When I was writing my first book, I thought of it as a mountain I had to climb. Or a hurdle to jump. I imagined it as a test: scary, stressful, threatening failure with each page I drafted.

Journalism students who master it and then go on to other fields say it comes in handy for writing everything from legal briefs to grant applications. The inverted pyramid and summary lead can be ...

There are various ways to create the perfect hook. You can present it as: This section of the inverted pyramid style of writing is where you dive in and support the arguments you made in your ...

Basically, each set gets tougher as you move up the pyramid until you fail at something. Then repeat in reverse order going down the pyramid, and soon the workout will get easier. 2. Burpee/run ...