1. Write better. Think better

Effective writing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtIzMaLkCaM

• Below can be applied on podcasting as well.

• Writing is not a basic skill. You need to learn high quality writing; it is not rule-governed.

• The most important element is to create value for your readers; start thinking about year readers. Instead of writing because you want to process stuff or use it to help you think.

• If you are on the forefront of your field, you are thinking things nobody has ever thought before. Your writing helps you think, use it to help you think. But if you share your writing, nobody cares about your thoughts, they are just your thoughts. Search for their problems and offer them a solution, create value for them.

• A writer writes horizontal (timeline), but a reader reads vertical. If you do not arrange this properly, by for example not starting with the problem, your reader gets lost and re-reads, doesn’t understand, gets agitated and finally stops.

• Key note: the most important thing is that your writing needs to be valuable! (and persuasive, organised, clear). For me as a lecturer: my students follow the current content because they must. The challenge is to create content such a way that students also want to watch the content because it is of value to them. The value lies in readers, determine who your readers are.

• If you have done your job, you have changed the way your readers see the world. Know your reader! Search for the core group of people you would like to reach; they approve the value of your writing. Find out what they values are and how to persuade them. Persuasion depends on what they doubt. You don’t know what they doubt? How are you going to overcome their troubles? Key note: you must know your readers!

• Do not explain the insides of your head! No one cares about the insides of your head. Key note: convince, don’t explain. Writing is not communicating your ideas to the reader! Key note: It is changing their worlds, not explaining your world.

• I don’t want to publish academically, my aim is to land in the living rooms of people (bottom up). Where is the value, what are their problems and what is the solution? Be short and precise and explain what the solution of their problem is.

• Writing in class: class goals should either be: 1. Do something 2. Don’t do something 3. Never forget something.Also; don’t teach more than three new things per class.

• Community is of the utmost importance, write towards the community. Use signal words that are widely accepted in your community. When you read stuff on Twitter, Medium, Blogs, note the words which look valuable to you. Learn the code of the community, how do they communicate. Create a word list and integrate those words in every paragraph or text! Pay attention to community signalling and flow words. You have to know the community’s code of conduct!

• Also: be respectful to the dominant thinkers in your field. Argue, don’t explain. Pause them to think about your point (you are truly awesome, but….). You need to learn how dominant writers do this in your field (memes, direct, factual/supported, personal, tags, pick-up & comment posts). Use ‘buts/however/’ instead of ‘and’.

• In public: don’t write to think, write to deliver value. Your function is move the conversation forward, the conversation between dominant people in the field.

• Something new and original does not mean it is knowledge. If it is knowledge, this does not mean it is valuable!

• Readers are searching for instability words like: however, although, but, inconsistent

• Open with the problem of your reader, than solution, show the instability / generate a problem. Show that the situations is unstable and that this cost your reader + offer them the solution and that this benefits them.

• Prevent the Martini glass approach, where you start with setting the foundations. Fuck foundations, go for problem.

2. The day you became a better writer

“The Day You Became A Better Writer”

“I went from being a bad writer to a good writer after taking a one-day course in “business writing.” I couldn’t believe how simple it was. I’ll tell you the main tricks here so you don’t have to waste a day in class.”

Persuasive stuff already! He goes on to break it down into each rule:

Rule One: Keep It Simple

“Business writing is about clarity and persuasion. The main technique is keeping things simple. Simple writing is persuasive. A good argument in five sentences will sway more people than a brilliant argument in a hundred sentences. Don’t fight it.

Simple means getting rid of extra words. Don’t write, “He was very happy” when you can write “He was happy.” You think the word “very” adds something. It doesn’t. Prune your sentences.

Humor writing is a lot like business writing. It needs to be simple. The main difference is in the choice of words. For humor, don’t say ‘drink’ when you can say ‘swill.’”

Rule Two: The First Sentence is Everything

“Your first sentence needs to grab the reader. Go back and read my first sentence to this post. I rewrote it a dozen times. It makes you curious. That’s the key.”

Rule Three: Short Sentences

“Write short sentences. Avoid putting multiple thoughts in one sentence. Readers aren’t as smart as you’d think.”

Rule Four: Learn How the Brain Reads Best

“Learn how brains organize ideas. Readers comprehend “the boy hit the ball” quicker than “the ball was hit by the boy.” Both sentences mean the same, but it’s easier to imagine the object (the boy) before the action (the hitting). All brains work that way. (Notice I didn’t say, “That is the way all brains work”?)

That’s it. You just learned 80% of the rules of good writing. You’re welcome.”

Hopefully these words will help you as they did me.

3. More tips to become a better writer

Step 1: Build a Store of Interesting Ideas.

When you step into a completely new world, your 1st step should be observing the rules & behavior of the people inside it.

