researchIntermediate5-7 hours over 3 weeks

Launch a 3-Issue Newsletter

Maps to: Content Creator · Author · Curator · Critic · Editor

You're going to start a newsletter (emails you write and send out) about one small subject you care about, get the first one out fast, and keep going until three have gone out to real people. The skill is turning up on time: writing something people recognize as yours, and sending it every week even when nobody has said a word back yet. Three in a row is where almost everyone quits.

You're done when: Three emails sent out on time, to a handful of real people, and you can say what this newsletter is actually about now that the first one taught you something. Not 'I wrote three things,' but 'I sent them on time and worked out what it's really about.'

How this shows up on a resume or college app

I launched and ran a niche newsletter for 3 issues with N subscribers, shipping on schedule and deciding, after issue 1, what it was really about. I learned the discipline of shipping on a schedule, which is the entire job of being a writer.

When you finish you have the thing itself, plus a Common App activity description Sidequest drafts from what you actually built.

Not sure yet? Play 5 minutes as a content creator first and see how the work feels.

See what this career pays and what it takes to get in.

The plan

1
Week 1 (~2 hrs)
Pick your subject and send the first one
Pick one small subject you actually know or care about, then send your first email to the 5 friends you got to sign up. The first one is easy, because you're excited. The hard part starts after.
2
Week 2 (~2 hrs)
Send the second one, and decide what this really is
Send the second email. This is the wall: writing it when nobody has said anything yet. And now that you've seen how the first one went, you decide. What are these emails REALLY about, and what do you leave out so they are only that? The first one was a guess. This one is where you choose.
3
Week 3 (~2 hrs)
Send the third one and find 10 more people
Send the third email, and find 10 more people by just posting about it. Three sent on time, with the list growing, is the proof, because most newsletters never reach a third one.