PDF Summary:Everybody Writes, by Ann Handley
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1-Page PDF Summary of Everybody Writes
Are you naturally a bad writer? Trick question: There’s no such thing. In Everybody Writes, bestselling author, speaker, and digital marketer Ann Handley explains that writing is a practice, not a talent, and that anyone can improve their writing through consistent work and practice. You don’t need to be a Hemingway or a Faulkner to produce great content: You just need a routine, a process, and a voice—plus something to write with!
Whether you’re emailing your colleagues at work, posting on social media, writing papers for school, or writing content for marketing, Handley offers a comprehensive guide to improving your writing and reaching your audience. In our guide, we’ll supplement Handley’s advice with tips from other writers and examine the psychology behind what makes her suggestions effective.
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(Shortform note: Handley writes that analogies can be particularly useful in helping your audience understand scale, such as very large numbers that are difficult to conceptualize. Understanding scale is an important part of information literacy in general. Some argue that while we consume daily news about catastrophes affecting large groups of people, we fail to understand the scale of those catastrophes and thus fail to understand their true impact. Drawing comparisons in such articles—like through analogies—can help readers grasp the severity of such events.)
How to Adapt Your Writing to Different Formats
The book’s ideas are mainly focused on business and marketing writing, but this is still a very broad category. Handley emphasizes that the content you create will vary depending on the format and your intention as a writer. The writing you’ll use in emails to bosses and colleagues will have different rules than writing an email to your customers, writing a social media post, or writing a script for a video.
(Shortform note: Handley suggests that your format will determine your content, but be aware, too, that your content will determine your format. Much of business writing falls into four categories, each with a different purpose: informational writing designed solely to convey information, instructional writing designed to teach the reader how to complete a task, persuasive writing designed to sway your reader’s opinions or beliefs, and transactional writing designed to elicit a response or interaction from your reader. Each of these purposes has its own distinctive goals and audiences, which will determine which format is right to deliver that particular message.)
In all of these types of writing, Handley recommends keeping your brand voice consistent. However, your tone may need to shift to match what you’re writing. If you’ve established a cheeky and irreverent brand voice on your website, for example, you would still want to avoid cracking jokes when responding to a customer complaint. If you have a laid-back and easygoing voice on your social media, you should still include a strong call to action in an email newsletter.
(Shortform note: The tone you adopt can have a significant impact on your brand’s connection with your audience, particularly on how much trust they have in your brand. Research shows that using an inappropriate tone of voice—for example, writing too informally or humorously about mundane or serious topics—reduces customers’ trust in a brand, which makes your brand less desirable to them.)
Let’s look at some common formats and how to adjust your writing for them.
Social Media
Social media requires a new and different type of writing, writes Handley. The point of social media is connection, so you’ll want to take on a tone that’s inviting and friendly, even if your voice on your website or in your emails is more formal and detached. Use your social media profile to establish your public image and connect with your customers in a personalized way.
(Shortform note: In addition to personalized interaction, social media lets companies reach customers on a potentially massive scale. This makes social media a great opportunity for brands, but it does come with certain risks. The scale of social media can cause just a few bad posts to damage your brand’s reputation, and posting sensitive information about your company’s inner workings or practices can lead to information breaches or endangering employee safety.)
Video
Like social media, video is a relatively new medium whose writing guidelines differ significantly from most other writing formats. Rules of grammar are far less important, Handley says, as your customers won’t be reading your writing but hearing it out loud. In writing a script for a video, story becomes even more important and useful, and you should rely heavily on visuals to communicate that story. Also write your script as it’s going to be read—with commas and ellipses to indicate pauses or trailing off, for instance—so that it doesn’t sound like the subject is reading straight from a script.
(Shortform note: Video tends to be the best-performing online content and appeals strongly to younger audiences. In fact, research shows that much of Gen Z uses the video-only platform Tik Tok as their primary search engine, giving brands a unique opportunity to reach that younger demographic through video content. If your target audience is people under 30, video may be your best tool for reaching them.)
Commenting on Social Causes
According to Handley, research suggests that consumers respond well to brands that take a stand on social issues. However, you should always approach these topics with awareness and sensitivity—otherwise you may accidentally harm your brand if readers don’t interpret your post the way you intended, or if your brand doesn’t work toward solving those issues in practice.
