4 Lessons on Writing Online for Social Workers: How It Can Sharpen Your Social Work Skills and Open Doors (Including a Possible Book Deal!)

By Richard Devine, Consultant Social Worker | Visiting Researcher at Cambridge University | Trainer, Speaker, and Author of Messy Social Work: Learning from Frontline Practice with Children and Families

You’ve just encountered the most critical element of writing online.

Did you spot it?

Now, you’re reading the second most crucial element.

Are you curious?

Let’s start with the first: the title. Crafting a compelling title takes work.

I tested several before landing on this one. Here are a few drafts I considered:

1. Everything I have learned about writing online and how it resulted in a book deal
2. How writing online about social work led to a book deal and lessons from the journey
3. How you can write online about social work
4. 4 key lessons from writing online
5. 4 lessons about writing online as a social worker that will help you craft your skill, attract interest in your work (and maybe, get a book deal)

The title is critical.

If the title doesn’t attract attention, it doesn’t matter if you produce a masterpiece of writing that Shakespeare or Jane Austen would envy because no one will click on it and read it.

And you want people to read it, right?.

A title should answer 3 components (Bush and Cole, 2023):

• Who is this for?
• What is it about?
• What will get you out of it?

You can see that none of the draft titles fulfils the full criteria, whereas the title I landed with has information about:

1. Who this is for (social workers, and more specifically, social workers who want to write online)
2. What is it about (4 lessons on developing your skills for writing online)
3. What will you (as the reader) get out of it (an ability to write, attract readership and possibly a book deal)

The title I eventually chose focussed less on what I wrote about and more on what the reader will likely get from this blog.

I don’t write necessarily for the reader.

I write about topics that I find interesting and want to learn about, but I then challenge myself to share this in a way that others will find interesting and useful.

The second critical idea: your first sentence REALLY matters (go back and look at how I began this blog).

Once someone clicks on your article, you need to grab their attention immediately and give them a reason to keep reading.

This is one of the key lessons I’ll unpack later in this blog—so stay tuned! Notice what I’m doing here? ;-).

But first, let me share why and how I started writing. I think it will help you see why you should consider writing, too—and what it can help you achieve.

My journey into writing online

My journey began with a blend of curiosity and frustration.  

First, I completed my Masters in Attachment Studies in 2018. I was more enthusiastic than ever about a model of attachment theory I had learned, the Dynamic Maturational Model (DMM). I couldn’t for the life of me understand why these ideas were not more widely known.

I was super frustrated.

Especially because other ideas in social work were more prominent but, in my opinion, were much less helpful.

Secondly, I had recently started journaling. I found that 10 minutes of journaling per day helped me remember little things I had learned the day before. And it made some of my thoughts about specific issues more coherent.

I also realized how little I retained from reading books, which I found annoying.

I thought it could be an effective tool for learning and remembering. After all, most of what you do at university is read and write, albeit you have an accountability structure and receive constructive feedback to improve.

I deliberated over it for several more weeks, looking at various websites and advice on blog writing.

The most common advice was that it needed to be regular and consistent.

Therefore, I wrote a few blogs to clarify whether this was a commitment I could make or just a fanciful idea. I wanted to establish a writing habit and thought this could be a forcing function.

After clarifying that I could commit to this, I uploaded my first blog, using WordPress as my website.

I was anxious and obsessed with the statistics. This is less so now, but it is still irritatingly addictive to look.

I don’t want to share this because it is obviously so vain, but I also don’t want to make out that I am some stoic who writes online for the love of the craft without concern for whether others are interested.

Why write online for free

You might ask, why write online and, also, why write for free? I have four reasons.

Reason 1: Learning to Write Engagingly

I wanted to test if I could engage readers with topics I care about, relying solely on the strength of my writing.

I considered academic writing, but the truth is that very few people read academic papers. Plus, I believe others are far better suited to researching than I am.

Reason 2: Self-Protection

There was something freeing about writing without the pressure of expectations or payment.

If I’m honest, part of this came from insecurity.

I wasn’t sure anyone would care about my writing. Publishing online allowed me to test the waters without feeling like I was letting anyone down if my work went unnoticed.

Reason 3: Self-Promotion

I also knew that sharing valuable content could be a powerful marketing tool. Writing online was a way to build a reputation and connect with like-minded people who shared my interests and passions.

Once you write something and share it online, it is forever available as a resource for others.

It can be accessed from anywhere around the world at any time. This powerful and relatively new technology is at our disposal, creating an extraordinary opportunity.