Similarly, when you step into the world of writing, your 1st step should be to find & observe great writers.

Consume a lot of content & compile the highlights in a google doc or a notion page. This document is now a valuable item in your store. You can circle back to it anytime. Doing this would make your brain active while consuming content which would also help you think better.

Step 2: Imitate, then Innovate.

After collecting & understanding great ideas from great writers, it's time for real work.

• Choose the ideas you completely believe in.

• Figure out the templates your favorite writers use.

• Start putting out their ideas in your words.

• Talk to other promising youngsters like you & build a community that benefits all.

Now slowly observe what's working for you. Which templates are good for you in the long run & which templates are being overused? Reuse the templates that work & create some original ones too.

Step 3: Craft a Voice for yourself.

After using the voice {Writing Style} of your favorite writers, understand that you are a part of the crowd.

Don't get me wrong, becoming a part of a crowd is essential as a beginner, but it's also important that you stand out asap. To stand out as a writer:

• Share your story: Who are you? Why are you doing this?

• Experience great things & share them.

• Understand complex topics & simplify them in your words.

Keep the templates aside. Let your brain more importantly your heart guide you.

Step 4: Don't Write like you talk.

Write like you talk is common advice. But here's why it is bad:

• Readers cannot see your expressions.

• It's harder to maintain attention in a written piece.

• 5 mins of listening contains way more words than 5 mins of reading.

But if we should not write like we talk, how can we make our writings interesting?

The answers are:

• By using Stats.

• By sharing Stories.

• By using Analogies.

• By studying Psychology and applying it.

• By giving interesting examples.

These are enough I guess 🤔

Step 5: Build a Personal Monopoly

Can you name a writer who writes better threads than you? A writer who writes better blogs than you? A writer who expresses his thoughts better than you. I bet you can name many. But can you name a writer who can write better than you about YOU?

Your only niche should be YOU! Think about the things you like.

Anime, Psychology, Philosophy, Movies, any of it.

Can someone explain the psychological & philosophical conflicts in movies or anime series better than you? Think about it.

The idea behind the analogy is that you have to:

• Pinpoint the things you like

• Connect them with each other like they are in your head

• Make it presentable

There's no place for innovation in apple juice. But you have a garden full of different fruits inside of you: Brain

Step 6: Become Opinionated.

If you want to become a great writer, you need to have strong opinions It's ok to have no opinions on certain things but generally, people who do not have an opinion are either completely uninformed or they know so much that they can't talk about it.

Step 7: Write a lot.

This is the most obvious step yet the most important one. The more you write, the better you get. It's that simple. But don't just write anything. Write with a purpose. Write with a plan. Write to achieve something. Set targets for yourself. Write every day. Write something new every day.

Step 8: Find a balance.

Find a balance between your work and personal life. Don't let your work consume you. Take breaks. Go out and enjoy your life.

Step 9: Read a lot.

Reading and writing go hand in hand. The more you read, the more ideas you get. The more you read, the better you get at writing.

Step 10: Keep learning.

The world of writing is vast. There's always something new to learn. Keep learning and improving yourself. And most importantly, have fun. Writing should be enjoyable. If it's not, you're doing something wrong.

The content triangle

4. Effective writing

5. Learn how to copy write

Copy writing is a super power. Learn it and you’re a walking 6-figure business. Use these threads to improve your copywriting.

[Source #1](https://: https://twitter.com/jonbrosio/status/1322695888812578817)

• B-A-B. Before (Life before transformation), After (Life after transformation), Bridge (How to get there).

• The 4P's - The 4P's stands for: Picture (describe the situation), Promise (what you'll deliver), Proof (Testimonials, etc.), Push (Call-to-action).

• F-A-B stands for: Feature (What it is), Advantage (What it does), Benefit (Why that's important).

• A-I-U stands for: Attention (Capture attention), Interest (Provide further context), Urgency (Create urgency for action).

• The 3S's stands for: Star (Person in question), Story (What happened to them), Solution (Action you want them to take).

• V-A-D stands for: Verb (Action accomplished), Application (The applied benefit), Differentiator ("Without needing...").

• A-I-D-A stands for: Attention (Headline), Interest (Add more context), Desire (What they want to achieve), Action (Action required for the outcome).

• P-A-S stands for: Problem (Issue plaguing the reader), Agitate (Amplify the problem), Solution (How to solve it).

• Q.U.E.S.T stands for: Qualify (A question), Understand (Empathize), Educate (Share some benefits), Stimulate (Preview what's possible), Transition (Talk about what comes next).

