—of the people who read it.

Only after I started making this much effort did the number of people reading my notes finally start to increase. It was really slow, but finally. When I first started writing notes,

I used to think that, but looking back now, I reflect that it was only natural that it wasn't being read.
After all, I wasn't making any effort to be read.

In any case, I wasn't giving it my all as a writer. I had absolutely no consideration or care for the reader. That's why my writing was so hollow. I understand that now.

Writing isn't done with ink, you know.

It's blood. You write with blood. You write with the intention of using your own blood as ink.

That's why writing is painful.

It's only natural that it's painful. Because you're writing with blood.
If you were bleeding, it would definitely hurt, right? That's why writing is painful and difficult.

I've thought before that 'writing is painful,' but thinking about it now, I find it truly nonsensical.
It's like saying 'a painful headache.' It's like saying 'falling off a horse.'

Saying 'writing is painful' makes no sense anymore.
It is a tautology that is now untranslatable. The words are redundant.
Because the verb 'to write' already contains the meaning of 'painful' within it.

That is what writing is. It is painful and hurts.
But it is the duty of us writers to endure these labor pains in order to give birth to our own children, which we call writing.

That is how a 'writer-mother' should be.

Writing that is birthed through such pain will absolutely, definitely resonate with readers.
Because you are writing with enough blood that you might die from blood loss.
Because you are exposing yourself that much while writing. Of course it will resonate with readers.

Sometimes there are people who spill not just blood but their entire insides, and I think it's better to go that far.

Because writing by exposing everything will definitely result in a better manuscript.
Write by exposing everything, with the feeling of being stark naked.

Only those who are stark naked can capture people's hearts.

Popular writing, popular blogs, popular notes.

I've seen many, but they are all stark naked. They are writing while being stark naked and exposing themselves.
This is it, after all. The only ones who can grab hold of others' hearts are those who have become stark naked.

I thought about that, but the draft I actually wrote while naked (metaphorically, of course) turned out to be a 'what is this?' kind of mess. Honestly, I gave myself a score of 15 out of 100. It was a failing grade.

I was caught off guard because I had thought, 'Wait, wouldn't I be able to write a perfect 100-point draft if I just got naked?'

So I decided to analyze myself. And then I realized it immediately—the cause. What do you think it was?

It was, you know, an overwhelming lack of input.

When the 'quality' of your output is low,

it's because the 'quantity' of your input is insufficient.

This is my own theory, but I really think this is it.

People say that, and it just goes to show how important the 'quantity' of input really is.

Writing is a lot like cooking, you know.

You can't cook if there are no ingredients in the fridge, right?
Writing is the same; if you don't have information in your head, you can't write anything. So, I just focused on input.
That's why I worked really hard on input. I think I read 15 books before releasing my first note to the world.

There is one thing I was careful about when taking in information. It was to carefully observe how the author of the book

I really recommend reading while focusing on this. It's a great way to proceed.

Books are written because there is a "claim" the author wants to convey (depending on the type of book, of course). So, ultimately, the goal is to "persuade" the reader based on that claim.

When we talk about persuasion, we tend to think

but persuasion isn't actuallyabout silencing the other person. I think it's about getting them to think along with you.

That's why, if you carefully observe how they write sentences that "move the reader's mind," it becomes easier for you to write your own notes later on.

Writers who can write like that are, I think, sincere, humble, and very kind to their readers. I love them.

They never just throw logical arguments at you. You know,

There's a saying like that, isn't there? I think they deeply, deeply understand the certain kind of violence that logical arguments can possess.

That's why they carefully and thoughtfully weave their words, considering how to get the other person to listen in the first place.

Making a claim is easy, but getting that claim accepted is not.

They understand that very well.

So, what I did after finishing those 15 books was research. What kind of research? It was research about the readers. Because, you know,

"Who you are writing for" determines "what you write"

right? The first note I wrote was about "escaping from a messy room," but for example,

The content you write changes completely depending on it.

Therefore, to decide "what to write," I decided "who to write for" and did thorough research. Once this is set, it becomes much easier to write a note. It's a method I absolutely love.

And since "who to write for" was decided, I next created the outline for the text. It's what you call a draft structure. This is just my personal feeling, but

Research... 70%

Draft structure... 20%

Writing... 10%

I feel like a good note is finished when you use a distribution like this.

There are many ways to create this draft structure, but in order to "make a note that is read by many people," in my case, I only think about the following two things.

I create my draft structures while keeping these in mind.

You could create a draft structure using the common PREP method (a writing technique where you write in the order of Point, Reason, Example, Point), but I don't think there's any need to be fixated on that.

That's how I am, but when I use these types of templates, I often end up stopping my thinking and don't end up with a good draft structure.

Anyway, I just focus on (1) Who are you conveying what to? and (2) What do you want the result of that communication to be? This is what I do when creating a draft structure.

However, lately I think it's also fun to write with a loose draft structure rather than one that is rigidly fixed. I read it in a book or somewhere, but

Writing is apparently similar to "how you travel."

Some people plan everything rigidly from start to finish, some only decide the beginning and the end, and some only decide the places they will stop along the way. Just like that way of traveling, it might be interesting to try a loose draft structure.

You know, writing isn't actually most interesting when your pen is moving steadily,

but actually when your pen slips.

It's just like that。When a draft is too rigid, it's hard for the pen to flow. I've recently come to think that keeping things loose has its own charm.

But, many fellow noters might understand this: when you obsess over every detail of a manuscript, doesn't it feel like it will never be finished? I am seriously this type.

"Better to finish than to aim for perfection"

There's a saying like that, but when writing a manuscript, finishing it is truly important. My mentor often told me this, too.

That's what they said. If you want to be particular, you can obsess over a manuscript forever. But if you do that, the manuscript will never be finished.

"If you give up, that's when the manuscript is finished."

It's good to keep a mindset like that as well.

And so, this note on 'Escaping the Messy Room' was completed. In reality, it was the first note I ever wrote. I wanted to publish it immediately since it was finished, but I held back. Why didn't I publish it right away? That's because,

I hadn't done that task yet.

Writing is only worth it if it gets read to the end.

There are many things you should do to get your work read to the end, and I believe 'compression' is one of them. After all, long pieces of writing are tiring to read, aren't they?

For those reading this note right now,

Is there anyone like that?

I went through a very long period where my follower count didn't grow at all, but looking back now, I can see the reason in a split second.

It's because the writing is too long.

Because it's long, it doesn't get read to the end. Because it doesn't get read to the end, people don't reach the 'Follow' button at the bottom of the note. They don't reach the 'Like' button at the bottom of the note either.

Once I realized that, I 'compressed' every note I had published. Then, my followers and the number of likes started to increase smoothly. Thank you to everyone who followed me.

After all, the process of 'compression' is absolutely necessary to reduce the burden on the people reading. That was an event that made me think so.

And you know, once the compression is done, I let the manuscript sit overnight. I don't upload it immediately even if it's finished.

When you leave it for a night, you've pretty much forgotten the content of the manuscript you wrote the day before, so you can read what you wrote objectively and calmly as a 'stranger.' It's a method I really like.

Making myself the 'first reader' of my own article

I guess that's how it feels.

A manuscript viewed from the reader's perspective like that is actually quite clumsy in many places. I carefully supplement those clumsy parts before publishing, and only then is the manuscript finally complete.

When you think about it this way, writing a note is really hard, isn't it?

In this way, I feel like I've managed to grow a little. The question I had when I first started writing notes,

As a result of thinking about that seriously, I think I've also created a good flow for 'writing notes that get read.'

That's the kind of flow it is.

Honestly, there are many people who skip the flow I use and write incredibly compelling text. I know this because I look at note every day. People who can spin out text fluently without following a flow like this or building a heavy-duty strategy.

I do find myself feeling envious of them sometimes. Even though they themselves

"just wrote what I thought"

might say things like that, an ordinary person like me can't do that. Because I can't, I have to think thoroughly about "how to do it," set up a flow, and write.

Every once in a while, they exist.

People like me, on note. People who think, "Ah, this person can't write compelling notes fluently, so they are writing their text by building a heavy-duty strategy just like me." When I look at the notes of such people,

the figure of someone who has suffered as an artist comes through in their writing.

There are traces of having thought a lot, like "I'll do this here to make this scene stand out" or "I have to do this with the opening sentence to get them to read this far."

When I see text that has such heavy-duty strategies spread all over it, I think things like, "Oh, you're just like me~♡ We're matching~♡"
I feel a strange sense of closeness. Like, "That must have been tough, you really worked hard."

However, well, you know.

I've written at length about complicated things like strategies and flows, but in the end, I still think it comes down to "passion."

Or rather than passion... hmm... I mean a level of passion so intense that it might be more appropriate to call it "grudge" rather than passion.

I look at note every day, and I really think that's true.

Many people are weaving words together, aren't they? Things that made them happy, things that made them sad, things that were painful. They are writing about all sorts of things.

