Playbook: Writing

You want to learn how to write better? Ok, let's get started.

This is your new rule book on writing:

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How to Write Absolutely Addictive Articles https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/how-to-write-addictive-articles

MUST READ! This literally replaced everything I learned in school. It is so valuable.

Examples of high standards writing

1. Gates Notes. Easy to read, amazing data, comes from the heart. You can feel the passion. Uses conversational words, but not overly casual. There’s also a hint of storytelling.

2. First Round Review. Very informative, casual, has key takeaways and action items. Teaches the reader something. Good titles. Good images. Tweetable quotes (love this!).

Examples of their articles:

3. Waitbutwhy. Amazing content, fun to read, down to earth.

8 ways to get your writing from good → great

  • Fun to read. Makes the person laugh or be inspired. Comedy would be great. Izzy does this well in her articles.
  • Great content - very informative and has interesting information that has unique insights based on data. Don't just write your opinions. Go deeper.
  • Flow. Make sure your article flows really well. Tip: Before writing anything, create a storyboard to help you plan the article, I guarantee you it will be so much better.
  • Easy to read. Has bullet points, bolded sentences, lists, and descriptive titles.
  • Engaging title! Make readers want to click it. You can write an entire article, but if your title isn't good nobody is going to read it.
  • Tweetable quotes. Love the idea First Round has of highlighting their tweetable quotes.
  • Useful graphics, gifs, images, etc. Don't use clip art or random pics on Google. Make sure your content is relevant and useful.
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What is success? - People are sharing your article/blog. - People get ideas or insights after reading your article. - You can impress smart people in the industry that your article is about.

Examples of writing articles by TKS Alumni:

Cassia: The Science of Dyslexia

Hannah: Using Machine Learning Models for Breast Cancer Detection

Mikey Taylor: Early Diagnosis of Autism

Isabella: Your Chocolate Bar is more Likely to Kill you than Human Violence in 2019— Homo Deus 

Ramy: Make it Bulletproof

Soumiya: Unlocking the Feminine Brain (blog style, no images, great content)

Madhav Malhorta: Multilayered Plastics

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Don't assume people will actually read everything. This isn't school.

Quick Pro Tips:

Once you understand that people are like you and have limited attention spans with a ton of content competing for their attention, you'll realize "I better make my articles interesting and valuable."

Here's how:

There are no real rules. Do what you want. Nobody is "grading" you.
Stop being so formal, nobody wants to read that.
Be interesting, fun, and engaging. Use your authentic voice.
Don't make short titles/headers. Headers should be descriptive. They can be a full sentence.
Titles/headers are not just for the beginning! Add headers between each section (usually after a few paragraphs).
Have an interesting title and cover picture. Actually spend time thinking about this!
Use bullet points so it's easy for people to focus on specific things.
Add good quality pictures that are useful.
Bold important stuff (but don't over bold!).
Use shorter sentences. More periods. Less commas.
Use exclamation marks if you want to get something exciting across!
Don't use big words to sound smart. Just use the right words!
Stop indenting every paragraph... who does that?!
You can/should use abbreviations like "you're" instead of "you are".
End with key takeaways. It can be bullet points to make it easier to read.
Tell people to do an action at the end (e.g. follow you, like the post, add you on twitter, etc.).

Here's how to get started...

8 Steps To Writing Your Article:

Step 1: Think of the goal/outcome you want your reader to take away.

Step 2: Outline the structure of your article. DON'T JUST START WRITING!!! 🔑

Step 3: Think of interesting analogies, examples, and/or stories to include.

Step 4: Write it out.

Step 5: Read it over. Fix typos (use Grammarly), change, remove, and add stuff.

Step 6: Remove useless pictures, add valuable visuals.

Step 7: Ask someone to give you feedback and find typos.

  • Important: ask for feedback early!! Not after you're done.

Step 8: Make changes.

Step 9: Publish on Medium and LinkedIn. Step 10: Share on places like Twitter, Insta, and other social channels.

  • Note: don't judge your article based on likes. It's about creating contend and learning. Remember, this is all part of your training.
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* Done is better than perfect.* → Stop overthinking and just post it.

Just get content out there in the world. Don't try to make it perfect, try to get it DONE!

BONUS CONTENT

Check out: Why You Should Start a Blog Right Now - by Alexey Guzey

Here's a free 7-day email "course" by David Perell (a professional writer) on how to write better: https://ageofleverage.com/course

https://www.perell.com/

Ps. His twitter has some 🔑 tweets on how to write well.

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Julian Shapiro

Julia is famous on twitter for his writing tips. Here are some valuable resources for you to look through: