2 Powerful Writing Tips from Malcolm Gladwell
Though simple, these tips can make a huge difference in your writing process and productivity
Last December, I came across a Masterclass promotion on Facebook: access to all classes for a year for $85.00. I jumped on it, and it has turned out to be an outstanding gift for the whole family.
I’ve been listening to the Writing classes of course. There are 13 of them. So far, I’ve listened to 3 world-class authors explain how they approach their craft and been mesmerized by what they have to say.
I recently finished New Yorker staff writer and best-selling author Malcolm Gladwell’s Master Class, which has a ton of fantastic advice, from how and who to read to how to develop story ideas.
Of the 24 lessons in the class, lesson 19, titled Draft and Revisions, was my favorite. It delved into themes present throughout all the lessons and contained the tips I’m about to share with you.
Tip #1: “Set a reasonable bar”
“The task of a successful writer is to lower the bar. You want to avoid areas of high difficulty. A high-difficulty task is having a story in your head before you write it…. Just start writing and then work it out.”
Throughout the course, Gladwell addresses writer expectations, underlining that setting the bar too high is a mistake. Let’s look at what Gladwell means, specifically:
- With regard to quantity. Gladwell counts any day he writes one good page as productive. Writers, he says, often fail to meet their quantity goals because they make them too ambitious. Failure then causes stress and makes you even less productive at an activity he describes as “strenuous,” both physically and mentally.
- With regard to quality. Gladwell embraces the aphorism Don’t let perfect be the enemy of the good. In other words, be happy to just put your ideas down, however badly, and then develop and improve them over time until the piece becomes really good, perhaps even great.
- How to differentiate yourself. You don’t need to be an outstanding writer. Instead, Gladwell advises writers to think about their competitive advantage. What makes you stand out? Is it your niche? Your voice? Your life experiences? Your competitive advantage is what readers come to you for over and over again. In Gladwell's case, it’s his looking at ideas from the point of view of an “outsider.”
Tip #2: “Put it down and walk away”
“The number one piece of advice I give people who are writing something is that as they approach the end, if they can, they should put whatever they’re writing aside, walk away and don’t think or look at it for as long as possible.”
We all know this, but, when Malcolm Gladwell says it’s his “number one piece of advice,” it feels urgent and essential we actually “put it down and walk away,” every single time.
Gladwell talks about walking away for weeks and months, which is an eternity and seldom possible for bloggers. Still, for us bloggers, even a day or two can make all the difference.
Resist the temptation to click “publish” because you want a piece over and done with or because you’ve promised yourself you must publish daily. Have several drafts going so that you never write a piece, develop, revise, and publish it all on the same day.
You’ll be surprised at what happens when you make this change, no exceptions. Ever since listening to Gladwell, I’ve let every single piece sit for at least two days (except one). It’s quite remarkable how much stuff doesn’t work as well as it did just 48 hours ago.
Sentences and even whole segments that add nothing to the piece will jump out. You’ll likely find a few better examples or even specific words to convey your message. There have been a couple of instances when I’ve thought to myself, relieved: I was going to publish this?
MasterClass, at $85.00 was well worth it. I’m learning from incredible authors and finding motivation as I hear about their journeys as writers. When it comes to Malcolm Gladwell, I leave you with two sentences that sum up my two favorite tips well:
“If you’re trying to produce a perfect piece, you’ll never produce it.”
“Perspective is your friend and the only way to gain perspective is time.”
More writing tips from GREAT writers:
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