How to Write Better

Julian Shapiro Guide Source found from taking Non-Trivial Course Notes https://www.julian.com/guide/write/intro https://thesephist.com/posts/how-i-write/ is another good one. Learn How to be a great storyteller

Ideas

Focus on novel ideas. They should be new, significant, and not easily intuited. Basically new and worthwhile.

• Counter-intuitive — “Oh, I never realized the world worked that way.”
• Counter-narrative — “Wow, that’s not how I was told the world worked!”
• Shock and awe — “That’s crazy. I would have never believed it.”
• Elegant articulations — “Beautiful. I couldn’t have said it better myself.”
• Make someone feel seen — “Yes! That’s exactly how I feel!”

After you come up with a novel idea, you have to make it resonate. This happens when you wrap these ideas in:

• Stories
• Analogies
• Examples
• Authentic voice

You should choose an objective for your post. These are some common examples that work.:

1. Open people’s eyes by proving the status quo wrong. Example.
2. Share a solution to a tough problem. Example.
3. Distill an overwhelming topic into something approachable. Example.
4. Tell a suspenseful and emotional story that imparts a lesson. Example.
5. Articulate something everyone’s thinking about but no one is saying. Cut through the noise.
6. Identify key trends on a topic. Then use them to predict the future.
7. Contribute original insights to a field through your research and experimentation.

Writing a hook

3 Main Types of Hooks

1. Narrative Hook: Share the beginning of a story but don’t tell how it ends.
2. Research Hook: Share the beginning of some novel research you’ve done but only hint at what the conclusion could be.
3. Argument Hook: Share a bold argument but don’t explain your reasoning yet.

In fact you should arguably write the hook before the rest of it, because it forces you to identify what your key motivation and question is. This is something good to explore because I always write my introduction and hooks after writing the meat of it.

Generating Hooks

1. Ask yourself, “If someone else wrote my intro, what are the most captivating questions they could pose to make me excited to read this?”
2. Write those questions down. Even if you lack the answers.
3. Rank your questions by how much they interest you.
4. The top questions become your hooks: pose them in your intro, but don’t reveal their answers.

First Draft

1. Choose an objective (objectives can be found above).
2. Hone in on the 2 types of ideas (supporting points: the points needed to prove your argument true and resulting points: the implications of your argument being true). The amount that there will be of each will depend on what your objective is. Create a rough outline of the orders of your points. A bunch can be found if you scroll down in here: https://www.julian.com/guide/write/first-draft.
3. Speed-run filling out the outline. Write down whatever seems interesting and surprising to you as you write it.
4. Re-read what you’ve written and create a conclusion that summarizes what the key insight you want your reader to take away is, and next steps they can take.

Rewriting

Obviously edit everything to be readable and succinct. Then, ensure that you have:

1. An intro that’s compelling (see intro section).
2. A peak of resonance in the middle.
3. A satisfying conclusion.

Also, aim to distribute dopamine hits for your reader evenly throughout the post.

You can ask for feedback for all of these things using this template:

It would be helpful if you read my article slowly to transcribe the reactions you have while reading it. For example:

1. Tell me what to delete — When you notice your interest is fading, you can say “I’m drifting here. This isn’t compelling and it isn’t adding value. Get to the point quicker and hook me.”

2. Tell me what to double down on — When something excites you, you can say “Dopamine hit. Go further in this direction. I have more questions.”

3. Tell me what isn’t clear — When you’re done reading, please score this from 1-10 on how satisfying it was. Don’t be afraid to give me a low score. By telling me this needs work, you’re sparing me from releasing bad work to the public.

Don’t publish as soon as you finish it, wait a few days, and then edit it over and over until you stop making major edits.

Cheat Sheet

Writing process

1. Choose a topic
2. Write your intro, and use it to brainstorm talking points
3. Get feedback on your intro
4. Create a starting outline
5. Explore talking points within your outline
6. Rewrite for clarity, succinctness, and intrigue
7. Cycle between rewriting, resting, and receiving feedback
8. Copy edit for grammar, word choice, and flow

Objectives (choose one)

• Open people’s eyes by proving the status quo wrong.
• Articulate something everyone’s thinking about but no one is saying. Cut through the noise.
• Identify key trends on a topic. Use them to predict the future.
• Contribute original insights to a field through your research and experimentation.
• Distill an overwhelming topic into something approachable.
• Share a solution to a tough problem.
• Tell a suspenseful and emotional story that imparts a lesson.

