How to Go Deeper in Your Writing

My most recent Philosophy course just started, and for the first class, we were assigned a short story to read. From there, we had to write a one-page paper summarizing what we took from it.

Here’s the exact guidance we were given for the paper:

You will give the paper a title to orient the reader from the start, and then introduce your topic clearly in the first paragraph. Keep in mind that a convincing paper needs to be clear and coherent, and exhibit a judicious use of pertinent detail. It should also possess a natural flow from paragraph to paragraph to maintain the reader's attention. The goal of the paper is to help you crystallize thoughts and ideas around a single topic.

I thought, “Okay, I got this. Easy enough; this is pretty much what I do all day for my client work.”

Well, I did the reading and whipped up my little one-pager on the key theme I gathered from it, including how it related to my personal experience and philosophy, and sent it off.

I’d be lying to you if I didn’t give myself a little pat on the back post-submission. “You’re so good at this,” I told myself. “If he pulls a few example papers, one will probably be yours.”

(Ahem, reader: let me tell you, I am very aware of how cringe this little egomaniacal thinking is in hindsight and I already talked about it in therapy so get off my back!)

That said, you can imagine my surprise when, during class, my paper was not chosen as one of the strong examples.

In fact, the two that were chosen took a wildly different approach than I had. They’d gone much deeper on the reading, leveraging their critical thinking skills, whereas my perspective only skimmed the surface of the topic.

A bit of context so you have a frame of reference:

• My paper examined a high-level, fairly obvious theme and then connected it to my personal experience and way of living.

• The example papers took two different approaches:

  • One took a very specific piece of the story and extrapolated how it was a subtle theme throughout the plot, reinforced over and over via metaphor (so, think of how an art historian would look at a painting and call out the historical context and symbolism)

  • The other took a more quizzical approach and went into detail on the questions the story posed for the reader, going into the conclusions he could posit based on what he gleaned from a very close reading of the text, paying attention to minute details like verb tense and emotional adverbs used. 🤯

Read more: How to Take a Stance in Writing​

Now I’m going to say the quiet part out loud.

I was a little nervous I’d missed the mark on the theme I took from the story, so before I submitted it, I prompted ChatGPT with a few questions about the story to see if it came up with similar assessments.

It did. And that is a point I want to make in and of itself. My surface-level assessment was in line with ChatGPT-quality responses. That should’ve been my clue.

ChatGPT doesn’t produce complex, detailed insights, it doesn’t excel at nuance, and it certainly isn’t known for its critical thinking.

As humbling as this experience was, it was a great lesson for any writer: You can (and should!) go deeper. You can read more closely, think more deeply, and write in a way that goes well beyond the obvious surface content.​

So here’s what I want to say to you: If you’re writing at a ChatGPT-equivalent level, that’s probably a sign you need to go deeper.

Go back and read your brief, the source material, the research, whatever supporting documentation you have, and engage your critical thinking skills.

Take a fine-toothed comb to it, and rather than just stating the obvious, engage your humanity by deploying your ability to assess, synthesize information, and draw new connections to share the deeper meanings you discover from that hard work.

​AI-powered writing tools can state the obvious.

But humans have a unique ability to kick our brains into high gear and produce insightful, reflective, and detailed analyses of the things we read, learn, and see.

It’s not easy work, but in a world where, these tools can cover the generic bases, it’s more important than ever to leverage our human advantage here.

Read more: Writing Tips from a College Professor​

Use. Your. Brain.

So. Excuse me while I go start the reading for next week. I’ve got some work to do. 😅

Why writers should be philosophers

This fall, I signed up for a Philosophy and Ethics class. And now that I’m a few weeks in, I think it’s safe to say: Studying Philosophy can (and will!) make you a better writer.

Why? I have a few thoughts on this. Let’s start at a high level, though.

Writing serves as a bridge between internal thoughts and external communication. It transforms our internal dialogues into something others can access and understand.

Exceptional writing, therefore, is the result of exceptional thinking. To convey ideas clearly and persuasively, writers must cultivate a methodical and logical approach to their thoughts, translating into clearer, more effective writing.

One of the most effective ways to refine thinking is through philosophical study. Philosophy, emphasizing argumentation, logic, and critical questioning, is particularly adept at sharpening our ability to think systematically and coherently. Writers can enhance their clarity and precision by engaging deeply with philosophical methods.

Makes sense, right? Let’s dive in a bit deeper on a few of these points.

Philosophy as a Tool for Refined Thinking and Writing

To write clearly, convincingly, and with structure, writers can leverage philosophical concepts and analytical methods. Philosophy aids in this process by:

• Improving Thinking: Philosophy demands a rigorous approach to thinking. It encourages individuals to examine ideas thoroughly and systematically, transforming disorganized thoughts into coherent and well-structured arguments.

• Enhancing Critical Skills: Philosophy cultivates critical thinking skills through its emphasis on logic and argumentation. This helps writers question and assess the validity of ideas, leading to more nuanced and persuasive writing.

• Encouraging Methodical Analysis: Philosophy's methodical approach to exploring concepts ensures that writers can dissect ideas carefully, leading to clearer and more precise communication.

Applying Foundational Philosophical Concepts to Writing

To elevate your writing, understanding and applying key philosophical concepts is helpful. A few of these include:

• Definition and Essence: Writers must clearly define their key terms and concepts. Understanding what something fundamentally is helps them articulate ideas more effectively and prevent misinterpretation or misrepresentation.

• Appearance vs. Reality: Recognizing the difference between initial perceptions and underlying truths is crucial. Complex topics often appear simpler at first glance, but a deeper analysis can reveal more intricate and insightful perspectives. This approach helps writers avoid superficial treatments of their subjects and seek more profound connections.

• Objectivity vs. Subjectivity: Writers need to be aware of biases and partiality that can influence their work. By understanding the difference between subjective opinions and objective facts, writers can craft more balanced and credible narratives. This awareness encourages humility and precision in writing.

The Relationship Between Philosophy and Writing

Writing begins as an internal thought before it is articulated externally. As a result: Disorganized thoughts lead to disorganized writing, while clear thinking results in clear writing.

Philosophy helps give individuals the necessary tools to critically evaluate and refine their thoughts. It promotes meticulous, analytical thinking that is essential for writing effectively. By demanding a thorough examination of ideas, philosophy helps writers address technical, logical, and ethical aspects of their work more adeptly.

As John Campbell said, "Philosophy is thinking in slow motion." It enables us to analyze our intellectual processes, revealing alternatives and deeper insights. By integrating philosophical methods into their practice, writers can improve their ability to make sense of complex ideas and clearly communicate them.

Why should we bother to write?

I’ve been a long-time reader of the bi-monthly magazine Philosophy Now, but there was a piece in the most recent edition (written by George Sher, Professor of Philosophy at Rice University in Texas) that stood out to me as useful for fellow writers.

In his article, he explains why one should bother to write about philosophy. But I think many of his ideas are applicable to any type of writing. He put words to a lot of things I’ve felt before but couldn’t articulate as well.

If you, too, wrestle with the concept of "why bother?" when it comes to writing, this is some excellent food for thought.

Why should we write?

1. Simple curiosity.

One of Sher's first claims is that writing is a process that cultivates our natural sense of curiosity and provides a medium through which we can sort out our opinions, stances, and reasoning around various topics and ideas.

“The written word is useful because it preserves complex thought sequences for further examination…when we think on paper or the screen, our thoughts record themselves. Thus, when we are drawn into the questions that define our field, developing our answers (through writing) is often a natural way of scratching an itch,” he writes.

I think many times, humans have a tendency to overthink their writing, especially when it’s shared on a blog, in a newsletter, or even in a tweet. (Public forum = scary! Risk!)

We get in our own way, make it a very big deal, and talk ourselves out of publishing or sharing our work.

“One way to justify publishing essays that we don’t expect to make a lasting impression,” Sher writes, “Is to see them not as original or enduring contributions to human thought, but simply as an intellectual activity.”

Want to write more? Frame it as a way for you to get curious and sort through your opinions, thoughts, and feelings.

2. The act of making.

No matter how un-creative you feel as an individual, there’s a human urge in all of us to make things. We like to create! It feels good to create something with your hands that’s totally, uniquely you.

Aside from the curiosity “itch” writing scratches, it also does something for our soul/spirit/whatever-you-want-to-call-that-thing-that-makes-us-indidivuals. When we write, our brains get that sparkly feeling. Do you know what I’m talking about?

Sher went on to explain that by editing, finishing, and publishing those thoughts (in the form of writing), we create a jumping-off point for discussion, feedback, reactions, etc. (as all good art does.)

Writing and sharing it publicly makes our learning process more interactive, and I love that he called out how this can even happen at a very small scale (maybe only one other person reads and reacts to your writing) and still be impactful. To write is an act of humanity.

“Even if the product is mediocre or worse (and even if it doesn’t endure beyond the moment), the process of producing it has independent value,” he wrote.

Want to write more? Write for an audience of one. Forget that feeling of looking out at a crowd from the stage and approach the activity as if you would only ever show it to your best friend.

3. “Enriching the mulch.”

“We put our words down in order to make contact with other minds; to expose our thoughts to others…By simply injecting our ideas into the wider thought stream, we are contributing to the larger intellectual background against which all future thought takes place,” Sher writes.

I like this idea of “enriching the mulch” as a reason to write: That is, when we put our thoughts into writing in an easily sharable format, we add to and deepen existing conversations with our own unique points of view.

Sure, our original idea may get mixed in and blur into the homogeneity (like an egg yolk in a mixer that dissolves into the cake batter), but without said “egg”, the batter suffers.

That’s a whole lot of metaphor, but hopefully you get what I’m saying here.

Want to write more? Remember that sharing your thoughts, ideas, and unique perspectives adds richness and texture to conversations that are already happening. Chime in!

Bottom line: 2024 can be the year you write more, open yourself up, and share your ideas. I hope you do! If you need more help getting started, be sure to check out The Writing Lab.​

What People Look for When Hiring Writers

TechCrunch reports that so far in 2023, there have been 121,205 employee layoffs at tech companies.

Freelancers are feeling this belt-tightening, too. Client workloads are down, contracted budgets for content are getting cut, and in general, people working in the professional content marketing world are feeling…uncertain.

That’s a nice way to put it, eh?

My workload in 2023 has volleyed around a lot in these first three months. For three weeks I’ll be swamped, then it’s crickets. Then busy again. This is part of the ride I signed up for; it’s always been this feast-or-famine dynamic over the 10 years I’ve been doing this.

But since I know folks are getting back into the swing of applying for jobs, pitching new clients, etc., it felt like the right time to dive into some anecdotal insights around the question:

What are the indicators/characteristics/qualities of a great candidate for a writing-related role, in-house or freelance?

I posed this question over on Twitter and got some excellent responses from people in the hiring seat, so I wanted to share those here. Hopefully you’ll find it as useful as I did.

1. Ability to handle edits/feedback gracefully

This was a theme I heard from two top-notch editors, Tommy Walker and Ryan Law. Both indicated they look for writers who handle topics and feedback without inserting their own egos.

