11 Writing Lessons for Adults is Giving and Service

Author: Congee Zuoruo Publisher: Today Weekly

This is a reference book on writing, from which an attitude and values can still be extracted.

■ origin

Last year, I borrowed "The Master of Copywriting Teach You Precise Persuasion Techniques " from the library, and I have always wanted to collect a reference book like this, the concept of amulets (laughs)!

Until last week, I watched NeKo 's storytelling channel, and I highly recommend " 11 Writing Lessons for Adults ", which is her list of 10 good books in 2020, and I can start one without thinking.

■ Three major cognitions

First of all, make it clear that the "writing" in this book does not refer to literary creation , but to learn to express your inner thoughts more smoothly through words, and then publish them on public platforms.

How to take the first step in writing? The author first throws out a few "wind direction balls" for everyone to think about and savor them carefully, which is not unreasonable:

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✅ Don't talk nonsense, just start writing

The first step in writing is to accept from the bottom of your heart the fact that you are temporarily poorly written , and then start practicing as soon as possible, so as to change the reality of “poor writing” as soon as possible.

Afraid of being laughed at? This is definitely overthinking. First of all, you are not that important. Everyone is busy and has no time to laugh at you. Second, from a psychological point of view, when others see you writing well, they may pick on faults; when others see you writing poorly, they usually encourage you.

Don't start by writing a long article, but start by writing a good paragraph . Lower your goals, lower your expectations, and no one writes well in the first place.

"Wait until I finish this course before writing."
"Wait until I read some more good articles before writing."
"Wait until I'm ready."

Don't pretend to be prepared, you're actually procrastinating. When it comes to writing, don't be perfectionistic, and don't wait until you're ready to write . Good writing is practiced, and good writing is modified.

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✅ Three legs stand together to support writing power

"You said so, so I can always write every day, right?"

No no, although anyone can write, what is written is often worlds apart. Because in addition to continuous output , there is a more core thing - thinking height .

 Facing the same thing, others can see one point, you can see five points; others can see five points, you can see the connection between these five points; others can see the connection between these five points, You can also see the inner relationship between the five points of one thing and the three points of another thing. In this way, what you write must be better, even if the ability to choose words and sentences is a little weaker, your writing level will be better.

Going further down, there is also a core indicator that opens up the gap between everyone's thinking—your input .

We get a definition: writing is the output of thinking about the input . The three core elements that support writing ability are: input, thinking, and output.

These three-legged tripods cannot be neglected.

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✅ Everything can be written

Life is dull most of the time, but it is not always like water. We have to learn to find the " thorns in ordinary days ", and that "thorns" are what we are going to write about.

 The thorns are those things that stir the emotions, the things that touch, move, surprise, rejoice, anger, reflect, bewildered, are the thorns, are the source of writing.

To have an opinion on the world and have something to say.

■ Experience: It is giving and serving

I don't know if there is anything weird when you write articles?

Taking me as an example, when writing reading experience, I often start from the end, and it seems that I am assembling a car, and various "modules" can be inserted and extracted.

The original idea was simply to separate the two styles of "book abstract" and "feelings". The former is to summarize and refine the point of view - a note by the way (laughs), the latter is to train thinking, see what else to say?

As greedy as I am, I want both ways of practicing.

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 Aesthetics often do not need to know the principles, but those who create beauty must have a methodology, otherwise it is impossible to continue to create.

After reading this book, I realized that although it was a mistake, some methods were really used by me.

Vegetables and radishes have their own advantages, and the book abstracts have their own audiences. Write everything and give everything to expand the " coverage " of the article.

From the reader's point of view, everyone's background knowledge is not the same starting line. To be on the safe side, assume that they are a blank sheet of paper. With book excerpts—involving the concept of “ additive writing ”—there’s an extra line of defense that explains clearly, less suspicion, and an optimized reading experience.

On the other hand, it is also assumed that they are full of economics or that time is precious. At this time, some " subtitles, the art of blank space " are used to divide an article into several parts and present the content in a modularized manner. Whether the reader wants to parachute, flip, or jump, help them read selectively, if they want to.

⚠️ Small soldiers make great contributions, my own frequently used subordinates are ✅ ⋯【】

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 give and serve

Sometimes, it turns out that writing can be a kind of " giving logic ", what can we give the reader? What do readers want?

⚠️ Put aside "getting logic" for a while: how can we quickly increase the number of clicks? Cumulative trackers?

If you think of an article as a "product" and imagine it as opening a restaurant, it is neither a scarce product, but highly homogenized, and may also be oversupplied. The ingredients are fresh and the taste is delicious, but the service is terrible and the business cannot be good.

