Write of Passage Weekly - Your Personal Monopoly Path

Write of Passage Weekly

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Hey Writers,

Welcome to the first-ever edition of Write of Passage Weekly.

You read that correctly. The school that teaches you to write online did not have its own newsletter until now. Why? Sometimes the shoemaker's children have no shoes. More accurately, Write of Passage has been predominantly David and Will until recently. David sends Monday Musings and Friday Finds. Now that the team has grown by a few folks, we can stay connected to you this way.
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​This newsletter has one goal: to bring you the best writing advice on the Internet. We’ll be answering your questions, curating links, sharing tools, and doing whatever we can to help your online writing journey. In addition, we’ll be giving you a behind-the-scenes glimpse into our company. There’s copious goodness coming your way.

Today’s focus is Personal Monopolies: your distinct identity as an online writer. How and why do new writers get tripped up when defining their Personal Monopoly?
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The Mailbag

Your writing questions, answered.

“I have so many interests and they don’t all fit under a single brand. Do you recommend multiple websites so each one has a clear value pitch?”

The pain of the polymath is real. When you’re starting out, keep all your interests under one personal website. Maybe you want to write about Web3, the future of education, and Himalayan Yoga, and you’re thinking, “these definitely don’t belong together.” You might have the urge to set up a Substack for each area of interest. Easy lift, right?

Not so fast. It can be a hassle to manage multiple writing projects, and they’re more likely to fizzle out. It’s okay if you don’t know your specific niche or Personal Monopoly before you start writing. In fact, it’s normal.

The most important thing is to start putting words on the page. A clear Personal Monopoly isn’t that important in the early days. A handful of people have a clear identity from day one. But for most of us, Personal Monopolies are social and emergent. In other words, they only come to us when we share our writing with others, and after we’ve written dozens (and dozens) of essays. Through writing, the patterns emerge.
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​Think of your Personal Monopoly like an hourglass. When you start, follow your curiosity and explore a wide range of ideas. Then, once you find a theme that resonates with the Internet, double-down and narrow your focus. After you’ve built an audience with loyal fans, you’ll have the freedom to expand into new territory again.
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Writer's Toolbox

The best of the web.

• One from us: Check out this episode of the Brains podcast. Write of Passage founder David Perell explores the world of online writing with Tim Urban and Julian Shapiro. You'll hear a swirl of perspectives on charging toward your interests, the magic of metaphors, and why writing online is like building a lighthouse for like-minded people.
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• One from our students: The Fisherman’s Guide to Writing– Write of Passage alum John Nicholas published an essay about what writers can learn from fishermen. Cast a bunch of lines, and be ready to write when the fish bites.
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What We're Up To

The latest from our team.

We’re fresh off a team retreat and energized for the next chapter of Write of Passage. Our vision: Build the best online writing school in the world.
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This summer, we’re taking three big steps in that direction:

• We’re launching an always-on subscription to help high school students follow their obsessions, find their people, and shape their future through writing. Imagine where you’d be if you had started this work in high school?
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• We’re developing a new curriculum for business writing. In a remote-first world, internal writing is more important than ever. We’ll help individuals, teams, and companies build writing skills to sharpen decision-making and increase their impact.
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• We’re building a writing-focused media company to bring more writing-focused content to your inbox– a new website, a newsletter (the one you’re reading!), a YouTube channel, and a production Studio in Austin.

Our team is growing to make this vision a reality. What started out as a two-person team has grown into a squad of seven. By the end of summer, we might not all fit in a single Zoom grid.

Since 2019, Write of Passage has been taken by over 1,000 students in more than 50 countries. Cohort 9 of Write of Passage opens for enrollment in September. You can opt-in for updates here, but nothing’s stopping you from writing today. The future is permissionless!

Thanks for reading! If you have any burning questions about writing online, send ‘em over and we’ll answer the best ones in future newsletters.

Until next week,

The Write of Passage Team

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PS: Write of Passage Weekly brings you the best writing advice on the Internet. Each edition is 100% devoted to helping you improve your writing, find your people, and build your Personal Monopoly. We’ll answer your questions, curate links, share tools, and give you a behind-the-scenes glimpse into Write of Passage. Thanks for having us in your inbox. Happy writing!​
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