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Writing long-form essays is easier when you externalize the structure and focus on one section at a time.
Find Post-It notes. Then, write on them. Each note should represent one day’s worth of writing. Follow the structure and write one Post-It note per day.
Then, publish.
Find Post-It notes. Then, write on them. Each note should represent one day’s worth of writing. Follow the structure and write one Post-It note per day.
Then, publish.
These images are for a ~10,000 word essay I’m co-writing with @jeremygiffon about the Liberal Arts.
It’s too big to hold on my head so I wrote notes for each section. Then, I sorted them by themes: key takeaways, history, stories, and the main narrative about baristas.
It’s too big to hold on my head so I wrote notes for each section. Then, I sorted them by themes: key takeaways, history, stories, and the main narrative about baristas.
“Why don’t you use a note-taking app?”
Long-form essays are hard because it’s so easy to lose track of the big picture. But make the ideas physical and you won’t lose sight of it.
Also, Post-It notes are better than paper outlines because your structure will be in constant flux
Long-form essays are hard because it’s so easy to lose track of the big picture. But make the ideas physical and you won’t lose sight of it.
Also, Post-It notes are better than paper outlines because your structure will be in constant flux
Using Post-It notes increases your working memory, which effectively raises your intelligence, as @DevonZuegel mentioned in a podcast I recorded with her a couple years ago.
Here's the full transcript: https://www.perell.com/podcast/devon-zuegel
Here's the full transcript: https://www.perell.com/podcast/devon-zuegel
1) The progress of civilization can be read in the invention of visual artifacts, from writing to math, to maps, to printing, to diagrams, to visual computing.”
2) "Visual artifacts and computers do for the minds what cars do for the feet or steam shovels do for the hands."
2) "Visual artifacts and computers do for the minds what cars do for the feet or steam shovels do for the hands."
Albert Einstein gave my favorite pitch for externalizing ideas: "My pencil and I are smarter than I am."
Maybe we should use our brains less. Just as humans think with paper, spiders think with their webs.
"Spiders appear to offload cognitive tasks to their webs, making them one of a number of species with a mind that isn’t fully confined within the head."
https://www.quantamagazine.org/the-thoughts-of-a-spiderweb-20170523/
"Spiders appear to offload cognitive tasks to their webs, making them one of a number of species with a mind that isn’t fully confined within the head."
https://www.quantamagazine.org/the-thoughts-of-a-spiderweb-20170523/
