
educationJul 24, 202457:39pending
Mark Forsyth: How to Make Your Writing Memorable | How I Write Podcast
About this episode
What do Katy Perry, Charles Dickens, and the Bible all have in common? They’re responsible for some of the most famous lines in history. And in this episode, you’ll find out why.
Mark, an author and mad scientist of language, reveals the secret sauce to memorable writing: rhetorical devices. Chiasmus. Anaphora. Antithesis. Synecdoche.
Writing today (i.e. texting and Tweeting) is concise and hyper-minimal — which is fine, if you’re writing the instruction manual for a new dishwasher. But the most memorable works of writing lean into the beauty of words. It’s not about using overly purple prose. It’s about using rhetorical formulas to create unforgettable lines, to shape ideas that stick in your reader’s brain.
If you want to write something that sticks in your reader’s brain — a book, a poem, a speech — then this episode is for you.
SPEAKER LINKS:
Twitter: https://x.com/inkyfool
Blog: https://blog.inkyfool.com/
Books: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B005Z05REO
WRITE OF PASSAGE:
Want to learn more about the next class Write of Passage?
Click here: https://writeofpassage.com/
PODCAST LINKS:
Website: https://writeofpassage.com/how-i-write
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DavidPerellChannel/videos
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-write/id1700171470
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2DjMSboniFAeGA8v9NpoPv
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Get every episode summarized
Each time How I Write publishes, we email you a written briefing from the transcript — the topics, who appeared, and any specific claims, with the ad reads skipped.
Email me new episodesFree for 3 shows. No card needed.
Hosts & guests
No transcript yet
This episode has not been transcribed. Request it and it moves to the front of the queue.
More episodes
More from How I Write

R.F. Kuang: Meet The Writer Who Sold Millions of Books Before 30 | How I Write
How I Write
Sep 2, 20261:06:56completed

Matt Haig: How to Write a Book Millions of People Read | How I Write
How I Write
Aug 26, 202656:54pending

Elif Shafak & Robert Macfarlane: Two Novelists Have an Epic Conversation | How I...
How I Write
Aug 19, 20261:04:15pending

Andrew Sean Greer: Pulitzer Winner Teaches Writing | How I Write
How I Write
Aug 12, 20261:13:37pending