The internet tells you to "optimize."

• Optimize for clicks.
• Optimize for SEO.
• Optimize for "engagement."

This is a recipe for burnout. It turns writing into a chore. It turns your brain into a content farm.

The Anti-Viral Manifesto

At Jottings, we believe in a different approach: Write for yourself first.

Write because you want to clarify your thoughts. Write because you want to remember something. Write because it's fun.

The Paradox of Audience

Here is the secret: Writing for yourself is the best way to find an audience.

When you write to "go viral," you sound like everyone else. You sound like a marketer. When you write for yourself, you sound like a human. You are authentic. You are specific.

And in a world of AI-generated slop, authenticity is the scarcest resource.

What to Write?

• Journal: "Today I struggled with..."
• Log: "I learned how to fix this bug..."
• Curate: "This video blew my mind..."

Don't worry about the headline. Don't worry about the keyword density. Just get it out of your head and onto the page.

The Archive

Your blog is not a newspaper. It's a library.

A viral tweet lasts for 24 hours. A blog post lasts forever. Ten years from now, you won't care about your Twitter analytics. But you will treasure the archive of your own life and thoughts.

Start building that archive today.