Thread by @willchamberlain

I'm going to go to bed shortly but I'm doing some editing, and the stuff I'm talking about with my contributor is stuff a lot of people could benefit from

So here's what I've learned about writing and argument in the last fifteen years or so

1) thesis, thesis, thesis

Biggest mistake you can make writing a long-from piece is failing to spell out your thesis clearly and early

People should understand why they are reading your piece and the core of your argument ASAP

Otherwise you're just talking

2) Attention getting devices: these are underused, especially in "serious" writing

It's like people get myopic and academic and forget that even serious writing must grab the reader's attention

There are many ways to grab your reader's attention

Pick one and use it

3) Shorter sentences, shorter paragraphs

This is a valuable insight that comes from doing Twitter more, and understanding the lessons of copywriting

Long sentences and paragraphs are hard to read

Good writing - even good serious writing - benefits from making things short

4) Concision edits - this is just strunk and white, "omit needless words"

Most writing includes a ton of verbal filler

When revising your piece you should be ruthless about finding words that don't need to be there and getting rid of them

5) edit on paper, not screens

On a screen you can scroll, on paper you can't

You will catch many more errors when you print out and edit by hand

And if you don't do that your editor will be the one catching your errors

That'll do for tonight I'm tired