With >1M blog readers a year, @Julian Shapiro has figured out how to engineer successful blog posts.
I attended an unrecorded, one-off Writing Masterclass today hosted by Julian. If you missed it:
THREAD: 12 mind-blowing lessons from Julian's Writing Masterclass:
I attended an unrecorded, one-off Writing Masterclass today hosted by Julian. If you missed it:
THREAD: 12 mind-blowing lessons from Julian's Writing Masterclass:
1/ Good writing is actually only 25% Story and 5% Style. 70% of it is Novelty.
"People read for novelty and story. And the story is optional."
Great work is about new or surprising ideas at its core. The novelty is the "meat" of the writing.
"People read for novelty and story. And the story is optional."
Great work is about new or surprising ideas at its core. The novelty is the "meat" of the writing.
2/ Writing Quality = Novelty X Resonance
Novelty is new information that is significant and not easily intuited. It's something profound you wouldn't have figured out on your own.
Resonance is the examples, analogies or stories that crystalize novelty and makes it engaging.
Novelty is new information that is significant and not easily intuited. It's something profound you wouldn't have figured out on your own.
Resonance is the examples, analogies or stories that crystalize novelty and makes it engaging.
3/ Four ways to inject novelty into your writing.
1 - Counter-intuitive - 'This is not how i expected the world to work.'
2 - Counter-narrative - 'That's not how people tell me the world works.
E.g.of counter narrative
1 - Counter-intuitive - 'This is not how i expected the world to work.'
2 - Counter-narrative - 'That's not how people tell me the world works.
E.g.of counter narrative
https://twitter.com/Julian/status/1348001394758799361?s=20
3 - Elegant articulation - 'Wow, I never could have said it that well. (Synthesis, poetry)'
4 - Shock and awe - 'This is insane. can't believe this is the world we live in.'
You can see these in every subsection, chapter.
E.g. of elegant articulation:
4 - Shock and awe - 'This is insane. can't believe this is the world we live in.'
You can see these in every subsection, chapter.
E.g. of elegant articulation:
https://twitter.com/Julian/status/1348001397753532416?s=20
4/ Not all novelty is created equal.
To be significant, novelty needs to be:
• Personally important to the reader
• Empower the reader
To be significant, novelty needs to be:
• Personally important to the reader
• Empower the reader
There are tiers to empowering. Look at Julian's examples below and how a reader may respond to them:
• Gossip or facts -"Ok so what?"
• Tactical breakdown - "Hm interesting, might try it"
• Frameworks - "Holy crap, I'm going to use this."
Create novelty that empowers.
• Gossip or facts -"Ok so what?"
• Tactical breakdown - "Hm interesting, might try it"
• Frameworks - "Holy crap, I'm going to use this."
Create novelty that empowers.
5/ Follow your curiosity to uncover novelty.
Get ideas by noting what interests and surprises you.
Whenever you react to something with "Well that's obviously not true" is when you should lean in closer.
Get ideas by noting what interests and surprises you.
Whenever you react to something with "Well that's obviously not true" is when you should lean in closer.
"If your goal is to discover novel ideas, your motto should not be 'do what you love' so much as 'do what you're curious about." - Paul Graham @paulg
6/ Collect novelties as you see them- Score them out of 5.
Ideas that once blew your mind become less novel with time.
Capture how genuinely novel they were to you when you noticed them to maintain your intuition.
Why is this my favorite framework of the entire masterclass?
Ideas that once blew your mind become less novel with time.
Capture how genuinely novel they were to you when you noticed them to maintain your intuition.
Why is this my favorite framework of the entire masterclass?
The genius of this framework is it directly counters the fact that novelty fades with time.
Organically curate a pool of 4/5 or 5/5 novel ideas or questions which you can explore.
When you hit a critical mass of these around a topic, you know you've got a potential hit.
Organically curate a pool of 4/5 or 5/5 novel ideas or questions which you can explore.
When you hit a critical mass of these around a topic, you know you've got a potential hit.
7/Storytelling helps create resonance before you share an idea.
By telling a story prior to introducing a novel idea, you prime them for your ideas by adding significance and weight behind the upcoming novelty.
See how Julian does it here:
By telling a story prior to introducing a novel idea, you prime them for your ideas by adding significance and weight behind the upcoming novelty.
See how Julian does it here:
https://twitter.com/Julian/status/1327765347936522240?s=20
8/ Tight analogies add resonance through familiarity.
Analogies are a tool to create familiarity amidst novelty. Create bridges between novel ideas to something that someone already understands and knows.
