Don't Write to Seem Smart, Write Like This Instead

24 Dec 2024 #writing

Don’t write to seem smart or to sound like a famous writer.

That will only make you use technical jargon, complicated words, and long boring paragraphs that scare people away.

Instead, write for only one person.

Every time you sit to write, imagine you’re writing for a friend, coworker, or your past self. It will give you the right tone, context, and level of detail. You won’t use words or jargon you wouldn’t use in a real conversation. Instead, you will use your true voice.

I wrote most of my coding tutorials for a friend or two. They almost never asked me to write them. I never showed them the finished piece. I simply imagined myself explaining something to them to make my writing easier.

If writing for someone sounds hard, record yourself explaining something and transcribe it.

What’s the point of sounding smart if your writing get so complicated that people don’t read what you write?

“Write with the same voice you talk in. You’ve spent your whole life learning how to communicate with that voice. Why change it when you communicate with text?” — James Altucher