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10 Professional Writing Secrets
"Write good 
content" is 
stupid advice
1. A word is worth 
a thousand pictures 
@edeckers
10 Professional Writing Secrets - Louisville Digital Media Summit
10 Professional Writing Secrets - Louisville Digital Media Summit
10 Professional Writing Secrets - Louisville Digital Media Summit
2. Use Metaphors. 
@edeckers
Men's words are bullets, that their 
enemies take up and make use of 
against them. 
— George Savile, Maxims of State 
Life is like a box of chocolates. 
— Forrest Gump
And the impending squint of first light 
And it lurked behind a weepin’ marquee in 
downtown Putnam 
Yeah, and it’d be pullin’ up any minute now 
Just like a bastard amber Velveeta 
yellow cab on a rainy corner 
And be blowin’ its horn in every window 
in town
3. Use 
Words 
Wisely 
@edeckers
Kill, 
Torture 
Fuck
4. Be Human
“We will leverage end user learnings on 
a going forward basis.” 
“We'll use what you learned 
from now on.”
“We have created a frictionless user 
onboarding experience.” 
“Signing up is easy.”
5. Write tight 
“For sale. Baby shoes. 
Never used.” 
@edeckers
6. Your English Teacher 
Is Not a Writer 
@edeckers
If proper usage gets 
in the way, it may 
have to go. 
I can’t allow what we 
learned in English 
composition to 
disrupt the 
sound and rhythm 
of the narrative. 
Elmore Leonard
John Dryden
7. String together 3 – 5 good ledes. 
Hunter S. Thompson 
@edeckers
We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when 
the drugs began to take hold. 
I remember saying something like, "I feel a bit lightheaded; maybe 
you should drive . . ." 
And suddenly there was a terrible roar all around us and the sky was 
full of what looked like huge bats, all swooping and screeching and 
diving around the car, which was going about 100 miles an hour with 
the top down to Las Vegas. 
And a voice was screaming: "Holy Jesus! What are these goddamn 
animals?" 
— HST, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
8. “Write Shitty First Drafts” 
@AnneLamott 
@edeckers
(Just don’t publish them)
9. Your 
Words 
Are 
NOT 
Your 
Babies. 
@edeckers
10 Professional Writing Secrets - Louisville Digital Media Summit
10. “Write Drunk. 
@edeckers Edit Sober."
10 Professional Writing Secrets - Louisville Digital Media Summit
Thank you! 
Read me 
ErikDeckers.com 
ProBlogService.com 
Reach me 
@edeckers 
erik@problogservice.com

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10 Professional Writing Secrets - Louisville Digital Media Summit

  • 2. "Write good content" is stupid advice
  • 3. 1. A word is worth a thousand pictures @edeckers
  • 7. 2. Use Metaphors. @edeckers
  • 8. Men's words are bullets, that their enemies take up and make use of against them. — George Savile, Maxims of State Life is like a box of chocolates. — Forrest Gump
  • 9. And the impending squint of first light And it lurked behind a weepin’ marquee in downtown Putnam Yeah, and it’d be pullin’ up any minute now Just like a bastard amber Velveeta yellow cab on a rainy corner And be blowin’ its horn in every window in town
  • 10. 3. Use Words Wisely @edeckers
  • 13. “We will leverage end user learnings on a going forward basis.” “We'll use what you learned from now on.”
  • 14. “We have created a frictionless user onboarding experience.” “Signing up is easy.”
  • 15. 5. Write tight “For sale. Baby shoes. Never used.” @edeckers
  • 16. 6. Your English Teacher Is Not a Writer @edeckers
  • 17. If proper usage gets in the way, it may have to go. I can’t allow what we learned in English composition to disrupt the sound and rhythm of the narrative. Elmore Leonard
  • 19. 7. String together 3 – 5 good ledes. Hunter S. Thompson @edeckers
  • 20. We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold. I remember saying something like, "I feel a bit lightheaded; maybe you should drive . . ." And suddenly there was a terrible roar all around us and the sky was full of what looked like huge bats, all swooping and screeching and diving around the car, which was going about 100 miles an hour with the top down to Las Vegas. And a voice was screaming: "Holy Jesus! What are these goddamn animals?" — HST, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
  • 21. 8. “Write Shitty First Drafts” @AnneLamott @edeckers
  • 23. 9. Your Words Are NOT Your Babies. @edeckers
  • 25. 10. “Write Drunk. @edeckers Edit Sober."
  • 27. Thank you! Read me ErikDeckers.com ProBlogService.com Reach me @edeckers erik@problogservice.com

Editor's Notes

  1. Baby, Car, or Tree
  2. Elmore Leonard also said "Use of adverbs is a mortal sin."
  3. Dryden created the “no prepositions at the end of sentences” rule in 1672. Responding to something Ben Johnson wrote in 1611, “the bodies that those souls were frighted from.” He never explained why he thought it was bad. Robert Lowth followed it up in his 1762 book, A Short Introduction to English Grammar (pages 127–128). He said it was fine for informal English, but not formal: "This is an Idiom which our language is strongly inclined to; it prevails in common conversation, and suits very well with the familiar style in writing; but the placing of the Preposition before the Relative is more graceful, as well as more perspicuous; and agrees much better with the solemn and elevated Style."
  4. Hunter S. Thompson would often write 3 – 5 solid lede-worthy sentences, string them together, and beat the reader with them, BAP BAP BAP! He didn't do it all the time, and he would sometimes do it in the middle of a story. It was forceful and dramatic, and made the reader pay attention. That's what an opening lede should do, so imagine the power it had when it appeared elsewhere.
  5. While Hemingway was known for his roaring drunkenness, he never actually wrote drunk. No matter what he did the night before, he was up and writing by 6 am every day. He wrote until noon, then he edited his work, wrote letters, and THEN got drunk. He wanted us to write as if we had been drinking — alcohol depresses our filters and blocks, which keep us from saying silly and/or truthful things. He encouraged us to tell the truth as if we were drunk, but then to edit as if we were sober. Not to knock the edges off or to take out the honesty. No, that had to stay. Rather, fix it and make it better, but never remove the truth.