REMEMBER KISSINGER
In Turbocharge Your Writing,I tell a story about politician Henry
Kissinger that is worth repeating here:
Kissinger assigned a writing project to one of his aides. The
aide wrote the piece and sent it in. But the next day the man-
uscript was back on the aide’s desk with a yellow note from
Kissinger saying, “You can do better.”
The aide reworked the material and again sent it in. Next
day the aide found the same manuscript back on his desk
with yet another note that said, “You can do better.”
The aide rewrote the material, ruthlessly edited it, added
some powerful facts and figures, proofread it, and then hand-
delivered it. He told Kissinger, “Sir, this is the best I can do.”
Kissinger accepted the manuscript and said, “In that case,
I’ll read it.”
Kissinger had never read those earlier drafts! He had simply tricked
the aide into doing the best work possible.
You can always do better. Now, whenever I finish a project, I ask
myself, “Can you do better?”
If I’m honest with myself, I know I can.ONE LAST WORD
When do you stop rewriting?
How do you know when your work is polished?
I don’t know. I’m not sure anyone does.
My rule of thumb is to do the very best work I can, to see if I
have met my objective (if I have done what I set out to do), and
then to let the writing go. You can spend years rewriting your ma-
terial. Don’t! Do your best and send the work out. The feedback
you get will help you do any more rewriting.
Consider what Albert Einstein said: “Everything should be made
as simple as possible, but not simpler.”HYPNOTIC WRITING