I wasn’t sure what opportunities this might create, but I sensed it would lead to something.

As it turned out, the benefits were often delayed—a “sleeper effect” between my writing and tangible outcomes.

Reason 4: Accountability

Finally, writing publicly creates a sense of accountability.

Once you hit “publish,” you will have wanted to ensure that what you have share is thoughtful and worthwhile.

You also get feedback on your ideas, and I think as social workers learning is critical so we can continually improve our ability to help others.

Reason 5: Because life is short

Our time here on earth is incredibly brief. I don’t want to accumulate knowledge and ideas only to guard them as precious jewels.

Instead, I believe in sharing everything I know, embracing the law of abundance—the notion that knowledge grows more prosperous the more it’s shared.

By giving freely, I hope to contribute to a cycle of shared growth, where each insight has the potential to spark new ideas in others.

What have I achieved?

As you can see, in my first year, I wrote 29 blogs with eleven thousand visitors and nineteen thousand views.

In 2021, I wrote 16 blogs with thirty-three thousand visitors and forty-eight thousand views, nearly trebling from the first to the second year.

In 2022, I wrote 15 blogs with twenty-six thousand visitors and 41 thousand views, less than the previous year.

In 2023, I only wrote 2 blogs. It was a terrible year of writing online, but in the first part of the year, I had my brother come to our house for three months to detox, and then I wrote a book during the second half of the year. But I had forty-three thousand visitors and fifty-six thousand views.

Finally, this year, I have written 1 blog. I am currently averaging five thousand views per month.

Top performing blogs

Least performing blogs

You can’t control which blogs will resonate with readers—too many factors are beyond your influence.

Interestingly, my second most popular post was about a book on thematic analysis by Braun and Clarke. One of my Cambridge supervisors recommended this book for research I was working on then, so I wrote a summary to help me fully understand and integrate their ideas into my project.

I have mixed feelings about this post’s popularity.

On one hand, I’m pleased that people are reading it and that I’ve received so many emails saying it’s been helpful.

It reinforces something I’ve learned through my own experiences: people often benefit more from learning from those who are just one step ahead of them, rather than relying solely on experts.

Before I read the book that helped me understand Thematic Analysis, I knew nothing about it. But after reading it, I had just enough knowledge to start figuring things out.

This is what others have found so helpful and why sharing your learning is so beneficial (for you and others around you).

On the other hand, it is about a topic not related to my work, which means I attract a lot of attention, but not necessarily from the people I want to attract attention from.

Some of the least popular blogs are, in fact, some of my favourites. Usually, because I have learned a lot from them or because I especially liked the topic.

Consequences of writing online

In the beginning, very little happened—at least in terms of tangible outcomes.

That’s not to say it wasn’t rewarding. My blogs attracted a decent readership, typically anywhere from 200 to 800 views per post, and readers often shared feedback, reflections, and thoughts. This was deeply satisfying.

But beyond that, nothing significant happened for a few years. I kept at it, writing as often as possible, though I never quite hit my goal of one blog every two weeks.

What I was doing during this time, though, was learning how to write.

And before I share the tangible outcomes of my online writing, I’d like to walk you through what I learned about the craft.

Lessons from writing online.

1. The importance of starting strong.
2. Share what you are learning or have learned, not what you know.
3. Don’t wait for time.
4. How to generate ideas.

Lesson 1: Start Strong

As I mentioned earlier, the beginning of any piece of writing is critical—it’s where you’re at the highest risk of losing the reader right after they’ve clicked on your work.

Let me share an example from one of my favourite writers, Richard Dawkins, who begins his Unweaving the Rainbow, like this:

We are going to die, and that makes us the lucky ones. Most people are never going to die because they are never going to be born. The potential people who could have been here in my place but who will in fact never see the light of day outnumber the sand grains of Arabia. Certainly those unborn ghosts include greater poets than Keats, scientists greater than Newton. We know this because the set of possible people allowed by our DNA so massively exceeds the set of actual people. In the teeth of these stupefying odds it is you and I, in our ordinariness, that are here (1998, p.1)

Here is another example, from another one of my favourite writers, by Dr Patricia Crittenden, this time from an academic paper titled, Gifts from Mary Ainsworth and John Bowlby

I first met Mary Ainsworth in an awkward telephone conversation. It was 1977 and I had been advised by an instructor to take one of her courses. I called to ask Ainsworth what the course was about. ‘Attachment.’ The conversation stopped. I didn’t know what attachment was, but my teacher knew I had been doing attachment field work for three years. Within the year, I had enrolled in a doctoral program with Mary Ainsworth as my mentor, read Patterns of Attachment (Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978), and not only met John Bowlby, but spent hours with him in a dark, closet-like room pouring over my videotapes of child protection mothers and babies. The Infant CARE-Index, my master’s thesis, was taking shape. Now, 40 years later at the close of my career, I look back seeing how Ainsworth’s and Bowlby’s gifts to me – and to all of us – have shaped my life’s work and three generations of research and clinical applications.

