This How I Write guest is an underrated gem of a human being. She launched Stripe Press, wrote the famous About Us page for Figma, and is an expert on all things business writing. I bring you Brie Wolfson, and 14 things she's learned about writing: 1. You cannot do great work without admiring the great work of others. Those who create tasteful things are almost always deep appreciators. This is why... 2. …Put your favorite paragraphs in a word document. Revisit this doc when you’re out of ideas or looking for inspiration. 3. The First Ten Minutes. The Marriott group obsesses over the first ten minutes guests spend in their hotels. You should obsess over the first paragraph of your essay. Did it spike an emotion? Raise an eyebrow? Land a joke? No? Rewrite until it does. 4. You can't acquire good taste doesn't come by mistake. It requires intention, focus, and care. Taste is a commitment to a state of attention. It’s a process of peeling back layer after layer, turning over rock after rock. 5. Finding the right word is overrated; finding the right vibe is underrated. The vibe comes first. Find the feeling you want to deliver and the right phrase will find you. 6. George Saunders perhaps came up with the most minimal definition of good writing: Good writing is when someone wants to read the next sentence. 7. What Brie learned from George Saunders about editing. He imagines a little meter in his head whenever he reads his own word. One with "P" for positive. The other with "N" for negative. He edits and edits until the "P" stays active for the entirety of the text. 8. Dial down your “teacher voice.” Avoid banal superficialities and the uptight voice they’re usually delivered in. Lean into your learner voice instead. Let the reader hear curiosity in your words. 9. Dial up your inner voice. Turn up the dial on feelings and sensations that most people would ignore, for they hold the keys to what you actually think and feel. 10. Sports players watch their performance on tape to see where they went wrong. Brie Wolfson records herself reading her essays and then plays them back to notice where she doesn’t sound like herself. 11. Writing pressurizes you, both consciously and unconsciously, to polish your ideas. Just like the prospect of guests makes you tidy up your house, the prospect of sharing your ideas with others makes you tidy up your thinking. 12. A great essay is the result of a writer being obsessed with the subject. Ditch your essay if your commitment to the topic is lukewarm. 13. A Steve Jobs quote that applies to every industry: “I think part of what made the Macintosh great was that the people working on it were musicians and poets and artists and zoologists and historians who also happened to be the best computer scientists in the world.” Be obsessive about your side-hobbies. 14. Your readers will love you for the same reason your friends do: for your authentic weird self. Do you have the courage to show it?
This How I Write guest is an underrated gem of a human being.
She launched Stripe Press, wrote the famous About Us page for Figma, and is an expert on all things business writing.
I bring you Brie Wolfson, and 14 things she's learned about writing:
1. You cannot do great work without admiring the great work of others. Those who create tasteful things are almost always deep appreciators. This is why...
2. …Put your favorite paragraphs in a word document. Revisit this doc when you’re out of ideas or looking for inspiration.
3. The First Ten Minutes. The Marriott group obsesses over the first ten minutes guests spend in their hotels. You should obsess over the first paragraph of your essay. Did it spike an emotion? Raise an eyebrow? Land a joke? No? Rewrite until it does.
4. You can't acquire good taste doesn't come by mistake. It requires intention, focus, and care. Taste is a commitment to a state of attention. It’s a process of peeling back layer after layer, turning over rock after rock.
5. Finding the right word is overrated; finding the right vibe is underrated. The vibe comes first. Find the feeling you want to deliver and the right phrase will find you.
6. George Saunders perhaps came up with the most minimal definition of good writing: Good writing is when someone wants to read the next sentence.
7. What Brie learned from George Saunders about editing. He imagines a little meter in his head whenever he reads his own word. One with "P" for positive. The other with "N" for negative. He edits and edits until the "P" stays active for the entirety of the text.
8. Dial down your “teacher voice.” Avoid banal superficialities and the uptight voice they’re usually delivered in. Lean into your learner voice instead. Let the reader hear curiosity in your words.
9. Dial up your inner voice. Turn up the dial on feelings and sensations that most people would ignore, for they hold the keys to what you actually think and feel.
10. Sports players watch their performance on tape to see where they went wrong. Brie Wolfson records herself reading her essays and then plays them back to notice where she doesn’t sound like herself.
11. Writing pressurizes you, both consciously and unconsciously, to polish your ideas. Just like the prospect of guests makes you tidy up your house, the prospect of sharing your ideas with others makes you tidy up your thinking.
12. A great essay is the result of a writer being obsessed with the subject. Ditch your essay if your commitment to the topic is lukewarm.
13. A Steve Jobs quote that applies to every industry: “I think part of what made the Macintosh great was that the people working on it were musicians and poets and artists and zoologists and historians who also happened to be the best computer scientists in the world.” Be obsessive about your side-hobbies.
14. Your readers will love you for the same reason your friends do: for your authentic weird self. Do you have the courage to show it?
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This may be the best thing I’ve ever watched on writing. Thank you both.
Can you interview Andrew Chen the a16z guy
He’s written over 100 blogs and I’d like to learn about his writing methodology
She’s very charismatic. It’s strange that she’s so behind the scenes
Excited for this - watching now!
+1 for Curation.
Great episode and lessons!