Before publishing, ask: "If I described this story to someone at a party, would they be interested?" If the answer is no, the core concept isn't compelling enough. This simple filter ensures your content is inherently engaging for a general audience, forcing you to find a better story or angle.
Many writers view editing as a chore. Nick Thompson, CEO of The Atlantic, argues the opposite: editing is where the most creative work occurs. This is the phase where you confront core questions about audience, structure, and clarity, transforming raw ideas into a polished, impactful piece of communication.
The simplicity of running—where you control all the variables—makes it a powerful tool for self-assessment. Unlike team sports, there are no external factors to blame for poor performance. A slower time might reveal an unnoticed illness or the effects of aging, forcing an honest confrontation with your physical and mental state.
The Atlantic CEO Nick Thompson turns hours of meeting prep into a single hour using AI. He prompts it to pull bios of attendees, suggest relevant questions, create digital flashcards with names and companies, and then quiz him. This specific workflow ensures he arrives fully prepared for important networking events.
When reading silently, your brain skips over clunky sentences and logical gaps. Reading your work aloud forces you to experience its rhythm and flow as an audience would. This makes it impossible to ignore awkward phrasing, repetition, or sentences that don't make sense, acting as an honest mirror for your prose.
The Atlantic's CEO Nick Thompson draws a clear line for AI in journalism. He advocates for using it extensively for reporting tasks like finding stories, analyzing data, or checking for chronological gaps. However, since a byline promises human authorship, AI should never write the final prose, even if it becomes a better writer.