Skip to content

Instantly share code, notes, and snippets.

@jsjoeio

jsjoeio/notes.md

Last active November 3, 2021 14:31
Show Gist options
  • Save jsjoeio/9758a7a700b5b7b6613b1460a72f52f3 to your computer and use it in GitHub Desktop.
Save jsjoeio/9758a7a700b5b7b6613b1460a72f52f3 to your computer and use it in GitHub Desktop.
Download ZIP
Julian's Writing Workshop - 11/2/2021 - Notes
Raw
notes.md

Raw Notes

These are my unstructured notes from the workshop. Read with caution (they're biased to my own interpretation).

Notes

1,000,000 Julian.com visitors

Part 1: What's your objective for your article?

Part 2: pair it with an objective

objective + motivation

good nonfiction = 70% novelty + 25% story + 5% style

novelty is key

amateur writing is boring when it focuses on story + personality

NOVELTY <- he keeps saying this

writing quality = novelty x resonance

resonance = examples + analogies + story

novelty = draft 1

resonance = draft 2

NOVELTY

4 types: counter-intuitive, counter-narrative, elegant articulation (synthesis, poetry), shock and awe.

format doesn't matter (tweets, emails, blogs)

Novelty is not "luck" but can be produced using these patterns

The point is these are examples of novelty. Writing quality = novelty x resonance. audience building comes from high quality writing.

significance = personal important x empowering

empowering -> there is a spectrum

3 gossip -> intel (Neil writs at 2am-5am)

2 tactical breakdown (best time to write is at 2am because X)

1 framework (here's a system for doing your best writing)

how do we take a simple idea (which already exists) and make it "feel" novel?

get ideas by noting what interests you and surprises you.

get ideas based on what you react to: "that wasn't obvious"

"people have this SO wrong" <- good reaction

use Tweetdeck -> rank highest engagmenets (based on like/replies). then see which one where you think "this is way wrong" -> write about that.

"surprise" is always an indicator of something interesting/novel. Whenever I'm reading and something surprises me, I make note of it.

something surprises you or interests you -> write it down with a score.

Over time, ideas become non-novel (your mind adjusts) -> this way you still know what's novel after years of doing this.

novelty = new information that resonates with people

score -> log book over time of things that feel novel and how novel they feel 1-10.

Draft 1: find the novelty

Draft 2: find what resonates

use story to introduce significance before you share the idea

example: https://www.julian.com/blog/creativity-faucet (the intro in this post from "last year" -> "I get curious")

use analogies to make new ideas familiar.

"Expecting a first draft to be good is like rolling ten dice and expecting ten sixes."

*1 dopamine intros -> share intro, ask others what you want to cover next *

2 dopamine linecounts -> ask others which parts of your writing are novel

Hook = half-told story

  1. questions - ask, don't give answre
  2. narratives - tease with intro to story, don't give rest.
  3. discoveries - highlight only new findings
  4. arguments - bold claim, but don't explain how you got there. (read to find out)

excerpt on "how to generate hooks" from here: https://www.julian.com/guide/write/ideas

If someone else wrote my intro, what are the most captivating questions they could pose to make me excited to read this?

"If your goal is to discover novel ideas, your motto should not be 'do what you love' so much as 'do what you're curious about'" ~ Paul Graham

use feedback for directionality

  • write for you AND someone else

ask people to rate intro 1-10 how interested they are in reading more (easy to do over a DM on Twitter, Discord, text message, etc)

how many people to ask for feedback? 10 on the low-side.

maybe 20 if it's a hard-post.

Julian -> built an army of feedbackers

Writing Well: https://www.julian.com/guide/write/intro

researched writing heavily -> 100 novel things -> turned into guide.

Reviewing a piece:

  • ask people to mark (add comment with DH "dopamine hit") sentences that make them go "holy shit!"
  • white gaps between dopamine hits -> condense those so you minimize the boring stuff
    • don't delete
    • critically necessary (sometimes) for getting to the dopamine hits

What if what I want to write already exists out there?

"We've had water a while, yet each year some company discovers a new way to package and sell the same thing" — @jsjoeio

most popular stuff he has written -> slammed out in 1-8hrs stuff that hasn't gone crazy? more of a slog.

  1. choose obj. + mot.
  2. write introduction
  3. write a terrible first draft
    1. it will be garbage
    2. iterate, iterate until good
  4. iterate with dopamine
    1. have friend read
    2. ask them to summarize over phone
    3. delete draft, start form summary
    4. add words as needed

Writing feedback groups link: https://airtable.com/shrSLsy5kIJz1IWHH

Excerpts shared from these links:

fav non-fiction book: https://www.amazon.com/How-Get-People-Stuff-persuasion/dp/0321884507

condense and categorize novelty in your tool of choice.

use gaps to identify what to research next.

Great browser extension for seeing someone's best tweets https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/twemex-sidebar-for-twitte/amoldiondpmjdnllknhklocndiibkcoe?hl=en

Sign up for free to join this conversation on GitHub. Already have an account? Sign in to comment