
How to Write Articles and Essays Quickly and Expertly (2006) - ridruejo
http://www.downes.ca/post/38526
======
joewee
I had to write a weekly technology column for a number of years. The best
method I found was to prepare a outline of the content you are going to write
as a series of questions. For my column I used 5 questions in a logical
progression. Example question might be "Why is this technology important to
small businesses?"

Once I defined the questions, I wrote in sprints without correcting grammar or
spelling to answer each of the questions. Sprints were a few minutes, not more
than 5.

When I answered all of the questions I would go back and remove the questions
and edit for flow and add references and supporting facts. Last would be a
grammar check, but I relied on my editor to review that given that I was often
writing on deadline.

I produced more than 200 articles of 800-1000 words. Week over week even when
I had writers block or no desire to write at all.

~~~
1337biz
I once watched an obscure online course by some Canadian lawyer with a similar
method for writing books that way. Wasn't by any chance your inspiration?

~~~
lawrencewu
Do you happen to know the name of the course? Very interested.

~~~
1337biz
From the recording it looked like a rip from a video tape straight out of the
80s. To be honest I found it in the early 2000s on a now defunct torrent
tracker when already all sales pages had gone and only some scam reports still
existed. Had a super fluffy title something like 'write a book in 21 days
guaranteed' but I gave it a chance because I was curious. It was actually just
like OP described, only applied for non-fiction books. The author was really
all about hacking an expert-looking book in the shortest time possible -
without calling it hacking. The process started by reading the top 10 books in
your field, then develop 25 core questions, fill each question with 5 sub
questions, use a timer of 5 minutes to write against the clock the answer to
that question. The idea was to get into a writing flow and stop reflecting
while putting out as much text as possible. He sold the idea by the good old
pareto logic, suggesting that by reading the top 10 books you already know
more than 80% of the people interested in the topic, making the book good
enough to be seen as the expert. In the end he suggested threwing out 10% of
the worst paragraphs, then editing it all together and done is the book.

~~~
joewee
Sounds like the same method I’m using from the same source. He also
recommended expert interviews, preparing the questions for experts in the
field and setting up calls to get their answers. It’s a great technique in my
opinion, but I never tried to write a book using it. It definitely helped my
column writing.

~~~
1337biz
Totally forgot about that! But yes, that was him! I still have issues coming
up with topics and the right questions. It is really hard to overcome that
self-criticism. What is your way to overcome this?

------
munchbunny
In my own experiences, the key to writing essays quickly and expertly is just
writing a lot of essays and consciously trying to hone your craft. Writing is
a complex skill that takes lots of time and attention in little incremental
steps, and the further you go the faster/better you get.

It's more than just practice though. It's also momentum. I find that the more
I write, the more my brain passively seeks more material to write, and so I
get faster at generating ideas and putting them on paper. This happens with
programming too - the more I do, the faster I get at coming up with ideas and
prototyping them. Same with sports, gaming, really everything that combines
skill and creativity. I get more creative by just doing it more.

Certainly there's real technique to writing quickly, but I've always found
that my own biggest barrier was having something meaningful to say, and the
fastest way to get into a rhythm of actually coming up with meaningful things
to say was to just start putting words down in the first place. Which leads to
the paradox: you become prolific by trying to be prolific.

~~~
nmyk
Yep, as one of my fiction instructors once said: The more you do it, the more
you do it.

------
rayalez
Here's a common essay structure I've picked up on, from many sources(From
Eliezer Yudkowsky's rationality articles to John Oliver's Last Week Tonight)

1\. Introduce a problem/concept - can be a social issue, bias, or a useful
cognitive tool.

2\. Define/explain what it is.

3\. Give several examples or studies.

4\. Call to action - propose a solution, debiasing, or a practical real life
application.

Also add an intro that grabs attention and promises value.

This seems to work well and I like it a lot, it gives me a pretty universal
way to write on many subjects.

~~~
glomph
A method I was taught at school for philosophy is very similar. DICE:

Define - Introduce and explain the concept

Illustrate - Give examples

Contrast - Give contrasting examples or alternative points of view.

Explain - Cover why the concept is interesting or significant or why we should
care about it or why it is preferable to alternatives.

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mikkqu
I personally have found the article pretty informative as I can relate to the
topic very well. Takes me enormous amount of energy to write something that's
more than a few random sentences together. There is a well-known fear of
public speaking and in my case it's more like a fear of public writing.

Still looking for an efficient way to break thoughts down into pieces and
that's one way to approach it.

