The Secret Guaranteed To Help You Write Better

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan “press on” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race”

~ Calvin Coolidge

I have always attributed my success to persistence and so does many other top copywriters. The late Gary Halbert once told a story where he copied, by hand, the most successful sales letters of his time over and over again just so he can absorb the way those successful copywriters write.

He failed his first few attempts at making direct mail work but he persisted even though he had no money to pay the bills (his house no longer had water or electricity at the time) and his wife left him due to his “stubborness”.

If there’s anything to learn from his story, it’s that persistence pays off.

Photo by Ian Grove-Stephensen

One of the most common question I get from a newcomer is, “How do I write well?”

Is it attending expensive seminars? Reading lots of books on the subject? Asking pros for tips and tricks?

Sure those can help and none of them beats writing itself. If you want to get good at writing, write! It doesn’t matter if your first few attempts sucks (everyone does) and as you DO it, you learn subconsciously. Something deep within you “catch on” and before you know it, you’re writing like the pros.

“If confusion is the first step to knowledge, I must be a genius”

~ Larry Leissner quotes

How do you know you are getting better?

“Any fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius-and a lot of courage-to move in the opposite direction.”

~ Albert Einstein

As counter-intuitive as this sounds: the better you get at writing, the simpler you write. You can take a complex concept you are trying to convey and reduce it so that anyone can understand.

So take your piece of writing and let a high school student (or preferably a 10 year old) read them and see if they understand it or not. You might be surprised to find that something that sounds simple to you might not be the case for your readers.

A word of warning though: The journey there isn’t going to be easy. People are going to ridicule you and even well-intentioned family members might put you down. Just remember…