Overview
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Learn practical tips to improve your writing. Explore the mindset of an elite writer and learn what top wordsmiths do to keep their writing purposeful, concise, and a joy to read.
Syllabus
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1. The World of Elite Writing
- Welcome
- Tools, not rules
- Proof the secret sauce works
- Mindset principle: Write with integrity
- Mindset principle: Yearn to connect
- Mindset principle: Know your intent
- Mindset principle: Aspire for beauty
- Mindset principle: Balance the ingredients like an artist
- Mindset principle: Don't be obsessed with perfection
- The beauty of simplicity
- Fancy, flowery, and official language
- Fancy, flowery, and official language: Exercises
- Economical ("tight") writing
- Economical ("tight") writing: Exercises
- Redundant words
- Redundant words: Exercises
- More implied words
- More implied words: Exercises
- Long words
- Long words: Exercises
- Careless repetition
- Careless repetition: Exercises
- Rambling (saying too much)
- Double negatives
- Multiply entities
- Overstretching thoughts
- Unnecessary ceremony
- Unnecessary ceremony: Exercises
- Excessive punctuation
- The beauty of clarity
- Fuzzy thinking
- Missing links
- Out-of-focus ideas
- Misplaced modifiers
- Ambiguity
- Ambiguity: Exercises
- Careless comparisons
- Clumsy contrasts
- Dubious distinctions
- Curly writing
- Jargon and buzzwords
- Mixed tenses
- It versus they
- This, that, and the
- Remove clutter
- The beauty of elegance
- Presentational elegance or "house style"
- Narrative elegance
- Narrative elegance: Exercises
- Stray thoughts
- Elegant paragraphs
- Elegant paragraphs: Exercises
- Timing, rhythm, and musicality
- Timing, rhythm, and musicality: Exercises
- Elegant transitions
- Parallel ideas
- Parallel ideas: Exercises
- Word echoes
- The beauty of evocativeness
- Create variety
- Create variety: Exercises
- Add freshness
- Dramatic and forceful writing
- Dramatic and forceful writing: Exercises
- Arouse the senses
- Reversing into sentences: Part 1
- Reversing into sentences: Part 2
- Passive sentences
- Passive sentences: Exercises
- Voice, tone, and character
- Voice, tone, and character: Exercises
- Summary