~~~
gt_
You're not alone. Public speaking is no problem for me, as it cuts out the
middle man, or, the medium.

Another comment points to the typos in this article in devaluing the author,
while I secretly admire him for letting them slide. My threshold for typos is
small, don't get me wrong, but enough years of unfinished essays behind me and
I'll seek to learn from these masters (of efficiency, if nothing else).

------
Terretta
For a self-writing timed exam essay, structure more simply:

\- Thing because reasons 1, 2, and 3.

\- Thing because Reason 1. Reason 1 elaborated. Supporting examples.

\- Thing because Reason 2. Reason 2 elaborated. Supporting examples.

\- Thing because Reason 3. Reason 3 elaborated. Supporting examples.

\- From reasons 1, 2, and 3, the thing.

Paint by these numbers against the clock:

\- Divide time available by 5, e.g., 50 minute period, 5 intervals of 10
minutes.

\- _Tell 'em what you're going to tell 'em:_ Spend first 10 minutes thinking
about the topic and write a thesis statement based on three persuasive reasons
you can support with examples from what you remember about the topic. (10
mins)

\- _Tell 'em (x3):_ Spend each of the next 10 minute blocks writing a
paragraph connecting that part, elaborating on the reason, then providing as
many supporting examples as you can fit in the ten minutes. (3 x 10 mins)

\- _Tell 'em what you told 'em:_ Write a compelling conclusion based on the
reasons. Spend any leftover time proof-reading. (10 mins)

------
soyiuz
1\. Just as with code: read and write a lot.

2\. Have models to emulate.

3\. Learn the rules.

4\. Clearly structure your sentences, paragraphs, and larger semantic units
(essay, short story, etc.).

5\. Edit extensively.

6\. Be kind to your reader: concise and clear will always be better than wordy
and vague.

7\. Vary your word use, sentence length, phrase structure, and in general,
rhythm. A mumbling monotone is difficult to comprehend. Read your drafts out
loud just to make sure you have FLOW.

8\. Don't be a pompous ass. I am very smart, is not a great way to start.
Avoid being cute, pretentious, precious, ponderous, and otherwise fake.
Develop your voice, which is how you sound to other people.

9\. Ermm... formatting is an art of its own.

------
galaxyLogic
Excellent article but I think it is missing one point, and why I think joewee
in his comment is more right.

Argument, Explanation, Definition, Description

are not the only types of articles or essays. What's missing from the list is
"Story". Story is something that is entertaining to read because it first
creates some expectations, perhaps in the wrong direction on purpose like a
good detective story. Then resolves the issues preferably in a non-obvious
way.

Therefore I believe joewee is right, it is best to structure your article
based on a set of questions which should pique the interest of the reader.

------
flavio81
How to write prolifically and expert-like? Why, by using the Postmodernism
generator, of course!

[http://www.elsewhere.org/journal/pomo/](http://www.elsewhere.org/journal/pomo/)

Hint: Hit refresh to generate a new essay.

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projektir
I enjoyed this article; it solidified some things I had a vague idea about in
terms of how articles are structured.

------
jstrieb
I find it hard to take seriously any "prolific writer" who doesn't take the
time to proofread their work for typos before publishing.

~~~
bap
Prolific, be definition, speaks to volume and not quality? How does proof-
reading contradict?

I would say that his lack of quality (dropped T on The ;] Yes I saw them too )
is perhaps supportive of his ability to be prolific "[...]make your first
draft, your final draft."

I understand that you are saying that quality of edit indicates quality of
thought or insight to you.

~~~
yesenadam
I thought they was saying there's a jarring disconnect between bragging about
your writing ability in a sloppily-edited essay. I don't think it's hard to
understand their point, is it? I think you were being gratuitously pedantic.

"Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone
says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize."

Well, there _is_ Muphry's law.[0] Which I notice you - but hopefully not I :-)
- have here fallen afoul of. Although you wrote in defence of bad
proofreading; maybe there's another law for that.

[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muphry%27s_law](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muphry%27s_law)