Motivations (choose one)

• Does writing this article get a weight off your chest?
• Does it help you reason through a nagging, unsolved problem of yours?
• Does it persuade others to do something you believe is critically important?
• Do you obsess over the topic and want others to geek out on it too?

Introductions

• Start your brainstorming process by prematurely writing your intro. In discovering how to make your intro interesting to you, you’ll also discover how to interest and hook readers.
• Hooks are half-told stories. Tease something fascinating, but don’t fully reveal the details.
• How to generate hooks: (1) Ask yourself, “If someone else wrote my intro, what are the most captivating questions they could pose to make me excited to read this?” (2) Write those questions down. Even if you lack the answers. (3) Rank your questions by how much they interest you. (4) The top questions become your hooks: Pose them in your intro and don’t reveal their answers.
• Ask others for feedback after you’ve written your intro. Sanity check your hooks.
• If feedback-givers have skepticisms, proactively address them in your intro. And if they have other questions they care about, swap them in if they captivate you too.
• Browse the list of skepticisms and their solutions here.

First draft steps

1. Choose an objective for your post.
2. Write a messy braindump of your ideas.
3. Transfer your best talking points to an outline. Use supporting points and resulting points: what is needed to make your argument, and what are the implications of your argument being true?
4. Write your first draft using that outline.

First draft writing process

• Your talking points come from hooks, experience, research, experiments, brainstorming, and mental models.
• When ideas stop flowing, ask yourself: How can I make my point more convincing? What are the interesting implications of what I just said?
• Be self-indulgent. You are a proxy for your reader. What interests and surprises you will interest and surprise them.
• To generate surprise, use Graham’s Method: First, learn all the basics on a topic. Then, if you can find new information that surprises even your knowledgeable self, it’ll surprise laypeople too.
• Outros should frame why your article was worth reading. Share a poignant takeaway that summarizes the article’s wisdom, and tell readers where they can go to continue the journey they started with you.

Clarity

• If you imagine you’re writing for an audience of thirteen-year-olds, you’ll think and write more clearly.
• Use simple wording and focus on one idea per sentence. Remove grammatical overhead.
• Provide examples and counterexamples when simplified language isn’t enough to achieve clarity.

Succinctness

1. Rewrite sections from memory. Focus on the key points and let the fluff fall away.
2. Then remove unnecessary words from each paragraph.
3. Then rephrase paragraphs to be as succinct as possible.

Intrigue

• The trifecta of intrigue: 1. A captivating intro. 2. A section of intense surprise or insight. 3. An ending that satisfyingly justifies why the piece was worth reading.
• Ask feedback-givers to highlight every sentence that gives them a dopamine hit — the little moments of “that was interesting.” For each hit, increase a counter at the end of the corresponding sentence. Like this (3). If there are sections without dopamine hits, make those sections shorter or inject more insight and surprise into them.

Feedback

• Ask readers to score your writing from 1 to 10. Aim for 7.5+.
• Use your future self as a source of feedback. Take breaks to defamiliarize yourself.

Style

• An authentic voice resonates best with readers: your way of speaking, interests, and perspectives on the world are a breath of fresh air.
• Shed the style you’ve absorbed from others. Write nonfiction the way you sound.
• Optionally incorporate multimedia, anecdotes, analogies, and humor to reinforce your points and to entertain.

Copyediting

• Optionally learn to punctuate with my companion post.
• Use paragraphs of five sentences or fewer. This cushions paragraphs with white space, reducing the perceived reading workload. Short paragraphs also provide readers more opportunities to pause and reflect on your ideas.
• Use verbs that embed the meaning of their adverbs. For example, “She spoke loudly” could be “She shouted.”
• Only use adjectives and adverbs if they add important details.

Practice

• Practice by writing persuasive essays. This helps you focus on improving (A) the quality of your thinking and (B) your eye for rewriting. Try writing posts that persuade your friends to change their minds.
• Ask them to score how much your writing sustained their interest.

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