I’ve written before about not taking edits personally, although I get it: We all feel a personal connection with the work we produce, so when you get a doc back that’s full of comments and edit requests, the immediate reaction is to either 1) shit your pants, or, 2) be defensive. It’s human nature, baby! We self-protect at all costs.

But, when you feel this way—especially in the context of a trial post or a first-time assignment, remember: It’s business. It’s not personal.

Tommy said, “I want writers that care about the work and can write without ego. So many folks are just in the hamster wheel and turn out meh work, then take it personally when you go to critique.”

Ryan added that having defensible opinions about what makes writing great is a fight that doesn’t need to be picked. “I don't need to agree with their opinions,” he said. Instead, he looks for:

• A systematic approach to problem-solving (they can reason by analogy, knowledge of useful models or frameworks)

• A general nerdy passion about writing and sense of play

Makes sense to me.

2. Responsiveness and communication skills

When I co-taught the Creative Class (an online course for freelancers), one of the big themes we emphasized was: ‘do what you said you would do when you said you’d do it.’

It’s not hard, nor is it rocket science…yet so many people can’t do it! As a result, they fall into the category of “flaky.” They go missing for days, deadlines get thrown out the window, and/or they are unresponsive when there needs to be some back-and-forth to finish out a project.

​Riley Kaminer said: “I need writers who are responsive. It doesn’t matter how good the content is if we can’t communicate about it.”

This is the first part: Responding to emails and requests in a timely manner, meeting deadlines, etc. But it’s more than that, too. Many people hire writers who can write well, but they also want a team player willing to chime in with their expertise.

If you can come to the table with suggestions and feedback on how to take a piece from good to great, you’re far more valuable than the writer who can’t (or simply doesn’t.) When you don’t, you’re just a cog in the content machine, cranking out assignments. A lot of people can do that. Now, so can AI-powered writing tools.

Some food for thought.

3. Analysis and synthesis

Building on that last theme of taking a piece from good to great, Tracey Wallace said this:

“I look for a writer with the ability to connect the dots for readers. I can provide the brief, the research, the company’s point of view, but the writer needs to tie it all together in a way that illuminates the issue for the reader. This usually requires industry expertise.”

In this world of AI-powered tools, now’s the time for us human writers to step our game in the specialization category. By building up industry and subject matter expertise, working hard to stay on top of emerging trends in the space, and building up a network of fellow smart people talking about what’s happening in said space (via social media, subscribing to newsletters, joining a community…whatever!), you become far more marketable and valuable.

And in doing this, it’ll be easy to tick someone like Tracey’s boxes re: connecting the dots, synthesizing the information to illustrate the big picture. If you haven’t yet, consider specializing further than you already do.

Be the GO-TO person for one very specific thing.

4. Writing chops and voice

Obviously, solid writing skills are a must-have. If you feel this is an area you could use some work, make sure you’re reading regularly and practicing writing daily, even if it’s just a journaling exercise. In my experience, these are the two most surefire ways to improve your writing skills. Grammarly Premium doesn’t hurt, either.

But voice is a little bit trickier to nail. When we talk about voice, we’re referencing the style in which a writer adds personality, a conversational tone, and a “human element” to a piece.

​Viktor Nagornyy said, “I look for writers with a signature writing voice. It's easy to fix grammar, but to give a bland story personality requires a lot of rewriting. I might as well write it myself in that case.”

There’s a chapter on this in my book, which also has a workbook section with some practice exercises if you’re feeling stuck on where to look for information on this.

5. Other key traits

In the screening and hiring work I do for Content Remix, where we turn podcasts into narrative-style blog posts, there are a few things I look for as I review applicant info and later evaluate who to keep on after the first paid trial piece.

• Attention to detail. If I see grammar/spelling errors, notice a writer isn’t following the directions provided in a brief, etc., that person probably won’t get a second assignment. Again, this seems basic, but so many people get sloppy here.

• Curated portfolio samples. I’ve reviewed a lot of portfolios over the years, and so often what I find there is a collection of hodge-podge work with no common theme. I want to see two or three examples of a writer’s best work, not all of their work. Portfolio curation is key.

• Curiosity and question-asking. Some freelance writers get caught up in worrying that asking questions will make them look inexperienced. Not the case! I love candidates who are curious and have lots of questions about the work, the role, the process, and general expectations. It not only shows engagement, but also an understanding that “there are no stupid questions.”

Final thoughts

Whether you’re applying for a new job or working to book more freelance projects, remember that at the end of the day, there’s another human being in the hiring seat.

Be the person you’d want to hire if the roles were switched.

Writing Tips From a College Professor

So often, we tend to take advice from the noisy marketers on social media (disguising themselves as expert writers) who really just want you to buy their course or training or whatever-the-hell.

That's why today, I wanted to bring you some advice from someone who is truly *in it* every single day.

• No ulterior motive involved.

• No course to sell.

• No lead magnet to promote.

Just...knowledge.

Allow me to introduce you to Professor Laura Bandy.

Laura is currently a member of the English faculty at Spoon River College where she teaches creative writing, composition, and literature courses.

She received her MFA from the University of Illinois and attended the University of Southern Mississippi’s Center for Writers PhD program from 2009-2013, where she received the Joan Johnson Poetry Award. She has had work published in Soft Skull's Saints of Hysteria: A Half-Century of Collaborative American Poetry and Ninth Letter, among others, and currently has work in Alluvian. Her chapbook, Hack, was published in August 2021, and her full-length poetry collection, Monster Movie, will be published by Gold Wake Press in spring 2023.

Here's what she had to share in response to the questions I asked her (allowing us ALL to get inside her brain! Yay!)

If someone came to you and said, “I want to be a better writer, but don’t know where to start,” what would you advise?

Well, I’m never sure this will be a popular answer, but it is tried and true—read. Read everything.

Read widely, read deeply, read passionately, and read across genres (including writing guides and essays on craft, such as Ruefle’s “Madness, Rack, and Honey” or Addonizio’s “Ordinary Genius” for poets, and King’s “On Writing” and Lamott’s “Bird by Bird” for fiction and creative nonfiction).

I also really like the textbook I use for my creative writing classes, The Practice of Writing by Heather Sellers (herself an accomplished essayist, poet, and professor at the University of Florida).

And read for pleasure, of course.

How will you know what you want to write if you don’t know what you like to read? There are no shortcuts if you really want to improve your writing; you must read to see how the greats do it and how you might be great yourself.

But how amazing is that? YOU GET TO READ! It’s a gift, truly. Reading will make you a better writer and a more empathetic and interesting human (studies show that reading literature is akin to an empathy machine)—win-win!

Many writers know how to crank out a basic article, but they don’t know what differentiates GOOD writing from GREAT writing. And that is becoming more vague with AI-powered writing tools. What, in your mind, makes for a great piece of writing?

For me, great writing is that which lingers long after I’ve put the book down. Am I still thinking about the story/poem/essay days, weeks, even months after I read it? Am I still marveling at the structure of the thing?

As Toni Morrison said: "Writing has rules, conventions, and requirements. There is form and it matters. Did you feel you were in expert hands as you read the piece? That’s a sure sign of greatness—when you can relax and enjoy the ride—there’s a pro at the wheel."

And, to borrow from Emily Dickinson, “If I read a book [and] it makes my whole body so cold no fire can ever warm me, I know that is poetry. If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry.”

She was speaking specifically to poetry, of course, but I believe her words apply to all great writing. That, at least, is my litmus. (If it’s good enough for Ms. Dickinson, then it’s good enough for me!)

For writers who feel stuck creatively, what can they do to reset?

I know that different folks have different reset methods and whatever works for you, awesome! DO THAT! For me, when I get the blahs about what I’m writing, I usually switch to a different genre for a spell.​

For example, I was burned out after finishing a poetry collection last year, and the thought of starting a new manuscript of poems made me feel peevish and fussy. I felt as though my poetry spring had stopped burbling, perhaps forever. And so, I started writing a murder mystery novel with a dark academia vibe, and…presto! Like magic, the fun was back.

I had no attachment to the genre for my own writing, so the pressure was off—I could just have fun. I’m at 45,000 words and still loving it. I also try switching up my media diet when I’m in a writing rut. If I’ve been binging rom-coms, I switch to documentaries and foreign films, and if I’ve been reading deeply from the fantasy or sci-fi wells, I move over to essays and theory.

John Jeremiah Sullivan’s book of essays, Pulphead, was a great find when I was in a reading rut, and Eula Biss, On Immunity. Currently, I’m reading a book on film theory by Quentin Tarantino, and it is igniting creative possibilities by moving me over into a more cinematic head space—I can feel it coming out in my writing.

Listening to new types of music shakes me up in productive ways, too. A writer I admire, Alexander Hemon, mentioned in a recent NY Times interview that his ideal reading experience included Bach’s cello suites and Miles Davis’ “Sketches of Spain” playing in the background.

I’d never listened to either, but have been blasting them at full volume during my writing time lately, and the music is definitely rearranging my brain in strange and possibly productive ways.

How can writers infuse a human touch/make their writing more engaging for the reader?

The robot overlords arrived so much more quickly than I expected with ChatGPT. I hope they will be benevolent when their rise to power is complete!

But seriously (I was actually being serious there) in terms of worrying about AI supplanting human writing, I tend to fall in with the great science fiction writer Ted Chiang’s take on the topic:

“Think of ChatGPT as a blurry jpeg of all the text on the Web. It retains much of the information on the Web, in the same way that a jpeg retains much of the information of a higher-resolution image, but, if you’re looking for an exact sequence of bits, you won’t find it; all you will ever get is an approximation.”

Yes, what AI can do now is amazing, astounding even, in its writerly competence. But that’s just it—it is merely competent, a faint reflection of the real thing. When it comes to writing creatively, there is simply no substitute for the human touch.

Infusing the human touch in your writing/making it optimally engaging requires your most definitive humanness to be infused in the writing. This, to me, speaks to specificity.

An example:

What was the rock you picked up on the beach that time you walked at sunset on Lake Michigan when you were sixteen and had just met a boy named Jay while vacationing at the Jolli-Lodge with your family in August of ‘99? Was it a Petoskey stone, all gray and whorled and fossilized? Was the water warm that summer? Did it lap around your feet while you slowed your pace, trying to make the stroll last forever, laughing a little at Jay’s description of his school in Grosse Pointe and the strange teacher with a lisp and how he wished he didn’t have to go back at the end of the week, wished the vacation would last just a little longer, and you wished the same, wished also that when you bumped against each other navigating the dips and swirls in wet packed sand, that he would take your hand and hold it for the rest of the evening as the sun set a spectacular technicolor explosion of pinks and oranges in the endless sky, maybe hold your hand even for the rest of days?

Have you ever felt that way, Mr. Robot-AI-ChatGPT-whatever? Have you ever felt anything truly human? I didn’t think so.

What you don’t feel, you can’t write—I believe that with everything in me. And by that I don’t mean that you must only write about lived experience (I enjoy writing about space aliens and have never been to Mars—maybe someday?)

I mean you need to feel emotions as only humans can—the joy, the love, the illness, the grief, the suffering—you feel it and you write the feelings, that’s it.

