Today's writing trick is borrowed from the marketing industry and ensures you'll have clarity when writing.
It's straight from two of my favorite brainstorming tricks for clarifying thinking: elevator pitches and user stories.
Essentially, both are structured concisely to shine laser focus on a persona (or audience group), a need, and a purpose. Once you have that nailed down, you'll find it easier to rally the rest of your thoughts around this central purpose.
Here's how to steal the technique and apply it to writing:
"You know how _________________[problem]? Well, my content _________________[solves problem], so they _________________[benefit]."
*I use the word content, but you should replace it with whatever you are working on: book, atomic essay, online course, digital product, services, etc.
Example: You know how design revisions can get out of hand with some clients? Well, my essay provides communication strategies to help a client provide better feedback so they can save time and money on the project by reducing the number of revisions.
That was the entire premise of my atomic essay yesterday.
Let's quickly break it down:
Problem: The issue you are solving should deeply resonate with your target audience. Who are you writing for? What known pain point can you solve?
Solution: How does your content specifically solve that problem?
Benefit: I always think of the Super Mario analogy I heard years ago that I sadly don't have the source for. In Super Mario, a Fire Flower transforms Mario into Fire Mario and allows him to shoot projectiles. You aren't selling the Fire Flower here. You're selling Mario a better version of himself.