Welcome To 52k Words With Deepak Shukla
Insights from a 52,000-word writing journey, highlighting challenges, personal growth, and the rewards of perseverance.
Hello guys, Deepak here. So right now it’s 8:09 am and I’m sitting in Costa, West Kensington with my hot chocolate determined to start writing for the next 60 minutes and just to see what happens.
I had the harebrained idea after reading Indie Hackers blogs voraciously over the last several weeks (well maybe a week) that I’d commit to writing 52 blogs - all a minimum of 1,000 words each.
That’s (yup you guessed it) 52,000 words.
Now currently you’re on the get an email 1x every 3-day sequence. If you’d like to get it 1x per day -
That was the thought at least at around 5:50 am this morning....:p
It happened in particular because of an app I saw on IH that I’d love to clone - 750words.com.
It’s a site dedicated to keeping a personal journal.
And well I decided I’d keep one - but make it public. And make it a public memoir of sorts.
For a long time, I’ve held a desire to share the stories of my experiences...and with enough digging, you’ll find bits of it in fragmented forms across the Internet.
But I have wanted for a long time to build a consolidated piece of content that could describe what my life has been like for the last 33.5 years.
Some people know me as Deepak Shukla, founder of SEO Agency Pearl Lemon, or Deepak Shukla property landlord…or Deepak Shukla ‘entrepreneur’ (god I hate that word).
But I’d call myself more of an adventurer.
It is an adventure in my life that I seek.
Much in the same way as deciding to write a minimum of 52k words
And this is Apollo 13.
This is the kick-off.
This is ground zero!
This is me deciding to DO this in real-time.
And, so I guess the idea I have for these emails is for them to follow a stream of consciousness and for them to be my way of sharing some of my experiences and life lessons I’ve learned in my 33.5 years.
Here are some titles I’ve written so far:
Gosh, it feels crazy even writing it down.
But yes writing is something that’s always been with me since I was a kid
I still remember my Quora heyday (if you can even call it that) where I got over 20 million views of my writing.
I wrote 1,100 answers over a 4-month period.
And that journey gave me so much!
I was actually an English Literature major back at Warwick University in the class of 2008 and before (and after that) I was a rapper.
Here’s a link to my very first mixtape
Here’s my original ‘crew’:
(More on this in the coming emails)
I’d like to give a shout-out to hustlers like the guys at 750words.com, as you got me to decide that I should commit to writing 1000 words per day.
What an amazing idea - writing and creating a streak of days.
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Here’s me using the app right now:
There you go I've just copied all of this content across :)
With that in mind -
I’m not sure what to tell you to expect over the next 52 days (and then some)....
Other than that it will be filled with fun, learning and adventure (as per the titles above) - a lot like my life has been :P
And that much of it will be spontaneous - like reading Indie Hackers, then deciding to write 52k words then signing up to Ulysses (then ditching it - another writing up), 750 words and getting to 588 words!
I’m not sure how effective it is - but I mostly make up stuff as I go along in my life - and this is a testament to that.
But nonetheless -
I’m excited at this prospect.
Because - that process - the one of taking instant action has got me sitting here with:
- My 1.5-litre bottle of water with a tea bag on my left
- A left-handed vertical USB mouse
- My lightning Novoo adaptor (Amazon bought)
- A 2nd hand £900 Macbook bought on Gumtree
- My Chinese Pocophone
- My hot chocolate
- Dressed in black and ready to write (this bullet point was probably unnecessary but it somehow made me feel cool)
Having come from my flat having already:
- Checked in with my sales guy (the Greek-Ion) who's on his way to meet a client running an escort website (I know) in Valencia, Spain!
- Had a chat with my developer based in Lahore, Pakistan who is finishing the final features for Dr Hidden today and tomorrow
- Spoken to my SEO team regarding hiring a house developer and signed off on a Pearl Lemon rebuild project
- Read up on the Indie Hackers' Stuff
And that is the theme of 52k words as you’ll come to discover - adventure.
Through these words, you will get to see deeply into my life and hopefully learn some things that can help you navigate your own life with increased deftness, skill and intelligence.
And that’s what I hope to give you over the next 52 days...in 1,000+ words per day
My life in 52 days.
Sent to you every 3-days
In 52,000+ words.
And in the next newsletter, you’ll discover how I built a multi 6-figure marketing agency...working 10 hours a week.
D