Everyone has a million things on their daily to-do lists, and if writing is something they’re working on on the side, it often gets pushed to the back burner. How do you encourage your students to make it a priority?

I tell students (and myself) that, if they’re crunched for time (as are we all) then start small. Set aside an hour a day for writing. Heck, set aside a HALF hour! But make it count and make it non-negotiable—that hour or half hour is completely and totally dedicated to writing, full stop.

No scrolling, no puttering, no cleaning the house first. WRITE.

I was lucky enough to take a workshop with the stellar poet Victoria Chang last summer. During our week of the workshop, she would set aside half-hour chunks of time and give us prompts for our writing.

I was astounded at what I was able to accomplish in those short bursts— usually rough, but always interesting, and I came away with several new drafts of poems from those isolated and dedicated 30-minute bundles.

I remember Victoria smiling at me with quietly knowing air when I exclaimed at the volume of writing I accomplished by week’s end. “It’s amazing what you can do in 30 minutes when you don’t allow for distractions, isn’t it?” she said.

I would add: there are sometimes pockets of time that open up in our lives out of nowhere—a second job falls through, a child goes to camp, a planned getaway is postponed, a GLOBAL PANDEMIC OCCURS…when those time-gifts present themselves, accept them as the miracles they are and don’t waste them.

When I had unexpected time on my hands last summer due to a summer class I was meant to teach not making enrollment, I averaged around five hours a day on my writing, sometimes more. I knew it was a miracle, I knew it might not happen again for a long, long time. I closed the door to my office and wrote greedily, selfishly, voraciously. I loved it.

Any general writing wisdom you’d like to close with?

As the great Clive Owen once said in his terrific film Croupier: “Hang on tightly, let go lightly.”

Give your writing everything you’ve got—hold nothing back.

When I complained once to my poetry professor that I wanted to hold my favorite poems back and only send them out for publication to a couple of top-tier journals, she laughed (politely) in my face.

“If you’re holding poems or stories back, that means you’re not writing enough. You should be writing every day, generating new work every day. You should ALWAYS have a new poem to send out.”

I can’t always follow that advice (life gets in the way) but when I do sit down to write, I go for the throat. And then, I revise ruthlessly—those words on the page? They’re not precious yet. Prune them ‘til they are.

And when the inevitable rejections come in? You start all over again and you thank your lucky stars that you get to do this thing, this solitary, sometimes lonely, rarely triumphant, always worth it, thing—this writing life.

Rising to High Editorial Expectations as a Writer

In this new era of AI-powered writing tools, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about quality when it comes to writing.

• Are we generally satisfied with “done, and good enough”?

• Or are there still publications and organizations out there dedicated to producing top-notch, highly researched, funny, culturally relevant writing?

The latter is a LOT of work. It’s expensive. It takes time. It’s a team effort, with various experts (or one person with a lot of varied expertise) weighing in on different aspects of the piece.

So I understand why so many organizations shy away from it.

But over the course of my (almost) decade of full-time freelance writing, I’ve written for a handful of places that maintain extremely high editorial expectations. And every time, those expectations have pushed me (and other contributors) to rise to the high bar they set.

These are the pieces I’m most proud of. They rank well in search results. They’re still useful YEARS after publication. They make readers laugh while they learn.

A few examples so we’re on the same page about what this actually looks like:

• ​Empathy in Marketing​

• ​Scarcity Marketing Tactics​

So what do they do that’s so different from the status quo?

Well, let me break it down for you.

Maybe you’ll find a thing or two you can add to your own editorial process. I can 100% guarantee that your content will be better (and perform better!) because of it.

The Screening Process

​Quality control is the name of the game, and screening is the first quality control filter.

Not any Joe Schmoe who wants to write for a publication gets to; he or she has to make it through a filtering process to ensure there’s a good fit.

The process usually goes like this:

A writer fills out a form indicating he/she would like to contribute a piece, sharing basic info on their experience level, expertise with the subject matter, and a few writing samples.

Along with this info, they pitch a potential topic. The pitch helps the editors screen writers based on a few key indicators:

• Is the pitch relevant? If a writer has done his/her homework, the subject matter will be relevant to the publication’s target audience.

• Is it specific? Specificity is critical. If the topic is too broad, the writer won’t be able to drill down into the details. Sites that value high-quality articles go deep, not wide (as it makes them more valuable for the reader.)

• Has it been covered before? Again, a good writer will check and ensure the idea they’re proposing hasn’t been covered and is a fresh topic for the publication.

• Is it interesting? A good article pitch grabs the readers’ attention. While an idea might tick the boxes for specificity and relevance, if it’s not very interesting, no one will read it. The subject matter should add something new and compelling to an existing conversation.

The screening process helps the editorial team gauge a writer’s skill level and attention to detail. It’s a test for the writer, too: He or she has a chance to show they understand what the publication wants and needs topic-wise.

Once a writer makes it through the screening process, the topic is often slightly tweaked and assigned. The next phase is onboarding.

The guidelines

High editorial expectations are laid out before a single word is written.

In these instances, there’s a formal onboarding process where the writer is expected to get familiar with the organization and how things work when working on and submitting a piece.

During this process, the writer dives into a few key resources.

(Pssst! If you're someone hiring writers, I have templates for these assets you can purchase that speed this process up and keep you from starting from scratch.)

The onboarding guide. This is usually either a slide show, video, or written document that explains the publication’s high-level expectations. It includes information about the organization, its audience personas, expected minimums (word count, read time, or some other scope boundary), objectives for content, and successful article examples to study.

It also explains any material that isn’t up to par will not be published. Setting this tone right off the bat makes a writer sit up a little straighter; no one wants to spend hours working on a piece that never sees the light of day.

A writing brief. Rather than being highly prescriptive on what to write/include, publications with high expectations use writing briefs more as a reference point for key resources like their style guide, relevant case studies, etc. These are not documents that tell the writer what to cover and examples to include. Instead, it’s a resource hub the writer can refer back to as he or she works.

Workflow info. This piece defines draft deadlines, expected turnaround times, and information on the editing process as the piece progresses (such as how many versions the average writer produces from start to finish.) This sets the writer up with clear expectations around what will be an intensive and iterative writing process.

After a day or two, the writer and point person (usually the editor) schedule a call to get acquainted, review the timetable, and answer any remaining questions.

From there, the outlining process begins.

The Outline

The outlining process, when writing long-form/evergreen content, is a heavy lift.

Here, the writer is expected to build an extremely thorough outline for the piece (to the point of it essentially being the first draft in abbreviated/bulleted form.)

This means including all research, data, quotes, examples, and expertise that will appear in V1.

Once the outline is complete, the editor will review and leave detailed notes within the document. There’s a lot of back-and-forth during this phase.

• Sections are re-arranged, cut, and/or additional sections are recommended

• Requests made for greater relevance within examples given

• Greater depth is encouraged; points will have comments like "say how" and "explain this"

The outline typically goes through one or two rounds of review and tweaks before the writer gets approval from the editor to proceed to the full first draft.

Building the first draft is really just a matter of fleshing out the outline and following the requested article format, so let’s fast-forward to the next phase.

Editing

Once a draft is done, the editing process is INTENSE.

Sometimes, a single editor handles a variety of editorial reviews; other times the draft gets reviewed by several people with different types of expertise.

This phase often takes weeks, sometimes months, depending on the article's length. It's not a quick turnaround process. Editors are diligent and rigorous.

NOTE: Sometimes, if an editor gets the first draft and it’s wildly sub-par, the editor will shelve the draft, pay the writer for work completed, and part ways. Despite the screening process and collaborative outline work, this can happen if the delivered draft requires too many edits to get it where it needs to be. This is an editor’s judgment call to make, and it sucks for both parties. It’s happened to me before, and it sent me into a panic about my writing not being “good enough.” But it also pushed me to keep working at it, and in that instance, I was able to get the piece published elsewhere once I reworked it.

However, if things proceed normally, there are typically three main types of edits drafts go through (in this order):

1. Content and context. This is the most intensive edit, wherein an editor does a review of the entire draft to make sure it is as thorough and complete as possible. The purpose of this type of review is to poke holes in the content and to make sure it has all the important context it needs to be nuanced and balanced.

This editor works to ensure a reader’s potential questions are answered, to eliminate any instances of opinion or bias, and to ensure all points are backed with reliable and current research. It’s not uncommon for a first draft to be sent back to the writer with many suggested edits, comments, and markup (which can feel overwhelming for the writer at first glance.)

This is an excellent learning experience for the writer, wherein he or she can observe and note the editor’s recommendations for building a stronger piece.

2. Style and format. Once the basic content of the piece is sound, the next edit focuses on consistencies across style and format. This means reviewing the writing voice and tone while also tweaking headings, pull quotes, images, and examples, so they are consistent with the publication’s standard formatting. This is also where the fact-checking and basic grammar review happens.

3. Search engine optimization (SEO.) In this final phase of the review, a team member with SEO expertise will review and tweak the draft to be sure it’s optimized for relevant keyword phrases, thus helping boost the likelihood it will rank well in organic search results.

Distribution

Once a draft has made it through the editing gamut, the final stage is planning its publication date and distribution plan. After all, what good is all this effort if just a few people read it?

This often includes a few different waves of promotion.

Phase one: Date content goes live

This phase is about announcing the piece (and all the hard work that went into it) to the world.

• Notifying any sources that were cited or quoted within the piece when it goes live and providing a link to the said piece (in hopes of some added organic distribution via those individuals)

• Writing copy for the organization’s various social media platforms

• Developing teaser content, such as short-form videos, Twitter threads, or visual snippets

Phase two: 1-3 weeks post-publish

This phase is focused on getting a little extra mileage out of the material once the excitement about the initial release has died down.

• Resurfacing the content across owned social media channels, sometimes with advertising dollars behind them

• More teaser content, pulling different quotes and snippets from the piece

• Community seeding (promoting the material on Quora, Reddit, and other relevant forums where the target audience spends time)

Phase three: 3-6 months post-publish

If the piece performs well and drives noteworthy traffic to the site, it’s a good candidate for revisiting. Updating and repurposing help ensure the article continues to be a useful traffic driver to the site.

• Content repurposing (taking the original content and repackaging it into new formats like YouTube videos, infographics, audio, etc.)

• Updating content to include new data released since the original publish date, fresh examples, etc.

Whew, that was a lot!

​Blogs and publications with extremely high editorial standards are NO JOKE. The process isn’t for the average writer who isn’t up for a challenge.

However, if you’re a writer who wants to push the limits of your skillset, opting into this process has a few major benefits:

• You’ll get to learn from a top-notch editor who pushes you to do your very best work.

• You’ll get an end product that you’re proud to share and spotlight within your portfolio (and usually a great byline you can tout as a proof point, too.)

• You’ll have gained some major patience and persistence when it comes to your writing practice (‘cause handling all those edits is…a lot.)

All in all, it’s a great challenge. It's a little stressful, a little intense, but if you make it out to the other side, you'll have a whole new worldview when it comes to writing.

