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- One of the best writing practices I have found that puts my brain in overdrive.
One of the best writing practices I have found that puts my brain in overdrive.
PLUS: a dramatic silent film actually worth watching
Payton Minzenmayer
April 26, 2025
“This is bad, Payton.”
My college Bible professor slapped my 25-page end-of-semester report onto his desk.
“Bad?” I said. “Like fail-the-class bad?”
He shook his head and grinned, leaning back in his chair. The buttons on his white-speckled shirt stretched in agony as he cradled his head in his hands.
“No, the content is good.”
I breathed a sigh of relief.
“It’s just breathy. Long-winded. Drawn out. Garrulous.”
I’ll be honest, I had never heard that word before. But I understood the point.
"But the content was good?" I asked again, just to be sure.
He nodded. “It takes 100 pages to explain something you just learned. 50 pages if you’ve studied it. Under 10 if you truly understand it. I want you to be the kind of person who can say it in 1.”
One of the best exercises you can do as a writer, preacher, or copywriter is to practice synthesizing long writing into short writing.
It’s almost always true: if you can say it in fewer words, you’ve made the work better.
The problem is most of us are too precious with our own writing to practice this skill honestly.
That’s why it’s better to borrow content for practice so you can approach it with a critical eye.
A great place to start is to take a Wikipedia paragraph and cut it to a third of its original length without losing the meaning.
Now, let me pause, because I can already hear you saying,"Wait, Payton, isn’t this exactly what AI is for?"
And that’s kind of the point.
We’re building muscle memory but for a lot of us, we’re training ourselves to click instead of think. We outsource the “mundane” tasks like summarization without realizing: it’s in the work that we actually learn to do excellent work.
Practice editing for brevity.
It will put your brain into overdrive — forcing you into an unnatural mindset — and you’ll walk away from each exercise a markedly more concise writer.
I found a fun website called WikiRoulette which does exactly as you’d imagine, it give you a random Wikipedia page.
I opened mine today to:
Vera is cold-blooded.
So let’s have some fun with the 478 word plot (feel free to scroll down to my summary):
Valentino plays José Dalmarez, a Brazilian author who is also popular with readers in the United States.
In the opening scene, young Vera Blaine (Marguerite Namara) is walking through a park in Florida when she encounters Dalmarez. He gives her his photo, the back of which has a love poem. Enchanted, Vera later gives José a book that's similarly inscribed. José tells her he has to return to Brazil and invites her to accompany him. Excitedly, Vera reveals that she'll take her mother's wedding ring for the ceremony, but José clarifies that he was only inviting her to be his travel companion, not his wife.
Dalmarez proceeds to Brazil without Vera. In Brazil, he woos Inez Salles (Aileen Pringle, billed as Aileen Savage), the young daughter of a government official. Inez's protective brother, Alvarez, spies José and Inez kissing on a park bench; a fight ensues between the two men.
Dalmarez returns to the United States. To obtain information on criminal law for a book he's writing, Dalmarez stops Hugh Conway's law office. Dalmarez is surprised when Vera, who is now Hugh's wife, drops by. Hugh invites him to join them for dinner that evening, and Dalmarez offers to drive Vera home. During the drive home Dalmarez asks Vera how her husband would react if he read the notes she'd written during her earlier infatuation. Vera replies that he'd understand she was young and naive at the time, but Dalmarez expresses his doubts.
During dinner Hugh asks Dalmarez whether his new book is true to life. Dalmarez, casting the occasional side glance at Vera, replies: "I knew a girl who gave herself to a man in just the way I describe, and I could show you the letters and a book of poems to prove it."
When Dalmarez returns home he surprises his butler taking a nip from the liquor cabinet. The two begin to struggle, and the butler grabs a dagger Dalmarez has hanging on the wall. Dalmarez overpowers the older man, sends him away and places the dagger on his desk.
Vera arrives at Dalmarez's house to obtain the letters. He refuses to give them to her. She lunges for the place where they're concealed; Dalmarez grabs her and tries to kiss her. Struggling, she reaches down to the desk, picks up the dagger and strikes him in the face. He falls to the floor and she escapes, convinced she's killed him.
In the murder investigation, police note that facial scratches on the victim point to a female suspect. Realizing that a thorough investigation would find the notes she'd written, Vera slips into Dalmarez's house that night to retrieve the books and letters. She's followed by another person on a similar mission: Alvarez Salles, who traveled from Brazil to retrieve letters his sister had written to Dalmarez.
Alvarez tells police he came in the room and saw Dalmarez getting up off the floor. Alvarez admits to picking up the blade off the desk and delivering the fatal blow to Dalmarez, thereby clearing Vera of the murder.
Here is my summary:
Rudolph Valentino plays José Dalmarez, a Brazilian author charming readers in the U.S. and charming women everywhere else.
He meets young Vera Blaine in a Florida park, gives her a flirty poem, and invites her to Brazil, but only as a travel buddy, not a bride (awkward). Heartbroken, Vera stays behind while José heads south to woo a new girl, Inez Salles, which leads to a brotherly fistfight.
Back in the States, José crosses paths with Vera again (who’s now married) and hints that he’s still holding her old love notes.
Things spiral.
Vera shows up at his house to reclaim the letters, and in the chaos, stabs him with a decorative dagger. Thinking she’s a murderer, Vera tries to cover her tracks.
Plot twist: Alvarez (Inez’s brother) confesses he finished the job, clearing Vera’s name.
Moral of the story: Never trust a man who hands out poetry in public parks.
Try it.
Do it once a day, five days a week for a month and your writing will drastically improve.
Plus, this is the best kind of practice: you'll pick up all kinds of new knowledge along the way. (Like which dramatic silent films are actually worth watching.)
Set yourself apart by doing the work others aren’t willing to do.
Write on 🤙
— Payton
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