Lesson 3: How to Write

Writing the ultimate get-rich, get-fit, get-smart, or get-social article is not enough – it needs to be written in a way that makes readers want to read it.

Today’s lesson will teach you how to write so that people want to read you.

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How to Write: About Words

Good writing carries a maximum amount of meaning with as fewer words as possible. Good writing feels “fast”, surprising, and nice.

There are a few principles to keep in mind to achieve this result:

• Use the most specific words you can find to convey your idea.
• Vary your style and sentence length
• Use metaphors and images, especially those that appeal to the senses.
• Write direct sentences that aren’t “interrupted”.

Direct sentences are sentences that aren’t interrupted or cut into several parts.

Let’s take an example.

In 2010, she had attended a conference in a hotel, which, she learned later that year, belonged to her boyfriend at the time.

This sentence has five different parts.

It feels long and annoying to read because the brain “pauses” four times as it reads the sentence.

Let’s rewrite it in a better way.

She learned later in 2010 that the hotel where she had attended the conference that year belonged to her boyfriend at the time.

Feels different, doesn’t it?

Of course, it’s important that you develop your own style. If you want to write “slower”, there is no problem with that.

Avoid putting obstacles in your writing. Vague words, complicated sentences, or unnecessary definitions are examples of obstacles.

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How to Write: About Visuals

It’s the 21st century and people have the attention span of a goldfish.

You’ll lose them if you don’t catch their attention right off the bat.

The first rule to do so is to avoid long paragraphs.

Paragraphs are difficult to read and demand effort.

The rule is that no paragraphs should be longer than 6 lines.

Anything above that feels like “a wall of text” and people don’t read these anymore.

The second rule is to add some space to let the readers rest a little.

Spaces look like this:

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You can also add images.

You probably noticed that BuzzFeed or the HuffPost place a lot of images in their articles. They give the readers rest.

Readers get tired quickly. They’ll drop from your article if it’s too long or too dense.

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Conclusion

How you write is as (if not more) important than what to write.

BS articles nicely written will always have an audience.

Interesting articles badly written won’t.

Tomorrow, we will speak about setting up your email list.

See you tomorrow!