Leveraging Internal Dialogue in Writing

Lately, the books I’ve picked up to read all have a common theme: They have a narrator or character who allows us deep inside his or her mind.

I’ve been drawn to this writing style because it’s one of the few environments in which we, as readers, get to hear another person’s inner dialogue, thoughts, worries, and authentic assessments of the world around him or her.

• Movies/TV give us visual cues, but we don’t get much context as to what characters think as they move through different situations.

• Podcasts are usually shorter-form and topic-based, so the format doesn’t often lend itself to this type of insight-sharing.

Books, however, have pages upon pages in which a writer can pull back the curtain of their characters’ minds (and, more accurately, their own minds. After all, their lives and experiences are often the source material.)

Here are some examples of what I mean:

“Look what can happen in this country, they’d say. A girl lives in some out-of-the-way town for nineteen years, so poor she can’t afford a magazine, and then she gets a scholarship to college and wins a prize here and a prize there and ends up steering New York like her own private car. Only I wasn’t steering anything, not even myself. I just bumped from my hotel to work and to parties and from parties to my hotel and back to work like a numb trolleybus. I guess I should have been excited the way most of the other girls were, but I couldn’t get myself to react. I felt very still and very empty, the way the eye of a tornado must feel, moving dully along in the middle of the surrounding hullabaloo.” -Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar

“There is something about looking into someone else’s mirror, something that always gives me more information than I need. In the past three years I have tried to turn lemons into lemonade by reciting old Tumblr affirmations into these mirrors, but it hasn’t helped.” -Raven Leilani, Luster

“Epiphanies aren’t lightning bolts. They are a hummed note, a prayer mumbled constantly, brought to the surface given the right conditions. It’s as if I am always hearing three ways, first shallowly, collecting, then one level deeper as I’m processing, and finally, I am hearing with my body, which is when I’m hearing myself. That’s one way, for me, information combines with experience and becomes knowledge. I wish there were a shortcut.” -Stephanie Danler, Stray

You’ll notice a few commonalities here.

1. This is private inner monologue put onto the page and laid bare. We all have rich interior lives, but we keep them to ourselves. Our inner thoughts, feelings, judgments, etc. are kept private. Why? Often they’re too honest. They’d hurt feelings, make us look petty, or feel too vulnerable to put “out there.” So we keep them locked up and stick to the socially-acceptable rules of engagement.

When writers put this on the page, though, we get to see that other people do think/feel/experience similar things (and it can be cold comfort.) It makes us feel more connected, more seen, and more understood as human beings when we know other people deal with some of the same things or think similar thoughts.

2. Female writers seem to do this particularly well. I haven’t quite nailed down why that is, and it very well could just be that my personal preferences lean toward female authors. It could also be that men aren’t as often raised to be emotion-centric in how they think and communicate the way women are. An exception to this that comes to mind, however, is J.D. Salinger’s Holden Caulfield character in The Catcher in the Rye:

“I was trying to feel some kind of good-bye. I mean I’ve left schools and places I didn’t even know I was leaving them. I hate that. I don’t care if it’s a sad good-bye or a bad good-bye, but when I leave a place I like to know I’m leaving it. If you don’t you feel even worse.”

It’s a bit of that inner thought-style writing, but it’s still pretty surface-level, you know?

Often these reflections are almost philosophical, in that the writer is ‘thinking about thinking.’ By taking a step back and observing their thoughts and feelings once removed, the author builds a sense of empathy with the reader. It’s a way of saying: “Here’s what happened, and here’s how I thought about and processed it.” Doing so also encourages the reader to do the same in his/her own life, and can improve emotional intelligence (which is a nice plus.)

So what can we take from this, and how can we work it into our writing?

There are a few takeaways that I think writers should consider as they keep honing their craft.

Reading is great practice for writing.

The more you consume and internalize, the better prepared you are to wield words in similar, but unique ways. Stephen King puts it nicely:

“Good writing teaches the learning writer about style, graceful narration, plot development, the creation of believable characters, and truth-telling. A novel like The Grapes of Wrath may fill a new writer with feelings of despair and good old-fashioned jealousy – “I’ll never be able to write anything that good, not if I live to be a thousand” – but such feelings can also serve as a spur, goading the writer to work harder and aim higher. Being swept away by a combination of great story and great writing – of being flattened, in fact – is part of every writer’s necessary formation. You cannot hope to sweep someone else away by the force of your writing until it has been done to you.”

Honest, reflective introspection adds depth to your writing.

It doesn’t matter what format you’re writing: A novel, a blog post, whatever it is…adding your authentic inner dialogue to your writing is effective storytelling 101. Don’t be afraid to be transparent and share the good, the bad, and the ugly with your readers. They’ll like you more for it.

This Email Subject Line Generated a 60.1% Open Rate

The subject line of my latest newsletter was strategic; I wanted to prove a point.

It read: ‘Did you write this?’

And guess what? It generated a 60.1% open rate: my highest in the last 12 months.

More than 3,350 people opened the email.

The point: Curiosity is an incredibly powerful tool writers can use to spark action in the reader.

We all know about clickbait headlines. This is not about that.

This is about biology and psychology at play. It’s evidence of how humans’ brains are wired to fill information gaps, to eliminate uncertainty, and to get to the bottom of things.

In this email subject line, I posed a simple, realistic question and included the definite article ‘you’, which adds instant personal relevancy.

Recipients probably read that and thought: “Wait, did I? What’s she referring to? I better find out.”

A bit on the science behind why this happened and why information gaps are an effective tool for writers

• Swiss psychologist and pioneer in cognitive development research Dr. Jean Piaget defined curiosity as "the urge to explain the unexpected."

• Psychologist Daniel Berlyne built on this idea to define a specific type of curiosity called informational specificity, which is curiosity related to the desire for a particular piece of information. (That’s what we’re talking about here.)

• Psychologist George Loewenstein went on to describe this type of curiosity as “a cognitive-induced deprivation that arises from the perception of a gap in knowledge and understanding.” His information gap theory holds that curiosity functions like other drive states (such as hunger), which motivates eating.

But here’s where things get interesting:

• Loewenstein found that a small amount of information serves as a priming dose, which greatly increases curiosity. But over time, when enough information is consumed, satiation occurs and additional information only serves to reduce further curiosity.

Translation: Too much information squelches our curiosity and reduces our desire to seek out information.

This begs the question: Are our brains too over-taxed these days for curiosity to be effective tool for modern writers?

Personally, I’ve been feeling this in a big way lately.

Day in and day out, I’m consuming information for my client work. In my downtime, I’m reading, listening to podcasts, watching TV, scrolling social media…the information input is endless.

And it is freakin’ exhausting.

Maybe you’ve felt this too. By the end of the day, your brain feels like mush, and you just want to do something mindless to unwind before bed.

Two key takeaways on curiosity as a writing tool

1. Curiosity can be a huge advantage; it motivates us to learn, to expand our frames of reference about the world, and to find answers to burning questions. But when we over-tax our brains, we squash that natural ability.

I think this makes a large case for regular time spent unplugged, without information being sent in for processing.

Maybe that means going for a walk outside (without headphones!), sitting outside absorbing the scenery, taking a long bath, or even meditating (I haven’t mastered that one, though.)

2. Curiosity does still work as a strategic tool for writers, but that power needs to be wielded with caution.

Manageable information gaps are the way to go: Strive to create enough of a challenge for the info gap to be stimulating, but it shouldn’t be a misleading claim that makes the reader feel tricked.

Bottom line: Maybe it’s time to reset your brain so it can have that revived sense of curiosity.

And on the other hand, knowing what you know now, you can use curiosity responsibly and empathetically, understanding that your audience is probably struggling with the same mental overload issues.

It's our job as writers to fully understand our audiences and to address them accordingly.

Use that power for good...not manipulation.

Want more on using psychology for good as a writer?

Here's a deep dive I did on empathy in copywriting with alllll the nerdy science and steps to do it well. I also spoke about this topic at length on a podcast a while back.

Storytelling 101 for Founders

One thing I hear fairly often from people in leadership roles (whether it’s a founder, a CEO, a solopreneur, etc.) is that they struggle with writing about their personal experiences in a compelling, story-driven way.

They’ve had lots of interesting ups and downs, gained first-hand insight into complex situations (good and bad), and have a lot of fun stories to tell, but they never quite seem to get the words out of their brains and onto the page so they can be shared.

• For some, it’s purely a time issue. (In these cases, I say: Record a voice note talking through the story and hand it off to a writer who can build out a polished narrative via a service like Content Remix!)

• For others, it’s that they don’t feel confident in their writing abilities and don’t even know where to start as far as constructing the story arc in a compelling way. The blank page is just too intimidating.

• And then for others, it’s a matter of: “I can write about this, but my draft needs a lot of work. I need help getting my writing to a place where I’d be comfortable sharing it in a public space!”

Today, I’m going to share a few tips and tricks in hopes of addressing these roadblocks that get in the way of smart folks sharing their insights in a written format.

Why? Because we NEED to hear these stories. Especially when they’re coming from founders/leaders within underrepresented groups.

Let’s get into it, shall we?

1. First: Structure.

Great storytelling typically follows a fairly basic structure.

If you’re just wanting to tell a story, you’d use a narrative arc.

This arc is made up of the events in your story—the sequence of occurrences in the plot—and the peaks and plateaus that set the pace. A good arc engages your readers from start to finish and delivers a satisfying conclusion.

There’s a relatively calm beginning, a middle where tension, character conflict, and narrative momentum builds to a peak, and an end where the conflict is resolved.

This structure works well for stories about lessons learned, obstacles/challenges overcome, etc.

Example theme: I wasted $10,000 on a marketing course. Here’s what I learned (and what I’m doing differently now.)

If you’re going for a more journalistic/content marketing style of writing, you’d use the inverted pyramid approach.

In this format, the most important information (or what might even be considered the conclusion) is presented first. The who, what, when, where, and why appear at the start of a story, followed by supporting details and background information.

This structure works well for stories about growth hacks, successes/wins, etc.

Example theme: Key takeaways from raising $2M in VC funding for X company

2. The outline

Once you’ve decided on the storytelling structure you want to use, next it’s time to start mapping out the elements of your story so they fall in the right places. This will make up your very rough outline as you get started.

Sometimes it’s helpful to think of this as a timeline.

Start writing down bullet points of how the story unfolds (in your mind) from start to finish. Include as many details as you want here; you can weed things out later on.

Just get it down on the page so you know what you’re working with.

3. Adding depth

When your outline is started and you see the basic flow of the story structure, from here, you’ll want to add some depth and color that will make your story interesting for readers.

A play-by-play that stays at surface level isn’t all that compelling for readers. They want to know:

• How did you feel (internally) at different points in this story?

• What were you stressed about, and what kept you up at night?

• What were you excited about (and why?)

Note here: Try to go deeper than writing something like “I was excited!” or “I was so nervous!” as these basic types of sentences still feel fairly surface-level. Remember to show, not tell. What made you excited or nervous? What was driving those emotions? What was on the line?

This is an opportunity to build an emotional connection with the reader, so be fairly transparent about what was happening behind the scenes.

