In the past 25 years, I’ve had four major realizations about writing.

These are the kinds of realizations that don’t just change the way you think about something, they reverse the way you think about.
The first realization is writing is about ideas, not words or sentences.

I wrote for a decade before I internalized this truth. My work suffered because I tried to write something memorable or original instead of just writing what I meant.

I still have to work hard to do that.
The second realization is writing is about emotions, not merely ideas.

The song "22" isn't designed to appeal to 22-year-olds, it's designed to appeal to the 22-year-old in each of us. It overlaps ideas and emotions like hands on a clock.
The same with anything ever written by Carl Sagan, or Fred Rogers, or J.K. Rowling.

Get the idea right. Personalize it in a way that’s human. Hit the head and the heart at the same time.
The third realization is writing is about movement.

Writing brings ideas and emotions in line, and it moves: it takes the reader from one thought to the next, in sequence and at the right pace, never achieving one form of precision at the expense of another.
Long after he quit stand-up comedy, Steve Martin wrote:

"Each new performance brought my view of comedy into sharper focus ... Precision was moving the plot forward, was filling every moment with content, and keeping the audience engaged."
The fourth realization is writing about stillness and absence.

The pickpocket Apollo Robbins was dazzled by the secret mechanics of tricks. Through magic he learned a great performance isn’t about showing things, but hiding them.
To quote Seth Godin:

“All the action in comic books happens in between the panels. In panel A something happens. In panel B something happens. But it’s what happens between A and B that changed your mind about anything; the action is in your head.”
Through each of these realizations, I discovered the way to get better as a writer wasn’t just different from the way I was writing, it was the opposite.

I’ve always loved to write, but it’s always been hard. It's helpful to know better writers are playing a different game.
For writers:

The first game is about novelty.
The second game is about ideas.
The third game is about emotions.
The fourth game is about movement.
The fifth game is about stillness.
I'm sure there are other games to discover.

I'm also sure writers of any experience can play all five games at once on a good day. The hard part is to play these games consistently.
I'll post this thread on my newsletter soon! Would love to know what realizations you'd had and what writing games you've discovered!
letter.substack.com

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More from @jmikolay

28 Sep
@david_perell is writing 100 articles in 100 days.

The articles are about the creative process, knowledge management, and the mechanics of effective writing.

Here's a summary of the first 15 articles, distilled from 6000 words to 1500.
Writing is R&D for Your Brain...
🔷It’s how you create intellectual capital
🔷It’s how you make your ideas permanent
🔷It’s the closest thing we have to time travel
Once You Write Something, You Add Legos to Your Intellectual Capital...
🔷They’re the seeds of your future projects
🔷The more you have the more you can create
🔷Remix and reuse the ideas for life
Read 34 tweets
4 Sep
SPEECHWRITING ADMONITIONS

1.Engage early, engage often. The best relationship is one in which a speechwriter writes with the principal, not for the principal. Insist on meeting in person months in advance of an important speech – and determine the theme as soon as possible.
2.Research the audience and theme. Gather and organize information from relevant experts and primary sources. Ground the speech in history and context.
3.Put the theme in writing. Based on early guidance and conversations, draft “topline” messages and review them with the principal before starting to draft the speech. Begin translating the theme into an argument. Get feedback from the principal.
Read 13 tweets
29 Jul
First hours of the process (update #1):

-Scraped Erik’s last 3,000 tweets from vicinitas.io
-Downloaded into Excel, copied to Word
-384 pages, Arial 12 pt, single-spaced
-Beats the previous big idea summary export (@Davidperrell, 320 pages)

Thread 👇
Erik has tweeted 3,000 times in the past six months (~15 times a day)

Other accounts, for comparison:
@iambrillyant: 44 months
@dremilyanhalt: 36 months
@JoeBiden: 12 months
@david_perell @mkobach: 6 months
@realDonaldTrump: 23 days
Before picking Erik’s timeline to summarize, I went through a dozen others in detail, to include downloading and studying their tweets.

Erik’s timeline presents a challenge because he uses threads in a systematic way, adding to the same threads over time.
Read 5 tweets
15 Jul
Treat yourself to the poetically infused words of @iambrillyant

I organized and distilled his last 3,000 tweets into a summary of his big ideas, in three parts...

Part 1⃣: Love, Healing, and Growth Philosophy
I’ve never lost in love, and darling, neither have you...
🔷Whatever you did in love, it was never a bad decision
🔷Wherever you are in life, you’re where you’re supposed to be
Your only duties are to be, to be true in all you do, and to love yourself deeply…
🔷It’s not your job to wait for others
🔷It's not your job to explain yourself
🔷It’s not your job to make others whole
Read 25 tweets
6 Jul
Leap into the psychology of @dremilyanhalt

I organized and distilled her last 3,000 tweets into a summary of her big ideas, in two parts...

Part 1⃣: Emotional Fitness and Human Behavior
First things first, learn to feel…
🔷Your emotions are healthy and important
🔷Feel them, even the messy ones
🔷Try not to stuff them down into your body
🔷You’re allowed to have complicated feelings about simple things
🔷Create the space for the full range of feeling
Face your tough experiences and dig into them…
🔷Unearth what you’ve turned away from
🔷Discover what you need to talk about and gain conviction in your resilience and strength
🔷It’s next to impossible to change things without facing them
Read 25 tweets

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