Hi Reader,

I wanted to share something that's been on my mind lately. Three game-changing writing rules I've learned from Jerry Seinfeld.

I did stand-up comedy for about four years, and Seinfeld was someone I studied relentlessly.

What always resonated with me about him was how he approached comedy as a writer first.

Every word in his sets has been meticulously chosen over years of work.

In fact, he once said something to the effect of: that guy you see on stage?

That's someone I invented to test out the writing.

I'm actually the guy at my desk alone in a room, combing through every word.

These rules have stuck with me long after I stopped performing, and I apply them to all my writing today.

Rule #1: Set Clear Start and Stop Times

Jerry shared this advice with his daughter (which makes it feel more genuine than typical interview advice).

He told her that writing is hard work, so you need to reward yourself for it.

Have a specific start and stop time.

If you decide to write for two hours each day, when those two hours are up – you're done.

Without this boundary, writing becomes this endless thing with no start or finish.

What I love is that Jerry focuses on time spent writing, not word count or pages.

There's that famous story about the calendar in his apartment with X's marking each day he wrote for four hours.

Four hours of writing is incredibly intense!

For us, it might be one hour, 30 minutes, or even just 10 minutes – but whatever it is, give yourself that defined window.

I find this more effective than targeting a certain word count.

Jerry once saw construction workers outside his window working hard regardless of weather, and thought: "If these guys can show up and work hard every day, I can do that for my craft."

Sometimes writing is just giving yourself space to think, and the actual writing is capturing the thought when it comes.

Rule #2: Wait 24 Hours Before Sharing Your Work

This was another gem from Jerry's advice to his daughter.

Wait 24 hours before sharing any of your writing with others.

Those first 24 hours are for YOU.

When you're excited about a new idea and share it too early, someone's lukewarm reaction might kill it before it has a chance to develop.

Jerry likely thought about this first in a comedy context – if you tell comedian friends about a joke you're developing and they don't laugh, you might abandon it prematurely instead of testing it with a real audience.

This rule preserves the joy of discovering an idea.

It rewards YOU for the process of creation.

Plus, when you wait 24 hours and look at your work again, your brain naturally wants to refine it by adding things here, removing things there.

It's a more natural editing process.

The first draft is for you.

Enjoy it.

Rule #3: Refine, Tighten, and Perfect Your Writing

This is something Jerry has embodied throughout his entire career.

He came from the era of comedy where you didn't film a new hour every year for Netflix.

You might only film two or three specials in your entire lifetime.

It was all about perfecting your act, word by word.

His book 'Is This Anything?' is a masterclass in this approach.

Reading it, you can see how there's no fat in his jokes. Not a single extra word or syllable.

As writers first, we can learn to look at our work with that same sharp lens.

Writing is really one word at a time, one sentence at a time.

Jerry had the advantage of testing his writing on stage night after night, but we can still apply the principle of revision.

Writing is editing.

There's something deeply satisfying about refining a whole page down to ten perfect words.

It fills the gap between the thought in your head and the clarity needed to share it.

And a lot of that process is simply removal – cutting away everything that doesn't need to be there.

Jerry also treated his jokes like a Rolodex he could pull from when needed.

If someone turned on a vacuum during his set, he might pull out a vacuum joke he wrote 10 years ago.

The lesson? No writing is ever wasted.

Even if something feels like "bad writing" in the moment, save it.

Ten days later, it might be the perfect puzzle piece for something else.

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I hope these writing rules resonate with you like they did with me!

Let me know which of these rules speaks to you the most, or if you have other writing advice you live by.

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Until next time,

Misbah Haque
Founder & Consultant at Pod Mahal​
Writer & Host of Habit Chess​
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