How to write more clearly, think more clearly, and learn complex material [pdf]
One useful first step in becoming a better writer - in particular if your subject is complex - is to to delete your Twitter account and never look at another Twitter thread.  Character limits kill creativity and complexity.<p>The presentation does leave out one very necessary requirement for becoming a good-to-great writer: you have to do a lot of reading.  If you're going to write about a complex scientific or technical subject, you should have some examples in mind of great texts that you've read.  What did other writers do that you liked or that stuck with you?  Equally true, what are some really bad examples, some things to avoid?<p>For example, here's what I think is an excellent popular history book, and if I ever wrote something with a historical bent, I'd flip though it first:
"By Steppe, Desert, and Ocean: The Birth of Eurasia" by Barry Cunliffe<p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Steppe-Desert-Ocean-Birth-Eurasia/dp/0199689172" rel="nofollow">https://www.amazon.com/Steppe-Desert-Ocean-Birth-Eurasia/dp/...</a><p>The point about Twitter is really this: you have to develop the skill of composing a paragraph as a coherent entity in order to become a decent writer, and Twitter doesn't allow for paragraphs, just sentences (and short ones at that).  Paragraphs should have an internal cohesion to help the reader absorb the concept being presented.  Once you have that, you can start chaining paragraphs together, reordering the sequence of paragraphs, with the goal of constructing a path that the reader can follow through the whole essay or chapter.  Getting the order right is important for complex topics, as point D might rely on a good understanding of points A and B, and so on.  Your goal should be to make the reader feel smart.<p>Of course that's just advice for non-fiction writing; if you're doing fiction or poetry basically anything goes.  The public might like it or hate it, but the literary critics can safely be ignored.