Writing Well - Part 3 - Rewriting and Editing

Ask for feedback from the audience you’re writing for. Here’s a template:

It would be helpful if you read my article slowly to transcribe the reactions you have while reading it. For example:

1. Tell me what to delete — When you notice your interest is fading, you can say “I'm drifting here. This isn’t compelling and it isn’t adding value. Get to the

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I like to write sentences that a thirteen-year-old could follow.

If they can understand, so can everyone else—including anyone who's skimming.

Examples convey the significance of an idea by relating it to real-world situations. They also help readers learn concepts in the context of what they're familiar with, which aids in recall. Examples are what make abstract ideas specific .

Tips for providing examples:

1. Don't just provide good examples, also provide bad examples. Before-and-after compa

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A few rules of thumb for incorporating feedback from your target audience:

• If you agree with it, implement it.


• If 3 out of 10 people have the same feedback and you’re ambivalent about it, I'd incorporate it if it’s just a quick change.


• If 4 or more out of 10 have the same feedback and you disagree with it, you are wrong. Check your assumptions and yo

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When rewriting, one of our goals is to be understood.

Readers don't assess the quality of nonfiction by its elegance nor its complexity. Instead, the quality of nonfiction emerges from:

How strong its ideas are x how much those ideas resonate

You get in the way of resonating when your ideas are unclear.

I use a technique I call dopamine counting to weave novelty into my writing:

• I ask people to leave feedback by highlighting every sentence that gives them a dopamine hit. These are the moments of delight where they remark: "Ahh, that's cool/profound/fascinating." For each hit, I increase a counter at the end of the corresponding sentence. Like this

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I've also found that switching text editors tricks my brain into re-reading my work with new eyes. For example, if I wrote the first draft in Dropbox Paper, I'll write the second draft in Google Docs. Those tools format text differently, which kicks your brain out of pattern recognition mode, and makes it feel like you're editing someone else's wor... See more

In speech, when you say something that doesn't resonate, you can add sentences to further explain your point. Don't do that in writing. If your sentence doesn’t resonate, you go back and rewrite it.

Writing is a process of deliberate thought curation—where each sentence can justify its inclusion in your final draft.