Source #2

1. Mike Nardi's course covers how to become a freelance copywriter and how to build a copywriting business. Link: https://youtu.be/JiMbFfrRVbM

2. Alex Cattoni's course teaches you how to create a compelling portfolio in just 30 minutes. Link: https://youtu.be/I141hzLnHHw

3. Robert Allen's course covers how to land copywriting clients via email, including how to generate leads from a website and what to pitch. Link: https://youtu.be/DbzN3C-Hbpc

4. Ray Edwards' course is a 30-minute video that provides a complete "Copywriting For Beginners Course" using the PASTOR Copywriting Framework. Link: https://youtu.be/etZND0rRlJY

5. Jacob Mcmillen's course is a video consultation worth over $500 that teaches you how to become a six-figure copywriter in less than 12 months. Link: https://youtu.be/YUttGRUeofw

6. Paid copywriter's course covers the fundamentals of copywriting, including how to write headlines and how to create a sales letter. Link: https://youtu.be/0FiJlgM_xNg

7. Copy that's course on the fundamentals of copywriting covers the importance of a good funnel and how to make one. Link: https://youtu.be/nzfO3tWbtoI

8. Copy that's course on sales funnels covers different types of sales funnels, marketing funnel terminology, and how to scale your marketing efforts. Link: https://youtu.be/nzfO3tWbtoI

9. Marketing Nerd Show's course on email copywriting covers the fundamentals of email copywriting and provides 8 effective ecommerce email automation sequences to increase revenue for your clients. Link: https://youtu.be/etZND0rRlJY

10. Marketing Nerd Show's course on emails covers the fundamentals of copywriting for emails. Link: https://youtu.be/etZND0rRlJY

1. Using AIDA with AOC from @GoodMarketingHQ - An acronym'ed politician using a marketing acronym. https://twitter.com/GoodMarketingHQ/status/1312378260798939136

2. 21 Free Copywriting Resources from @DanesaGlez - Great list of products and websites to level up. https://twitter.com/DanesaGlez/status/1369585680276414466

3. 20 Quick Copywriting Tips from @Nicolascole77 - Short, sweet, and to the point. https://twitter.com/Nicolascole77/status/1369876091407708161

4. 8 Copywriting Frameworks from @jonbrosio - These are 8 classic frameworks that will help any writer. https://twitter.com/jonbrosio/status/1376102387324741634

5. How to NOT Write Copy from @amandanat - Don't make these 3 mistakes. https://twitter.com/amandanat/status/1401929246086336514

6. 37 Copywriting Sentences from @WrongsToWrite - Check out these great, quick skimmers. https://twitter.com/WrongsToWrite/status/1378903654706114565

7. 10 Great Copywriting Tips from @jmoserr - Absolutely love the image examples in this thread. https://twitter.com/jmoserr/status/1415679405090529280

6. Resources to make you a better writer

1. CHAT.OPENai.com. Writes the text for you.

2. Quillbot.• Paraphrases your writing into plagiarism-free text• Finds the right synonyms to improve your writing• Uses AI to rewrite your text • Source: https://www.quillbot.com/

3. Writing, briefly by @paulg

   • Offers ideas for generating new writing ideas

   • Provides tips on how to write well

   • Shows you how to create a feedback loop to improve your writing

   Source: https://writingbriefly.com/

4. Grammarly

   • One of the most valuable Chrome extensions for writers

   • Instantly spots grammatical errors in your writing

   • Suggests alternatives to improve your writing

   Source: https://www.grammarly.com/

5. Marketing Examples

   • Offers writing inspiration for writers

   • Provides a great collection of examples of successful writing

   • Encourages writers to "steal" formats and frameworks, rather than copying words

   Source: https://www.marketingexamples.com/

6. Google Docs

   • Offers a simple writing experience for writers

   • Automatically saves your work in case you forget to save

   • Provides a complete editor with all the tools you need

   Source: https://www.google.com/docs/about/

7. 21 Tactics to Help You Become a Better Writer by @nateliason

   • Offers a list of banned words to avoid in your writing

   • Shows you how to create an outline to organize your writing

   • Provides tips for the editing process to improve your writing

   Source: https://nateliason.com/writing

7. Take a writing skill assessment

1. Writing skills assessment: https://www.grammarly.com/writing-assessment/

2. Writing assessment tool: https://www.write-out-loud.com/assessment.html

3. Writing skills test: https://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/story.php?title=writing-skills-test

4. Writing assessment quiz: https://www.englishcentral.com/proficiency/writing-assessment

5. Writing skills assessment for adults: https://www.yourdictionary.com/adults-writing-assessment

It's important to note that these writing assessments can be a useful tool for evaluating your writing skills, but they should not be used as the sole basis for making judgments about your writing abilities. To improve your writing skills, you may also want to consider taking a writing course or working with a writing tutor.

Conclusion

Quiz

How to apply this in your life

Food for thought

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