This is why McDonald's is twice as comforting in a foreign country.
Analogies are a tool to create familiarity amidst novelty. Create bridges between novel ideas to something that someone already understands and knows.
This is why McDonald's is twice as comforting in a foreign country.
9/ Draft 1 for Novelty, Draft 2 For resonance.
Draft 1 is the hunt for novelty. You want to ask "is there something fresh here?"
Draft 2 is when you've found it - now make it come to life with stories or analogies.
Digging up novelty is hard, adding resonance is easier.
Draft 1 is the hunt for novelty. You want to ask "is there something fresh here?"
Draft 2 is when you've found it - now make it come to life with stories or analogies.
Digging up novelty is hard, adding resonance is easier.
10/ Hooks are half-told stories.
You want someone reading your intro to think: "Okay this is going to be really special."
To find the questions that create this, ask yourself:
You want someone reading your intro to think: "Okay this is going to be really special."
To find the questions that create this, ask yourself:
"If someone else wrote my intro, what are the most captivating questions they could pose to make me excited to read this"
Build your hooks around the top questions.
What about the answers?
You shouldn't actually have the answers.
Why not?
What about the answers?
You shouldn't actually have the answers.
Why not?
11/ Because writing is not a mouthpiece.
@aliabdaal's question prompted Julian to riff:
"Writing is about following your curiosity, it's not a mouthpiece, it's a means to grow yourself."
This was a huge reframe for me. I assumed writers had answers.
@aliabdaal's question prompted Julian to riff:
"Writing is about following your curiosity, it's not a mouthpiece, it's a means to grow yourself."
This was a huge reframe for me. I assumed writers had answers.
The reframe: The best writing comes actually from finding amazing questions, and then exploring them as you write.
Not from laying out answers.
The dopamine hit from a great introduction or hook lies in great questions, not great answers.
Not from laying out answers.
The dopamine hit from a great introduction or hook lies in great questions, not great answers.
12/ Crowdsource feedback to identify lines that give dopamine hits. Strategise around this.
Julian's tactic is to send your manuscript to 10 friends and ask them to point out the dopamine hits. You can see which lines create dopamine hits for Julian's Friends.
Julian's tactic is to send your manuscript to 10 friends and ask them to point out the dopamine hits. You can see which lines create dopamine hits for Julian's Friends.
What he does next is more genius - respect the "white space" between the dopamine hits by:
• Making sure they serve a purpose
• Ask "does this add resonance? or is this filler?"
• Cut everything that doesn't.
• Making sure they serve a purpose
• Ask "does this add resonance? or is this filler?"
• Cut everything that doesn't.
13/ Bonus: Novelty =/= Originality.
@amandanat and @aliabdaal's questions about research and experts prompted Julian to riff about this, this line really stood out:
"Novelty is less about being original, it's about being novel to your audience"
@amandanat and @aliabdaal's questions about research and experts prompted Julian to riff about this, this line really stood out:
"Novelty is less about being original, it's about being novel to your audience"
TLDR:
• Writing Quality = Novelty X Resonance
• Novelty is 70% of good writing.
• Follow your curiosity to uncover novelty.
• Collect and test great questions.
• Novel frameworks are king.
• Storytelling and analogies add resonance.
• Strategise your dopamine hits.
• Writing Quality = Novelty X Resonance
• Novelty is 70% of good writing.
• Follow your curiosity to uncover novelty.
• Collect and test great questions.
• Novel frameworks are king.
• Storytelling and analogies add resonance.
• Strategise your dopamine hits.
All credit goes to @Julian and @amandanat for sharing this amazing content for free. It was awesome to learn from a master of his craft.
Tagging Other people at the workshop @MishanaKhot @AliAbdaal @thesakshishukla @ronniehiggins @acupido @godwinhschan @jsjoeio @ignoreandfly
Tagging Other people at the workshop @MishanaKhot @AliAbdaal @thesakshishukla @ronniehiggins @acupido @godwinhschan @jsjoeio @ignoreandfly
If you found this helpful, here's the link to retweet it:
https://twitter.com/DrErnestLim/status/1455649460826955780?s=20
If you enjoyed this and you're into health tech, careers, or just want to follow my journey into becoming a writer.
1) Follow me @drernestlim.
2) Check out all my #ship30for30 journey here:
1) Follow me @drernestlim.
2) Check out all my #ship30for30 journey here:
https://twitter.com/DrErnestLim/status/1449115106864939019?s=20
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
