Science-backed 30 day plan to improve your writing

I struggled to improve my writing skills in 2023.

Bland tweets, flop threads, and boring emails—that's all I could produce.

I found an apt quote for my situation: 'You get worse at what you do in the long run if you're not smart about it.'

I hit a plateau.

So, I read Scott Young's Ultralearning.

The book promises to teach you how to master hard skills through self-education. I was not disappointed. I immediately found out what I was doing wrong.

The mistakes were so obvious I couldn't help but feel stupid.

The book gives 9 steps to improve any skill - I wrote a thread on it (link)

This email is about how I will use 7 steps (2 are irrelevant in my case) to improve my writing in the next 30 days.

Let's dive in:

1. Time frame of learning

A strict timeframe makes the learning measurable.

You know how long it's going to last, what you're supposed to do in that period and when the pain will end.

I set the time frame to 30 days. It's neither too short to see any results nor too long that I slack off.

My goals are very specific. Copywork for 30 days. 30 minutes walk for idea generation.

Creating an actionable editing checklist.

2. Concepts, Facts and Procedures

Split the skill into 3 parts. This will be the core of your learning.

• Concepts — Fundamentals you must understand. Like in writing: Rule of one, slippery slope and strong conclusions.

• Facts — Things that would be enough for the job only if you remember them. Like while editing: Move the narration forward with every sentence, follow the rule of 1:3:1, and don't repeat the same words.

• Procedures — It's the actionable part of the skill. Like I'm doing in these 30 days: Copywork, long walks and creating an editing checklist.

3. Rule of 10

The book advises spending 10% of the time finding resources from where you will learn.

I spent more than that. For copy work, I found a few articles to help me understand its goal. I'm handwriting my favorite author of all time—James Clear. For idea generation, I read this blog by Paul Graham.

And for editing, I bought Erica's course.

4. Directness

Learn by doing.

Skills are not transferred to real activity when you stay in theory for too long. Instead of reading about how to improve as a writer, I've started this project. For the next 30 days, I will spend 30 minutes on each skill - copywork, walking and editing.

This is my directness.

5. Drills

Drills are small exercises that you do to cover your blind spots.

For copywork, I aim to improve my opening sentences and improve vocabulary.

For editing, I aim to improve my writing flow and retain my reader's attention.

For idea generation, I aim to improve my consistency to produce high-quality ideas.

Every drill must be connected to your weakness.

6. Feedback

Without feedback, you continue doing the wrong thing.

And since no one is there to correct you, you think this is the highest level you could reach. I call this running with horse-blinders. You can't see your blind spots.

But with feedback, you gain awareness.

I plan to measure reader engagement through social media and newsletter replies.

I've joined Kieran Drew's MCM, where he gives once-in-a-month feedback to let him rip apart my writing.

7. Maintenance

I've always undervalued the ability to remember.

In my defense, why remember when you can google it or take a quick peek at the source?

But I've realized that it destroys my ability to dig deeper and makes me a shallow learner. So, throughout this process, I'll learn these fundamentals by spaced retention. Try to revise what I learned while doing chores and finally ingrain it into my long-term memory.

I aim to learn for 5 days and revise whatever I learned on Sunday.