Unexpected Viral Responses to Burger King’s Tweet
A well-intentioned post about a social cause can have devastating effects if it’s not executed properly—which can happen if, for example, your audience reacts in a way that supports the opposite of your intended message. In 2021, Burger King received massive backlash in response to a tweet they posted on International Women’s Day that said “Women belong in the kitchen.”
Though they posted follow-up comments on the tweet explaining that they were trying to draw attention to the lack of female representation in the culinary industry, the first tweet is the one that got the most engagement. This created an environment in which many commenters felt comfortable posting misogynistic comments in unironic support of Burger King’s tone-deaf message. Before posting, consider whether your message may be misinterpreted or hijacked by people looking to offend.
How to Write
Now that you know what elements to include in your writing and how to write for different formats, let’s cover the practical writing process. Handley frequently reiterates that there is no single correct way to create content, but she offers tips and processes to help you get started and, more importantly, get into the habit of writing.
Make Writing a Habit
Handley first recommends that you make writing a daily practice. Most of us already write on a regular basis, whether it’s emailing for work, posting on social media, or journaling. However, we may not be writing to the best of our abilities when we do these things, and better writing produces better results. The key to improving your writing is to do more of it.
(Shortform note: Handley doesn’t give a recommendation for how much time each day you should spend on writing, but a good rule of thumb is to write for about an hour each day—though you may want to start out with 15-30 minute sessions at first and then work your way up to longer sessions.)
Handley recommends a strict daily writing routine and says that missing days lessens your motivation to write. She recommends practicing writing in whatever form works best for you, whether it’s a journal where you jot down a few sentences about your day, using writing prompts, or doing stream-of-consciousness writing (writing down thoughts and feelings as they come to you).
(Shortform note: If you struggle to write every single day, you may benefit from collaborative settings designed to help you get into or stay in the habit. In On Writing, Stephen King suggests that things like writer’s workshops and classes can connect you with other talented writers and provide you with a structure to keep your practice consistent.)
Handley also advises that you identify what time of day your writing is the strongest and write at that time every day. If you’re a morning person you may want to begin each day with writing, but if you find that your voice is strongest in the evening or even late at night, write then. She also suggests slowing your writing down by using pen and paper instead of typing on a computer so you can process what you’re writing more deeply.
(Shortform note: Some experts disagree that writing by hand is better for your practice than writing on a computer. As Handley says, you should tailor your writing practice to your own needs. Making writing a habit is easier if it’s fun and engaging. If you dread sitting down with a pen and paper, you’re much more likely to procrastinate or make excuses for not writing each day.)
Draft 1
Once you’ve made writing in your preferred format a daily habit, you'll be better practiced for the writing you have to do for other purposes. Handley describes a writing process that begins with identifying what format you want to write in, what purpose it will serve for the audience, and what structure will best fit your piece. It can help to make a list of everything you want to cover and then see how you can best organize these ideas.
(Shortform note: The steps Handley lists are often included in guidelines for how to write an outline for a piece of writing. Whether or not to outline your work—and how detailed you make your outline—is a matter of personal preference, but outlines can help you form and follow a roadmap for what you’re creating and can be particularly helpful in collaborative writing. Consider whether you want to create a thorough outline of your work before you begin drafting, but always be willing to change the outline as needed.)
Next, gather any information from outside sources that you may need, and be sure to cite them when you write. In selecting sources to use, try to find primary sources instead of secondary. Secondary sources might have hidden biases or misinterpretations, and getting your information straight from the primary source prevents you from perpetuating these and makes your writing more credible.
(Shortform note: While primary sources are ideal for gathering information like raw data, secondary sources can be useful for synthesizing information from multiple sources or establishing background information. As long as you assess your secondary sources for reliability, you don’t need to avoid them entirely, and you may find them just as important as your primary sources depending on what you’re writing.)
Additionally, try to find recent sources for facts and data, as information can change rapidly, and you don’t want to misrepresent any facts in your piece. Keep track of your sources as you go and create formal citations as needed. If you try to do all of this at the end of your writing process, you may forget what information you got from other sources and accidentally plagiarize them.
(Shortform note: Many people who are caught plagiarizing claim that it was accidental, and sometimes it is, but more often it is a matter of negligence. Accidental plagiarism may include things like mixing up citations between sources or failing to cite a fact because you assumed it was common knowledge. However, repeated plagiarism of the same source or failing to sufficiently rewrite information from a source is negligent. Mistakes are often unavoidable, but negligence is not, and citing your sources as you go is one of the easiest ways to avoid negligence.)
