This was a great and easy advice-interview on how to write, from a corporate blog of all places. The advice comes from Scott Dikkers, The Onion’s longest serving editor in chief. If you don’t know The Onion, please read this piece of genius.
Below are some verbatim nuggets of gold:
1. Concept is king
“Your concept — and I would equate that with your headline or title — is the flag you’re raising, it’s the shingle on your door. And if it’s not a good concept or the right concept, then you’re sunk before you’ve even written a word.”
2. The key to quality is quantity
“This is how professionals work,” said Dikkers, “because they understand that most of what they write is dreck.”
[…]
4. Ruffle some feathers
“Thing is, Horatian satire isn’t really remembered because it’s toothless,” said Dikkers. “It might get a lot of laughs today but it’s not going to live in our cultural memory. Only satire that angers or offends people will be remembered.”
[…]
10. Know your joke and make sure the reader knows your joke
“Readers want to know they’re in the hands of a master who is going to manipulate them,” he said, “the way Spielberg does in his movies. He takes you on a ride, through the highs and lows.