10 Ways to Write Like YOU, Without the Fear, the Filter, or the Factory Programming

You’ve been trained to write like a boring, approval-seeking adult. That ends today!

You know what’s funny? (And by funny, I mean infuriating.)

We were never actually taught how to write in our own voice.

Nope. Total opposite.

We were force-fed a buffet of dry, lifeless essay structures, corporate emails, and workplace jargon so soulless it could put a Xanax to sleep.

From school to the workplace and everywhere in between, we were programmed to remove ourselves from our words.

NO personality.

NO quirks.

NO weird whiffs of self-expression.

NO “HOLY SHIT, that sounds like me!” moments.

Just neat, palatable sentences that could be stamped APPROVED by creativity-stifling authority figures who decided that real, actual personality is unprofessional, unacceptable, and unsellable.

The big hitch in that giddy-up? It’s complete + utter horse shit.

Writing in your own voice is a form of freedom.

The first time you let your real writing voice out? It’s awkward as hell.

It’s like running through the streets in your birthday suit, screaming “I’M FREE!!!” while hoping nobody calls the cops.

It’s terrifying, but also… totally exhilarating.

It’s like howling at the moon for the first time and realizing… I was always meant to be wild.

And then something even more magical happens: people start howling back.

Good luck stuffing that beast back in its cave.

Because nothing—and I mean NOTHING—feels as good as saying the things you actually want to say, in the way you actually want to say them, and watching people feel it in their marrow.

When you stop filtering + twisting yourself into polite, digestible, socially acceptable shapes, people hear you. Your people. The real ones. The ones who read your words + feel something snap loose inside them.

So stop writing like you’re trying to get a permission slip signed. You don’t need one. You never did! Let your voice be loud, messy, weird, and completely untamed.

Howl.

Rip off the muzzle.

Write like there’s not a single consequence for being exactly who you are. Because once you do, you’ll never go back.

But finding your voice is a whole damn healing process.

A detox from all the crap that’s been shoved down your throat about who you have to be to make this work. So let’s shake things up with 10 unhinged word exorcisms to start peeling back the layers + reclaiming what’s rightfully YOURS—your voice.

You’ve been house-trained into writing like a responsible, well-behaved little professional. That ends now!

These exercises are here to rewild you.

To get you feral again.

To make you laugh, cringe, and possibly yell “Should I be concerned?”… right before you strike gold.

Because I don’t give stiff, structured, “Here’s a worksheet!” writing advice. I use feral, slightly unhinged, let’s-break-your-brain-a-little methods that snap you out of autopilot + confetti cannon you straight into “HOLY SHIT, that sounds like me” territory.

Exorcism responsibly. Just kidding! Go howl like your words have teeth.

10 Ways to Rewild Your Writing + Drag Your Real Voice Back from Extinction

1. The Profanity Test (a.k.a. Swear Like You Mean It)

I’m not saying you have to swear. But I am saying if you do swear in real life and suddenly morph into a prim + proper Victorian poet when you write, we have a problem. Try this: Write something (a social post, an email, a Substack Note, whatever’s clever) exactly how you’d say it in a voice memo to your best friend. THEN, go back and check—did you censor yourself? If yes, put the bleeping personality back in.

2. The Weird Obsession Confessional

We all have at least one. That thing we geek out about hard but rarely bring up because it’s “too weird.” Guess what? That shit is solid gold, baby! Write an entire post, email, or article, sharing your deepest, weirdest geekery with zero shame. (I once wrote 1,500 words about my undying devotion to Dollar Store notebooks. It was glorious.)

3. The Unhinged Yelp Review Method

Pick something totally mundane (your toaster, a gas station bathroom, the experience of peeling a boiled egg) and write the most over-the-top, dramatic AF Yelp review imaginable. Be ridiculous. Be too much. Be poetic. Be emotionally invested in a way that makes people concerned for your well-being. Then, go write your next business post with that same feral energy.

4. The Talk It Out Trick

If writing feels hard, stop typing. Record yourself talking instead. Rant. Rave. Ramble. Then transcribe it exactly as it came out. Most of us are way better at talking like ourselves than writing like ourselves, so hijack that natural flow + get it on “paper” another way.

5. The Most Honest Post Ever Dare

This one’s the real test. Write the most honest thing you’ve ever written—something you’ve been scared to say, something that makes you feel naked + exposed just thinking about posting it. And then? Post it anyway. Publicly. (Tag me, and I’ll make sure it doesn’t go unseen or celebrated!)

6. The Drunk Text Experiment

Pour yourself a drink (or three), open your Notes app, and start texting yourself a random stream of consciousness exactly how it’s coming out when you have a nice buzz going on. No backspacing, no thinking, no giving a fuck about grammar or sentence structure. The next day, clean it up just enough to make it readable… BOOM, your real voice is right there! That raw, unfiltered version of you is what we’re after.

7. The Write It Like a Dad Telling a Story at Thanksgiving Experiment

You know that one uncle/dad/grandpa who tells the same story every holiday, but every year it gets wilder + more exaggerated? That’s your new writing inspiration. Take a basic experience from your business and tell it like you're that dad. The goal is to make it unnecessarily dramatic and way too entertaining.

