Writing "how to"s from Churchill, Seinfeld, and more
Learning from great writing.
David Perell just launched Writingexamples.com.
Each article deconstructs a piece of writing from an iconic writer. The goal is to give you X-Ray vision into what makes sentences and paragraphs come alive (so that you can improve at your craft)…
Forget playing it safe. That’s the most dangerous thing you can do in a world of instant writing. I want you to write with personality. I want you to play with punctuation. I want you to ditch the corporatized hogwash. I want to expand your sense of what great writing can be. And I want you to have fun doing it.
Looks cool. Here are a couple of sample ones…
HOW TO Write a Memorable Speech
More repetition isn’t always better though. Repetition and efficiency are often in tension. The optimal balance between them depends on the context. Too much repetition, and you can lose your audience.
Churchill hit the sweet spot though. The lesson is that efficiency can get in the way of memorability, especially in speech-writing.
In interviews, Seinfeld talks about how certain words are simply funnier than others. Yiddish, for example, is a hilarious language: klutz, schmutz, chutzpah. Something about the construction of these words will bring a chuckle out of the listener. The humor in this introduction comes from ‘pooper-scooper’ and ‘dog crap.’ They’re the kinds of raunchy-ish phrases you’d say to a friend at the bar if you were a tad pissed off. Alternatively, Seinfeld could’ve written: “There was no law for cleaning your dog excrement and the streets were covered in canine waste." But that wouldn’t be the slightest bit funny, because it’s so heady.
Follow me on Instagram and catch my comedy clips...
Related:
Seinfeld on finding fun for the ear
Jerry Seinfeld gave an interview recently where he talks about how standup is like songwriting.
