People ask me all the time, “John, how do you write so well? How can I learn to write like you?”
And I always find the question funny because, first of all, I don’t even consider myself a writer.
I just enjoy putting my thoughts together, moving words around, and trying to make a piece sound like the feeling I had in my head. What feels like play to me might feel like work to someone else.
But over the years, I’ve noticed a few patterns in how I write. Little things I do when I’m trying to tell a story, explain an idea, or make someone feel something.
So if you’ve ever wanted to write better, here are a few things that might help.
1. Pay attention to your life.
The conversations you have. The people you meet. The random thought that crosses your mind on your way home.
What did you notice? What made you pause? Why did that conversation stay with you? Why do you keep finding yourself in the same situation?
Pay attention to the tiny things people tend to ignore. The way someone speaks. The way a room feels. The good in people. The things that annoy you. The things you can’t quite explain yet.
I always joke that everything I go through is just giving me more things to write about. If you hurt me, I’ll go through my shit, wallow in it for a bit, and then come back with a 1,000-word essay.
Make use of your drafts too. Write down the random thought. Save the sentence. Put the rant somewhere. If an idea keeps finding its way back into your head, maybe there’s something there worth exploring.
2. Write about what interests you.
You don’t have to write about computers or AI because everybody else is talking about them. If you don’t care about it, why force it?
Write about your family. Africa. A particular food. That niche artist you think more people should know about. The song you heard on TikTok. The last Netflix movie you watched. Your feelings. The weird, nerdy thing you could talk about for hours.
What did you notice? What did it make you feel? What did it remind you of? What did you learn?
Start there. Write about what you genuinely enjoy, what bothers you, what excites you, and what you can’t stop thinking about.
People ask me what my niche is, and honestly, I don’t even know. I write about love, people, places, business, and whatever else I’m thinking about. I just be writing.
3. Pour it out first.
Your first draft doesn’t have to be beautiful. It doesn’t even have to make sense to anybody else yet. It’s not an English test. Nobody is grading you.
Just get the thought out of your head.
And these days, you don’t even have to type. Pick up your phone, record yourself talking about the idea, and transcribe it. Talk like you’re explaining it to a friend. Then go back, piece your thoughts together, and flesh them out.
Sometimes you won’t even know what you’re trying to say until you hear yourself say it.
You can use AI to help you organize the transcript, find a word, or put a thought together more clearly. I like to think of it as a calculator for words. But the thoughts should still be yours, and the finished piece should still sound like you.
4. Know what you want the piece to do.
Ask yourself: What am I feeling? What am I trying to say? What do I want someone to feel when they read this?
Do you want to give them hope? Make them laugh? Help them feel understood? Show them a perspective they might not have considered?
What’s the play?
You don’t need to have everything figured out before you start. Sometimes the answer comes while you’re writing. But once you find it, use it to guide the piece. Every story, example, and sentence should have a reason to be there.
5. Write like you talk. Find your rhythm.
Write simply. Imagine you’re explaining the idea to a friend. You don’t need big, bogus words to sound intelligent. You are not Chimamanda, and you are also not Wole Soyinka. Relax lol.
Find your own style. Pay attention to the words and expressions that feel natural to you. Put a little steez and swagger in it. Let your personality show.
To me, writing is like music. It has a rhythm.
You can make a sentence short.
You can make the next one a little longer, giving the thought more room to move before you bring it to a stop.
Then pause.
Ask a question, maybe?
Play with it. Read it back. Listen to how it sounds. Your writing shouldn’t feel static or robotic. Let it flow.
6. Read it out loud. Edit it. Hold it to a high standard.
Start from the beginning. How does the introduction sound? Does it make you want to keep reading? Does one thought lead naturally into the next?
If a word or phrase makes you stumble, pay attention to it. Your reader might stumble there too. Move things around. Find a better word. Cut the sentence if it isn’t doing anything.
Prune it. Exercise restraint. Not every thought needs ten sentences, and not every sentence needs ten words.
And yes, be a little obsessed with your editing. Read it ten times if you need to. But if you’re not feeling it, don’t post it.
Because if you’re not feeling it, how do you expect anyone else to feel it? The piece has to flow. It has to speak to you. You have to read it and feel what you were trying to say.
Keep it in your drafts. Let it sit for a while. Come back to it later and read it through a different lens. You might find a better way to say something, a phrase that interrupts the flow, or a completely different angle you hadn’t considered.
Keep working on it until it feels right to you. Then put it out.
And even after you post it, get used to the cringe. I still look at things I’ve written and spot five things I wish I had fixed. That’s my perfectionist brain working overtime. But that’s part of it too. You write, you learn, and you keep going.
7. Collect words, phrases, and ideas.
Read books. Read carousels. Listen to people speak. Scroll through TikTok. When a sentence makes you pause, pay attention to it. What was it about those words? Why did they land?
Save the video. Transcribe it. Write down the phrase. Collect the poem, the expression, the unusual combination of words. Keep an arsenal of things that make you feel something or see an idea differently.
Learn from everybody. Borrow what you love, experiment with it, and make something of your own.
The more you read, write, and pay attention, the more you begin to recognize what good writing feels like to you. You start developing an ear for it.
I never went to a writing class. I just kept writing. And I’m still learning.
So live your life. Eat. Sleep. Have conversations. Meet people. Watch the movie. Listen to the song. Pay attention to what makes you laugh, what annoys you, and what makes you pause.
Then write about it.
Because learning to write is also learning how to think.
And if you do start writing, I’d love to read some of your stuff too. I might learn a thing or two from you.