LL Marketing

People read nonfiction to learn and to feel. My framework for ensuring a blog post accomplishes both is to start with a first draft that focuses on "novel" ideas.

A novel idea is one that's not just new to the reader, but also significant and not easily intuited. Think of it as new and worthwhile . I've identified five categories:

• Counter-intuitive —

... See more

How to generate hooks

You create hooks by finding questions you want answers to then posing those questions in your introduction:

1. Ask yourself, “If someone else wrote my intro, what are the most captivating questions they could pose to make me excited to read this?”


2. Write those questions down. Even if you lack the answers.


3. Rank your questions by how

... See more

You only fully understand the context of a sentence when you're done reading it. So, the longer the sentence, the more details you hold in your head at once. That makes understanding already complex points even harder.

In short, consider finding evocative, unconventional ways to say meaningful things. It forces readers to use their imaginations to piece ideas together. You engage their minds and no longer spoon-feed each detail. Now they meditate on your implications.

As you're writing, how do you know which thoughts are most valuable? What separates good ideas from bad ones?

My approach is to focus on ideas that are interesting or surprising. These are the ingredients of novelty. Novelty is what keeps readers reading. They tend to be:

• Counter-intuitive


• Counter-narrative


• Shock and awe


• Elegant articulations

My favorite writing trick is to only write my introduction then ask friends who represent my audience this question:

"After reading only this intro, what are the most interesting ideas I could possibly cover in the rest of the post?"

I pick and choose the responses that resonate with me. This is how I de-risk my post from lacking novelty: Am I headed... See more

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

... See more

In addition to interesting talking points, you're also looking for surprising ideas.

Surprise is anything that contradicts what readers know or expect you to say. It makes them think, “Wow. That’s unexpected.”

You generate surprising talking points using essayist Paul Graham’s method: First, learn the basic knowledge of a topic. Then, if you can fin... See more

To engage a reader's senses, you can do more than just add vivid details. You can also swap plain phrases for more engaging ones.

Pay attention to the bold words, which now create metaphors:

• “Make me an instrument of your pain.”


• “It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.”


• “Where there is hatred, let me

... See more