Most of the best things in my career happened by accident.

For the past four years, I’ve made my living running a marketing agency. I never planned to start a marketing agency, and I’ve never done any outbound sales. People kept trying to hire me to do education marketing because they read my work, so I started a business.

I’ve made a niche for myself writing about education. I didn’t plan for education to be my “thing” — but every time I wrote about education people seemed interested, so I kept writing.

In 2022 I got investor funding to build an education media brand. I wasn’t pitching to build an education media brand or even looking for an investor, but the investor had seen my work and wanted to support me doing more.

I never had a plan for any of this. I had a high-level vision: I knew I wanted to get into commentary, I knew I didn’t want a normal 9-to-5, I knew I wanted to be a writer.

I kept showing up for those things and saying yes to the opportunities that presented themselves, and the above is what happened (so far).

The following is the advice I’d go back and give the version of me that was just getting started — and that is hopefully helpful to other writers getting started on their journeys.

I. The path is emergent

  • A deliberate path = having a plan for every step between here and your goal. An emergent path = you know roughly where you want to go but are finding your way. Clayton Christensen’s “How Will You Measure Your Life” explains this.
  • You do not need to know exactly how you’ll achieve your goals. You do need to show up and say yes to opportunities.
  • The counterintuitive part: deliberate paths close you off. When you (think you) know exactly what the next step looks like, you turn down great opportunities that aren’t in the plan.
  • Real growth actually requires some breathing room for synchronicity to unfold

A man is caught in a flood and prays to be saved. A neighbor comes by with a rope. The man waves him off — God will save me. A fishing boat offers to help; he says, God will save me. A rescue boat comes; he waves it off. He drowns.

In heaven, he asks God why no help came. God says: I sent you a rope, a fisherman, and a rescue boat. What else did you want?

  • Hunches about your path are fine, but don’t get too attached.
  • Let curiosity be your compass. Chase what actually interests you. Notice how the world responds.

II. Follow the give

Every time you reach for something — a job, a pitch, an opportunity — you’re met with one of two forces: Resistance, when you push and nothing moves; and Give, when you push and something happens.

Rejection isn’t final unless you quit. One outlet saying no is not every outlet saying no. But some paths have more and less resistance, and the path of less resistance will help you move towards your goals faster.

The Give is what Matthew McConaughey calls “green lights” (in his book Greenlights).

1. Notice the give

An editor asks for more. Someone leaves an oddly specific comment. A piece gets unusual traction. A friend texts you about it. Most people feel proud and move on — but actually they’re helpful clues. Let these tune your compass.

2. Widen the surface area

Published work keeps working while you sleep. Every thing published is another place someone can find you. Expand deliberately: your own blog, then a masthead that lends you its credibility, then a second platform. More surface = more chances for someone to find you.

3. Niche where the give concentrates

Don’t sit down and pick a niche. Follow the yeses until one coalesces. Read three books on a subject and you already know more than almost everyone you’ll meet. Then read a lot more and go deep.

4. Differentiate by intersection

You are not competing on topic. You’re competing on the particular combination of things you know. One founder I interviewed said all his competitors read the same business books; he read one about ants, and ants turn out to have a lot to say about organizations.

III. But do it for you

  • Borrowing a big publication’s credibility is good, but it becomes easy to start writing what you think they want — and lose your own unique voice in the process.
  • You spend far more time writing a thing than anyone will ever spend reading it. Make sure you like it.
  • Some of the craft is for the reader — being clear, cutting the passage you love that they’ll only skim. But it’s also for you — it sharpens your thinking.

There are three stages (and sometimes you’ll be in more than one at once):

  • Start by learning out loud. You don’t have to understand a subject before you start — you will by the time you publish. Write to answer questions and understand new topics. Try ideas on and put them down again.
  • As you find your niches, build expertise. The more you know about a topic, the deeper the insights you’ll have and the more interesting the pieces you’ll be able to write.
  • The end goal is to have an original voice saying original thoughts. This is very hard and many writers have successful careers and never get there. New ideas are very hard to find but your unique expertise and perspective are what will help you discover them.

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” — Mary Oliver, The Summer Day

Bonus: how to work a conference

Networking is also a helpful way to let opportunity find you. Most people do none of this at events, so the bar is low!

  1. Take notes of questions, not just content. Any time a speaker mentions something in passing that snags your interest, write down your follow-up question.
  2. Always have something to say when the room goes quiet. When someone opens up for questions, you should have a whole list.
  3. Speakers remember people who have questions. They came to help you and they’re excited that you’re interested. A question/answer exchange turns you into a person they’ve met.
  4. Follow up inside 24 hours. Find them on whichever platform you actually use. Send a quick thank-you message with a specific thing you found helpful. The goal here is to become mutuals/friends/followers.
  5. Maintain connection. Like their posts on occasion, leave the occasional comment, stay visible. That’s how a person you met once turns into an actual network connection.

Recommendations
On craft William Zinsser, On Writing Well. David Perell’s podcast How I Write.
On careers Clayton Christensen, How Will You Measure Your Life? — where the emergent-versus-deliberate idea comes from. How to Be Successful by Sam Altman.
On the gap Remember what Ira Glass said about taste — your first few years as an artist hurt because your taste is already good but your skill hasn’t yet caught up. If you keep going you’ll get there eventually.

Fiction

Read fiction that’s beautifully written. It’s the antidote to sterile writing that comes from being too serious. Maintain a diet of poetic descriptions, clever dialogue, beautiful structure. Remember writing can be lots of fun.

  • Their Eyes Were Watching God — Zora Neale Hurston
  • The Great Gatsby — F. Scott Fitzgerald
  • The Grapes of Wrath — John Steinbeck
  • The Red Cavalry Stories — Isaac Babel
  • Prodigal Summer — Barbara Kingsolver
  • Waterland — Graham Swift
  • Dreams of Sleep — Josephine Humphreys
  • Lonesome Dove — Larry McMurtry

Twitter / X: @hannahfrankman

Hannah Frankman Hood