Next, draft your piece—Handley recommends writing four drafts. The first is your rough draft, which she emphasizes will not look good. This draft is just about getting your ideas on the page (or the screen), and you don’t need to spend time focusing on things like correct grammar or complete sentences. Once finished, she recommends stepping away from this draft for a while before coming back for the next one.
(Shortform note: The idea of writing anything that doesn’t immediately look good can be frightening and discouraging, especially if your ultimate goal is to share the writing with others through publication. Instead of expecting to write a bad draft, some experts suggest thinking of this as writing an easy draft. If you hit an obstacle, try asking yourself what would make this next step easy. Your draft will still be rough, but it may be easier to motivate yourself if you reframe it as easy rather than bad.)
Draft 2: Editing
Once you’ve written a first draft, the next step is to begin editing it. Eventually you’ll need to have someone else help edit your work, but at first, you’ll edit on your own.
There are different types of editing, including what Handley calls developmental editing, or editing on a larger scale, and line editing, or detailed editing. The editing process includes applying writing “rules” to your piece, but Handley emphasizes that the rules are secondary to your purpose, and that you can always break the rules if it suits your piece. Let’s look at each type of editing.
(Shortform note: Breaking the rules of writing can be a tricky proposition. As with most rules, you must understand the rules of writing to break them well. The reason we have the rules is to make language easier to understand, so if your rule-breaking muddles the meaning of your writing, you should correct them. However, intentional, controlled rule-breaking can add style and personality to your writing.)
Large-scale editing involves confirming that you’re conveying your main idea and purpose clearly and logically and that your piece has a strong lead-in to grab the reader’s attention. Also make sure that all information on both the paragraph and sentence level is necessary to the whole piece and cut anything extraneous. Finally, identify anything that’s been left out, such as missing research or logical connections.
(Shortform note: To make large-scale editing on your own work easier, try approaching it as if someone else wrote the piece and you’re editing for them. It may help to print out the writing so you won’t feel tempted to make edits as you go—save those smaller notes for detailed editing. Take only light notes as you read your piece, and afterwards, write up your overall impression and suggestions as an editorial letter for yourself.)
Detailed editing involves making sure that every word conveys something important and cutting words that don’t. Handley recommends being particularly wary of fluff words like “very” and “potentially,” and any other adverbs that don’t add real meaning. Clichéd phrases such as “When all is said and done” should be used sparingly and only when they add something meaningful.
(Shortform note: As you’re examining your writing on such a detailed scale, make sure you don’t accidentally edit out your brand voice. Consider pausing frequently during the process to realign yourself with your voice.)
Grammar Rules
Handley offers a wide array of grammar rules to follow at your own discretion. She specifies that the rules you learned in school don’t necessarily apply to writing as a brand. Sentence fragments, one-sentence paragraphs, splitting infinitives, and ending sentences in prepositions are all fair game for your writing as long as they're used strategically and don’t interfere with the reader’s ability to understand what you’re saying.
Here are some specific grammar guidelines she proposes you consider:
- Use active voice over passive voice. Active voice refers to a sentence phrasing in which the subject of the sentence is performing—as opposed to receiving—the action. The active phrase “Clients need help” is better than the passive “Help is needed by clients.”
- Avoid buzzwords. Buzzwords like “innovative” and “synergy” are popular in business writing but don’t add much meaning.
- Avoid excessive jargon. Jargon, or language specific to your field, should be used in moderation and only as much as your reader can reasonably understand. Terms like “arithmetic underflow” or “smarketing” will confuse the average reader.
- Write in the present tense and second person. Show the reader that you’re focused on them right now by avoiding past or present tense and using “you” often.
- Make every word count. Combine weak words or phrases into stronger single words, like changing “our output went up very suddenly” to “our output spiked.”
(Shortform note: Excluding the last one, the above bullet points relate to style rather than correct or incorrect grammar and usage. Your style will vary depending on the medium and genre you’re writing. In particular, writing rules for fiction are often more flexible than other writing—tense and person, for example, will depend entirely on the author’s choice. However, rules like writing in active voice, using words your audience will understand, and making every word and sentence count will apply to most fiction writing as well as nonfiction.)
Who Came Up With the “Rules”?
