Remove These 9 Things From Your Writing To Finally Grow On Substack

I grew to 7,000 Subscribers by deleting these

7,000 subscribers in 18 months.

I didn’t get there by adding more. More storytelling frameworks. More posting schedules. More optimisation tips from people who’ve never built anything.

I got there by cutting.

There’s a version of your writing that’s almost working. The ideas are there. The effort is there. But something keeps getting in the way and most writers never figure out what it is.

So they tweak the headline, change the niche, post more. Yet nothing moves.

It’s not the strategy. It’s nine mistakes sitting inside the writing itself. Slowing the reader down. Bleeding the trust before it builds. Pushing people away without a single obvious reason.

I made every one of them. Took me longer than I’d like to admit to spot them.

Once I did, things changed fast.

Here’s what they are.

1. Quit the clever titles

I messed up a post with this headline:

You’ll Get More Readers If You Tell Them These 4 Things

The post flopped. People clicked, realised it wasn’t what they expected, and left. The post was about how to write better headlines. The irony didn’t help.

Two words fixed it:

You’ll Get More Readers If Your Title Reveals These 4 Things

Title makes it clear Reveals beats Tell. The reader knows exactly what they’re getting before they click.

Don’t be clever. Be clear. Clarity is what gets read.

2. The paragraph mistake that sends readers running

A UK government department can help your writing.

Seriously.

The Behavioural Insights Team (aka the Nudge Unit) discovered that small bits of friction stop people in their tracks.

Example:

• Remove one line from a form — more people complete it.

• Put text in the body of an email instead of an attachment — more people read it.

Same rule applies to your writing.

Remove friction. Long paragraphs are a big offender. They make people bail. A wall of text is exactly that: a wall. So break it up. Think 1/3/1 or just chop it in half.

I stick to four-line max paragraphs and sprinkle one-liners like confetti.

Easy to read = actually gets read.

3. Too many asks, zero action

Here’s the typical Substacker approach when writing a post:

Check out this article…Please buy my product…You must share this post…Don’t forget to comment…Subscribe now…Oh here’s another post for you to read

Can you spot the mistake?

Marketing research shows offering more choices gets fewer responses. When people are overwhelmed. They do nothing. Cluttering your post with requests distracts your readers and stops then engaging with your content.

So here’s the fix.

If you want more action delete every ask except one. Pick the ask with the highest value to you. Then use a power-packed sentence to persuade readers to take action. (I give tons of examples here).

Use one smart sentence to promote one key action.

4. The tiny words draining your writing

Very. Really. Probably. Quite.

Delete them all.

They don’t add anything. They dilute what’s already there. And they signal to the reader — without saying it — that you’re not sure about what you’re saying.

Swap the weak combination for one strong word instead.

He ran quickly becomes he sprinted.

She spoke softly becomes she whispered.

One word that earns its place beats two that don’t.

5. Your writing isn’t boring. It’s just too long.

This section used to open with:

You can make your writing more dynamic if you make it shorter.

Twelve words. Here’s the same idea in eight:

Make your writing dynamic by making it shorter.

More fizz. Less fog. Every time.

Hunt for sentences doing two jobs and split them. Cut phrases that add length but not meaning: on reflection, it seems to me, in my opinion. Watch for sentences that repeat the point above them. Pick one. Delete the other.

Less clutter lands harder.

6. Clichés are invisible — that's the problem

Clichés don’t land badly. They don’t land at all.

The reader’s eye slides right over them. The idea disappears into background noise. You don’t need to kill the idea. Just replace the phrase.

I help writers grow online. But build an audience is exhausted. Instead I say:

• find loyal readers

• attract the right people

• grow a group of true fans

Same idea. The reader actually feels it this time.

Keep your radar up. When a phrase feels familiar, that’s the signal. Change it.

7. Weak words weaken everything

Most writers settle for the first word that works.

It’s worth taking another ten seconds. Instead of improve your writing, try: strengthen it, upgrade it, refine it, sharpen it. Each one hits differently. Each one carries more weight.

A thesaurus isn’t a tool for sounding smart. It’s a tool for being precise.

Use it.

8. Clickbait is a fast way to lose people slowly

Clickbait gets the click. Then it destroys everything after it.

The reader arrives expecting one thing, gets another, and leaves — not just the post, but you. They won’t look for your next piece. They’ll scroll past without stopping.

Trust is slow to build. Clickbait burns it in a sentence.

Make a promise in your title you can actually keep. A real benefit. A specific outcome. Something the reader walks away with.

That’s the only headline strategy worth having.

9. Simple words make you sound smarter

Princeton University research found that writers who use simpler language are rated as more intelligent and more persuasive than those who don’t.

We’re taught the opposite. That big words signal intelligence. They don’t. They signal effort and make the reader work harder than they should.

Short words build trust. Long ones create distance.

If a simpler word exists, use it. Your reader will think more of you for it, not less.

The short version:

You don’t need a bigger audience to fix this. You need better writing.

Cut these nine things. Not all at once. Pick the one that stings a little when you recognise it. Start there.

The writing you’re capable of is closer than you think.

You’ve got experience, a voice, and something worth saying. I write about how to make the right people hear it. Subscribe below and let’s make that happen.

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