Tag
content writing
15 posts
- 04ThursdayCase Study·
For years, I ended every article with 'In conclusion...' recapping the same four points—until we tested 37signals' playbook of ditching the recap paragraph for a single, actionable operating rule.
How 37signals Trashed the 'In Summary' Rule: The Art of the Sealing Sentence
Writing 'In summary...' and recapping your subheads kills reading momentum. Here is the practice we learned from 37signals' Signal v. Noise: turning conclusion paragraphs into a single transferable sealing sentence.
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- 01MondayOpening·
For years I feared that writing under three hundred words made an argument look lightweight; in reality, those massive text blocks weren't depth—they were just the laziness of clearing my head on the page.
The 300-Word Fear: Why Trimming a Paragraph Isn't Subtracting Substance
Length isn't proof of depth; it's the symptom of an unedited draft. The craft of reducing a 300-word paragraph to three sentences without crippling the idea.
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- 06SaturdayDifferent Angle·
In a guide where I slapped an example onto every abstract sentence, word count doubled and readership dropped—because examples carry a cost, and sometimes an abstract sentence gets the job done faster.
Giving Examples Isn't Always Right: When "Make It Concrete" Fails
For years, I attached an example to every abstract sentence; in one onboarding guide, this reflex doubled the length and tanked completion rates. Here are three conditions where examples backfire and a single decision test for the editing desk.
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- 02TuesdayMain Essay·
You can't film "quality content is important" on camera—and nobody stops for a sentence they can't visualize. But add a scene to every line, and your copy suffocates. An example is medication; it has a dosage.
Spend Examples on Objections, Not Sentences: Micro-Edits That Turn Abstract Lines into Scenes
For years I wrote sentences like "quality content is important" thinking they were arguments. Changing a single abstract line into a scene altered reading behavior. But when I added examples to every sentence, the copy bloated into an unreadable mess—here is a conditional craft map showing when an example is mandatory and when it is dead weight.
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- 01MondayOpening·
I wrote the sentence "quality content matters" hundreds of times—and it was so uncontestably true that it told nobody anything.
An Abstract Sentence Is a Promise, a Scene Is Proof: Why I Deleted "Quality Content Matters"
For years, I wrote true but invisible sentences like "quality content matters"; no one paused, no one quoted them. Here is what changed when I replaced an abstract claim with a single concrete scene—and how I bloated my prose when I tried to turn every sentence into one.
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- 02TuesdayMain Essay·
For years, I blindly obeyed SEO plugin warnings to eliminate every passive sentence. In forcing an actor into every single verb, I realized far too late that I was dragging the reader's attention away from the real point.
Reclaiming the Passive Voice: When Should We Bring It Onstage?
For years, I exhausted my prose trying to satisfy automated warnings against the passive voice. But passive phrasing is not an error; it is a precision lens adjustment that points the sentence's camera where it matters.
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- 06SaturdayDifferent Angle·
If you're stuffing sentences with ghost subjects like 'the system' or 'experts' just to keep them active, you might be pulling readers away from the actual action.
Rehabilitating the Passive Voice: How the "Always Use Active Voice" Dogma Suffocates Your Writing
For years, I blindly followed the "never use passive voice" rule and cluttered my prose with redundant subjects. But the passive voice isn't writer laziness—it is strategic spotlight management.
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- 03WednesdayData·
For a long time, I thought bullet points were magic spaces giving text room to breathe, only to realize that structurally mismatched lists constantly force the reader to hit the brakes.
The Cost of Asymmetric Lists: Parallel Structure in Bullet Points
Bullet points give text breathing room, but when they aren't grammatically parallel, they act as a cognitive brake for the reader.
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- 02TuesdayMain Essay·
For years I began every new idea with 'furthermore' or 'moreover'—the logic was sound, but the prose read like a machine wrote it.
Transition Laziness: The Art of Stitching Sentences Without Saying 'Furthermore'
For years I started every new thought with 'in addition,' forgetting that true prose rhythm doesn't come from sprinkled transitions, but from interlocking sentence architecture.
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- 06SaturdayDifferent Angle·
If you entrust a sentence's impact to adjectives, you are lying to your reader.
The Fallacy of Conveying Emotion with Adjectives: Why Verbs Are the Engine of Writing
We debunk the myth that good writing relies on heavy adjective descriptions. The true load-bearing column of a text is not adjectives dictating what the reader should feel, but strong verbs showing the action.
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- 01MondayOpening·
For years, I believed stringing together adjectives like 'effective, impactful, and innovative' elevated copy; in reality, what convinces readers isn't the paint job, but the engine.
Ditching Adjective Vanity: Why Verbs Are the Engine of Copy
Adjectives meant to polish copy often erode credibility; what persuades readers isn't the paint job, but specific verbs driving the action.
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- 01MondayOpening·
For years, I handed writers exhaustive lists of 'must-include' phrases, and every time I received copy that ticked every box but was completely lifeless.
Why 'Positive' Briefs, Not Writers, Are to Blame for Bad Content
After years of vague, bloated briefs leading to bland copy, here is the 'anti-brief' formula: how to eliminate clichés without suffocating creativity.
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- 05FridayFramework·
For years, I tried to create an air of mystery in my intros: ornate phrasing, philosophical musings, clichés like 'time is a flowing river'... Readers closed the tab before even reaching the second sentence.
The 'First 3 Sentences' Filter for Intro Paragraphs: Stop Keeping Readers at the Door
For years, I tried to craft mysterious introductory paragraphs and drove readers away. In this piece, I set aside literary detours to share my micro-tactical formula that nails down the problem, the promise, and the method in the first three sentences.
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- 03WednesdayData·
For years, I wrote intro paragraphs like literary riddles, believing I was hooking reader curiosity. Turns out, I was showing over 60% of my readers the door within the first 5 seconds.
Playing the Mystery Card in Your Intro: The Sneaky Mistake Behind 60% Bounce Rates
For years, I wrote intro paragraphs like literary riddles, believing I was hooking reader curiosity. Turns out, I was showing more than half of my readers the door within the first 5 seconds.
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- 02TuesdayMain Essay·
For years, I designed opening paragraphs like cinema movies: setting the mood first, deepening the mystery, and saving the key takeaway for the third paragraph. The result? Readers got bored by line two and closed the tab.
The 'Inverted Pyramid' Fallacy in Intros: Hooking Readers with First-Sentence Delivery, Not Mystery
For years, I crafted introductions like cinematic openings and lost readers in droves. Now I cut straight to the chase and put the promise on the table in the first 15 words.
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