No one likes to root for the superhuman. We want to read stories from real, fellow human beings who worry and fail and are constantly learning (just like we are.)

Be a little bit vulnerable and open up for your readers so they can peek inside your brain.

4. The draft

If you’ve followed the steps to this point, you should have a pretty robust outline that can be turned into a draft fairly easily. It just needs to be built out. This is where you can add in your personalized writing voice so it sounds like you’re telling the story to each individual reader face-to-face.

Another good idea: Add in some images for context. If you snapped photos that relate to different parts of the story you’re telling and have images of the people/places involved, add them! This visual insight adds another layer to your story and makes your story even more authentic and real for the readers.

As far as word count goes, there are no hard and fast rules here. Trust your gut and deliver the core details of the story without getting too rambling or tangential. A good editor or a second set of eyes on your draft is always a good idea if you’re not sure how to gauge that.

5. Publish and repeat

The last step: Hit publish and share your story.

Maybe this is on a blog, a newsletter, a Twitter thread, an Instagram story…the format is up to you (and repackaging it into multiple formats is always a good idea for getting more eyeballs on what you’ve created.)

The bottom line here is: Don’t get hung up on your draft being perfect. Perfect is the enemy of done. You’ll learn and improve along the way as you continue to practice your storytelling skills.

Heck, even I look back at things I wrote five years ago and think, “Ugh, cringe!” But that’s part of the learning process. You can’t get better unless you keep at it. Also: You’re probably your own worst critic. No one is judging your story as harshly as you are.

All that’s left to do now is to start.

Got stories? Let’s hear ‘em. Get to writing, friends. This eBook I put together has even more writing lessons that'll help jumpstart your efforts.

Write Better Right Now: Digital Book + Exercises

$75.00

I Hired an Editor. Here's Why.

I spend a lot of time editing these days. I mean…a LOT.

Whether it’s a draft or an outline from a subcontractor, a podcast write-up for our side business Content Remix, or just a final read-through on a super long-form post, the reality is: I’ve been spending hours each day staring at words on a screen.

After experiencing some burnout and feeling overwhelmed, I decided it was time to outsource some of the heavy lifting when it comes to editing.

The reality is: When you’ve stared at a piece for a long time, your eyes kind of glaze over. You’re too “in it” to see the content with fresh eyes and a sharp mind.

So, I hired an editing service: Chatty.

About the Editing Service I Use

Chatty is founded by an editor I’ve worked with in the past, Kieran Tie.

He’s got a great eye for catching not just the little tweaks needed for flow, tone consistency, and grammatical perfection, but he always gives great notes that poke holes in my writing to make it stronger, more in-depth, and more valuable for readers.

When I heard he was launching this subscription-based editing service, it seemed like the perfect fit for what I needed.

I opted for the Pro plan ($799/mo) which does cut into my profits a bit, but the quality boost it’s provided is worth it and then some. This tier includes 2-3 day turnaround times and a dedicated editor for my work.

Plus: Now I can market this editing extra that’s included with my rates as a value-add for the clients I work with.

Perks of Outsourcing my Editing

Having a professional editor review my pieces before they’re turned in means less editing work for them (and no silly mistakes slipping through on my end.)

As a writer, there’s not a whole lot you can do when it comes to boosting efficiency aside from having a documented process/workflow and being heads-down during the workday.

BUT! Taking this one small piece of daily work off my plate has freed up a few hours every week, which has already made a huge difference. It gives me more mental bandwidth to think big-picture about my business and has already lowered my stress levels quite a bit.

Now I can do my final read-through and send off first drafts that are damn close to ready-to-publish versions. And, um…what client doesn’t love that?

If this is something you’re considering for 2022, I can’t recommend this service enough. I’m a few weeks in and I can already tell this was a smart move not just for improving the quality of my work, but for my mental health, too.

Here’s to finding better balance in the year ahead!

4 Secrets to Writing Great Copy

If you're writing copy (as in, writing to sell something), there are four things I recommend doing.

1. Write in first person.

First person means using pronouns like ‘we’, ‘us’, and ‘our’.

This inclusive language taps into what Seth Godin calls tribal marketing. “More than features and benefits, we’re driven to become part of a tribe,” he writes.

That means creating copy that teases out the mentality of “people like us do things like this.”

Dagne Dover backpack example: This capsule’s gestation took two solid years - longer than it takes to create a human baby. Trust us, we know because one of our founders has been pregnant for one-third of the time we’ve been working on it. But the time spent thoughtfully creating these bags was well worth it because we believe it’s the best baby capsule eva (like eva).

See the use of 'we' and 'us' and 'our'? It makes you feel like an insider listening to a friend.

2. Incorporate sensory language.

Sensory language helps create a vivid mental picture through words that describe textures, moods, and feelings.

Remember: We buy based on emotion and then justify with logic. Tap into those emotions and leverage nostalgia when it makes sense.

Jeni's Ice Creams example: In the Buckeye State (aka Ohio, where we are headquartered), one two-bite sweet is revered above all others: Buckeye candies. Designed to look like a nut from a buckeye tree, they are little rounds of creamy dark chocolate filled with rich peanut butter. And they are everywhere. Grocery stores to gas stations, gourmet chocolate shops to grandma’s kitchen. Salted Peanut Butter with Chocolate Flecks is our loving tribute to Ohio and our signature candy. We make it with fresh, salted roasted peanuts and chips of rich Belgian dark chocolate flecks.

Vivid, right?! This copy makes me want ice cream, like, NOW.

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This post is brought to you in partnership with Peak Freelance, a membership for freelancers with VIP access to expert advice from content pros at Shopify, Clearscope, Ahrefs, and G2 so you can learn and grow fast.

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3. Write like your audience speaks.

To do this well, you’ll need to do some research and talk to your audience. That might be via a focus group, by looking through customer reviews/ratings/testimonials, conducting surveys, or having one-to-one conversations.

From there, you can look for common words and phrases your audience members use when talking about your offerings and then mirror it back to them in your copy.

Glossier lipstick example: The (cashmere) sweatpants of lipstick. The rich moisture of a balm, the sheen of a gloss, and the buildable color of a lip tint, without the hassle of layering multiple products—it’s one tube, one step.

You can tell these descriptions came straight from product reviews. It just feels real, you know?

4. Be specific.

Context is king. When talking about what you’re selling, get specific.

Provide details that build a story and draw the reader in. Answer questions like: What does your offering do/look like/feel like in action?

Help the reader envision him or herself getting value from the offering and enjoying it to the fullest.

Haus (alcoholic drink) example: Chardonnay grapes are the foundation of every bottle. We started with grapes from our farm...our grapes are unoaked for a clean, fruity palate. We also peel our lemons by hand and use the rinds for their essential oils to add a bright citrus flavor that gives the tastebuds a wake up call.

This copy's so good you can almost taste it.

I've got a few more tips on how you can improve your copy right here if you want a bit more.

How to Break the Fourth Wall in Writing

Today, I'm going to teach you an easy way to help your writing connect with readers.

You know how sometimes you’ll read something and it comes across as stiff, overly formal, or stuffy?

It happens a lot (especially in the business world.) The cure for this situation is to break down the walls between the writer and the reader so there’s a deeper feeling of connection, emotional resonance, and an overall more conversational tone.

This type of writing is far easier to read (and it’s much more memorable.)

I was recently reminded of a brilliant way to accomplish this: It’s called breaking the fourth wall.

The fourth wall is a term that comes from the acting world, referring to the fourth “wall” that actors pretend separates them from the audience. When an actor directly addresses the audience, it’s called “breaking the fourth wall.”

But this isn’t limited to visual formats.

In writing, you can also break the fourth wall by speaking directly to your readers. Sometimes these are called “asides” or “authorial interjections." It often means the writer pauses one thought to hop in with his or her internal monologue, directed at the reader.

Here’s an example: “I love living in New York. (Well...only the East Village. I wouldn't be caught dead signing a lease in Midtown). The culture and excitement here can’t be beat.”

See how the original thought is broken up by a peek at the writer’s thoughts and feelings? It’s essentially a cheat coat for more conversational, natural-sounding writing.

Of course, you can’t use this tactic just anywhere. There are pros and cons to deploying it (as there are with most things!)

Pros of Asides in Writing

• They help stress important ideas/provide a deeper understanding around the complexities of events or concepts

• They help illuminate the writer’s thoughts, feelings, or opinions

• They allow the writer to reveal something they want the readers to know

• They make the reader feel personally addressed

• They allow the writer to advise and act as a guide for readers

Cons of Asides in Writing

• If done too subtly, they can go unnoticed or be interpreted as sloppy, unfocused writing

• They can sometimes disrupt the pacing of your writing, thus hurting overall readability

• They can seem clumsy or awkward if correct punctuation isn’t used

So...how do you do it right? There are a few easy ways:

First person

In the first person format, the writer is already relaying the story to the reader. This means addressing the reader in a slightly more direct way can happen naturally.

Example: I'm always running late for work. In reality, it's because I oversleep, but I tell my boss it's because of terrible traffic. Added downside: I'm always left with the final grainy dregs in the break room coffee pot.

Using asides while writing in first person helps the writer create a feeling like putting a hand on the reader’s arm to say: “Here’s what I really think about this”, or, “Here’s what this really means.”

Em dashes, parenthesis, and footnotes

Interjecting a sentence with a thought inside em dashes or parentheses makes it easy for you to briefly re-direct the reader’s attention to a point you want to make or a piece of information you think he/she should know.

Example: Micheal roamed down the street, his shoes tripping along the rough stones. His ambling, slow pace was unusual to the people watching from balconies in his neighborhood—they were used to seeing him zip along at a fast clip, head down, arms swinging—but tonight, limbs heavy with wine, he moved without any sense of hurry, as if underwater.

This approach works well in highly conversational writing, but keep in mind that it can break up the flow of your writing. Try to keep the interjections short and then get back to what you were saying.

Or, if you’d rather keep things moving and use a less invasive approach, you could instead use footnotes to relay these comments to the reader at the bottom of a page. Writer's call.

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No matter which approach you choose, remember: Writing this way helps you quickly and easily connect with your readers.

It's also a shortcut to more stylized writing, giving your writing voice a more signature sound and flow.

The bottom line here: The fourth wall can be broken.

The question is: Are you willing to give it a try?

Want more insight on how to write conversationally? I've got a whole chapter on it in my eBook!

Write Better Right Now: Digital Book + Exercises

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10 actionable writing how-tos that will help you write better, faster plus 6 bonus lessons with writing exercises and workbook.

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15 Writing Tips from a Professional Editor

Ever wondered what things a professional editor looks for when he/she sits down to edit?

I know I do. I want to be able to know what to look for in my writing and turn a sharp editorial eye on the things I put together.

That’s why I recently reached out to Jess Huckins, a professional editor and writer of 12+ years who has produced content for massive companies like Workhuman, Microsoft, and Tom Brady’s TB12—among others.

Everyone approaches editing a little bit differently, but here are a few common things she always keeps an eye out for.

Let’s take a look at what they are.

