Write for Your Life: A Guide to Clear and Purposeful Writing

by Charles Wheelan

The best-selling author’s practical guide to writing clearly and convincingly in every professional setting. How would you create a winning pitch for your latest investment idea? Or persuasively argue for a major policy change? Or successfully ask your boss for a raise? The answer: clear and effective communication, whether in writing or through a presentation. Best-selling author Charles Wheelan has spent decades mastering effective communication skills in his work as a writer, college professor, journalist, speechwriter, political candidate, and public speaker. In Write for Your Life , he shares his best tips. Taking readers through all the steps required to arrive at a coherent first draft, he then explains the best ways to improve and fine-tune your writing. He covers how to organize and present information, why it’s necessary to adapt your tone to different audiences, and when to use summaries, sidebars, bullet points, and other tools for making information more digestible. He explores the truth behind popular clichés like "Show, don’t tell" and "Kill your darlings," and discusses the proper use and attribution of quotations from secondary sources. And he goes on to cover how to speak effectively, providing helpful advice for preparing a winning presentation or delivering a speech. Writing with his signature wit and humor, Wheelan illustrates his points with entertaining examples from his own life, as well as memorable anecdotes from leading magazine and newspaper writers, political figures from Winston Churchill to Barack Obama and Elena Kagan, and a diverse array of the best communicators from the worlds of culture, sports, and politics. Write for Your Life is an essential guide for anyone needing to get their ideas across whether in an email, memo, report, presentation, fund-raising letter, or speech. 6 illustrations

Genres: Writing

208 pages, Paperback

Published May 16, 2023

About the author

Charles Wheelan is a senior lecturer and policy fellow at the Rockefeller Center at Dartmouth College. He joined the Dartmouth faculty fulltime in June of 2012.

Wheelan’s most recent book, Naked Statistics: Stripping the Dread from the Data, was released by W.W. Norton in January of 2013. Three weeks later, it reached the New York Times bestseller list for hardback nonfiction. The San Francisco Chronicle called it a “brilliant, funny new book.” The New York Times described Wheelan as “the Dave Barry of the coin-flipping set.”

From 2004 to 2012, Wheelan was a senior lecturer in public policy at the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago. He taught several courses on understanding the policy process for Master’s students. For the 2004-05 academic year, he was voted Professor of the Year in a Non-Core Course by the Harris School student body.

In the fall of 2005, Wheelan created and taught the inaugural International Policy Practicum (IPP), in which 12 students studied economic reform in India for an academic term followed by a 10-day trip to Bangalore and Delhi to meet with economists, politicians, educators, civic leaders, and other experts. Subsequent IPPs have visited Brazil; Jordan and Israel; Turkey; Cambodia; and Rwanda and Madagascar.

In March of 2009, Wheelan ran unsuccessfully for Congress as the representative from the Illinois 5th District in the special election to replace Rahm Emanuel. In its editorial assessing the race, the Chicago Sun-Times wrote, “Voters will find a ballot filled with impressive and thoughtful candidates . . . especially Charlie Wheelan, a University of Chicago lecturer who combines a razor-sharp mind with a boatload of charm and an impressive expertise in economics and foreign policy. We expect great things from Wheelan in the future.”

Prior to joining the faculty at the University of Chicago, Wheelan was Director of Policy and Communications for Chicago Metropolis 2020, a business-backed civic group promoting healthy regional growth in the Chicago area.

From 1997 to 2002, Wheelan was the Midwest correspondent for The Economist. His story on America’s burgeoning ex-convict population was the August 10, 2002, cover story. He has written freelance articles for the Chicago Tribune, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and other publications.

Wheelan’s first book, Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science, was published by W.W. Norton & Company in 2002. The book, an accessible and entertaining introduction to economics for lay readers, was released in paperback in September 2003 and is now published in 13 languages, including Arabic and Hebrew. The Chicago Tribune described Naked Economics as “clear, concise, informative and (gasp) witty.”

In 2007, Naked Economics was selected by 360 Degrees of Reading as one of the 360 books that every college bound student should read, alongside authors ranging from Sophocles to Malcolm X. Naked Economics was also selected as one The 100 Best Business Books of All Time by 800-CEO-READ.

Wheelan is also the author of 10 ½ Things No Commencement Speaker Has Ever Said and An Introduction to Public Policy, a comprehensive textbook on public policy published by W.W. Norton in November of 2010.

Wheelan holds a Ph.D. in public policy from the University of Chicago, a Master’s in Public Affairs from Princeton University, and a B.A. from Dartmouth College. He lives in Chicago with his wife and three children.

Reviews

[Roozbeh Daneshvar · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is fairly short, concise, insightful and right to the point. It also has a chapter on speaking, which I found very well crafted.