Many of the “rules” Handley lists are taught in schools, but they may not be as set in stone as we might think. In fact, if you trace them back to their origins, you’ll find that many of these rules developed from individuals’ critiques of the use of the English language. These critiques, however, went against the way the language was actually used.For example, the rule against splitting an infinitive came from 19th-century writer Henry Alford. He didn’t actually say it was incorrect to split an infinitive, but rather that he didn’t see any need to do it even though it was a widespread practice.
Ending a sentence in a preposition is also commonly understood to be grammatically incorrect, but it’s actually perfectly acceptable. This misconception likely came from a few writers in the 17th and 18th centuries who wanted English grammar to match up more closely with Latin, but since English is a Germanic language and not a Romance language, they were just making up rules without a linguistic basis.
Language rules are also constantly changing. Language rules eventually conform to how we use language, not the other way around, so if we use a word or grammatical structure enough, it becomes technically correct. Ultimately, the purpose of language is to convey meaning, so as long as you’re getting your meaning across effectively, the rules arguably don’t really matter that much.
Draft 3
Once you’ve done your large-scale and detailed editing for draft 2, you can move on to draft 3. Draft 3 is when you'll focus on your connection to the audience. Handley recommends imagining one specific individual as your reader and switching perspectives with them. Read through your piece as this reader, identify what misunderstandings or questions they have, and make sure they can see themselves in what you’ve written.
(Shortform note: In addition to identifying questions and confusions, switching places with your reader will help you orient your writing toward them and away from yourself. As we’ve previously discussed, whatever you’re writing, you’re writing it to serve the reader. It can be tempting to craft writing that satisfies you—florid, convoluted writing using your favorite words, for instance—and putting yourself in your reader’s shoes can help you avoid that temptation.)
Draft 4
Finally, draft 4 is when you'll add style and voice to your piece. This includes things like humor and figurative language. Here, Handley emphasizes that you should write in second person and make sure your sentences and paragraphs read quickly and clearly. Cut any sentences or words that slow the pace of the piece. She also suggests using things like bullet points, visuals, and blank space to make the piece more visually appealing.
(Shortform note: While Handley says to cut items that slow your writing’s pace, slowing the pace might not always be the right move. You can alternatively strategically manipulate the pacing of your piece to maintain reader engagement. A reader might get bored with a piece that maintains the same speed throughout, but you can use heavier words or sentences to change up the pace, keep them interested, and draw their attention to important ideas.)
The Final Edit
Once your fourth draft is finished, it’s time to ask others to help with your editing. The author recommends first running the piece through an AI editor to catch mistakes you may have missed and resolving those before sending it to your human editor.
A human editor should be someone you work with long-term who understands not only the basic rules of writing but also your unique style and voice. Ideally, your editor will be able to identify errors, fact-check, and rephrase and rewrite while maintaining your voice.
(Shortform note: Depending on your situation, you may also have the opportunity—or obligation—to edit your work as a group. This can improve your piece since you’ll have more people looking at it, but you also run the risk of lots of disagreements or semantic arguments. To minimize these, make sure everyone in the group understands the purpose of the piece and your brand voice, and that they know their own roles in the process—who is the writer, who are the reviewers, and who has the final say on edits.)
Before publication, Handley also recommends that you read your final draft out loud to catch any errors or places where the phrasing could be tightened up. Then, review it visually to make sure it’s digestible for the reader in whatever format they’re taking it in. Huge blocks of text will be unappealing to someone reading your piece on their mobile device, and using white space and plenty of visuals makes it easier to read.
(Shortform note: Handley suggests reading your piece out loud to yourself, but there are also benefits to reading it out loud to another person: Having an audience as you read can help you be more aware of your audience’s perspective, and it makes you more likely to notice areas that sound clunky enough to be worth changing.)
Finally, once your work has been published, let your attachment to it go. After it’s published, your work doesn’t belong to you anymore: It belongs to the public. If you have regrets about the final product because it wasn’t quite what you wanted it to be, take it as a lesson for next time. And finally, congratulate yourself! You’ve just accomplished something great.
(Shortform note: Sometimes your biggest regret from a piece of writing is having to get rid of something you worked hard on or really liked from your earlier drafts—killing your darlings, as the saying goes. However, the reason you had to let those go was that they were your darlings, meaning they served you and not the reader. As Handley says, published writing is for the reader, so if you had to put your favorite parts on the chopping block, don’t feel bad. Remember that doing so was a gift to your audience, and keep those treasured pieces for yourself.)
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