42 Lessons on Writing Better
Creating a blog post because my tweets are on rolling 60 day autodelete. This post is taken from a previous tweet storm titled, “42 Lessons on Writing Better” It was inspired by a conversation between David Perell and Nick Magiulli.
Writing is Like Building An Ant Nest
There are many ways to build a nest
There is no "right" way
Focus on finding your process and don't be afraid to experiment
Nick's writing process
Consume -> Think -> Write
Nick spends 80% of his writing process consuming information
The most important part of Nick's writing process is figuring out how to reduce friction
What Information Does Nick Consume?
Books are typically the highest quality source of information
The originality of an idea is directly related to the obscurity of the sources it comes from.
Books are the most underpriced assets
Reducing Friction
Friction is defined as the reader noticing the writing instead of the message it's meant to convey
Low Friction = Logical Flow
Logical flow should go unnoticed
Traditional Writing Advice is Bad
The writing lessons you learned in school isn't how to succeed as a writer in the real world.
Your objective is to entertain and inform.
Grammar, style, and structure aren't as important
Connecting Ideas With Stories
Nick collects stories and then tries to connect it to an idea
Nick discovers ideas and then tries to find a story to support it
Tell stories with logical flows
David's Writing Style
Writing is like a lighthouse for like-minded people
Create a personal monopoly
Put in the reps
What is a Lighthouse?
Writing shines a light on what you are interested in
It helps bring together people that have common interests in your writing
It takes time to build a lighthouse
What is a Personal Monopoly?
Own a niche. For example, David is the "writing guy"
Nick is the finance data guy
You don't develop a personal monopoly overnight. Practice will help you find your voice.
Repetition
No one paid attention to Nick's writing until his 16th blog post
You can't take shortcuts.
The only way to become a better writer is through writing more
Power of Twitter
Twitter is one of the biggest sources of traffic for his blog
Nick's current employer found him through Twitter
Twitter has helped him build a powerful network
The Nightclub Analogy
Life, business, and success is just like a nightclub.
Door one is people waiting on line
Door two is people who know the owner
Door three is people who write
It's a special door that only writers know about
Writing online helps open up doors you didn't even know were there
Building a Distribution Channel
Nick uses email and Twitter to distribute his blog posts
Don't rely on "rented" land to distribute content
It's important to build an email list because you own the data