Same but different. Over and over.

Welcome, all 111 of you.

It’s Uncommon. First edition. 

🔸 Why Uncommon?

I named the newsletter Uncommon as a reminder against sameness.

It’s a personal challenge every time I see the title. And a promise to you.

If I'm going to ask for your time and attention, I want to give back something original in return. Not just the common stuff everyone else is doing.

Right now, Twitter and LinkedIn especially seem to be overloaded with a copycat culture. Twitter is where this newsletter started, and maybe that's why I'm taking this stand.

I'm all for studying structure and applying it to writing. I'm all for seeing what's working and copying parts of it.

I even built a 5-figure business writing trope-filled spicy romance novels using a formula I call Same But Different, Over And Over.

SBD, O&O is rooted in the notion of using similar themes, characters, tropes, and settings, to evoke major emotions in readers. The kinds of dopamine spikes people can't get enough of.

It's why people love a good book series or movie sequel. They want to experience the same thrill, but for the first time.

Same But Different, Over And Over.

Take Scottish Historical Time Travel Romance, for example (a real niche).

I never wrote this niche, but it's readers want:

• courageous, often stubborn Highlanders

• quick-witted modern heroines that are out of their element

• lush historical details

• characters from totally different societies that somehow find love

• passionate storytelling

What readers don't want: Authors tweaking someone else's concept 10% and publishing it as their own but scarcely changing any details.

In the desperation to put out content consistently, this 10% change is what we see on social too often. It's something I'm taking a stand against, while also studying the format of what works.

So if you're thinking of lifting someone's content structure, wait. First consider the underlying reason the content works so well for the reader.

Then figure out, what is your version of courageous Highlanders and quick-witted heroines?

What can you uniquely contribute that is the same, but different (over and over)?

🔸 Growing in Public

For 5+ years, I’d embraced remote life. I was happier to be alone. It felt calm.

But only recently have I realized how isolated my life had become. How much I needed community.

• Writing books by myself. My characters keeping me company as friendships waned

• Exercising my myself. Momentum lost with no one to help stay motivated

• Stagnating instead of growing. Repeating the same habits instead of getting inspired

I got involved with a small pod of people all growing on Twitter and it changed my outlook.

So, creating communities. Learning in public. Building myself in public. I'm encouraging others to do the same.

I can't explain how transformative it is to be part of a real community.

Get over your shyness and just start talking to people. If you're not sure where to start, hit reply and I'll say Hi back.

🔸 Hard Work Is Fun

When your hobby is a form of work, life can become a slog.

Unless hard work is fun.

I believe that when excellence and enjoyment collide, everyone is the better for it.

So when my new friend Collin posted a thread on argumentative fallacies, I knew what I had to do next.

Re-reading my response, I still can't stop laughing. If you missed it, I hope it brings you joy, and that you consider cracking jokes on Twitter too:

🔸 Important PSA…

My day job boss asked if I was available for a conversation.

But because of a simple punctuation mark, I was anxious all day.

Don’t send texts or chat messages ending in an ellipsis.

It makes a conversation feel unfinished. Like something ominous is about to happen.

Or makes you look condescending, like the point you’re making is so obvious it needs no explanation.

It was not a call to be anxious about, and yet...

🔸 Did this bring you here?

I saw about 40 people sign up after I posted this thread on crushing writer's block and getting into flow state.

If you're thinking about starting your 5-minute writing practice but skipped out, you can still start. I suggest you do.

Is there more that could be shared? Yes.

Is it important to hit publish instead of hesitating. Also yes.

Does that mean there will be at least one typo in this newsletter. 3x Yes. Sorry in advance.

Keep going forward and be good to each other.

Catch you soon.

—Rob Lennon