Writing Well, Compounding Killers & Reading

RESOURCE OF THE WEEK
Writing Well Handbook by Julian Shapiro

The internet is full of writing tips to become a better writer.

And not to say they all suck…

But most of them are overly focused on helping you get eyeballs & engagement, rather than telling actually you how to craft a meaningful message that deeply impacts those who stumble upon your writing.

That’s where the Writing Well Handbook comes into play.

After going through this mini-course, I was left with tons of juicy notes full of Julian’s contrarian takes and tips.

A few of my favorites:

1) The 5 archetypes of impactful writing

• Counter-intuitive → “Wow, I never realized the world works that way.”  

• Counter-narrative → “Wow, that’s now how I was told the world works!”  

• Shock and awe → “I would have never believed this!”  

• Elegant articulations → “I couldn’t have said this better myself!”

• Make someone feel seen → “Yes! That’s exactly how I feel!”

2) Julian’s formula for writing quality

Writing Quality = Novelty x Resonance

3) How to outline your post

Before you start writing, brain dump the following 3 things:

• Intro - You craft the intro by posing questions that would make you excited to read the post

• Supportive Points - The points you need in order to make your argument

• Resulting Points - The implications of your argument being true

If you want to see more of my notes on the topic, check out the post I put out earlier this week.

If you want to read the full handbook, you can check it out here.

3 HIGH-IMPACT IDEAS
1) On Kindness

Earlier today, I stumbled upon a post by Lara Acosta where she shares the story of how she got to have a call with one of the Forbes 30u30 Jodie Cook.

The snippet that went into my highlights:

Today I asked Jodie Cook: why she even took the meeting? She said "because I remember you cheering for me"

Kindness & raw support goes a long way - no matter how “successful” you think the people.

It’s easy to think “These people have accomplished so much in their lives, so how could my support possibly help them?”

Well, more than you think. Especially when so many people believe what I said above.

Show more gratitude.

Send more thank you notes.

Give more shout-outs.

But above all:

Be genuine.

2) On What Makes You Come Alive

I am quite against the ’hustle culture’ - but I also think it’s safe to say that I am not living my life in a way most teens do.

And although I often wonder whether what I’m doing with my life is right - whether I shouldn’t spend my time chilling and ’enjoying’ my youth…

Reflecting on the question of “what makes me come alive” always reassures me that I’m on the right path.

It might be different for everyone, but the stuff that makes me come alive is

• learning

• changing my beliefs

• reinventing myself

• expanding my comfort zone

• creating stuff that’s useful for other people

• synthesizing ideas

• connecting with ambitious peers

• making meaningful progress on my body, mind & spirit

And this is the path I choose to pursue in 2024, and all the years beyond.

3) On Compounding Killers

Everyone talks about the positive effects of the compounding effect:

“If you get 1% better every single day, after one year, you’ll be 37x better than you were at the starting point.”

But people often forget that it also the opposite way:

“If you get 1% worse every single day, after one year, you’ll be 37 worse than you were at the starting point.”

That’s why it’s important to seek the compounding killers.

It can either be those minor 1% daily actions that might cause a huge trouble over the long-term.

Or the random life that might rob you off of momentum.

E.g. for me, I have the tendency to often get sick or injured (especially because of sports). That usually throws me off for 1-3 weeks. Now imagine having 4-5 periods like this over the year. That’s up to 105 missed training sessions in a single year.

Kinda crazy, isn’t it?

In short:

Stop paying so much attention on what can you add that might move you forward, and rather revert your attention to what can you subtract that’s pushing you backwards.

Because the limiting factors are holding you back more than the supporting factors are helping you.

FAVORITE QUOTE