1. Editors often expect writers to not accept a lot of the changes they mark within a document.

“We’re not grading a test; we’re flagging inconsistencies and potential errors to make sure they’re intentional. If you’re cool with 85-90% of my edits, I’m ecstatic,” she said.

2. If you self-edit, learn the ins and outs of a style guide such as AP or CMOS.

You’ll write more efficiently when you don’t stop to think about Oxford commas or whether that compound word should be hyphenated or fused.

3. Use only one space after a period or other punctuation.

“Two spaces are as dead as the printing presses on which they originated,” she said.

4. Put in the extra thought to avoid jargon and clichés. It’ll make your work more precise.

5. A “from” needs a “to.” No exceptions, not even when writing the time of an event.

6. “Since” and “due to” are not great synonyms for “because” or “because of.”

Colloquially, sure—but not in professional writing.

7. Refer to a government, a company, or a partnership as “it” and use a singular verb.

(The singular “they” is awesome, but it applies to people.)

8. Most words—including job titles, department names, and specialized technology—don’t need to be capitalized.

“A lot of capitalization orbiting out there on the web is meaningless unless you’re entering a password. There, I said it.”

9. Using simple language isn’t for the sake of your audience’s intellect; it’s about respecting their time.

10. Contrary to what the Bachelor franchise would have us believe, “I’s” is not a word.

To show compound possession, use “my”: “Britney’s and my first date.” If that feels awkward, swap in “our.”

11. Items in a list should share the same grammatical form.

This is called parallel structure, and it’s jarring when people get it wrong.

12. Em-dashes and en-dashes got their names because they’re, respectively, the same length as “m” and “n.”

Don’t use either one when you should use a hyphen, and vice versa.

13. Accuracy is currency.

Be credible with your sources or risk breaking the reader’s trust.

14. Grammar is more subjective than you might think.

Good editors understand nuance.

15. No one will read your work as closely as your copy editor.

(Well, except maybe your mom.) Relax and enjoy the attention!

Hope these tips are as helpful to you as they were for me!

And remember: Don't take edits personally.

When you work with an editor the goal is to produce the best possible piece. You're on the same team; not opponents.

How to be Mindful of Others' Points of View When Writing

The more time I spend with words, the more I realize that they’re not just flat characters that live on the page (or the screen.)

Instead, words create three-dimensional objects and settings that can be viewed from different angles, perspectives, and through various lenses.

Translation: What you write might look/sound/feel one way to you, but could, in fact, come across totally different to your readers.

Always ask the turtle

This concept is sort of like this story I came across in Gloria Steinem’s book My Life on the Road:

I took a course in geology because I thought it was the easiest way of fulfilling a science requirement. One day the professor took us out into the Connecticut River Valley to show us the 'meander curves' of an age-old river.

I was paying no attention because I had walked up a dirt path and found a big turtle, about two feet across, on the muddy embankment of an asphalt road. I was sure it was going to crawl onto the road and be crushed by a car.

So with a lot of difficulty, I picked up the huge snapping turtle and slowly carried it down the road to the river.

Just as I had slipped it into the water and was watching it swim away, my geology professor came up behind me. "You know," he said quietly, "that turtle has probably spent a month crawling up the dirt path to lay its eggs in the mud on the side of the road—you have just put it back in the river."

I felt terrible. It took me many more years to realize that this parable taught me an important lesson: Always ask the turtle.

Personal lenses

This concept came up again when I was listening to the Tim Ferriss podcast a while ago. He had author and writing professor Mary Karr on, and I loved how she added experimental context to this idea.

On the first day of class, she has a fellow professor (male) come into her classroom and start a scuffle over who was supposed to be using that particular class space.

He says it’s his, she argues its hers. She makes sure to play the accommodating female role (keeps eyes down, doesn’t shout, tries to problem-solve), while the male professor plays aggressor (shouting, making a scene, and pointing.)

Once the male professor eventually leaves, Karr asks her students to write down a recount of what just unfolded in the classroom as a way to try and divert attention back to teaching.

When the students are done writing, she asks people to share what they’ve written out loud.

And guess what? Every single story is different.

• Some people remembered the male professor as out of control, while others saw him as reasonably frustrated.

• Some people recounted Karr as the aggressor.

• Others recounted actions and words that were never actually said at all.

The point of this exercise is to expose these writers to this truth that everything (not just what we write about, but everything we experience during life) is interpreted through a personal lens that’s shaped by our own experiences, biases, and perceptions.

What this means for your writing: Watch for four-letter words

In our modern world, people are paying attention. They’re listening closely to what others say, write, and share. It’s more important than ever to be mindful of how our words may be perceived beyond our personal worldviews.

Nothing is one-sided; everyone filters and perceives things differently.​ (Tweet this)

We have to be careful about using four-letter words (and not ones that look like this: $^*!) that can often be a slippery slope. Why? Because they’re often subjective. Just because they’re true to you, it doesn’t mean they’ll be true to someone else.

These are four-letter words like:

• Best

• Most

• Only

• Real

• True

• Easy

• Fair

• Weak

• Just

• Sole

• Pure

• Rare

• Good

The bottom line: Our culture is becoming increasingly sensitive when it comes to day-to-day communication.

Think about this fact before you send that tweet, push out that email, or launch that marketing campaign.

Ask yourself: How could someone else interpret this? Is there room for ambiguity?

If the answer is yes, you’re not done writing.

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P.S. Are you getting the Yeah Write Club newsletter yet? If not, sign up and get access to writing jobs, resources, and interviews with top-tier writers, authors, and editors working at places like the New York Times, Netflix, and beyond.

How to Become a Better Writer in 30 Days

Ever launched into a writing practice with a ton of energy, but then got discouraged when you came to your first plateau?

You’ve hit your stride with a regular writing routine…and then, WHAM!

You crash into a wall that brings your progress to a screeching halt.

It’s easy to throw your hands up at this point, but you can and you will keep improving if you don’t give up on writing.

The truth is: You won’t transform into a masterful writer overnight, but you can become a better writer in just 30 days—as long as you have the right approach.

Here’s what you need to consider going into this.

What to do in 30 days to become a better writer

If you want to improve your writing over the next month, you need to write, study, and read every single day. It sounds like a lot, I know…but if you commit to doing all three things for the next 30 days, you’ll be a much stronger, more confident writer.

Your practice also needs to be intentional if you want to see a marked difference in the next 30 days. (So...emailing your sister or chatting in the company Slack channel don’t count.)

The TL;DR version of what you need to do is:

1. Establish a daily writing practice

2. Study writing

3. Read every day

If you're like, "Oh, okay, I think I get it," then I suppose you can stop reading and go on with your day. BUT! I've got a whooooooole lot more advice on each of these steps below. I'd love it if you kept reading.

Step 1: Establish a writing practice

1. Create a daily writing routine

If you want a daily writing habit to stick, you need to bake it into your daily routine. It doesn’t matter when—early in the morning, late at night, or somewhere in between.

What does matter is making sure it’s on your schedule every single day over the next month. Pick a consistent time every day and hold yourself to it. It can be 10 minutes, 30 minutes, an hour—whatever feels most realistic to you.

That time will likely be cut from some other activity you normally do (like watching TV or scrolling on your phone), but it’s time well spent.

And yes, we all have a spare 15 minutes each day. It’s just a matter of whether or not we care enough to devote it to a different activity.

That said: There will be days that you either don’t feel like writing or have no clue what to write.

That’s okay. Writer’s block strikes us all. But you need to stick to the routine if you want to become a better writer.

Another idea: Get an accountability partner, reward yourself for following through each day with a small prize or treat, or start a jar where you have to pay $X for every day you miss.

These small measures can help keep you on track.

2. Draft internally

While you’re out doing something passive (like walking, driving, washing dishes, folding laundry, etc.) use this time to work on a mental first draft. Even famous authors like Joyce Carol Oates are known for using runs and walks for this very purpose.

It’s sort of like letting your brain work on the topic in the background: I find myself hearing phrases and sentences emerge during this time that I often end up building into the piece.

If it’s helpful, record some voice notes or tap ideas into your phone that you can come back to later (so they don’t float out of your brain to be lost forever.)

3. Hold off on editing

When you sit down to write, resist the urge to make everything *perfect* the first time.

Perfectionism will cripple your writing and might even keep you from improving. You have to get ideas out of your head and onto paper, so write an ugly first draft.

While it may seem counterintuitive, this practice will help you think through your idea in its raw form. It’s a brain dump.

Over the next month, spend your daily writing time writing—no matter how it turns out at first. You can come back to fix it up later.

4. Dabble in other writing styles

Pushing yourself outside of your writing comfort zone can make you a better writer.

You should spend the bulk of your writing time working on your main medium, but you should also set aside some time each week over the next month to write something different.

For example: If you usually write long-form blog posts, try writing some headlines for your favorite companies or product descriptions for the items you use every day. If you spend all day writing landing pages and sales copy, take a stab at explaining one of your hobbies in a blog post.

This exercise will be tough, but it will force you to think about writing from a different perspective. That perspective will give you a well-rounded approach to your daily writing.

5. Use the right tools

The internet puts all sorts of handy tools at your fingertips—so take advantage of them.

Here are some of my favorites when it comes to writing tools:

• Grammarly combs through your writing to find common grammatical and editing mistakes you might have overlooked

• Copy.ai helps generate a variety of ideas when you’re stuck on different facets of writing

• Hemingway app checks for structures that make your writing tough to read (like long sentences and passive verbs)

• Wordtune is great for weeding out repetitive words and suggesting better ones to swap in

If you add these to your daily writing routine, you’ll see the quality of your work shoot up nearly overnight.

6. Read what you write out loud

Reading what you write out loud will help you find your unique writing voice.

Not some edited, ivory tower voice with no personality—your authentic voice. You know: The one you use to rip apart a bad movie with your friends or share good news with your family.

Writing in your own voice makes your work relatable. Readers feel like they’re hearing from a real person with real feelings, not some faceless being.

When you’re reading out loud, ask yourself: “Is this how I’d say that to my co-worker?”

If it’s not, explain to yourself (or call your co-worker and explain it to him or her if you want, and record the conversation.)

Then write it down. That’s your voice.

Step 2: Study writing

If you’re trying to become a better writer over the next 30 days, you need to become a student of writing.

Think of it like this: Do pro sports players only show up to practice and games, then check out for the rest of the week?

Of course not.

• They and their coaches also watch game films.

• They study their own work, the work of their competition, and the work of their idols.

• They’re students of the game, and it makes them much better players.

If you want to become a much better writer, you need to step back from writing and study work you and other people have already done.

Set aside a little bit of time each day for it, and you’ll be on your way to becoming a better writer.

Not sure how to do it? Here are a few ideas to get you started.

7. Work with an honest editor

A great editor is your best friend when it comes to improving your writing.

I mean, it’s fairly hard to become a better writer if there’s no one willing to point out any mistakes (and then suggesting how to improve them.) Editors are your go-to for spotting issues that you may not be able to see on your own.

When looking for an editing partner, seek out someone who is kind, patient...and ruthless.

It’s important they be honest about problems they see without beating you over the head with them and making you feel stupid. This doesn’t have to be a professional editor, either. It can be someone with an external perspective who simply knows good vs. bad writing.

