Write of Passage Weekly - We're Narrowing the Focus

Hello Writers, 

One of the most common mistakes in essay-writing is choosing a topic that’s too broad. In a single, 1000-word piece, you try to explain your entire worldview. But that just adds pressure and dilutes the results. Instead, focus on a manageable objective and obsess over the quality of your work. Narrow the scope.

Would you rather read an essay about the history of transportation or one about how the invention of the automobile revolutionized American cinema? Find your Shiny Dime, and build your entire essay around that specific, powerful idea.

You can apply this writing tip to any creative pursuit, and it applies to running a company too. At Write of Passage, we say, “Narrow the focus,” which comes from Frank Slootman’s leadership philosophy, Amp It Up.

We came blazing into 2023 with the goal of sending you one unique, writing-related insight per day to help you improve your craft. While we’ve enjoyed writing these emails and reading your replies, we’re narrowing the focus. 

Starting in June, we will be sending a weekly newsletter instead of a daily email.

Our goal is to provide the same value to you with fewer pings to your inbox. The upcoming weekly emails will feature unique insights on the craft, curated articles from the web, writing from the Write of Passage community, and prompts to fuel your writing habit — all to help you bound forward on your writing journey.

Our team is busy running Write of Passage Cohort 10, which will wrap up on May 24. You’ll hear from us soon with the first issue of the weekly newsletter. In the meantime, we’ll share an update or two on Cohort 10, to give you a peek into the course and highlight some insights from this talented group of students.

Thank you for your interest in Write of Passage and for reading these daily emails. As always, feel free to hit “reply” and share your feedback. 

Happy writing,

The Write of Passage Team