A framework for good writing.

1. Use draft 1 to find your novel ideas, which are:

• Counter-intuitive
• Counter-narrative
• Shock and awe

2. Draft 2 is for making those novel ideas stick—via:

• Stories
• Analogies
• Examples

Writing quality = Novelty x Resonance

How can some people write so beautifully?

I think I've figured it out.

THREAD: The four elements of writing style:

Pardon me while I open a wormhole into your brain and thrust style advice into it.

See, that’s an example of style.

I could have just said: "And now let’s learn about style."

Four elements of style I'll cover:

• Your voice
• Your presentation
• Engaging the senses
• Engaging the imagination

Part 1: Your voice

Ask your friends what it's like to talk with you.

Perhaps they’ll mention your:

• Tone of voice
• Sense of humor
• Eccentricities
• Viewpoints

Convey those traits in your writing, and readers will recognize your voice.

In other words, voice is not your choice of words. Voice is your unfiltered self.

How can some people write so beautifully?

1/ Two of my favorite writing techniques:

Writing technique 1: Don't always be direct

Instead of saying "the day was hot," you could write "even the bugs were looking for air conditioning."

That's what I call a second-order description: describe the *impact* caused by the hot day—instead of saying it's a hot day.

Why? Poetic writing is often one step removed from a straightforward description of the events.

The more steps you're removed while still communicating your point, the more "elegant" it might feel.

For example, let's start with a plain statement:

"The day was hot."

With a second-order description, you'd describe the heat by stating the effect it has on its environment:

"The day melted our popsicles." (Without mentioning the heat.)

Readers infer that the day was therefore hot.

As C.S. Lewis said:

"Instead of telling us a thing was 'terrible,' describe it so that we’ll BE terrified."

Let's go deeper now:

THREAD ON BUILDING A WRITING HABIT:

If it's hard to get yourself to write,

I surveyed 100+ people to identify how they overcome their blockers.

For writing blogs, books, screenplays:

Blocker #1: Procrastination

If you procrastinate occasionally, that’s normal—forgive yourself.

However, if you procrastinate endlessly, that’s a problem.

Procrastination is the result of two reflexes:

• Indulging in immediate rewards like browsing YouTube instead of writing.

• Avoiding work you perceive to be uncomfortable or tedious.

Let's tackle these two blockers.

A. Avoid distractions

Have you noticed how much writing we can get done on airplanes—despite having our knees and shoulders uncomfortably squeezed together for hours?

Why is that?

It's because there's nothing else to do on an airplane.

This reveals a truth about writing: needing a comfy chair, room, or "the right ambience" is a myth.

If you're waiting until your room is the right temperature to begin writing, you're lying to yourself.

Your blocker is not comfort, but rather distractions.

Two strategies:

Elon Musk is on record that he makes decisions using the same technique as Jeff Bezos.

I found YouTube videos of them explaining it.

A thread on thinking more clearly:

This thread is about mental models.

Yes, Twitter has enough of these.

BUT, people never answer the question:

How do I use mental models for everyday decisions? How do I put them into practice?

Mental models are frameworks for thinking.

They simplify complex situations so you can reason through them easily.

They help you make good, long-term decisions without needing to know everything about a situation.

Your hunter-gatherer brain is not wired to use the best model for every decision.

However, in every generation, a few humans manage to rewire their biology:

They force themselves to think in models constantly.

Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos appear to be two of those people. They're on record about this.

I've helped 400+ startups acquire customers.

Here's the framework I teach them—for ads, content, referrals, and product.

Hope this helps! A thread:

Part 1. The growth trajectory

Steps I'm seeing startups follow in 2021:

1. Build an amazing product that naturally encourages word-of-mouth.

2. Then kickstart user growth with a scalable acquisition channel, such as ads.

3. In parallel, I'm seeing them spend most of their growth resources optimizing their user funnel + product experience.

At every step of the user's journey, they A/B test to maximize per-user revenue.

4. Once their funnel is profitable + efficient, they scale it.

They also start to experiment with many more channels until they exhaust all of them.

5. Over time, they switch their emphasis to more sustainable and cost-efficient channels, such as:

• Product-led growth
• Organic social
• Influencers
• Referrals
• Content
• Sales
• More

This removes their dependency on ads, which can be volatile.

Starting my 2nd thread on Sringeri Parampara. This will cover the Jagadgurus after Sri Vidyaranya to Sri Shivabhinava Nrisimha Bharati.

It is really very tough to match the brilliance and achievements of Vidyaranya. After whom came 15 - Chandrashekara Bharati [1386-1389].

The next Acharya was Nrisimha Bharati [1389-1408]. Harihara raya found a town for this Acharya - Narasimhapuram. Acharya helped the king by guiding him in political affairs. He also initiated the kind with mahamantras for spiritual development.

