Hello, Partner
I am glad to meet you. And I am eager to get to work, with you, to transform the way people learn how to write.
Together, we are going to give countless people the ability to communicate with clarity, energy, creativity, and impact.
For several years, I have been developing what I call a brain-based system for mastering writing in all fields. This system offers specific, intuitive, instantly usable tools to help anyone write better, right away.
My journey as a writer has been going on my whole life. As a kid I wanted to be a newspaper reporter. And then I became one. Over the years I decided I wanted to do more. So I went to grad school for a Ph.D. in political science at Johns Hopkins University and I taught at the college level for eight years. Then I plunged into the hurly-burly of community politics as the coordinator of Boston’s citywide planning process. Then I decided to blend my academic and real-world abilities, so I started and directed a public policy think tank at Harvard. Then I decided I wanted to write books for general audiences, so I left Harvard and wrote two books on baseball, one on diplomacy, and one on suicide. And I started to research another book on civil rights.
Then came a turning point.
Sometime in the late 2000s I was teaching writing at Yale. I loved my students at Yale, who were as curious and open-minded as they were brainy. The soaked up everything I had to offer. But all too often, they did not apply the skills and ideas that we explored in class. So I undertook a crash course on the brain and human behavior. If I could understand what the brain “wants,” I figured, I could develop techniques to help people learn to write naturally. I developed a number of specific tools and routines–easy to learn, easy to apply–that they could use right away to improve their writing.
They worked for my students, so I decided to collect these tricks.
Meanwhile, I was flying around the country to interview people about the 1963 March on Washington, the subject of my new book, Nobody Turn Me Around (Beacon Press, 2010). I was so moved by the stories I heard. I wanted to make sure I gave this amazing movement its due. I needed not just to gather the stories of America’s redeemers. I also needed to weave them into a compelling narrative.
So I went on a mission to figure out what storytelling and writing techniques worked in different situations. I figured that someone, somewhere, had solved just about every writing challenge. So any time I found a book or article that worked–that was clear and lucid, compelling and energetic, dramatic and true–I tried to reverse-engineer it. What problem did the author face? How did he or she solve it?
Over time I developed The Elements of Writing. I wrote one comprehensive guide and a set of shorter guides. I began to deliver one- and two-day seminars all over the country. I traveled to Vanderbilt University for two-day seminars for incoming students. I went to the Utah Festival of the Humanities for a one-day event. I taught high school students in Washington, New Haven, Westchester County, and New Jersey. I taught business professionals at a major oil company, a pharmaceutical, a tech company, a finance company, and more. I taught teachers all over. I did webinars, gave interviews, and consulted with schools. I also coached authors, including ambassadors and best sellers.
Over time, I refined the system. I made the seminars more interactive. I developed exercises that people could do right away. I created exercises that people could bring back to their home or office.
Now I am ready to take off. But I need help.
I need a partner.
I am looking for someone who can, at the beginning, sell the seminars to create a cash flow. At the same time, we need to fill out our offerings. In the works, already, is a powerful video course. I want to develop writing software. I want to create a community of writers unlike any other.
Sometimes I speak of our age as The Writing Revolution. We live in the most exciting times for writing and all human expression. Anyone, anywhere, can now write and publish and find an audience. For all of human history, until this generation, getting published required getting past editors and publishers and other media gatekeepers. But now–with computers and mobile devices, the Internet and social media, ebooks and podcasts and YouTube–anyone can gain a voice and be heard.
I want to serve this revolution. I want to flatten the learning curve for writers everywhere.
I need a partner.
Is that you?
Intrigued?
If you are that partner–or know someone who might be–take a look around this site. Check out my background, books, articles, reviews, blog, and testimonials. Think about how you would build The Elements of Writing into a powerful business. Then give me a call.