“The way to do a piece of writing is three or four times over, never once.”
Writing is hard. John McPhee, who invented literary nonfiction that reads like a novel, developed a four-draft writing method that transforms chaotic ideas into compelling narratives.
McPhee pioneered creative nonfiction at The New Yorker, writing books like Oranges & Coming into the Country that made complex subjects fascinating through storytelling. His approach differs from traditional journalism by incorporating fiction techniques while maintaining factual accuracy. His prose combines vivid imagery with economy :
“The doctor listens in with a stethoscope and hears sounds of a warpath Indian drum.”
He favored directness :
“He liked to go from A to B without inventing letters between.”
About his genre, McPhee said :
“Nonfiction—what the hell, that just says, this is nongrapefruit we’re having this morning.”
McPhee later codified his approach in Draft No. 4: On the Writing Process, sharing decades of writing wisdom.
His organizational philosophy shapes everything :
“You can build a structure in such a way that it causes people to want to keep turning pages. A compelling structure in nonfiction can have an attracting effect analogous to a story line in fiction. Readers are not supposed to notice the structure. It is meant to be about as visible as someone’s bones.”
McPhee’s Four-Draft Framework :
- Brain dump draft - Capture every possible idea, fact, & angle without editing or judgment
- Structure draft - Organize ideas into logical sequences & identify the core narrative thread
- Ruthless cut draft - Remove everything that doesn’t serve the primary message or confuse the reader
- Polish draft - Refine prose, fix grammar, & ensure each sentence drives toward your goal
This is one of the best techniques I’ve found for writing. The method works because it separates creative thinking from critical evaluation. When you try to write perfect prose while generating ideas, it’s easy to fall into creative block.
Each draft becomes the foundation for the next, creating a recursive process that transforms chaotic thoughts into structured narratives. Like peeling back the layers of an orange to reveal the fruit within, each draft strips away what doesn’t belong, revealing the essential story that was always there waiting to be discovered.