Subsequent Acharyas were
15-Puroshottama Bharati [1408 - 1448]
16-Shankara Bharati[1448 - 1455]
17-Chandrasekhara Bharati II [1455 - 1464]
18- Nrisimha Bharati II [1464 - 1479]
19-Puroshottama Bharati II [1479 - 1517]

20-Ramachandra Bharati [1517 - 1560]. Sadashiva Raya was emporer of Vijayanagara during this time.
21-Nrisimha Bharati III [1560 - 1573]
22-Nrisimha Bharati IV [1573 - 1576]
23-Nrisimha Bharati V [1576 - 1600]

24-Abhinava Nrisimha Bharati [1600-1623]. When he visited Malahanikareswara temple for first time he noticed there was no Vinayaka there so he took piece of turmeric and drew outline of Ganesha on a pillar and offered puja.

MAHARAANI TARARANI: THE QUEEN OF MARATHAS

Rani Tarabai was the brave daughter-in-law of Chhatrapati Shivaji and one of the greatest medieval Monarchs India ever had.
She was born in 1675 to one of the bravest commander-in-chiefs of Shivaji's Army named Hambir Rao Mohite.

Tarabai was just 8yrs old when she was married to Shivaji's younger son, Rajaram. Mughals and Marathas were constantly at war with each other. Shivaji was crowned the ruler of the Independent Maratha Swarajya in 1674 which was established by him.

However,the great leader died in 1680&the Maratha Samrajya went into a complete&total chaos.Marathas saw some very tough times ahead. In 1689,when Raigad Fort fell to the Mughal Army of over 15000,Shivaji's first wife Saibai and his elder son Sambhaji were captured&put to death.

Sambhaji's wife and son Shahu were taken prisoners to the Mughal court. During the same battle, Shivaji's second son Rajaram(Tarabai's husband) , who was the heir to the throne now, managed to escape using a disguise. He made his way to the Gingee Fort in Tamil Nadu.

Mughal General Zulfikar Khan, however, followed them to Gingee laying siege to the Gingee Fort. From 1690-1698,This was the longest siege by a Mughal Army of any Fort which stands testimony to the military and diplomatic credentials of Rani Tarabai.

Stories of Guruvayurappan
Shri Krishna Leela

This is a beautiful story of Guruvayurappan. Once there lived in Guruvayur a poor family. Kitta, his wife & kids were struggling for their daily needs. With only a coconut tree in house, he earned a living by selling coconuts.

Kitta was from a low caste family. He was a great devotee of Guruvayurappan. Everyday before going to work he always prayed infront of a picture of Guruvayurappan in his house. His only wish was to worship at Guruvayur & have annadanam in temple. But he was not allowed there

It was Utsavam time in Guruvayur. From far behind kitta and family worshipped Guruvayurappan. Annadanam was given daily and no one was left empty stomach. Only Kitta didn't receive. That night, it was only Kitta's family who was sleeping without food. After temple nada closed

Shri Krishna, dressed himself as a Brahmin went to temple Kitchen. He packed food and went directly to kitta's house. Reaching Kitta's house, Shri Krishna told he was sent by a cook of Guruvayur temple and gave them the food he packed. Kitta and family was very happy seeing food.

When Kitta finished his food, Brahmin asked it will be better if he get a tender coconut( karikku)to drink. Kitta climbed the tree and gave all coconuts to him. After having 1 tender coconut, the Brahmin asked to bring remaining coconuts to Guruvayur temple the next day.

Personal Prayer Walk Chronicles, 11th March, 2023...

I REALLY HAVE A ?? this mornin

Anyways, Woke up this mornin with so much energy(glory to God), at a time, I was considering walking from ABEOKUTA- Ibadan just to show that my frenemy, Pst. @Abel2goupOla that I was fitter.. 😂

Anyways, I set out early praying in tongues, which is my usual practice, but, midway, I decided to listen to one of the audio messages on my phone. The lot fell on Pst. E.A. Adeboye's message, titled, "THE CREATIVE POWER OF GOD'S WORD"

His Word can CREATE, CALL FORTH, CANCEL,

OBTAIN etc. It can serve in every capacity and can do all things, even d imagined stuffs can b brought to manifestation.
📌
Making time to study His Word is really underrated. Many today just glance thru & rush off. This will not help. We must make time in d midst of no time.
📌

Now, indulge me to ask you these simple questions.
📍
When was the last time you came to the altar of Prayer, just to guage your relationship with God?

Have you noticed or observed that, We monitor almost everything in our lives?

From the petrol in our car to that in our generators.

We monitor the money in our banks as well as that in our pocket....

#We monitor our performances at work and those of our subordinates...

#We monitor our health,

@Abhirajputfit @buzz_chronicles @rattibha @SaveToBookmarks save as Workouts