Learning how to write

December 12, 2005

Rondam writes on writing.

There are two main ways to learn to write: 1. Read 2. Write

Another way of saying it, don’t remember who said it but it’s very true. “There are no great writers, only great rewriters.” It’s all about editing.

So when starting to write some copy for anything, here’s how I have found it works. Could expand on it tons more but here’s the outline.

• first you figure out the audience, objective and key message of the text, as well as intended length and positioning/style
• then do an outline – subsections with key messages
• then expand all of the subsections with copy, not worrying about length (can easily be 3 times longer than intended length)
• then re-read and cut most of it, preserving only key ideas and best words, reaching approximately intended length
• edit for consistency, style, readability, coolness
• repeat two last bullets above until it’s good.