Big tasks can be overwhelming. Huge writing assignments or the notion of starting a book with an intended final word count in the 80,000 word range (after edits) is daunting, discouraging, and usually leads to distraction and defeat. Little tasks and short writing goals, however, are easy and achievable. If you don’t think you can trick your brain into viewing your writing assignment differently, think again.

I recently discovered Seth Godin’s blog. It turns typical notions of ideal word counts upside down. Seth’s usual blog posts are short, concise, and thought provoking. He doesn’t aim for a magic number of words or even a standardized (best practices) way of formatting and styling the posts. He simply shows up, writes, and leaves.

Remarkably, he has been showing up, writing, and leaving just about every day for many years and has the thousands upon thousands of blog posts to prove it.

Search engine algorithms change. Website rankings get revised. And other sources of visitor traffic to our websites, blogs, and product or service pages transition in heartbeats.

What doesn’t change, is the value of making a human connecting. The human connection is what keeps a reader reading. Human connection is what causes a supporter to return. Human connection builds trust, expectation, and the sense of community. Not convinced? Check out Kody Bateman’s The Power of Human Connection.

When we write, it’s easy to lose sight of the human connection. We become entranced by the words. We type a little and look at the word counter. We type a lot and look at the word counter. What we really need is a connection counter.

If we had a connection counter, it may give states on things like these:

1. Number of authentic thoughts and feelings
2. Encouraging phrases
3. Challenging questions
4. Ability to deliver on promises
5. Valuable pieces of information

When we write, big or small, it’s the human connection we are really after. It’s the returning reader we want above all else. New visitors are nice, but what does it say about us if no new readers want to come back?

And so, to increase our ability to positively affect people and build human connection, we must write more. We must talk more. We must share more. And we must do it all more often.

To deal with the difficulty (another d word!) of writing more, it’s critical we write less. Eighty thousand word targets are best served in smaller chunks, say 500 words at a time. Three hundred blog posts are best served one post at a time.

When we set these smaller limits as goals, and meet them, we are more motivated and encouraged to go a little further and write a little more.

Anyone, and truly I mean ANYONE, can find the time to write 500 words. If that seems impossible, shoot for less. What you’ll find is that 500 words turns into 1,000. One thousand turns into 2,000. Two thousand turns into 10,000. And before you know it, you’ll be staring at a mountain of information ripe for human connection.

Focus your energy on the smallest next step achievable. Go after it with gusto. And then make a new next step. Don’t forget the power of making lists to write down your goals and set yourself up to achieve them.

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