Work Points and Wow Points
Distill deep research into themes and unforgettable evidence
- Difficulty
- Advanced
- Time to result
- ~months to results
- Steps
- 6
- Confidence
- 98%
Davis's system separates source collection from manuscript drafting. He researches deeply, then creates thematic documents he calls work points. As he mines each source, he files relevant evidence into the corresponding theme, adding new work points when the material reveals an unanticipated subject. Within that process he also captures wow points: facts, statistics, or lines that make him stop because they are likely to have the same effect on a reader. The growing set of organized notes distills a vast source library into a manageable body of evidence and allows the book's true outline to emerge from the research. When drafting, he works mainly from these documents and returns to an original source only for a specific need.
Origin
Davis explained the system through the 12 years of research behind Into the Silence, including 600 books, 57 archives, and multiple journeys to Tibet.
Core principles
- 01Mine sources instead of merely skimming them
- 02Organize evidence around emerging themes
- 03Let research reveal the outline
- 04Preserve facts and lines that create a genuine wow response
- 05Write from distilled notes rather than repeatedly reopening every source
How to run it
- 1
Build the source universe
Gather the books, archives, reports, letters, translations, interviews, and field observations needed to understand the subject deeply.
Pro tip Include sources that reconstruct context, not only those directly about the central character or event.
Watch out Do not begin with a rigid publisher-style outline that forces the evidence into assumed chapters.
- 2
Create emerging work points
Open a separate document for each theme you know the work must address. Add new thematic documents as the research exposes important subjects.
Pro tip A work point may cover a theme, chronology, social context, person, or recurring question.
- 3
Mine and file the sources
Read each source closely for material relevant to the work points and place that evidence into the appropriate document. Distill as you go so the source collection becomes usable.
Pro tip Think of the process as mining rather than scanning or skimming.
Watch out Unfiled notes recreate the original problem of an unmanageable research mass.
- 4
Capture wow points
Whenever a fact, statistic, or line genuinely astonishes you, save it under the relevant work point. Preserve enough context to use it accurately later.
Pro tip Your authentic surprise is a signal that the material may also surprise the reader.
Watch out A striking detail still needs to serve the manuscript rather than becoming trivia.
- 5
Let the outline emerge
Review the accumulated work points to discover which subjects require a paragraph, a section, or a larger narrative role. Allow evidence to change the importance you initially assigned to a topic.
Watch out Early assumptions may badly underestimate or overestimate a theme's narrative value.
- 6
Draft from the distillation
Write from the organized work-point documents and return to original sources only when a specific detail needs checking or expansion.
Pro tip Keep chronology as its own work point when many lives or events must align precisely.
In the wild
For Into the Silence, Davis researched 26 men from the early Everest expeditions and determined where each of the 21 relevant men had been on every day of the First World War. A dedicated chronology work point helped control that complexity alongside thematic files.
→ The system integrated war history, biography, Buddhism, gender, and expedition chronology into one researched narrative.
While researching women's relationship to the First World War, Davis found Diana Manners's line: “By the end of 1916, every boy I had ever danced with was dead.” He used it as the kind of concentrated evidence a work point is designed to surface.
→ One vivid primary-source line conveyed an experience more powerfully than a long generic explanation.
Davis saved Max Hastings's comparison showing that for every four pounds of supplies Japan delivered per frontline soldier, America delivered two tons across 13,000 kilometers of ocean.
→ The statistic became reusable evidence of American industrial power in later writing.
Common mistakes
Forcing an outline too early
A preset chapter plan can obscure which apparently minor topics become central and which expected chapters need only a paragraph.
Skimming without distilling
Reading widely without filing evidence into thematic work points leaves the writer with an unusable mass of sources.
Losing the wow points
If a surprising fact is not captured when encountered, the manuscript loses material likely to produce the same response in readers.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for writers handling many books, archives, interviews, and thematic threads before drafting.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal for short, time-sensitive pieces that do not justify extensive source collection.
From the transcript
“And then I create what I call work points.”
“And at the same time, I find, Tim, you might try this, that the act of doing that unveils the outline of the book, right?”
“But the key thing I find, Tim, is if you're reading and something blows your mind, that's why I call it wow points, it's going…”
From the episode
#652: Famed Explorer Wade Davis — How to Become the Architect of Your Life, The Divine Leaf of Immortality, Rites of Passage, Voodoo Demystified, Optimism as the Purpose of Life, How to Be a Prolific Writer, Psychedelics, Monetizing the Creativity of Your Life, and More
Wade Davis