Normal version:

I had this tough client.

Thanksgiving Dad Version:

So there I was, minding my own business, when this CLIENT FROM THE DEPTHS OF HELL descends upon my inbox like an apocalyptic plague…

Forget everything you’ve been told about word count. The more you desccribe something in a ridiculously YOU way, the more feels it has to connect to.

8. The 3 AM Thoughts Warmup

Stay up way too late, get deliriously tired, and write a twisted, rage-laced rant about anything—marketing, life, that power trip PTO mom who clearly needs a life, why socks disappear in the laundry, why cell phones are more painful to buy than a home. Your late-night brain is weirdly honest. This is probably why almost every newsletter edition I put out starts with a twisted thought at 10pm, post gummy.

9. The Unhinged Metaphor Mayhem

Write a simple sentence like “I love coffee.” Then rewrite it ten different ways using the most unhinged, off-the-wall metaphors possible. “Coffee is the gasoline in my dead-inside morning soul.” “Coffee is the only hug I want before noon.” Keep going until your brain needs a break… then take a nap.

10. The Make It Horny Rewrite

Take a bland email, blog, or social post of yours and rewrite it with unnecessary sexual tension. Turn “I teach people how to write copy” into “I seduce brands into spilling their juiciest stories.” No, you probably won’t use the horny version—but it’ll make you rethink how lifeless your writing was before.

And since I’m not here to dish out homework assignments, let’s turn this into a full-blown liberation.

I double-dog-dare YOU to post your most honest, real confession, weird obsession, or shameless truth in a Substack Note and tag me.

I would la la looove to celebrate the beautifully unfiltered, fearless, anti-factory settings YOU because this is how we heal from the programming + find the wholeness to write true to who we really are.

To writing like nobody’s grading it,

Dre ‘Swears Like a Sailor, Writes Like a Human Confetti Cannon’ Beltrami

Founder, This Digital Playground
Gangster, The Entire Internet (Since 2014)
Beer Hater, No Matter How It's Brewed (Since 1979)
Step into your YOU-SHAPED ERA: Your Brand DNA Dossier Is Waiting 🦄🦄🦄 >>>

NEW HERE? Don’t mind the mustard on my shirt. Welcome to my (Dre’s) savage, shameless, cart-sized revolution, where business bends to your health + happiness… not the other way around.

This isn’t your Aunt Betty’s Substack newsletter. This is a safe place to land + a wild place to build from.

It’s the kinda place your mom warned you about. Where YOU can…

⚡️ Throw f-bombs around like confetti
⚡️ Show up as you are
⚡️ Market in your pajamas, from your notes app, without a plan
⚡️ Write with a stiff middle finger
⚡️ Swear off niching
⚡️ Launch things late, weird, and from the bath
⚡️ Use memes as marketing and not explain a damn thing
⚡️ Give Oprah her pedestal back
⚡️ Change your mind publicly
⚡️ Shred your content calendar and trust your gut
⚡️ Ghost your Instagram for good
⚡️ Prioritize vibes over views
⚡️ Charge what you want, just because you want to
⚡️ Take two-hour naps and call it R&D
⚡️ Be seen, be soft, be savage—all in the same damn sentence
⚡️ Never ask for permission again
⚡️ Work 3 days a week and call it full throttle
⚡️ Create in seasons, rest on purpose, and sell when the mood strikes
⚡️ Be a walking contradiction and still make it make sense
⚡️ Declare “this is how I work” and let people opt in or out
⚡️ Create content that makes your inner child belly laugh
⚡️ Build a solopreneur life that doesn’t require recovery
⚡️ Be wildly visible + deeply private at the same time
⚡️ Leave money on the table if it costs you your joy
⚡️ Slow down so your soul can catch up
⚡️ Choose depth over dopamine
⚡️ Measure success in freedom, not followers

P.S. Have you taken my UNBrand DNA Test^TM yet? It’s weirdly accurate, slightly unhinged, and ridiculously fun.

P.P.S. If you love a good binge, you can read all my past editions right here. If you want to support this hot dog cart-sized rebellion, upgrade to become a co-conspirator.

Want more Dre in your life? Here are some of my most loved + shared thoughts, ideas, and rants of 2025:

🔥 27 Fun, Feel-Good Ideas for Taking Your Sales & Marketing on a JOYride

10 Personality Bombs To Instantly Put More YOU In Your Newsletter

The Middle Finger Reframe for Showing Up + Selling Without Feeling Like a Keebler Elf in Witness Protection

10 JOY-Hits to Make Your Business Instantly More Fun + Feel-good

This publication is NOT like the newsletters you’re used to.

The Hot Dog Cart is hosted on a gloriously human platform called Substack that has its own app + built-in social network. I highly recommend downloading the app. It’s ads-free, creator-friendly, and human AF. It’s the top shelf of safe places right now! And then, we can actually chat each other up, too. 🫶