How to Write Better The Lie Writers Believe Longest
9 snips
Mar 19, 2026 
Colin Wright, author and blogger behind Exile Lifestyle with 30+ books, shares his layered drafting approach likening revisions to oil painting. He discusses avoiding rigid rules, trading cleverness for clarity, resisting output-as-superpower thinking, and thoughtful uses and risks of AI for writing.
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Use Multiple Intentional Revision Passes
- Treat revision like indirect oil painting rather than a single wet-on-wet pass.
- Colin recommends multiple intentional passes (glazes) that dry between edits so you can amplify and push back elements precisely.
Draft Fast Then Sculpt Slowly
- The composition stage yields the raw slab of marble and editing is the sculpting that reveals the form.
- Joshua calls early drafting a panning-for-gold process and Colin values both fast output and later brutal cutting.
Cut Clever Lines That Stall The Reader
- Avoid keeping clever lines that don't move the reader forward; clarity usually trumps showy phrasing.
- Colin says flowery language for status often obstructs the message unless your niche rewards befuddling beauty.
