10 masters share 10 ways to improve your writing

[Read in your browser here.]() ​ ​Hi friends, ​[How I Write]() has put me in the room with some seriously talented writers, and here are some of the lessons I've picked up. I can't promise that they'll make you private-jet-rich or the swankiest writer at your company, but I can promise that they'll give you some direction next time you sit down at the keyboard. Before I share the lessons, I have to tell you about [the workshop I'm hosting on Wednesday, March 13th.](If you keep kicking the rock down the road on publishing your writing, this one's for you. Most workshops are a snooze fest, but this one won't be. I promise to to bring the heat with tangible writing advice about how to write in a way that actually makes a difference in your life. ​ Now onto the lessons... - ​[Kevin Kelly: Don't aim to be the best. Be the only.](=)​ ​ ​Millions of words are published every day, and if you're going to stand out, you have to be distinct. Maybe it's your voice; maybe it's your topic selection; maybe it's the way you tell a story or observe the world. Whatever it is, different is sometimes better than better. ​ ​ - ​[Cultural Tutor: If it was published in the past 50 years, don't read it.](=)​ ​ ​​The problem with new books isn't that they're bad. The problem is that everybody else is reading them, which doesn't give you an edge. Reading what everybody else is reading is a fast-track to thinking what everybody else is thinking and writing what everybody else is writing. Reading old books is a simple way to make your thinking more distinct. ​ - ​[Marc Andreessen: Use a barbell approach to consume information.](=)​ ​ ​Yes, this lesson directly contradicts the previous one. Marc likes to either read about things that are happening right now (in Tweets, newsletters, or group chats) or read things that were written more than 10 years ago and will stand the test of time. ​ ​ - ​[Riva Tez: Your writing doesn't need to be logical. It can be a word painting.](=)​ ​ ​Writing isn't just about stitching an argument. It's also about eliciting a mood. The way we learn to write in school has the logical aspects of writing overpowering its poetry and soul. But passion makes poets out of us all. You don't need a thesaurus if you write with enough heart. When you care about what you're saying, the language comes out fresh. In that way, writing can be like an impressionist painting. By distorting reality, it can capture the emotional essence of a situation. ​ - ​[Tim Ferriss: Focus on quality, not volume.](=)​ ​ ​AI is going to win the volume game. The competitive advantage for people like us lies writing exceptionally well about the things you have unique knowledge about (especially if you're a seasoned writer). For Tim, that means doubling down on self-experimentation and uncovering information that hasn't been shared before in the process. What does it mean for you? ​ ​ - ​[Ava Huang: Good writing requires reaching beyond consensus.](=)​ ​ ​That means thinking fresh and novel thoughts. Writing is a process of excavation. The first ideas that come to you will rarely be the best ones. As a writer, it's your job to keep digging until you find things that surprise you. Focusing on the same topic for a long time is arduous because it goes against the mind's natural impulse to skip between topics. By keeping your focus constant, writing lets you explore ideas with levels of logic and rigor that the thinking mind can't achieve on its own. So if your thinking on a topic feels superficial, write more about it.​ ​ - ​[Howard Marks: Find your creed.](=)​ ​ ​Most of what you'll read on the Internet is hum-drum about whatever's happening now or whatever fleeting emotion the writer happens to be feeling that day. Howard aims for the opposite. Read voraciously, do hard things, reflect on your point of view, and say something of substance. If you don't know what to write about, here's a prompt: Reconcile the difference between how people think something works and how it actually does. As Yogi Berra once said, "In theory, there's no difference between theory and practice. But, in practice, there is." ​​ ​ - ​[Amor Towles: You have a duty to fulfill your side of the covenant with your readers.](=)​ ​ ​​When a reader buys your book or opens a newsletter like this one, they've committed to spending their valuable time on your work. As a writer, you owe it to your readers to ensure that you've edited your drafts, cut out the redundancies, and said something worthwhile. Take out whatever is cliche, trite, trivial, boring, and irrelevant. Edit and edit until only the gold remains. ​[​](​ - ​[Sam Parr: To find your voice as a writer, do copywork.](​ ​ ​Pick up the book of an author you admire and copy their sentences by hand. Doing so gives you a sense for their flow, voice, and rhythm. This is what Hunter S. Thompson was doing when he rewrote every word of The Great Gatsby so he could feel what it was like to write a great novel. ​ - ​[Steven Pressfield: The Female Carries the Mystery](=)​ ​ ​​In Moby Dick, the sea is the female, and the sea carries the mystery. In Lawrence of Arabia, the desert is the female, and the movie is shot to make the desert absolutely gorgeous. While writing a story, Steven asks himself: What's the female in this story? Is there a mystery? And why? What is the mystery? And the mystery is usually something that can't be solved. Those were 10 short lessons, and if you want to hear me talk about them in way more depth, [click on the video below](=). [video preview](=)​ ​ That's all for now. Hope it was helpful. If you want to say thank you, the best thing you can do is to simply share the podcast with your friends. Have a creative week, — David ​ P.S. One more word about the Test Drive: I want you to come because we're really fricken' good at these live sessions, and I want you to see them for yourself instead of taking my word for it. And you can make moves by publishing your best ideas. How so? Well... maybe you're pissed off because you don't like your boss; maybe you feel like your work does nothing for the world; or maybe you feel like your inner intellectual life is some sort of secret thing you can't tell your friends about. Publishing your best ideas can solve all these problems because of the way it'll attract such quality people and opportunities into your life. ​[Sign up here and come see for yourself.](​ ​ ​ ​ Have a creative week, [David Perell Logo 2x] Thanks for reading! If you’re serious about learning to write, [sign up for my 50 days of writing series.]() I’ll send you a series of emails about every aspect of the craft, from finding new ideas, to editing your writing, to building an email list. If you'd like to update your email settings, choose one of the options below. 1. [Click here](=) to unsubscribe from Monday Musings only. 2. [Unsubscribe]( to be removed from all future mailings. That'll make me sad. But hey... I get it. You're busy. Just know that once you click this link you won't receive any more emails from me. If you want to opt-out of Monday Musings and don't see a link above to do so, just hit reply and let me know. I'll take care of it for you personally. 3. If you're interested in subscribing to my other emails, [click here](). In particular, I recommend my weekly [Friday Finds]() email. In it, I share my favorite books, articles, videos, and podcasts every week. 10900 Research Blvd Ste 160C PMB 3016, Austin, Texas 78759