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I summarized everything I've ever written about writing and creativity.
Behold: a big idea summary for readers and thinkers, artists and creators. (thread)
Behold: a big idea summary for readers and thinkers, artists and creators. (thread)
It’s not about you…
It’s about ideas
It’s about the message
It’s about how you send it
It’s about ideasIt’s about the messageIt’s about how you send it
Creating is like…
Having your ego surgically removed one day
Replaced the next
And then removed the day after, in a continuous cycle
Having your ego surgically removed one dayReplaced the nextAnd then removed the day after, in a continuous cycle
Don’t waste your audience’s time…
Create a worthy product before you show it
Ask yourself whether you can make it any better
Enjoy what the work itself is teaching you
Create a worthy product before you show itAsk yourself whether you can make it any betterEnjoy what the work itself is teaching you
Don’t write words, play with ideas…
Concentrate on themes
Consider how they’re organized
Recognize images people use to express them
Concentrate on themesConsider how they’re organizedRecognize images people use to express them
We don’t will ourselves to like a subject, we’re simply aware of it at first…
The closer we observe the more we learn
The more we learn the more interested we become
The more interested we become the closer we observe, in a virtuous circle
The closer we observe the more we learnThe more we learn the more interested we becomeThe more interested we become the closer we observe, in a virtuous circle
The only way to create something new is to go through a painful, deliberate creative process…
Organize your thoughts
Reflect them back to yourself in written form
Resolve and structure ideas in a logical order
Repeat stages 1-3
Organize your thoughtsReflect them back to yourself in written formResolve and structure ideas in a logical orderRepeat stages 1-3
Note: the strategy that works in one stage of the creative process causes failure in the next
Make new parts (create)
Remove favorite parts (delete)
Publish and get feedback (stop deleting and share)
Repeat stages 1-3
Make new parts (create)Remove favorite parts (delete)Publish and get feedback (stop deleting and share)Repeat stages 1-3
Keep your creative process simple:
Build on the ideas of others
Put something new into the world
Repeat stages 1-2
Build on the ideas of othersPut something new into the worldRepeat stages 1-2
Need creative assistance?
Print Orwell’s “Politics and the English Language”
Cut out one sentence and tape it to your desk
“Let the meaning choose the word, and not the other way around”
Look at it every time you’re stuck and need to find the right thought
Print Orwell’s “Politics and the English Language”Cut out one sentence and tape it to your desk“Let the meaning choose the word, and not the other way around”Look at it every time you’re stuck and need to find the right thought
To create something compelling…
Put bigger ideas in a smaller package
To create something attractive…
Make the ideas simple and universal at the same time
Put bigger ideas in a smaller packageTo create something attractive…
Make the ideas simple and universal at the same time
Focus on process more than output…
Refine what you create to the asymptote
Throw the output back into the process
Create things. Create more things from those things (the more products you refine, the more products you combine, in a cycle).
Refine what you create to the asymptoteThrow the output back into the processCreate things. Create more things from those things (the more products you refine, the more products you combine, in a cycle).
No one cares about the last thing or the thing before that…
The main thing is the next thing
Simply make outputs faster than you deplete inputs
The main thing is the next thingSimply make outputs faster than you deplete inputs
A product is not refined from crude oil to super premium in one step…
Your first draft is the product of extraction (rich sources).
Your published draft is the products of editing (refined products).
Your masterpiece is the products of refined products (premium products).
Your first draft is the product of extraction (rich sources).Your published draft is the products of editing (refined products).Your masterpiece is the products of refined products (premium products).
Convert content into a format you love...
Force choices
Structure ideas
Reward quality
Constrain yourself
Mandate discovery
Strip away distractions
Force choicesStructure ideasReward qualityConstrain yourselfMandate discoveryStrip away distractions
Don’t think about what you’re creating…
Think about leaving a message
And then *discover* what you’re creating
By resolving underlying ideas into a self-evident structure
Think about leaving a messageAnd then *discover* what you’re creatingBy resolving underlying ideas into a self-evident structure
Amateurs think about entertaining an audience…
Professionals think about moving an audience from one point of view to another
Professionals think about moving an audience from one point of view to another
Remember, reading, thinking, and writing are three *processes* within a larger creative process…
Reading is the process of filling yourself with ideas
Thinking is the process of clarifying and ordering ideas
Writing is the process of reflecting ideas back to yourself
Reading is the process of filling yourself with ideasThinking is the process of clarifying and ordering ideasWriting is the process of reflecting ideas back to yourself
Write what you mean…
Don’t overreach
Don’t make a grab for insight
Don’t write something memorable
Don’t write because you like the way it sounds
Don’t search for a phrase at the expense of an idea
Don’t overreachDon’t make a grab for insightDon’t write something memorableDon’t write because you like the way it soundsDon’t search for a phrase at the expense of an idea
Apply these principles of communication…
Convey your intended ideas, and none more
Speak only when you have something to say
Speak such that you cannot be misunderstood
Leave your audience with an unmistakable single headline
Convey your intended ideas, and none moreSpeak only when you have something to saySpeak such that you cannot be misunderstoodLeave your audience with an unmistakable single headline
If the quality of the things you write is compelling, the value of the things you write is compounding…
Share ideas in the spirit of helping others
Apply them in a continuous cycle of learning
Share ideas in the spirit of helping othersApply them in a continuous cycle of learning
Find the rest here...
And follow me if you want more big idea summaries! https://letter.substack.com/p/the-best-of-me-big-ideas-from-everything
And follow me if you want more big idea summaries! https://letter.substack.com/p/the-best-of-me-big-ideas-from-everything
