How to Write Online with David Perell

Feb 10 (Wed), 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM PST

Ultimate distillation of the entire Write of Passage class

How to improve ideas

Need a better note-taking system

• Consider one’s capture habit for both our own ideas and other people’s ideas - is it efficient?
  • Inspiring
  • Useful
  • Easily lost
  • Personal
• Other people’s ideas: save everything with Readwise (affiliate link)
• Own ideas:
  • Write while reading
  • Journaling (Matthew Mcconaughey kept a journal since he was 15!)
  • Use voice transcription e.g. Otter after an experience to quickly capture

Questions to ask

• Stories - what are your go-to stories?
• Insightful - In what ways do you surprise your peers?
• Experiences - Write about once-in-a-lifetime moments
• Memories - What’s a memory you don’t want to forget?

Modern writing isn’t created. It’s assembled.

• Distill ideas like making maple syrup from sap
• The Content Triangle
  • Conversation: tinder for the flame of epiphany
  • Feedback
  • Share
  • Feedback
  • Create
  • Feedback
  • Distribute
• Don’t forget about voice transcription!
  • Explain the idea in 2 minutes or less
  • We are better at talking than writing—it has had more years of evolution
  • Originality is overrated

Examples

• Atomic Habits was created through:
  • Write articles for 5 years
  • Email short articles every week
  • Refine and compile into book form
  • Leverage audience along the way to launch the book
• Sapiens does not contain original research but is successful regardless
• There’s 1010 autobiographies of Winston Churchill!

Myths of writing education (invert them!)

• Solitude - instead, create feedback loops
• Academic - instead, anyone can do it
• Scarcity - instead, take notes and use other people’s ideas
• Publish - instead, create microcontent over time

Write CLEAR Sentences

• Create a rhythm
  • Don’t just write words. Write music.
    • Vary sentence length (Gary Provost example)
  • Diversify your vernacular
    • Words people know, but don’t say is the sweet spot
      • E.g. cordial instead of nice, but don’t use copacetic
  • The Story Roller-Coaster
    • Setup (gentle ascent)
    • Conflict (rapid descent)
    • Resolution (gentle ascent)
• Link your sentences
• Eliminate anything that’s confusing
• Add colorful details
• Remove unnecessary words

Write of Passage: Write first, research second

• Find
• Assemble
• Speak
• Teach

How to grow your audience

• Cross public vs private bridge
  • Grow your audience on public platforms, build relationship on private ones
• Build a personal monopoly
  • Unusual - skills or knowledge not often found together
  • Complementary - skills that reinforce and amplify each other
  • Experiential - skills gained through experience
  • Specific - niche

Recap

Build an audience of like-minded people (don’t have to be like Oprah level though!)

• Niche Fame
  • Niche - personal monopoly
  • Trusted - they don’t just know you, they respect you
  • Distribution - own your distribution
  • Lucrative - long-term social and financial benefits