I lived in Paris for 4 months in 2022.
That’s where I learned something interesting from its art scene.
Millions of tourists pass through the museums in Paris to look at paintings and sculptures from “the masters.” I went to a few of those museums. The line to see the tiny Mona Lisa loops around. A whole bunch of us, walking around, looking to get inspired by the creations of the past.
After multiple visits, I began to notice something.
In the midst of the buzzling movements of the tourists, in the corner would be a young artist, sitting down, quiet, with a notebook, re-drawing a sculpture or a painting. The first time I saw it, I thought: “oh cool.” Then I noticed it every time I visited. Sometimes I’d see groups of them silently sitting in all corners, unbothered by the tourists, practicing by copying the masters.
It’s a reminder I carry in my mind today – starting from scratch is a fallacy.
The best at their craft build through consistency.
Consistency is easy with structure.
Overnight celebrity:
Most people want to make an impact but believe in the fairytale of overnight success.
They wait for a breakthrough. When they see it happen with others they say:
“It happened overnight.”
“She came out of nowhere.”
“That guy is just lucky.”
They think those people are special. With each word. With each sentence, they sign an agreement with themselves that they are not capable of doing the same.
They hand over their agency.
They have fallen for the biggest scam of all.
Most great things require persistence.
Persistence means overcoming resistance.
Overcoming resistance is easier with structure.
I’ve written this weekly newsletter for 138 weeks straight and I’ve been through a few things in those last three years.
Every week, I hit publish.
One thing that’s really helped is structure.
It’s how I scaffold my ideas.
Whether you’re building a business, writing, doing any creative venture, structure is your friend, my friend. It gives you a sandbox and the confines to play within.
Most importantly, it gives you a place to start.
Here’s how I’ve used structure to fuel my writing:
1. The base structure:
I use this simple structure to start.
- The first three questions
- A story
- Five-second transformation
- Opposite beginning
- Big problem, perspective
- The approach (steps)
Let me break it down.
2. The 1st three questions
I answer these three questions before I write anything:
- How do you want them to feel?
- What do you want them to do?
- What’s the one line you want them to remember?
Who are they? Your audience.
If you are writing with a goal to communicate with others, you have to keep the audience front and centre in your mind. It’s not about your fancy words. It’s about helping your audience.
These questions give direction.
It also helps with accountability to stick with your intention as your writing evolves.
Answer each with one word or sentence. The move on
3. Start with human stories (the five-second transformation)
Your story boils down to five-seconds.
Nobody wants your ChatGPT writings. Lead whatever you write with a personal story or experience to connect with your audience. There’s a simple way to build up a story.
Use the five-second transformation approach.
I learned this in the book Storyworthy. Now that I know this storytelling device, I can’t watch movies in peace. I’m always searching for it.
You see, every story goes through a similar arc. The main character goes through a transformation. They get an insight or new information that changes the way they see the world. In movies, that transformation happens in a five-second window, usually at the 90% mark of the movie. It’s when Neo realized he could stop bullets in the movie, The Matrix.
So how do you use this?
In your structure, you want to have interesting stories to draw people into your writing. Usually at the beginning of your essay or in sections.
Write down a five-second transformation that you or the focal point of a story experienced.
This is the big shift.
Now, the five-second transformation happens at the end of the story. What happens at the beginning? Well, just write the opposite of your transformation. That’s how you start your story.
With this letter
Here was my structure:
- Five-second transformation: What I learned in France. Everyone copies.
- Opposite beginning: Every one is so uniquely creative. Starting from scratch.
Then I wrote the story.
Practice writing short personal stories.
4. The big problem
Every essay is helping your audience tackle a problem.
Make that problem “BIG.” Then provide your perspective on the problem. The goal of your writing is to think through a big problem with your audience and walk through solving it with them.
Just one line is enough.
The big problems I talk about include:
- Unhappiness
- Inequality
- Lack of empowerment
- Lack of agency
- Resistance
In this essay, this is what I wrote down in my sketch:
“Most people want to make an impact but believe in the fairytale of overnight success.”
That’s a big problem. With the hope that I will shift the audience’s perspective on our literary journey together.
5. Your perspective (philosophy)
What’s your take?
There’s this guy on YouTube that goes around asking people on the New York subway to give their “strong opinion” on anything. The latest one I watched was about a guy saying ‘Bodegas’ can only be run by Puerto Ricans and people from the Dominican Republic. Everything else is a deli.
Is this a fact? I’m not sure. But he had very good points.
That’s a perspective.
You need to have a perspective of the big problem and how you think about it.
The perspective is not necessarily how you solve it (that comes next). It’s more your unique take on the big problem, why it exists, and why you think it should change. You can call it your philosophy.
Write a short perspective.
6. The approach (steps)
This is where you get tactical.
You and the audience have agreed on the problem, they see your perspective, if they are still reading, you then provide your version of a solution or a walk through of an approach.
In this section, I generally use this format:
- Short story:
- How to overcome: high-level view of how to solve the problem.
- Benefits: state the benefits to the audience for solving the problem
- List of steps to get there:
- step 1
- step 2
- step 3 etc
- conclusion
That’s it.
7. Take notes so you’re not boring
Never write from scratch.
Waiting for inspiration? Have a note-taking practice instead. With it, you’ll have ideas to pull from whenever you want to write. Sometimes these notes can fit in as full steps in the structure above.
Also, keep a daily log of interesting things that happen to you throughout your day. Just one line is sufficient. Matthew Dick calls it the “homework of life.”
When you keep a log, you’ll have an endless amount of “five-second transformations” to build stories around, so your writing is not soulless like an AI bot.
8. Here’s what my initial structure for this article looked like:
It’s better to show than tell.
Here’s the structure I wrote on Tuesday.
I built this letter around it.
- Three-questions
- How do you want the audience to feel? Empowered
- What do you want them to do? Choose a topic
- What’s the one thing you want them to remember? Structure helps with consistency.
- Story
- Five-second transformation: what I learned in France. Everyone copies.
- Opposite beginning: Everyone is so creative. Starting from scratch.
- Big problem: Most people want to make an impact but believe in the fairytale of overnight success.
- Perspective: Most great things require persistence.
- Steps:
- The first three questions
- Base structure
- Five-second transformation
- Big problem, perspective
- The approach (steps)
- Note-taking to not start from scratch.
- Read with intention
Things shifted around a bit. But you get the idea.
Your structure will change, but it gives you a map and place to start.
Intentional Practice
Writing is only fun when you read cool stuff with intention.
Just like those upcoming French artists that copied the greats in the Parisian museums, you can do the same with your business, creative ventures, and writing. Consume things you enjoy. Study the structure. Copy it. Recreate it.
If you’re writing, rewrite it word by word. Watch a movie. Notice the story arc. There is a lot of inspiring work out there. Enjoy it, copy it, then find your style.
Never start from scratch.
Overnight success comes from persistent practice.
Yours truly,
Nifemi
