POP: A New Framework for Memorable Writing

Master 3 things → get “stuck in their heads.”

A few months back, David Perell and I asked ourselves, “What makes a piece of writing memorable?”

To answer that question, we explored our favorite creators’ most memorable work, looked for patterns, and talked through what we found. Here’s the framework we came up with:

We then got together to teach this framework in a 1-hour workshop focused on business writing. The video is on YouTube.

Ever since the workshop, some people have been asking me to send this Venn diagram with a write-up of our key points, so I decided to post it here.

Big Picture: The best writing is unforgettable.

Good writing isn’t what people think it is.

In school (especially if you got an MBA) here’s what you’ve been taught to think of as “good writing”:

• Machine-gun fire of statistics and data points
• A heaping helping of hollow buzzwords
• A buttoned-up, academic tone (so you can sound “smart”)

…but those things don’t matter! That’s because you can do all of those things, yet ​utterly fail​ to make a lasting impression.

The key to making your writing worthwhile is ​making it ​memorable.

When your writing is memorable:

• People recall your ideas spontaneously, turning them over in their minds.
• People want to talk about & share what you’ve written.
• People reread & revisit your writing.
• They don’t have to force themselves to read your stuff — they ​want ​to read it.
• People take your ideas to heart and take related action.

In short, your ideas get “stuck in their heads,” like a catchy song. ​No, not like an annoying jingle — that’s a thing you wish you could forget. I’m talking about making rich, resonant music that leaves an impression, making you want to listen again & again & again.

That’s what the POP framework can empower you to do with your writing.

POP Writing: Personal, Observational, Playful

As you’ve seen in the diagram above, POP writing has three attributes: it’s personal, it’s observational, and it’s playful.

In general, a marketable piece of writing needs to be strong in at least 2 of these 3 areas. However, if any one of the pillars is missing, the piece of writing is likely to feel flat or two-dimensional. To make your writing stick, you want a strong balance of all 3.

PERSONAL: Connect through human experiences.

Being personal means connecting with your reader through human experience. This is central to making your writing relevant and relatable.

Language for getting personal:

• “I saw…
• “I felt…
• “I heard…
• “You’ve seen…
• “You’ve felt…
• “You’ve been there…
• “Remember when…?

Tools for getting personal:

• Tell a story about your life and personal experience
• Invoke shared experiences (public transit, school, having siblings, etc).
• Share a private, intense emotion
• Prod the reader’s personal memory bank: “Remember when…?”
• Invite the reader to juxtapose their personality with yours: “I don’t know about you, but when I read business books…”

If you pay attention to your favorite writers, you’ll find that they tie in personal experiences, current events, and common life scenarios, even if it’s just a passing mention.

OBSERVATIONAL: Notice what others didn’t.

This is one of David’s superpowers. He notices things I’d never see, for example the existence of audience-first products. But now that he wrote about this phenomenon, I can’t unsee it.

If I can’t unsee it, I can’t forget it. That’s the power of a great observation.

Good observational language:

• I noticed a pattern…
• Look at this trend…
• You might not know this, but…
• The best-kept secret is…
• There’s an opportunity here that not everyone is seeing (e.g. “audience-first products”)
• If you look at this from a slightly different angle…

How to capture more observations:

• Write things down — don’t play “catch and release” with ideas that might be interesting
• Look for things that surprise or shock you
• Write about anything that spurs an intense reaction in your mind
• Use the 3 B’s: “Bed, Bath, Bus.” As a general rule, you’ll feel most inspired and creative when you’re able to relax. Instead of burying yourself in your phone during a train or bus ride, try letting your mind wander. And that old adage about doing your best thinking in the shower? There’s a lot of truth to that!

One example of “strictly” observational writing would be some field notes that Darwin might have written during his voyage.

“Hmm… I’ve noticed that there are 15+ different species of finches in the Galapagos islands alone.”

This is a “pure” observation, in that Darwin isn’t doing anything to make it relevant at this moment. But overall, observation — sharing things you’ve noticed, but others haven’t — is a great driver of memorable writing.

PLAYFUL: Bring out the kid in your reader.

For some reason, playfulness has been verboten in modern business writing— but it doesn’t need to be that way. The more fun people have reading your stuff, the more they’ll want to share it and talk about it. That’s what you want, right?

There are so, so, SO many ways to get playful with your writing, and which ones you choose depend on your desired style.

Here’s a rapid-fire list to get you going.

“Play” in the theatrical sense:

• Make up fictional characters to illustrate your points
• Use dialogue
• Tell stories (real or imagined)
• Use personification

“Play” mind games with your reader:

• Put readers in hypothetical scenarios (“Picture yourself in a boat on a river…”)
• Use thought experiments (“Imagine that tomorrow, you were put in charge of an airline. What would you call it?”)

Include lighthearted content:

• Use fun analogies (e.g. sports analogies)
• Talk about movies, music, and pop culture
• Use pictures & illustrations when appropriate

Wordplay:

• Engage the 5 senses with words that evoke touch, taste, sound, etc.
• Silly words & phrases (like “slurp”)
• Onomatopoeia (VROOM!)
• Use jokes & puns

Basically, you can use any & all of these playfulness techniques to avoid the cardinal sin of creative work: being boring.

Personal + Observational + Playful = MEMORABLE!

When all three POP components are in place, people will have a much harder time forgetting your writing.

Need proof? Look no further than the writers and storytellers you already admire.

For example, below are a few POPular writers who’ve used these attributes to set themselves apart and be remembered.

• Nassim Taleb (especially playful, unlike other “business” writers).
• Richard Feynman (especially playful, unlike most physicists).
• Oliver Sacks (especially playful and personal, unlike most neurologists).
• Adam Smith (the invisible hand of the market is a powerful observation, framed playfully).

By the way, songwriters, comedians, and fiction writers apply these concepts, too. I’m thinking about great creators like Dave Chappelle, Bob Dylan, and Harper Lee. All of them have made powerful, lasting observations about the world while creating playful and touching art. That’s why history will remember them.

~ Thanks for reading! If you like, you can also watch the POP Writing workshop on YouTube.