Work, World, Person: A Simple Framework for Finding What to Share on Socials

Note from Jenaye: I recently got to share a workshop with a room full of songwriters and creative writers called The Art of Being Seen: Social Media Success for Songwriters and Creative Writers. You can read part 1 here.

We talked about something I see all the time in my work: incredibly creative people who have plenty to say through their songs, books, art, or work—but sit down to post on social media and suddenly feel like they have nothing to say.

So I wanted to share a little of what I shared with them, starting with one of the simplest frameworks I use when helping people figure out what to talk about online: Work, World, Person.

Work: What you make and how you make it

This “bucket” is probably the most obvious place to start. Your work includes the song, book, painting, project, business, performance, or whatever it is you’re actually creating.

But it also includes everything happening around the finished product: the first draft, the lyric you almost cut, the research, the demo, the title and the decision behind it, the collaborations, the thing you learned while making the thing.

Most people only start talking about their work when it’s finished and they need people to buy it. But there is so much more story available before you ever get to, “It’s out now.”

World: What surrounds the work

This “bucket” is where things start opening up.

There is always a world surrounding what you make.

It might include the books you’re reading, music you love, places that inspire you, history, faith, culture, ideas, causes, conversations, research, people who have influenced you, or questions you keep coming back to.

If you write historical fiction, the world around your work might include the research that fascinates you.

If you’re a songwriter, it might be records you return to over and over, another artist who shaped the way you write, or the story behind an instrument you use.

If you’re an expert or business owner, it might be the ideas and conversations surrounding the problems you help solve.

You don't always have to talk directly about the thing you're selling; you can let people into the world that created it.

Person: The human being making the work

Then there’s you!

And I always want to make an important distinction here: Person does not mean private life.

You don't have to put your children online, share every vulnerable moment, film your entire day, or turn your life into content. It simply means giving people glimpses of the actual human being behind the work: your humor, opinions, a story from years ago, your routines, something you love, something you’ve learned, a behind-the-scenes moment, a small detail about the way you work that someone else might find interesting.

People connect with work differently when they also have some sense of the person behind it.

Start with subjects, not formats

One of the reasons social media becomes exhausting is that we start with the platform or format:

“What Reel should I make?”

“What should I post on Instagram?”

“What trend could I use?”

Instead, start with the subject.

What are you working on?

What are you thinking about?

What are you learning?

What story keeps coming up?

What exists in the world around your work that someone else might find interesting?

Once you know what you want to say, then you can decide whether it should become a Reel, photo, carousel, email, blog post, podcast conversation, or something else.

The format should serve the story—not the other way around.

You probably have more content than you think

This was really the point of the exercise I gave everyone in the workshop. Most creative people don't actually have a shortage of things to talk about… they have a noticing problem.

They're so close to their own work that the stories, ideas, decisions, influences, questions, and moments surrounding it feel ordinary to them.

But those are often the exact things that help someone else become interested. You don't need to manufacture an entirely separate content machine around your creative work.

Start by noticing the work, the world around it, and the person behind it. There is probably already far more there than you realize!