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1. Organization

From now until forever, you have to be mindful of organization when writing. How you order your words and thoughts has an impact on how your readers digest them.

Here are Zac Toa’s rules of thumb for effective organization:

  1. First impressions matter. The first words in a sentence, the first sentence in a paragraph and the first paragraph in an essay should all be intriguing for the reader.
  2. Last impressions matter too. The last words in a sentence, the last sentence in a paragraph and the last paragraph in an essay should all be memorable for the reader.
  3. Your writing can’t jump aimlessly back and forth. Related words, sentences and paragraphs should be close to each other. This way, everything runs smooth for the reader.
  4. Humans are stupid creatures. They can only focus on one thing at a time. Each sentence, each paragraph and each essay should make a single point. No more.
    4.1 If you want to make more than one point in a sentence/paragraph/essay, unite it under a larger point. That is: make it list-like.
  5. When you use repetition, one of two things will happen: your point will be amplified, or it will be diminished. Repeat only for amplification.
  6. If there’s one common trait about cool writers, it’s their ability to seamlessly drop a detail early, and revisit it later, i.e. their ability to break rule three.
  7. Nobody cares about your opinion unless you make ’em care. You can’t just tell people your main points; you have to build toward them.

2. Clarity

When writing for others, remember that the images, concepts and nuances in your head are not in your audience’s head. They won’t know what you know unless you show it.

Here are Zac Toa’s rules of thumb for clarity:

  1. When you can, use facts and intuitions that your audience knows. Anytime you presume something that your audience isn’t familiar with, and continue talking, you are alienating them.
  2. When you want to introduce a new idea, use a depiction or comparison. It’s easier for your audience to learn something new if they can visualize or compare it with what they already know. That’s what a depiction and/or comparison does.
  3. Don’t use language that’s too informal, too formal, too cliched, too obscure, too vague or too distracting. All of these will disengage your reader.
  4. Make your language as concise as possible, except when it has any of the disengaging traits from the previous rule.

3. Psychological Appeal

People who understand psychology, in my opinion, are better writers. They know what appeals to their audience, and they act accordingly.

Here are Zac Toa’s rules of thumb for psychological appeal:

  1. People prefer to listen to authority figures: parents, teachers, group leaders, experts, people with success stories, people with regret stories, majority opinion and statistical relationships. Your audience has to believe you’re worth listening to.
  2. The brain ignores ordinary details. The best way to capture people’s interest then is to talk about something unusual. A cure for a terminal disease. A new world record. An idiot savant. A detail your audience didn’t think was true. Etc. The more special or surprising a fact is, the more likely your audience will want to listen.
  3. People can be drawn to your writing if it induces strong feelings and shows vivid details. Try to stimulate your reader’s emotions and senses adequately. Readers want an experience.
  4. It’s sad to say, but people only believe what they want to believe. In particular, they believe what’s in their self or group interest. The more your audience agrees with you, the more fond they will become of you.
  5. People like consistency. Whether it’s in sound, in meaning or in structure, try to avoid unwitting surprises. Only surprise your audience when there’s a point.
  6. Do not oversimplify. Chances are, if you have a wide spectrum of readers with a wide spectrum of experiences and feelings, some people will notice when you oversimplify things so as to misrepresent them. When you are caught for this, you will lose a little respect from your readers.
  7. Emphasize what’s important and de-emphasize what’s not. It’s okay to simplify a detail, character or idea that’s irrelevant to your story. That allows readers the cognitive space to care about your main point.
  8. Be aware of your audience’s mindset, and adjust your language accordingly. If they require you to be humble, use words like “try”, “maybe” and “think”. If they require you to be friendly, use words like “buddy”, “dude” or “bro”. If they require you to show anger or irreverence, be blunt and use swear words. If they require you to act like a-know-it-all, spout statistics and use jargon words. Your audience should always determine how you write.
  9. Stories paired with facts/opinions are better at persuading people than facts/opinions alone. Stories create an image in people’s minds that allow them to viscerally feel your argument. It’s a major reason why every culture has a set of parables they use to reinforce norms and values.

4. Humor

Humor only works when your audience tolerates you, and isn’t offended by your points. In these cases, you can use humor to make your audience feel good.

Here are Zac Toa’s five elements of humor:

  1. Surprise: When something is incongruous to what’s expected, it’s funny.
  2. Audacity: When someone lacks respect for social norms (that the audience doesn’t take seriously), it’s funny.
  3. Obsession: When someone is excessively and unnaturally concerned about something, it’s funny.
  4. Relief: Finding relief out of frustration is funny.
  5. Ego: Boasting about yourself and your likes (with people who agree with you) is funny.

If you would like a list of joke techniques and examples, check out my book, The Five Elements of Humor, on Amazon.

5. Drama

Drama also only works when your audience tolerates you. You can use drama to make your audience care.

Here are Zac Toa’s five elements of drama:

  1. Anticipation: Anything that creates suspense is dramatic.
  2. Sacrifice: When a character willingly gives up something important, it creates drama.
  3. Stakes: When a character can lose something important, it creates drama.
  4. Frustration: When a situation becomes more difficult to overcome, it creates drama.
  5. Ideals: When a hero has a desire to fight for, there is drama. When he achieves that desire, there’s catharsis.

I will make a book for this if I believe the demand for it exists. So like my Facebook and Twitter page and share it until I’m famous.

The best way to learn writing is to do it, see your mistakes and correct them. But because I’m assuming you’re an inexperienced bum, I’ll show you some common mistakes so you can improve your writing vicariously.

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