10 Key Lessons from David Perell's Write of Passage

Here are 10 key lessons from David Perell's Write of Passage course.

1. Writing online gives you leverage

In the good old days, getting published meant going through a gatekeeper — usually an editor at a newspaper, magazine, or publishing house. With the internet, you can publish yourself and potentially reach millions of readers. And even though anyone can leverage the internet, very few people do. Almost everybody spends a lot of time online, but the number of people creating content is still small. That makes it a perfect time to start. When you publish your ideas online, you unleash the full power of the internet — your ideas work for you while you sleep, 24/7, all around the world.

2. How to avoid writer's block

Writers have always struggled with two things: writer's block and alcohol. We're not going to suggest drinking to solve the first — there's a better way. We all consume lots of information from books, articles, and podcasts, but very few of us store it; we trust our memory too much. Memory alone isn't enough, so capture what you consume. Keep an information scrapbook for relevant ideas. It could be a notebook, but David recommends Evernote so you can store endless information in the cloud without losing it. And remember: hoarding isn't enough. The best way to improve your writing is to improve the quality of the information you consume. High-quality information leads to high-quality writing — and helps you defeat writer's block without a hangover.

3. How to start writing online

You may think you don't have any original ideas. Here's a secret: so many creators with big online audiences got started simply by summarizing other people's ideas. If you don't feel like you have original ideas but want to publish, read a book or article, summarize the main points, and share it. (That's essentially what we do here with course summaries — be sure to check us out.)

4. What if I'm not a good writer?

You might think you're not a good writer. When David was laid off from a job a couple of years ago, the overwhelming feedback was that he wasn't a good writer. Then he started sharing his writing online — and once he did, the quality of both his writing and his thinking improved dramatically. Writing is a skill you develop by doing it, like any other. Publish your ideas, share them, and get feedback. According to David, sharing his ideas for free on the internet was the single thing that most improved his writing.

5. Don't write alone

David believes the whole concept of locking yourself in a room to write for years and then revealing what you wrote is outdated; it doesn't apply to an internet-driven world. He sees writing and idea generation as a collaborative process. Through feedback, you learn which ideas resonate and where you can improve. Back in the 1920s, writers moved to Paris to be among other writers — to belong to a community and gather ideas from one another. A trip to Paris may still be worth it, but today you don't have to go that far. You can find that community from anywhere by publishing online.

6. A writer's #1 enemy

Get 80% of the course's most valuable content in a summary you can read in an afternoon, highlight, and keep handy whenever you need it. Summary of David Perell's Write of Passage.

What do readers and writers have in common? The same enemy: boredom. Nobody reads something boring — it's what sends readers off to one of their many other options. To avoid boring writing, pay attention to the moments that make you feel excited about a topic; the more you write while excited, the more life you inject into your writing. Nietzsche wrote that of all that is written, he loved only what a person had written with their blood. A quick way to stave off boredom is to start with action in your introduction. If there's no problem or conflict, it's boring, so think of your introduction as a way to create suspense. When in doubt, make it shorter and get to the point. Opening a statement without fully answering it is what creates a great introduction — readers keep going to find the answer.

7. Never try to be creative in front of your computer

If you try to be creative at your computer, you'll drive yourself crazy. Never just stare at a blank screen — you want to be writing from abundance. As writer Sebastian Junger said, if you have writer's block, you don't have enough ammunition. So gather ideas from every aspect of your life: go out more, read more, meet or interview people, interact with other people's ideas, take a long walk or a long shower. Experience life as vividly as you can, and you'll come back to your computer recharged and full of new ideas.

If you want the full system rather than just the highlights, you can get the full summary here.

8. Build a personal brand

The world is flipping upside down — nowadays anyone can be a media creator, which makes this the time to start. Creating content turns you into a magnet for people, ideas, and opportunities. One of the best things about having an audience is that you can build a portfolio of income streams instead of relying on a single one, which helps you take control of your life. Creating online can feel unintuitive because it takes a long time to get noticed, but the benefits are incredible. Start publishing and getting yourself noticed — it's the surest path to building an internet business and getting people to read your writing.

9. Everyone has something to share

Don't assume everyone else is super interesting and you're not. Everyone has an interesting story to share. Your talents, skills, and life experiences won't interest everyone, but you can definitely find a niche. There are billions of internet users; even if what you share resonates with just 0.01% of them, that's still a huge audience. Be authentic, and don't compromise your own story thinking it won't interest others — you'll most likely find a large enough group who finds it fascinating.

10. Originality is a scam

A writing course telling you not to be original might sound like a red flag, but David wants you to view originality through a different lens. So many of us can't write because we're stuck trying to make every single idea original. You can borrow from other people's writing — even the best writers of all time did. YouTuber Ali Abdaal is a huge advocate of borrowing from other creatives; one of the books that most inspired his YouTube journey is Austin Kleon's Steal Like an Artist. You'll develop your own style as you progress, but that doesn't mean you can't borrow ideas along the way.

If you think this course can help you build your personal brand by writing online but you can't afford it or you're not ready to take it, you can always get the summary. Get the full summary of Write of Passage here.