- Author: [[Ann Handley]] - Full Title: Everybody Writes - Tags:: books [[inbox]] -  - ### Highlights first synced by [[Readwise]] [[2020-09-03]] - If a visitor came to your website without its branding in place (logo, tagline, and so on), would he or she recognize it as yours? If you stripped your branding from all your properties and lined up your words alongside a competitor's, would you recognize yourself? Would you stand out? ([Location 520](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00LMB5P0G&location=520)) - Simply put, the key to being a better writer is to write. ([Location 774](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00LMB5P0G&location=774)) - Figuring out what you want to say before you figure out how to say it seems an obvious first step. But many writers tend to shortchange that step—they instead charge straight at the water and wade in, slogging through the surf until pretty soon they're out of their depth and they're flailing around wondering how they ended up there at all. ([Location 1031](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00LMB5P0G&location=1031)) - So, before you begin the writing, be sure you know the purpose or mission or objective of every piece of content that you write. ([Location 1040](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00LMB5P0G&location=1040)) - Good writing serves the reader, not the writer. It isn't self-indulgent. Good writing anticipates the questions that readers might have as they're reading a piece, and it answers them. ([Location 1212](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00LMB5P0G&location=1212)) - Relentlessly, unremittingly, obstinately focus on the reader. ([Location 1236](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00LMB5P0G&location=1236)) - In other words, empathy for the customer experience should be at the root of all of your content, because having a sense of the people you are writing for and a deep understanding of their problems is key to honing your skill. ([Location 1262](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00LMB5P0G&location=1262)) - That means you have to meet people where they are, with an attitude of benevolence and largesse, to help them find answers to the problems they have. ([Location 1266](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00LMB5P0G&location=1266)) - “Don't tell me that the moon is shining,” wrote Russian playwright and short-story writer Anton Chekhov. “Show me the glint of moon on broken glass.” ([Location 1628](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00LMB5P0G&location=1628)) ^457fa7