The Specific 002: Feedback
Show Outline. To At Least 2 People. Ideally 1-on-1.
Hello friend,
This is issue 002 of the Specific newsletter. Each week, I will pick 1 - 3 that are top of my mind to share.
This Week
Most Useful Writing Lesson I Learned From Ship 30 Experiment
My Outlines Are Fat
“Test Early, Test Often” for Writing
You can check out my previous editions or follow me on Twitter.
Most Useful Writing Lesson I Learned During Ship 30 Experiment
I previously wrote about experimenting with the Ship 30 For 30 program (henceforth, Ship30) writing program. It’s basically 30 days of posting one atomic essay (250 words) per day.
About 2/3 through Ship30, I came across this Nicky Case mini-Stamford talk called How to Explain Things Real Good. It’s a great talk containing 5 tips. They are:
Show What Made You Care ✅, Not Show Why People Should Care ❌
Show Then Tell ✅, Not Show Don’t Tell ❌
Use “Therefore, But”
Write a Draft Then Cut 10%
Test Early, Test Often
I initially wanted to experiment tips 3, 1, and 4 to start with. Low hanging fruits and all.
In the end, it was her 5th tip: Test Early, Test Often, I found the most impactful on my writing quality.
My Outlines Are Fat
There is a mechanism inside Ship 30 which allowed me to match up fellow members 1-on-1 to connect with.
On the spur of the moment, I sent 3 people an outline for an atomic essay. And one of them, Mike who kindly gave permission for me to share this story here, asked me point blank,
“Is this an outline for one essay or four essays?”
Ouch.
But also, great feedback. Clearly, in the outline for this particular essay, I was trying too hard. Trying to do too much in 250 words.
Since then, I have repeated this method of “reach out for 1-on-1 feedback with at least 2 people per essay” for a total of 5 essays so far.
Out of the 5 essays I have applied this method, I:
have abandoned 2,
have polished and published 2, and
am still in the midst of reworking 1.
I like getting direct feedback so much that I decided I want it for my newsletter too.
I almost bought a recorded course on newsletters "The Newsletter Launchpad (NL)." Then I realized they have a higher tier with community access and feedback from the people that run it and the community.
A community means access to a pool of highly motivated fellow members I can ask for feedback as well. Which is a key selling point for me to upgrade.
Subsequently, when I voiced my belief in the value of good feedback, Chris (one of the pair behind NL) guaranteed feedback on my drafts.
“Test Early, Test Often” for Writing
I’ve experimented with the Newsletter Launchpad community. So far, the feedback policy is pretty informal.
Members use Google Docs or Markup.io to share drafts. Both software show previous comments to all readers of the drafts. Feedback tends to converge or be influenced by feedback given by early reviewers.
In future issues, I will explore more deeply the different feedback mechanics. Which is why it’s best you subscribe for updates when I get to those finer details.
Using the lens of Nicky’s Test Early, Test Often, I have adapted it for writing. It’s less pithy with more bullet points. More suited for beginners like me.
Test Early, Test Often (Writing Edition)
Show Outline
To At Least 2 People.
Ideally 1-on-1.
I want to thank Chris Wong, Louie Bacaj, and Sam Cho for reading drafts of this.
P.S. you can respond directly to this email. I read every reply. I'd love to hear from you.