8. Get better at self-editing

On that same note, you also want to learn to self-edit and spot your own writing weaknesses so you can improve them.

Explain what’s wrong with your own writing—can you put your mistakes and possible improvements into words? From there, ask yourself what you can change to fix those errors before you make them.

Are there things you’re doing wrong over and over? Those are simple fixes. Make notes and remind yourself what to look out for as you write.

Remember: Writing is a learned skill, and as such, it requires self-discipline if you want to get better at it.

9. Embrace the reverse outline

Reverse outlining can be your secret weapon for dialing in your writing.

Here’s how it works:

1. Take a paragraph or section that you’ve already written

2. Turn each sentence into a bullet point

3. Follow the paragraph’s information hierarchy to make an outline

Reverse outlining strips away a paragraph’s style and leaves with only the substance and structure.

Ask yourself three questions once you see the outline:

• Does the hierarchy make sense?

• Does the paragraph tell the most important information first then support it?

• Does the paragraph do too much? Should I break it up?

After you have your answers, you can rearrange (or rewrite) the paragraph so it makes more sense.

Step 3: Read every day

One of the best pieces of writing advice I’ve heard comes from Stephen King:

“If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time—or the tools—to write. Simple as that.”

If you want to become a better writer this month, you should step away from the keyboard and pick up a book for a few minutes every day.

But don’t feel like you can only read non-fiction books about writing this month. Instead, mix in fiction, poetry, education, and the works of writers you look up to.

Each genre will give you a different view of what writing can be and how it affects readers. They’ll arm you with new ideas that you can use to make yourself a much stronger writer.

10. Become a better storyteller by reading fiction

Great fiction writers grab their readers and drag them into the world of their work. Using only words, readers can experience all five senses while reading a novel. It’s powerful.

Expanding your imagination through fiction will help bring your writing to life. You’ll learn to draw your readers in and keep them engaged with your work.

(Psst! Some of my fiction favorites here.)

11. Make your writing more emotion-driven by reading poetry

Poetry forces you to expand your mind while working to understand their imagery and symbolism. It's also a great way to stretch your vocabulary.

Plus: Poetry strengthens your grasp of language and teaches you how to write with emotion and empathy.

You’ll learn to connect with readers' feelings instead of merely transmitting information.

12. Deepen your knowledge by reading non-fiction

Reading non-fiction will improve your knowledge and show you new ways to make an argument and support it.

When flipping through non-fiction, you should ask yourself the following questions:

• How’s it organized? Look carefully at how the author presents information to prove a point.

• What’s important? The main idea of the book should be first and foremost, with plenty of evidence to back it up.

• Does it make sense? Is the writing filled with jargon and technical language that makes you feel like an idiot? This is what *not* to do. Everything should be clear and make sense (without a glossary.)

13. Improve your structure by reading your heroes

Finally, you’ll want to study the style of someone whose writing you really admire.

Ask yourself: Who’s doing what you want to do?

Read for style and presentation. Ask yourself: What is unique about this writer that makes you love their work?

• Is it their subject matter?

• Their style and flair for writing?

• Their expertise?

• Their ability to answer exactly what the reader’s asking?

Once you figure out what makes the writing tick, you can meld their style with your own to become a stronger writer. Reverse-engineer it and make it your own.

You + these strategies + 30 days = Better writer

Ready to get off the plateau and back to improving?

The next 30 days can be the sprint where you make it happen.

Create a daily writing practice, try some new approaches to writing and editing, and increase your reading time.

Need more structure?

My digital book Write Better Right Now is full of even more actionable tips, how-to lessons, and exercises (with a workbook!) that will help you become a better writer.

No matter which approach you take, I'm telling you: 30 days can make a world of difference.

How to Get Readers to Like You in 10 seconds

What if I told you it was possible to make readers like you within 10 seconds of reading?

You’d want to know how to do that, right? (I know I was like: “Um…sign me up!”)

It’s actually pretty easy to do. Here are four ways you can make this happen.

1. Make ‘em laugh

If a writer makes you laugh right off the bat, you’re going to like them. Why? It's science: Laughter cues an endorphin release in the brain. It also levels the playing field with the reader.

However, executing humor is a tough thing in writing; not everything that’s funny to you will be funny to someone else. So how do you write something that’s sure to make a reader internally chuckle, at the very least?

A few tactics I like to test out:

• Quote funny people. If you’re not sure your personal humor will land, find a relevant quote from someone with a more widespread “funny” approval rating and tie it into your opening.

• Poke fun at yourself. A little self-deprecating humor goes a long way. Exaggerate a scene. Never let the truth get in the way of a funny story. Hyperbole is your friend when you’re setting up funny context.

• Keep the humor on the dry side. One of my favorite opening lines is by author Bill Bryson. He writes: “I come from Des Moines. Somebody had to.” (This ticks multiple boxes!)

It might take some workshopping to perfect a funny opening, but when you’ve got the kinks worked out, humor puts you in the fast lane to likeability. (There's a lesson on 'how to write funny' in my book, too.)

2. Share your (believable, relatable) flaws

Sharing our shortcomings, flaws, and insecurities (see also: failures) in our writing means that we’re both:

A) self-aware of our imperfections, and
B) willing to be vulnerable with readers.

When we’re honest and vulnerable, it helps readers see us as fellow flawed humans…rather than untouchable, “I’ve got it all figured out” superhumans.

Does this mean you should talk about trauma from deep-seeded family issues or be self-deprecating to a fault? Probably not. Instead, the flaws and imperfections you talk about should be both believable (so, nothing major or grandiose) as well as relatable (so, nothing tied only to your individual life experience.)

Strive for a middle ground when sharing flaws. Tell a story about a time you thought you were going to succeed, but ultimately failed. Talk about experiences with self-doubt, imposter syndrome, or times when obstacles knocked you flat on your face.

Being candid about flaws and failures puts you and the reader on the same page. It says, “Hey, I’m just like you. I mess up, I fall down…and guess what? I survived, and I learned from the experience.”

3. Spotlight your personal achievements (not your privileges)

The flipside of any “I failed” story is that the character usually makes it through to the other side, learns an important lesson, and ultimately leverages that experience to achieve something great.

Those are stories of personal achievements. They’re earned, and they have an instant likeable quality to them.

Privileges, however, come without work. They’re advantages or immunities only available to a particular person or group. Writers who spotlight their privileges (knowingly or not) alienate their readers. No one wants to read about your special treatment. It makes the reader feel less-than.

There’s a reason people love to root for the underdog; the person who had to sweat, get knocked down, and maybe even wiggle through some mud and barbed wire to finish the race. That person had to EARN it.

Readers are never going to cheer for the person who crossed the finish line in a limo, dirt-free, without breaking a sweat. Because quite frankly, that person sucks.

4. Embrace your quirks

Everybody has something that makes them a little weird. Most of the time, society tells us not to talk or write about those things. They diverge from the norm, so we’re taught to hide away our idiosyncrasies.

But guess what? Your “weird thing” is probably someone else’s “weird thing,” too. Think about some of the most beloved characters in literature: They’ve all got quirks! And that’s part of the reason we like them.

Don’t be afraid to spotlight your personal oddities in writing.

You know that feeling you get when you're reading something and you recognize a part of yourself in someone else's thoughts or experiences? That's a super special moment.

It's also a green light when it comes to getting readers to like you.

*The fail-safe*

If none of these strategies are working for you and you still don’t feel very likable in your writing, there is a fail-safe: Write about your pets.

67% of US households have a pet (more than two-thirds!) and people LOVE their animals. If you want to be likable to a mass swath of your readers, write about your pet. It rarely (if ever) fails.

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Here's to your next piece of writing getting you voted "Most well-liked."

Vocabulary Tune-Up for Writers

I’ve been reading quite a bit lately, which gets me thinking about language and words.

The German word Schadenfreude is what kicked this off: It means pleasure derived by someone from another person's misfortune.

We don’t often use a lot of emotion-centric language in English: Instead, we defer to metaphor and simile to communicate those ideas in a more abstract way.

It turns out there is an English word for schadenfreude, by the way: it’s epicaricacy. But um...I’ve never seen it in the wild, nor do I know how to pronounce it.

Anyway. This thinking has now crept into my work as a writer.

Lately I’ve found myself frustrated at not being able to come up with interesting, fresh words that communicate my intended meanings as I write. So I had to pay a visit to my old friend, the thesaurus.

I thought I’d share some of the wildly underutilized words I found as part of that visit (in case you too want to give your vocabulary a boost.) The words I’ve included here felt most relevant to an audience of fellow writers and readers, so I hope you enjoy.

Underutilized words writers should know

Anecdoche - A conversation in which everyone is talking, but no one is listening.

Anodyne - Not likely to provoke dissent or offense; inoffensive, often deliberately so.

Captious - Nitpicking; liable to find fault.

Concinnity - The skillful and harmonious arrangement or fitting together of the different parts of something.

Dilettante - A person who cultivates an area of interest, such as the arts, without real commitment or knowledge.

Imbroglio - A complicated disagreement; a confused or chaotic situation.

Insipid - Dull; lacking qualities that excite, interest or stimulate.

Lacuna - A gap or absent part, as in a manuscript or logical argument; a hiatus.

Limn - To outline clearly and sharply; to highlight. Often used in reference to painting or drawing, but it also refers to outlining in words.

Luculent - Clear in thought or expression.

Otiose - Idle, redundant, serving no useful purpose, sterile, fruitless.

Pedant - A person who is excessively concerned with minor details and rules or with displaying academic learning.

Redolent - Reminiscent or suggestive of, like a scent.

Sagacity - Keen discernment or insight; sound judgment

These are just a few fun ones I thought were worth sharing, but the message here is: Don’t let boring words get you down.

Search out ones you haven’t used for a while and put them into rotation.

Want more quick writing refreshers?

• ​Grammar refresher​

• ​Common writing mistakes

Of course, there’s also this affordable resource (which comes with writing exercises) that’s basically a crash course in writing well.

Want more free insights on writing? Sign up and get them sent right to your inbox every other Wednesday.

How to Hire & Work with a Ghostwriter

For the most part, everybody has a reason they don’t write as much as they like to.

267 people on Twitter told me that when it comes to reasons for not writing, they fall into one of four main buckets:

1. Writing takes too long

2. Not sure what to write

3. I’m not good at writing

4. No time

Time was an issue for nearly half (48%) of the people who responded: A few said they just lacked the bandwidth to take their thoughts + subject matter expertise and put it down into a thoughtful, well-written piece.

Even professional writers themselves said they struggle with this: Bogged down with client work, they never get around to writing their own pieces.

When I asked a few people if they’d ever considered bringing on help to build these out, almost every single one said the same thing: No.

Why? Because:

• “I don’t have the time to train a writer; it’d be faster just to do it myself and I don’t have time for that either.”

• “I don’t know how to fully explain my ideas and distill my expertise for someone else. The info is locked inside my brain, and only I can communicate what’s in there.”

• “I don’t know how to teach someone else to sound like me.”

But guess what? There’s a solution to all of these objections.

