The Quiet Quotient
Techniques, commentary, and strategies to keep you current and curious about the craft of writing and the production of digital content. An audio companion podcast, to many of my LinkedIn posts and blogs.
Episodes
Writers talk a lot about sharing. Sharing your work, getting it out there, putting it in front of readers. That’s important—it’s how stories find their audience, how ideas grow. But the pages you don’t share? They matter too. Connect with me: https://www.jimhansenmedia.com
Writing doesn’t always come easy. There are days when every word feels heavy, when it seems like you’re getting nowhere.
But here’s what I remind myself: a single line is enough. Connect with me: https://www.jimhansenmedia.com
The blank page can feel intimidating. It’s easy to look at it and see a test you’re bound to fail—a space that demands something brilliant, polished, perfect.
But the blank page isn’t a test. It’s an invitation. Connect with me: https://www.jimhansenmedia.com
When writing slows down, it’s easy to lose momentum. To get frustrated. To start questioning why you’re even doing this. But that’s exactly when you need to pause and remember why you started. Connect with me: https://www.jimhansenmedia.com
Today’s episode is all about the writing “laws” that have stood the test of time. These aren’t legal mandates, obviously—but they’ve become legendary guideposts for writers around the world. Connect with me: https://www.jimhansenmedia.com
Vague writing feels forgettable. It tells, but doesn’t show. Saying “he was nervous” is fine— but it doesn’t pull us in. Connect with me: https://www.jimhansenmedia.com
It’s tempting to sound impressive. To reach for big words, poetic metaphors, or layered sentences. But if your reader has to work to understand you, they’ll stop reading. Connect with me: https://www.jimhansenmedia.com
Writers spend years trying to find their voice.
They read advice columns, chase different styles, imitate successful writers. But voice isn’t something you discover out in the world. It’s something you reveal by dropping the act. Connect with me: https://www.jimhansenmedia.com
I wasn't dreaming about being a firefighter, astronaut, or superhero. I was dreaming about having a gallery opening in SoHo and double-parking a Porsche. Connect with me: https://www.jimhansenmedia.com
If something feels off in your writing but you can’t figure out why, read it out loud. Connect with me: https://www.jimhansenmedia.com
Rewriting gets a bad reputation.
Writers worry that revising means scrapping everything and starting from scratch. It feels like a setback, like all that time and effort didn’t count. But rewriting isn’t erasing—it’s uncovering. Connect with me: https://www.jimhansenmedia.com
We love the feeling of finishing something.
The final period. The saved document. That small, satisfying moment when we hit “done.” Completion feels like proof. It validates the hours spent hunched over the keyboard.
But what about the unfinished pieces? Connect with me: https://www.jimhansenmedia.com
Writers obsess over the first line. We want it to be perfect. We want it to hook, to sing, to carry the weight of the whole piece. But that’s a lot to ask of a single sentence.
The truth is, the first line is a door. It doesn’t need to do everything. It doesn’t need to be the final version of itself. It just needs to open the way. Connect with me: https://www.jimhansenmedia.com
There’s a moment I come back to a lot when I’m writing a character. It’s not the moment they save the day, or fall in love, or say something profound in the rain. It’s the moment just before that—when they want to bolt. They are—unequivocally—uncomfortable. And that, I’ve learned, is usually where the story begins. Connect with me: https://www.jimhansenmedia.com
Not every piece needs a purpose.
You can write without turning it into content. Without planning to post it. Without packaging it for feedback or building it into something bigger. It can exist simply because you needed to write. Connect with me: https://www.jimhansenmedia.com
Writing is about choices. You put words on the page, you shape them, and then, more often than not, you cut them.
It’s easy to think those cut lines are wasted effort. You delete them and move on, and they disappear from the piece. But they still matter. Connect with me: https://www.jimhansenmedia.com
Big ideas can freeze you in place.
You sit down to write an entire article, story, or post—and nothing comes out. The scope is too wide. The pressure builds. You stare at the screen, thinking about the end before the beginning exists. Connect with me: https://www.jimhansenmedia.com
Here’s the trick: shrink the page.
Sentences trail off. Paragraphs contradict each other. The tone shifts mid-thought. You stare at the screen and wonder what you were thinking when you started. It’s tempting to delete it and move on. Don’t.
Connect with me: https://www.jimhansenmedia.com
We wait for permission before calling ourselves writers.
A byline, a book deal, a paycheck—something to validate the time we’ve spent. We think we need a stamp of approval before we can use the word with confidence.
But writing is the only requirement.
If you write, you’re a writer. Connect with me: https://www.jimhansenmedia.com
When we think about great stories, it’s easy to picture the hero at the center—the one who overcomes the odds, who follows the familiar path and emerges victorious in the end.
But not every character fits the mold. Some of the most memorable characters are the ones who don’t follow the rules. Connect with me: https://www.jimhansenmedia.com
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