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 

Previous
Previous

34 Tips on Crushing Twitter

Next
Next

Marketing is Everything We Do