It’s hiring a skilled ghostwriter.

What is a ghostwriter?

A ghostwriter (or ghost writer) is a writer hired to write pieces that are officially credited to another person as the author.

They’re the invisible, skilled communicators working behind the scenes to translate the thoughts and ideas of another into well-structured and engaging stories. Armed with a bit of direction, they can build out a piece of quality writing in the voice of the person they’ve been hired to write for.

Many people use ghostwriters—it’s a pretty common practice. Even a good chunk of your favorite books on the NYT Bestseller list were written by ghostwriters.

But people don’t always disclose/share when they’ve worked with a ghostwriter...because that’s kind of the point. Another Twitter poll I did showed that about 2/3 of people know someone who use a ghostwriter.

Image via Venngage

So how can you work with one to build your thought leadership, share your original ideas, and become a more prolific publisher?

How to find a ghostwriter

First things first: You need to find a quality ghostwriter.

The best way to find a great ghostwriter is to ask around. Referrals are always the way to go. That said, there are a few I can personally recommend that are affordable, do great work, and are currently taking new clients (just tell ‘em I sent you):

• ​Nia Gyant

• Charles Daly​

• ​Trevor Wallis​

I recommend the writers above because of their attention to detail and their ability to be chameleon-like, taking on the voice of the person/brand they’re writing for.

In general, your ghostwriter needs to be able to adapt your writing voice and willing to do some reading/listening to get familiar with how you should sound on the page.

Working with a ghostwriter

Once you’ve found your writing partner, it’s time to get to the nuts and bolts of working together.

Here’s what I recommend:

Fill out a writing brief. Your ghostwriter needs direction on the audience he or she is writing for, insight on what the goal of the piece is, and details on length, writing style, voice/tone, etc. Set your ghostwriter up for success by providing some basic context for the piece. (This template bundle has everything you need to execute this step with ease.)

Do a brain dump. You want to be as efficient as possible here, so think about how you’d be best suited to pass along the information stored inside your brain. Maybe it’s an audio recording where you talk through the idea and the key points to touch on. Maybe it’s a (fairly messy) Google Doc with bullet points and notes on some examples to include. Maybe it’s a video recording where you walk through the concept via screen share. Your call.

Note: Audio recordings of you talking through the idea are especially helpful, as the writer will then be able to pick up on how you speak and incorporate that into the writing voice.

Request an outline first. Having an outline to approve before the writer dives into a full first draft ensures you’re both on the same page (and saves you both lots of time in the editing phase.)

Build upon your foundation. As with all things, the process gets easier and more efficient with time. Working with a single ghostwriter long-term means they can get deeply familiar with your voice, and in time, they sort of become an extension of your brain. It’s like cloning yourself, but without the weird science and ethical dilemmas.

As you work with a ghostwriter, keep in mind:

Costs: Because you’re not giving the ghostwriter a byline or publishing credit, you can expect to pay slightly higher than normal rates. It’s only fair: They’re missing out on the SEO juju, forgoing the chance to include the work as a portfolio example, and are essentially a silent, invisible partner to you. As such, many upcharge for that (as they should, you know?)

Communication: You also need to be willing to iterate with your ghostwriter and available to answer questions. Open communication is essential to this type of working relationship, so keep the dialogue flowing. Speaking of...

Inclusive editing: When it comes to the editing process, include your ghostwriter. Resist the temptation to make edits in private. Instead, allow him or her to see the changes you’re making and explain why so they can incorporate that feedback into the next assignment.

While it requires some up-front work, this step is an important part of the learning process as your ghostwriter gets up to speed. It’ll ultimately make things more efficient moving forward.

Publish more, build authority

With the right ghostwriter on board as a partner in publishing, you can scale up your ability to teach what you know (which will position you as the subject matter expert you are.)

Think it over. Do some research. But don't let time get in the way of sharing the thoughts inside your brain. 

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Writing Lessons from the Existentialists

For the past few weeks, I’ve been reading about Existentialism. (My favorite book on the topic has been At the Existentialist Cafe by Sarah Bakewell.)

A thought clicked while I was reading: There’s a very prominent tie to writing within this particular philosophy because much of it relates to how we describe and interpret the world around us (through words.)

This is relevant not just to folks who consider themselves writers by trade or hobby, but to all of us.

We all communicate with others through the medium of words—and the better we are at doing that, the more clearly and effectively we can share what’s inside our minds.

The question is: How?

Existentialism says: “Go to things themselves in order to describe them, attempting rigorously to put into words what sometimes is considered inexpressible.”

Translation: Forgo the cliches and typical associations that come to mind when you describe something (like an idea, an image, a situation.) Instead, try to look at what you’re working to convey with fresh eyes.

Discard the second-hand notions or common ideas and describe things directly as it presents itself to you (without the influence from existing theories or ideas around said ‘thing.’) Resist the urge to put things into categories. This is the basic premise behind “show, don’t tell.”

Approaching communication of ideas this way makes writing an art form—and allows you to paint with words.

So how can you use words to explain something in a new way that creates a rich, vivid mental picture for the reader?

How to Practice Writing Like an Existentialist

French novelist Gustave Flaubert said, “Even the slightest thing contains a little that is unknown. We must find it. To describe a tree, we must remain before that tree until it no longer resembles for us any other tree.”

Challenge yourself with a little exercise: Go outside and look at a tree. Really look at it. Take your time. Close your eyes and breathe in its scent. Touch the bark. Feel the leaves.

Then try to describe it, but without the conventional words and phrases you’re familiar with when thinking about trees.

If you’re reading this and thinking...um…what is she talking about? Go outside and touch a tree then write about it?! YES, that’s what I’m saying.

Here’s why: Philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre shows how magical this kind of exercise can be—and the pathways it can open up in your writerly brain.

In his book Nausea, he describes a Chestnut tree. I’ve pulled some of my favorite bits from it:

• Its hesitant branches groping around like blind men

• The bark, black and swollen, looked like boiled leather

• The wind had just lighted on the tree and the tree was shuddering, but the shudder was not an emerging quality; it was a thing; a shudder-thing flowed into the tree, took possession of it, shook it, and suddenly abandoned it…

Pretty great, right?

I’m no philosopher, but I did this exercise, too. I tasked myself with describing what I saw as I observed squirrels playing in our backyard the other day.

Here are some of the better bits of what I came up with:

• Squawking as they chased each other and skittered up a tree, their clawed feet scratched a whispering chatter against its rough shell

• Like a trapeze artist who’s grown too brave, one lept too boldly: the thin, flimsy branch bowed and freed itself from the frantically grasping hands and the jumper fell to the ground, half spiraling in a daze of disbelief

(A squirrel really did fall from about 20 feet up, but he was okay. I saw him shake it off and hop away.)

There's nothing truly groundbreaking about what I'm describing here (which is more the point of Existentialism), but it's a good first step.

In time, I'll work toward describing more abstract thoughts, ideas, and experiences. Watching squirrels felt like a more realistic place to start. You've gotta stretch before you sprint, you know?

I challenge you to give this a try this week.

In general, this is a great exercise to practice regularly to strengthen your vocabulary, imagination, and creative thinking...all of which will make you a better writer.

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P.S. As of today, you can get access to all of the live writing trainings I've done so far in 2020 on demand. That means if you couldn't attend in real time, you can now get the slides or the full recordings to review when it suits your schedule.

How to Get People to Read Your Posts

We all know that attention spans are shorter than ever (about 7-8 seconds on average, in fact.)

Compound this with the distractions that crop up every minute of the day in the modern world, and you’ve got a major challenge on your hands when it comes to getting someone to sit still and actually read something you’ve written.

Here’s what usually happens for the average writer:

• We write something up (a blog post, news article, announcement, whatever) and hit publish.

• We send out a teaser about the new post through our owned channels (like email newsletters), post about it across social media, and maybe notify the people quoted/referenced in the post (if relevant) hoping they too will help spread the word.

• A few people click the link and scan through the piece, and then bounce from the site and move on with their day.

• A few days post-publish, the article is dead in the water and traffic completely drops off.

Most writers can tell you that very few people actually take the time to read a full post (let alone share it with their own audiences because they think it’s great and want others to read it, too.)

I can tell you for a fact that this isn’t unique to any industry or publication.

The average blog post here on my website has ~600 views.
The average views on my articles for Forbes are < 2,000 each.

The truth is: Few posts take off organically like this one on pizza arbitrage did. It’s an outlier; an exception to the rule.

So why don’t more people read the stuff we write?

There’s so much content out there. No one has time to read it all...nor do they want to.

Articles and blog posts are often a form of marketing. If you’re writing something and sharing it, you’ve got an end objective in mind. You want people to give you something: Their attention, their money, their time. People are very protective of all of those things.

The ‘what’s in it for me?’ mentality. Humans are wired to evaluate all things through the lens of ‘what’s in it for me?’. For good reason: Time and energy are limited quantities, so they need to be invested in things with a beneficial outcome. This applies to time spent reading. If you don’t give people a reason to read what you’ve written (and show them how it’ll help them), well...they won’t do it.

Even as I sit here writing this newsletter, I know that only a small group of people will actually take the time to read it all the way through.

So what can we do to get more readers?

1. Make your piece more digestible, bite-sized and reader-friendly

"Jump to" sections: For long articles, not only does this act as a table of contents, but it allows readers to navigate straight to the section they most want to read (rather than scrolling through and hunting it down on their own.)

“What you’ll learn” summary: People want to know what they’ll get out of the time investment required to read your post--so tell them up front. Provide a few bullet points at the top of your article that sum up the most important takeaways/data points. (News sites do this all the time.)

2. Repackage it into different, more consumable formats

Note: These are also great ways to update/expand your top-performing pieces of content, which is good for SEO.

Audio summaries: Turn your article into a short podcast episode for people who don’t have time to sit and read, but that would download and listen to it on the go later while multitasking. This works best when it’s the writer narrating, as the listener gets to hear the voice and inflection as it was intended.

Video summaries/Instagram stories: For people who want the key points delivered via visuals and audio rather than mere text on a screen, a short video summary is a major value-add. Hit on the key points in 60 seconds. It’s the TL;DR of your article delivered in a different format, and if done well, is often quite shareable. Biteable has plans that start at $15/mo and allow you to create short videos without their watermark. If you want a more DIY route, create simple Instagram stories that do the same thing (albeit with lower production value.)

Twitter thread: Yes, you’re limited to a specific amount of characters on Twitter. But that’s where threads come in handy. Create a Twitter thread that highlights the key sections in your article (or the most interesting graphs, data, charts, screenshots, etc.) and puts what you’ve written right in front of a reader. Include a link to read the full post at the end. Again: Much more shareable.

Gifs/animations: Explaining a process can get WORDY. Make it more visual and show what it looks like in action by including a gif or animation of all the steps in a row so the reader can see what the process looks like when completed in sequence.

Make Your Writing More Reader-Friendly

Getting people to read things is HARD. You have to make it easier for them to get the gist of what it is you have to say.

This article originally appeared in my newsletter, A Cup of Copy. Sign up and get these free tips sent right to your inbox every other Wednesday.