Here are some far less elegant examples from some of my writing:

Critical Cause of Danger and Critical Cause of Change

Frequently, I am overwhelmed by the variety and severity of problems that a parent or family is experiencing. Drug and/or alcohol use, domestic abuse, poor mental health alongside dire housing conditions, financial difficulties, and children with a host of emotional and behavioural problems. Our response to this, at times, can be equally overwhelming.

Coercive Social Work and Parental Resistance

A fundamental part of being a child protection social worker is to work with parents who, quite frankly, don’t want to work with us. 

There are various reasons for this, and it is important that we seek to understand them while recognizing that none of them negates the fact that we frequently must interact with parents who would prefer that we were not involved in their life and who communicate this to us indirectly and directly. 

Dealing with conflict, hostility, heightened emotion, overt and covert aggression, and verbal abuse is the norm.

Negotiating these dynamics is the ‘bread and butter’ of social work.
Yet, I received surprisingly little preparation for this at university, and there is a distinct lack of research into this area of practice (Professor Harry Ferguson being a notable exception).  

Part of what I’m aiming to do here is identify a problem—one that I believe many social workers share, based on my experiences.

From there, I’ll outline some ideas I’ve learned that can help address these challenges and offer practical solutions.

Lesson 2: Share what you are learning

For me, the moment I try to share what I know, everything suddenly becomes heavy.

I slip into a tone of authority and certainty that stifles my creativity, makes my writing formal and unengaging, and drains all the joy from the process.

I feel the pressure to get it right.

On the other hand, when I focus on sharing what I’ve learned or am still learning, I feel freer.

I’m not positioning myself as an expert—I’m simply exploring ideas.

This shift lets me relax and write with curiosity instead of rigidity.

In his wickedly insightful book Show Your Work, Austin Kleon talks about the value of amateurism:

‘We’re all terrified of being revealed as amateurs, but in fact, today it is the amateur-the enthusiast who pursues her work in the spirit of love (in French , the words means ‘lover’), regardless of the potential for fame, money or career- who often has the advantage over the professional. Because they have little to lose, amateurs are willing to try anything and share the results’ (2014, p.19)

Later on in the book, he quotes a part of C.S. Lewis’s introduction to his book, Reflections on the Psalms:

I write for the unlearned about things in which I am unlearned myself… It often happens that two schoolboys can solve difficulties in their work for one another better than the master can… The fellow-pupil can help more than the master because he knows less. The difficulty we want him to explain is one he has recently met. The expert met it so long ago that he has forgotten… I write as one amateur to another, talking about difficulties I have met, or lights I have gained…

Adopting this mindset lowers the stakes and has helped me overcome the anxiety or nerves that sometimes make writing and sharing anything hard.

Relatedly, sharing what you’ve learned and are learning ensures that you’ve already gained something valuable, whatever the outcome.

You’ve consolidated your understanding more deeply than you would have otherwise, and this knowledge and insight will enhance your work, helping you serve the people you support more effectively.

If you’re thinking I haven’t learned enough about this subject to share on it, think again. That’s precisely when sharing is most beneficial—it clarifies your understanding and could even support someone just a step behind you.

One of the biggest challenges in learning and then sharing knowledge is the curse of knowledge. This bias makes us forget that others may not yet know what we’ve learned. What once felt new, fascinating, or even ground-breaking can start to feel self-evident.

One reason I enjoy writing about what I’ve learned as soon as I’ve learned it is that it allows me to go back and revisit what I didn’t know.

It also forces me to explain the concepts in a way that someone with no prior knowledge would understand— and that “someone” is usually me!

Lesson 3: Don’t wait for time.

I’ve never found time for writing—I’ve always had to make it. Like many meaningful things in life, writing doesn’t just happen; you have to carve out space for it.

The way I approach it changes depending on what’s going on in my life at the time.

Sometimes it’s as simple as waking up two hours earlier on a Saturday or Sunday before the kids are awake. Other times, it’s squeezing in 30 minutes a day—either first thing in the morning or after work, whenever I can find a quiet moment (mostly I write at home, but if necessary on lunch breaks, or while the kids are at one of their activities).

Once you carve out or create that time, though, two hurdles immediately present themselves:

1. What to write about.
2. Perfectionism.

But when you really think about it, what we often call perfectionism isn’t actually about meeting high, self-imposed standards.

It’s more about a fear of how others might negatively judge your work.

The best advice I’ve ever come across is simply this: write one lousy draft.

I have to remind myself of this EVERY single time I sit down to write.

The truth is, you’ll always write to the best of your ability at any given moment. No one sets out to write poorly, then intentionally changes it to meet the goal of writing a “bad draft.”

But having that goal—of writing a lousy draft—helps you get started.

Another helpful idea is acknowledging that half of what you produce will be below average. It’s the law of statistics.

“Well, for about two decades I’ve blogged every single day—7,500 blog posts in a row—and not one of them is perfect. And half of them are below average. If I was still waiting for the perfect blog post, I would never have published one.”
– Seth Godin

Editing becomes much more fun once you’ve written that lousy draft. Editing is really quite simple, especially when you’re writing online, and it can be summed up in one word: simplify.

• Simplify your words—there’s no need for fancy or technical language.
• Simplify your sentences—shorter is almost always better. People often write sentences that are too long.
• Simplify your paragraphs—break up big blocks of text.

Lesson 4: Generating ideas

Topics of Interest

I write about topics that intrigue me but challenge myself to present them in ways that will engage and benefit others.

For example, my blog on the critical causes of danger and change began with a common problem many social workers face: feeling overwhelmed by the sheer number of issues within a family and the many services that may be needed. From there, I offered the idea as a potential solution.

Book Reviews

I’ve also enjoyed doing book reviews. Not only do they help me learn the material, but they also teach me about different writing styles.

After reviewing a few books, I realized that my own writing style would often reflect the author’s style.

Copying others is a powerful way to learn how to write, and it eventually helps you develop your unique voice.

“Imitate, then innovate”

“Ironically, the more we imitate others, the more we discover our unique style“

— David Perell

Another idea is to ask people who inspire you for book recommendations and then write about them.

For instance, a few years ago, I asked Dr. Patricia Crittenden which books significantly impacted her thinking. She gave me three: The Structure of Magic by Bandler and Grinder, The Ecology of Human Development by Bronfenbrenner and The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life by Erving Goffman. I wrote a blog about two of those books.

Creativity begets creativity

Interestingly, opportunities to explore new topics seem to multiply once you start writing. I now have far more ideas than I have time to write about.

What’s been the consequence of writing online?

So, what has happened in the four years since I started writing this blog?

First, towards the end of 2022, I was approached by Jessica Kingsley Publishers with an exciting opportunity: they asked if I wanted to write a book.

This came about after I had built a relationship with the editor, Steve Jones, who had asked me to review a couple of books. After receiving them for free and sharing a short piece of writing on social media, Steve reached out. He asked if I’d be interested in writing a book.

Naturally, I jumped at the chance—and it’s now available for pre-order!

Beyond that, I’ve secured various paid opportunities, including with the British Association of Social Workers (the largest association of registered social workers in the UK) and Research in Practice (one of the country’s largest subscription-based educational resources for social work).

The blog has played an enormous role in all of this. I’ve been able to turn many of my blog posts into presentations, and I often use the blog as a script for these sessions.

Additionally, I’ve been invited to speak at various universities and Local Authorities. Initially, I accepted these invitations for free—simply grateful for the experience and practice in presenting.

Most importantly, though (and I know this sounds cliché), I’ve learned a tremendous amount, had fun, and discovered my potential in this area of my life.

I would rather have pursued this path and failed than never tried. If I had never taken the leap, I would have carried the existential regret of not fully engaging in something that’s intellectually and spiritually fulfilling.

So, what’s next for you? Whether it’s a blog, an article, or even a social media post, sharing your thoughts and experiences can lead to unexpected opportunities.

Don’t wait for the perfect moment—just start.

The process of writing will help you learn, grow, and connect with others in ways you might not have imagined. So, what are you waiting for? Get started today and see where your words can take you.

Feel free to reach out if you want any advice or support. I’d happily encourage and help anyone wanting to share their ideas and writing online.

by Richard Devine (15.11.2024)

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