Below I am bringing a few quotes. Yet, I'd like to write a few suggestions about public speaking (inspired by the book + a touch of myself):

1. Do not read from your own slides (it's boring and useless + we could have done that on our own)
2. Do not pack your slides with text (it's hard to read and listen to you at the same time)
3. Do not start your talk by saying something like "I guess I need to talk about..." (it's unenthusiastic and give the impression that you were forced to do so)
4. Do not end your talk by saying "I guess that's it" (you have one opportunity to end it, so end it well)
5. Avoid the filler words, e.g. yeah, so, um, uh, emm, aah... (they do not convey information and you could make your talk more engaging by preparing in advance and avoiding them)
6. Do not say "I am going to talk about this topic" (just talk about it - don't state the obvious)
7. Be mindful of the time (you need to show that you own it and you are a responsible speaker)
8. Talk to your audience (rather than delivering a speech), enjoy their presence and the attention they are giving you (this could naturally make your talk less dull and more engaging and enjoying for them)

and here are the quotes:

The key to not getting lost in a writing project is doing an outline before you begin typing sentences and paragraphs.

Here are the kinds of words and phrases you should purge:

In my opinion . . . You’re the one writing the piece, so who else’s opinion would it be?

Obviously . . . If it is obvious, why are you pointing it out?

Needless to say . . . Then why are you saying it?

Indeed . . . I have no idea why this word exists.

Some people might say . . . Who?

It goes without saying. . . Then you don’t need to say it.

No offense, but . . . This is an indication that you are about to write or say something offensive.

Very. . . This word is meant to magnify but typically has the opposite effect. Which of these sentences is stronger: “He is very stupid.” Or “He is stupid.” The latter sentence feels more forthright.

Quite. . . The same as very, only worse.

As Upstart CEO Dave Girouard points out in his manifesto, “Poor writing can harm you in so many ways: logic is hidden, points are lost, news is buried, intent is misread, feelings are hurt, credibility suffers. And that assumes anybody actually reads what you wrote.”

The most prominent venture capital firms get about a hundred business plans for every one they invest in.

In some ways, that is what defines leadership: an ability to use words to motivate, to persuade, to soothe.

solid public speaking is not radically different from good writing. You organize words to good effect—and then say them out loud. In fact, the boundary between writing and presenting is more fluid than one might think.

The first step to good writing is determining what you expect it to accomplish.

Bear in mind the old aphorism, “If you have too many priorities, you have none.” When writers go off track, it is often because a document lacks focus or purpose.

What will be your narrative structure? This is a question you must answer whether you are writing a one-page marketing document or a six-hundred-page book. No amount of beautiful prose will make up for a narrative structure that does not work.

if someone has to read your sentence twice, it is a lousy sentence.

If your intended audience does not understand what you are trying to tell them, it is your fault, not theirs.

Something written by a group should not read like it was written by a group.

If your first draft is your last draft, you will never be a great writer, or even a good one. But once you have that first draft, the hard part is over.

Your introduction must do two things: (1) Convey to readers the big idea of the piece; and (2) Persuade them to continue reading.

The human brain absorbs ideas most easily when they are expressed in the active voice; the passive voice creates distance from the reader.

Unnecessary words get in the way of clear, succinct writing. They slow the reader down and draw attention away from the words that matter. There is an irony here: shorter sentences often pack more punch.

Whether you choose a footnote or appendix, the motivation is the same: this is information some readers might find interesting but putting it in the body of the document would be more disruptive than helpful.

In fields ranging from marriage counseling to peace negotiations, we have learned that the most effective way to address disagreement is by validating the concerns of others, not by ridiculing or ignoring them. This does not mean that you agree with the protestations; it means you have listened to them and can articulate what they are.

The introduction urges people to stick with you; the conclusion reminds them why they did.

Editing is the process by which imperfect but well-organized writing is refined into something better.

suspense is a virtue if you are writing murder mysteries. For all other writing, give the reader as much information up front as possible, beginning with the title.

Any writing that does not support your thesis and strengthen the document needs to come out, even the clever bits to which you have become overly attached.

This is Sivanathan’s dilution effect: more arguments are not better; they weaken the case. “Stick to your strong arguments,” he advises, “because your arguments don’t add up in the minds of the receiver, they average out.”

if you have memorized a speech and are reciting it. Your listeners will feel, correctly, that you are speaking at them, not with them.

Graphics can make your speech better. They can also make it much worse. The key is to design a good talk without graphics, and then add images to enhance it, like adding frosting to a cake. If your cake is awful, the frosting will not rescue it. On the other hand, if your cake is delicious, frosting will make it more enticing.

From a public-speaking standpoint, stories are elegant because they tend to be self-organizing. They have an inherent narrative structure: Tell the audience what happened in whatever way feels most natural.

