Wylie's Writing Tips

Improve your communications with our training, consulting, and writing services

Reverse engineer great writing

Take it apart; put it back together

Did you ever take Mom’s toaster apart to figure out how it worked? You can do the same thing with writing.

Find the template Boost your writing skills by reading good writing then figuring out how the writer wrote it. Image by Roongzaa

Choose a piece you love. Then take it apart and put it back together until you understand why you like it and how to write it yourself.

Here’s how:

1. Find a great line.

I have long loved a piece about Las Vegas from Time magazine for a single sentence:

Lounge music may be to the symphony what Velveeta is to cheese — but hey! — it’s all part of what makes Las Vegas great.

2. Take it apart.

Take it apart. Here’s what I love about that passage:

  • The two comparisons (Lounge music = symphony; Velveeta = cheese)
  • The fact that those comparisons are also compared to each other
  • The word “Velveeta” (cheesy brand names are always fun)
  • The full sentence with an exclamation point between dashes

So the template looks like this:

Blank may be to blank what (funny brand name) is to blank — hypershort sentence! — something.

3. Put it back together.

Now write a sentence that uses that template. When I asked participants in a workshop to model that passage, one came up with:

Youth hostels may be to the Hyatt what love beads are to diamonds — but hey! — it’s all part of what makes your Adventures Ltd. vacation great.

Find the template.

Now you try it: Find a great piece. Take it apart. Put it back together.

And keep T.S. Elliot’s advice in mind.

“Amateurs plagiarize,” he said. “Real writers steal.”

How can you surprise and delight readers?

Neurologists call it “the pleasure of the text,” the reward readers get from figuring out figurative language. (It can be quite a reward: If your wordplay is funny enough, your readers’ brains even deliver a little dose of dopamine.) Master the Art of Storytelling - our creative-writing workshop on March 3

Learn to tap wordplay’s superpowers at Master the Art of Storytelling, our business-storytelling workshop starting March 3.

There, you’ll learn to flip phrases; compress details; sub sound-alikes; list, rhyme and twist — even coin new words with free online tools that do the work for you. You’ll get inspired by some of the world’s most creative headlines. And you’ll polish your skills in a wordplay workout, with recipes from anagram to oxymoron.

Save up to $100 with our group discounts.

Register for Master the Art of Storytelling - our creative-writing workshop on March 3