pick-a-lanelisted

Diagnoses drafts that tell three half-stories instead of one full story, and rewrites them around the single strongest narrative thread. Implements Konrad's rule 7 and Adam Bryant's "stay in your lane" advice — distinct from compression (which cuts words) because pick-a-lane cuts whole stories. Use when a bio, cold email, op-ed, or pitch reads as a resume regurgitation, when the writer is dumping multiple accomplishments instead of telling one fully, or when a paragraph keeps turning corners. Triggers on "pick a lane," "stay in your lane," "too many stories," "resume dump," "before/after rewrite," "compress the narrative," "feels like a CV."
kalyvask/winning-writing · ★ 4 · AI & Automation · score 77

Install: claude install-skill kalyvask/winning-writing

# Pick a lane Source: Konrad's rule 7 from *Winning Writing*, Adam Bryant's *Corner Office* column (NYT) on what CEOs look for in candidates, and a before/after rewrite pattern taught in Kramon's class. ## The premise Most personal writing fails not because the writer lacks material but because the writer has too much of it and won't choose. Five accomplishments mentioned in 200 words means each one gets 40 words. None lands. Pick a lane. Tell one story in full. Trust that the reader who wants the rest can find your LinkedIn. > *"Pick a lane, and stay in it. Don't stray all over the highway by regurgitating your resume. Stay on that story and tell it right."* — Adam Bryant (via Glenn Kramon's class) This is distinct from `compression`. Compression cuts adverbs and throat-clearing. Pick-a-lane cuts whole biographical episodes. They run different surgeries. ## What "all over the highway" looks like Three failure shapes. All three can fit in one paragraph. ### 1. The career-arc dump *"I started in management consulting, then went to a Series B startup, then moved to private equity, then co-founded a company, then came to GSB."* Five jobs in one sentence. The reader learns nothing about any of them. This is what your LinkedIn header is for. ### 2. The skill-collection dump *"I have led teams of 5–50, built ML systems from scratch, raised capital from top-tier VCs, written code in seven languages, and managed P&Ls of $100M+."* Five claims, zero evidence for any of them