Everyone writes their inner thoughts as they please.

By writing, they love others, oppress them, or love the act of oppressing.
Or they are simply scattering hatred that looks a lot like love.
There are some who mistakenly call the trauma they couldn't avoid in childhood 'love'.

It really comes down to this.
The only notes that get read are the ones written in blood.
I am not drawn to writing written in ink.
At least, I'm not.

Writing that is 'laid bare' and written in blood is what truly captures the hearts of others. Or rather, I think it has the power to grab your hand and imprison you deep underground.

Admittedly, to be honest, it's a mess.

The logic and flow are a mess. The particles are wrong, the auxiliary verbs are strange, the adverbs are separated from the verbs making it hard to read, there are missing characters, it's full of typos, it's riddled with misused expressions, and the subjects and predicates are twisted.

If you sent it to a professional proofreader, the manuscript would come back so covered in red ink that it would be a mess.
I mean, all of my notes are like that too.

But that's fine, and that's how it should be.
That's just how writing that is 'laid bare' and written in blood is.

I think that kind of 'crazy' (meant as a compliment) writing, which feels like 'I failed to keep my sanity,' is 100 times more attractive than writing that says, 'I tried hard to write this to look cool.'

This note, you know. I wrote it with the theme of 'how to write a note that gets read.' But in the end

I think it's fine to write about things you simply cannot help but express.

Because that kind of writing will absolutely capture people's hearts.

It will definitely become a note that gets read.

"I couldn't help but write it."

When you look at the tweets from the authors of notes created that way, they are surprisingly self-deprecating.

Things like, "It's just a completely self-indulgent note," or "This note is just waste for me," or "The writing just gushed out of me. That's all it is."

But I think those are the very notes that get read.

"I couldn't help but write it."

Because that kind of writing is what grabs hold of other people's hearts and won't let go.

That's why I think you and I should find those things we "couldn't help but write about" and weave them into our writing.

(End)

That said, writing something that is actually worth reading is not that easy.

When I was a rookie, I spent a whole year having my manuscripts absolutely shredded by my boss every single day.

Even when I thought that, the manuscript that came back was covered in red. It really looked like someone had splashed red paint all over it.

That is why I usually tell my followers to “get your work edited.” I want them to have someone else read their writing and

get advice like that.

The reason is that your writing is not “getting across” as well as you think it is.

I’m sure there are definitely people who think that. After all, we speak Japanese every day (lol). Since we speak Japanese, we tend to think the Japanese we write must be perfect.

It’s easy to fall into that way of thinking.

If you think that, I really want you to read this note. It's a live-commentary note where I, as a professional editor, actually edit and revise writing by amateurs.

By 'amateurs,' I mean people who don't write for a living.

You don't usually get to see a professional editor correcting an amateur's writing in everyday life, right? (laughs) Because of that, I received a storm of praise from so many people saying, 'Wow, this is amazing!!' I'm so happy. I even got feedback like this!

▼ Excerpt

Everyone, thank you so, so much for your wonderful feedback!

So, if you think your Japanese is perfect, please give this a read. I promise you won't regret it.

▼ Click here ♡

Afterword

I picked up my pen for the first time in a long while. It's been several months. I wrote this note after several months.

I wrote this note because my 'desire to write a note' exploded after reading the writing of a noter named Leon-san. It's extremely rare, but sometimes there are people who make you want to write yourself just by reading their work. It's truly rare, though.

By the way, the note I was reading on my smartphone in bed before going to sleep yesterday was this one. It was a note that hit my preferences dead-on and pierced my sensibilities. I seriously love the writing style.

Maybe note is sustained thanks to people like this. Because it really makes you want to write. Just by reading it. When you're in a slump, maybe it's good to read the writing of people like Leon-san. It was an incredibly effective remedy.

It's like having your mouth grabbed wide open, being filled with gasoline, and then having a lit match tossed inside.
It explodes, doesn't it—the desire to write.

To begin with, I had planned to spend yesterday and today sleeping, yet here I am in front of my computer, clacking away. I'm truly surprised myself.

I couldn't help but write.
Even I, who would rather be sleeping at every possible opportunity.
I picked up the pen. For the first time in months.

I read various people's writing on note every day, and every once in a while, I come across someone like this.
On note, people with 100,000 followers tend to stand out, but sometimes there are people who have only 10 followers yet write absolutely monstrous, incredible prose.


It feels like finding a single diamond in the vast sands of the Tottori Sand Dunes.

To find treasures like these, I intend to keep wandering through note forever, even if there are long periods where I don't write anything myself.