Use the "1-2 punch" to improve your writing.

The Princess Bride, by William Goldman, is my favorite book of all time.

It’s everything you love about the movie plus about 150% more. More laughs, more backstory, more emotion, more everything.

What does this book get 100% right, and how can it help you with your writing?

It’s what I call the “1-2 punch”.

There are a LOT of pieces of content out there these days that attempt to tug on your heartstrings. 

They play an emotional piano piece of stock music over some slow-mo stock footage, and the idea is that this will be sad/deep/profound.

I would argue that anyone who tries to make you feel only one emotion will never succeed as much as someone who employs the 1-2 punch.

So what’s the 1? What’s the 2!?

The 1 is humor. Comedy. Jokes.

Goldman has you laughing out loud in the intro already (which isn’t in the movie at ALL by the way), and he keeps the jokes rolling the entire time.

Did you know that Princess Buttercup’s parents argued perpetually to hilarious effect? Nope. You didn’t because you only watched the movie.

The humor, the laughs, the mirth… These all set up the unexpected 2. 

The tears. The emotion. The sadness. The real.

And the 2 is so much more powerful because of the 1. 

Early Simpsons understood this principle, and the greatest writers of all time take us on an emotional journey - they don’t just harp on one emotional “note”.

Get more impact as a speaker, as a writer, as a performer by incorporating the 1-2 punch.