Writing Well

A skill for writing compelling nonfiction—blog posts, essays, and articles—based on principles that reliably produce work readers can't put down.

The Core Framework

Writing Quality = Novelty × Resonance

People read nonfiction to learn and to feel. Your writing succeeds when it delivers both.

Novelty — Ideas that are new, significant, and not easily intuited:

• Counter-intuitive: "Oh, I never realized the world worked that way."
• Counter-narrative: "Wow, that's not how I was told the world worked!"
• Shock and awe: "That's crazy. I would have never believed it."
• Elegant articulations: "Beautiful. I couldn't have said it better myself."
• Make someone feel seen: "Yes! That's exactly how I feel!"

Resonance — Ideas that take root in readers' minds, wrapped in:

• Stories