Sometimes, the original writing can be a kind of " service logic ". Good content quality is the foundation of the product; good service experience is the packaging of the product.

⚠️ Put aside "self-logic" for a while: I just write the article well, it's the reader's business to read it or not, it's his loss.

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This book is really a "hands-on" teaching, explaining in detail the writing aspects you want - mentality, technology, and market.

When it comes to writing, everyone's strengths/tricks are different. Therefore, I believe that when reading this book, everyone's "get to the point" is also different.

What remains unchanged is that what was done well in the past has been confirmed by the concept; the parts that have never been thought of in the past have been newly inspired.

You can definitely find what you want from it.

■ Appendix: Writing Process

Notes at the end of the article, first attach the sorted Mind Map ( original image ). Then from the writing part, follow the process and pick out the parts that are more interesting.

【1. Topic selection】Win first and then fight

How to write is tactics, what to write is strategy . There are three basic logics for high-quality topic selection to satisfy the condition that "the vast majority of people care about and are valuable to the vast majority of people":

• Reach<br class="smart">A topic with a potential large enough population —how many people are likely to read it?
• Pain level <br class="smart">reflects fear, worry, apprehension—how much does it resonate when reading?
• Social Motivation <br class="smart">Content can act as a social aid—how many people will actively spread it?

To write well is to do the right thing; to write well is to do the right thing. Choose the right thing first, then do the right thing in the right way.

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[2. Title] The name matches the real name

What is a good title?

• It is your writing theme <br class="smart">is the first impression of the article, and it is also the refinement of the article's value points and the embodiment of its values.
• It is the certainty for readers <br class="smart">After reading the title, you can roughly judge whether you want to read it or not. At a glance, the decision-making cost is low.
• It is the eye-catcher <br class="smart">attracted, which increases the chance of reading the article.

But most importantly, when a reader sees a title, he will have a specific expectation in his heart. The content he sees when he clicks on it must be " in line with expectations " - true and accurate, and don't be a " title party ".

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【3. Materials】From the inside out

First resort to personal experience, then search from external channels.

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[4. Structure] Building a framework

The process of writing is to have the core first, then radiate outward, with the frame, form the text, and do the typesetting presentation. However, the process of the reader's perception is reversed - the natural contradiction between the writer and the reader .

⚠️ Core - Framework - Text - Typography.

In order to reduce the cost of communication, we should try our best to build the framework of an article, so that readers can smoothly enter the framework and understand the core of the article; it also avoids the situation where the writer "cannot control the words" - the theme is clearer and the expression is more Logic, writing efficiency will be higher.

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In the process of building, in addition to the big title, we should also pay attention to the subtitle . The main title is a high-level summary of the whole content, it is the "outline", and each sub-heading is the display of the connotation of the main title from different angles and levels, and it is the "me", which together serve the main title, presenting a kind of " Stars over the moon" gesture.

In addition to the benefits of enhancing the logic and expressiveness of the article, designing subheadings also improves the reading experience:

• Easy to understand <br class="smart">Before reading, get a general understanding; after reading, you will be more impressed.
• Reduce stress <br class="smart">Control the rhythm and give the reader a chance to take a breath, stop and think for a moment.
• Autonomy Delivery <br class="smart">If they don't want to read the full text, help them do selective reading.

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【5. Finished draft】Finish first and then seek perfection

How does echoing the frameworks mentioned earlier promote productivity?

The answer is to "advance thinking." Don't stand still, but keep " arching " forward. It doesn't have to be from the first sentence to the last sentence, whichever point advances faster, get it first .

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In addition, grasp the essentials of doing addition first and then subtraction .

Additive writing is to increase the total amount of information in the article. It doesn't mean that the content should be used to make up the amount of information, but that what should be written should be written completely - unfamiliar concepts should be explained, and important points should be elaborated.

Subtractive writing is about increasing the value density of an article. Focus on the theme, and cut out irrelevant content; optimize the discussion, cut out small repetitions; simplify every sentence from beginning to end.

 Strip every sentence clean. There are a thousand and one nuisances that weaken sentences, such as every useless word, every word that can be reduced, every adverb whose meaning is already expressed by a verb, every passive structure that leaves the reader guessing the initiator. .

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In the end, readers are not obligated to discover the intrinsic value of your article through your poor typography.

⚠️ Three principles of typography: simple and beautiful, clear structure, and focused .

Among the many techniques, the one that I use the most is the " art of white space ". Reasonable blank space can not only make the content more relaxed, more breathable, and more beautiful in presentation, but also more comfortable, smooth, and stress-free when reading.

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