The point is to break the barrier between you and your listeners. Do not let them treat the talk as if they were sitting on a couch watching television. Passive listeners feel free to turn you off, literally or figuratively. Active listeners won’t do that.

One of the things that makes speaking harder than writing is that we do not have the luxury of going for a walk or making a cup of coffee as we plot our next sentence. All of us need an occasional moment to collect our thoughts. But there is no reason to subject the audience to “uh, hold on, um,” as we do it. Just say nothing. Put the mouth in neutral while the brain does its work. These pauses will feel much longer to you than they will to the audience.

Train yourself not to say things without meaning. It separates those who sound professional from those who do not.

Make people feel you are speaking with them, not at them.

Picture your audience in their underwear. I’m skeptical of that approach for several reasons. First, I’m not sure it works. Why would imagining people in their underwear make you a more effective speaker? If anything, it would seem to be distracting, depending on the audience.

To be comfortable in front of an audience big or small, focus on replicating something you have done innumerable times in your life: Speaking naturally to people whom you know well.

Give us a strong finishing thought—something more memorable and effective than, “I guess that’s about it.” The conclusion of your talk is an opportunity to remind listeners of what your key points were and why they should care about them.

the old aphorism for presentations: Tell them what you are going to tell them. Tell them. And then tell them what you just told them.

If you have been given a time limit, stick to it. Running over your allotted time is a sign that you have organized your talk poorly.

[Lovelymisanthrope · Rating 4 out of 5]

I stumbled across this book as an audiobook on Libby and picked it up because I love learning more about the craft of writing. This book is written by a writing professor who has spent his life honing his craft and helping others learn all of the nuances that go into writing. The audiobook is narrated by the author, which is an added bonus!
I really enjoyed hearing his lessons and tips about writing in general. No matter what career you pursue, you need to know how to write, and, more importantly, write well. Tone, word choice, and every other element to crafting a piece of writing dramatically impacts how the reader will respond. For example, if you are trying to persuade someone to do something, you need to be friendly in your approach, concise, and informative. Charles Wheelan uses personal experience, national studies and statistics, as well as colleagues' anecdotes to present important information about writing well.
I highly recommend this book to everyone, but especially to those in school who are trying to learn the foundations so they can set themselves up for a lifetime of success.

[Jenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Write For Your Life

Write For Your Life is a valuable resource for anyone who writes or presents. While an especially good tool for those who write professionally, it can also be very handy for use in writing and communicating for hobbies, clubs, organizations, or church.

Wheelan was motivated by his teaching career to share how language can be used for effective communication through writing and speaking. He introduces his book with an engaging personal example, and provides examples of anecdotes from publications and public figures throughout the work.

I found this book to be chock full of useful points, all presented in an absorbing format. It is well-organized and concise. From knowing your audience to establishing what you need to say, guidance is given on structure, format, organization, and tools. Wheelan's examples, scenarios, and
detailed specific tips are applicable, practical, and functional. The points on how to arrange paragraphs are wonderful!

I wish I had been given access to a book such as this prior to college and again as I started my career in education. This resource is both instructional and engaging, meeting the goals of the author and exceeding my expectations.

Thank you to Net Galley and W. W. Norton & Company for the advance reader's copy and opportunity to provide my unbiased review.

[Nadia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a well written book, it honored its purpose. It is packed with practical and useful tips for better writing in the workplace.

[Desmond Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid guide to being a competent writer and a tolerable speaker, which is no small accomplishment these days. Very sound and unobjectionable advice: be organized, know what you want to say, say it clearly with a modest number of words, revise and reconsider, take advice. I took a star off for mentioning TED talks too many times, and for saying that bullet points are good. It would be a good book for freshman college students, perhaps even at Dartmouth.

[Abbas Mehrabian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It's fun to read and full of useful, practical advice. The chapters are short and I read a few chapters each night before going to sleep.

One of the pieces of advice in the book is "tell stories." And the book excels at doing this. It's full of stories, all of them interesting.

I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to improve their writing or just read a well-written book.

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Same advice as other basic writing manuals but focused on purposeful, even everyday writing. Useful for that. Write about what you care about and what you need others to know. Keep it simple. Start with an outline, then a lousy draft. Get help to edit. etc.

[مساعد الشطي · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm a huge fan of Dr.Wheelan but this book was a big disappointment.

[David Mcnaughton · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are multiple important ideas shared in this text, and they are often described in novel and memorable ways. But I think a book on writing should be held to a high standard, and this is an uneven text.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wish I had this in grad school. Read for work

[Kamila · Rating 2 out of 5]

ok im only giving it 2 stars because it was nothing crazy revolutionary? yes it was an enjoyable read but it's not like any CRAZY new ideas were learned through this. i enjoyed wheelan's writing and analogies and stories though.

[YingYu Chen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best writing guide so far