- Writing One Sheet
- Rules for Writing
- Use short sentences. Clarity is key. Make your sentences simpler than you think you should.
- Use simple words. If you wouldn’t use it in a bar, don’t write it.
- No cliches. They diminish the weight of your ideas and the power of your prose.
- Delete all extra words. Make your point and get out of the way.
- Be precise. Use statistics and examples instead of generalizations.
- Surprise the reader. It proves you’re entertaining them or teaching them something.
- How to Find Ideas
- Talk to friends. Conversations are inherently random, which sparks serendipity. You’re also forced to structure ideas on-the-spot, which makes it easier to write about those ideas.
- There are no original ideas. Everything is a remix. Great ideas occur when you make connections between existing ideas, and build upon them.
- Planning to Write
- Don’t try to write for an audience. Pick one person to write for instead. Then, imagine the questions they’d ask and the rebuttals they’d make.
- Before you start writing, put three things at the top of the page: (1) set the context, (2) outline the questions you’re going to answer, and (3) share your one-sentence answer to the question. Then, make sure every sentence relates to what you’ve written at the top of the page.
- Organization
- Spend more time on organization than you think you should. It will save you time.
- If you have writer’s block, stop writing. Say the ideas out-loud and transcribe what you say
- instead.
- If you’re struggling with organization, draw out the ideas to see how they connect.
- Editing
- Before editing, change the color and size of the font. It helps you see your writing differently, which makes editing easier.
- Edit in a different place from where you usually write.
- Read your writing out-loud.
- When asking friends for feedback, remember the CRIBS acronym. Ask them to tell you what’s (1)confusing, (2) repeated, (3) insightful, (4) boring, and (5) surprising.
- Notes: