Read on Twitter
1/n Just attended a great webinar by @david_perell on writing on-line.
David is consistently pumping out fantastic material on twitter and his podcast, and I was not disappointed by listening for an hour.
Summarizing some quick takeaways below - thread:
David is consistently pumping out fantastic material on twitter and his podcast, and I was not disappointed by listening for an hour.
Summarizing some quick takeaways below - thread:
2/n
First thing you need:
First thing you are going to need: a note-tasking system that he calls "The Capture Habit". If you read anything, you need to save it!
Ebooks - highlight your notes
Instapaper + IFTTT
Webpages: Liner app
First thing you need:
First thing you are going to need: a note-tasking system that he calls "The Capture Habit". If you read anything, you need to save it!
Ebooks - highlight your notes
Instapaper + IFTTT
Webpages: Liner app
3/n
Why do you need a note-taking system?
Because modern writing is not created - it's assembled.
You don't need to be original.
Prolific writers synthetize ideas of other people.
David Foster Wallace: “Books Are Made out of Books”
Why do you need a note-taking system?
Because modern writing is not created - it's assembled.
You don't need to be original.
Prolific writers synthetize ideas of other people.
David Foster Wallace: “Books Are Made out of Books”
4/n The compounding benefits of Note-taking doesn't lie solely in the _amount_ of notes, but in the connections between them.
Note to self: finally do a deep dive on Zettelkasten
Note to self: finally do a deep dive on Zettelkasten
5/n Ideas worth collecting
Inspiring
Useful
Personal
Easily Lost
You should have two types of notebooks: Hot notebooks and cold notebooks.
See the explanation below for each.
Inspiring
Useful
Personal
Easily Lost
You should have two types of notebooks: Hot notebooks and cold notebooks.
See the explanation below for each.
6/n Hot notebooks are *action-based*
Ideas/thoughts/material that can be used in the short-term (or even right away).
These are about topics you are currently working on/interested/writing about right now.
Ideas/thoughts/material that can be used in the short-term (or even right away).
These are about topics you are currently working on/interested/writing about right now.
7/n
Cold notebooks are *information based*
These are ideas you are passingly interested in, would like to (maybe) research/write about in the future.
They are a smorgasboard of 'nice to have' stuff you might or might not need later.
Cold notebooks are *information based*
These are ideas you are passingly interested in, would like to (maybe) research/write about in the future.
They are a smorgasboard of 'nice to have' stuff you might or might not need later.
8/n
You can either write alone a.k.a. the Henry David Thoreau method: go to a cabin in the woods for two years, full-on hermit mode, and produce a book.
Modern writing is collaborative - rather than doing it alone, you discuss, get feedback, percolate, improve, distribute.
You can either write alone a.k.a. the Henry David Thoreau method: go to a cabin in the woods for two years, full-on hermit mode, and produce a book.
Modern writing is collaborative - rather than doing it alone, you discuss, get feedback, percolate, improve, distribute.
Collaborative writing: The Content Triangle
Start at the bottom - have a conservation, share it, get feedback, refine, create a blog post, get more feedback, refine further, etc.
Arriving at the top: collect all the info, write a book, distribute it.
Rinse/repeat.
Start at the bottom - have a conservation, share it, get feedback, refine, create a blog post, get more feedback, refine further, etc.
Arriving at the top: collect all the info, write a book, distribute it.
Rinse/repeat.
10/n Voice Transcription
Use http://otter.ai - better than Siri!
This is the method @david_perell and @mrsharma used to create some great written content.
They recorded then organized their discussion, turned it into an outline, and used that as a base for writing.
Use http://otter.ai - better than Siri!
This is the method @david_perell and @mrsharma used to create some great written content.
They recorded then organized their discussion, turned it into an outline, and used that as a base for writing.
11/n Myths of Writing Education
Write from abundance, not scarcity. "I had the worst Writers block; but Nobody ever gets talker's block" (see previous tweet on voice transcription)
Write from abundance, not scarcity. "I had the worst Writers block; but Nobody ever gets talker's block" (see previous tweet on voice transcription)
12/n Forget "writing for the teacher" - you are spending years and years writing for one person, who then puts red marks all over it. It's boring, counter-productive, demotivating, academic.
Writing should be simple and understandable, not academic.
Writing should be simple and understandable, not academic.
13/n
Write CLEAR Sentences
_C_reate a rhytm
_L_ink yor sentences
_E_liminate anything that's confusing
_A_dd colorful details
_R_emove unnecessary words
Write CLEAR Sentences
_C_reate a rhytm
_L_ink yor sentences
_E_liminate anything that's confusing
_A_dd colorful details
_R_emove unnecessary words
14/n
Compress your ideas:
* Write the essay
* Explain it to somebody
* if something is in your writing but didn't come up in your explanation: drop it!
Compress your ideas:
* Write the essay
* Explain it to somebody
* if something is in your writing but didn't come up in your explanation: drop it!
15/n
Don't just write words. Write music!
Combine short, medium and long sentences to create a rythm
[this doesn't work very well as a tweet - on the webinar, he read the passage below aloud (after readint text with 5-word sentences) and indeed, it makes a huge difference!]
![15/nDon't just write words. Write music!Combine short, medium and long sentences to create a rythm[this doesn't work very well as a tweet - on the webinar, he read the passage below aloud (after readint text with 5-word sentences) and indeed, it makes a huge difference!]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ea5wrfjXYAE5j8d.jpg "15/nDon't just write words. Write music!Combine short, medium and long sentences to create a rythm[this doesn't work very well as a tweet - on the webinar, he read the passage below aloud (after readint text with 5-word sentences) and indeed, it makes a huge difference!]")
Don't just write words. Write music!
Combine short, medium and long sentences to create a rythm
[this doesn't work very well as a tweet - on the webinar, he read the passage below aloud (after readint text with 5-word sentences) and indeed, it makes a huge difference!]
16/n
The Story Roller-Coaster
The slide says it all!
This reminded me of the greek drama story arc, thoug that's just a big followed by a big down.
The Story Roller-Coaster
The slide says it all!
This reminded me of the greek drama story arc, thoug that's just a big followed by a big down.
17/n
FAST writing (as taught by @david_perell) vs SLOW writing (as taught in school)
FAST Writing:
_F_ind
_A_ssemble
_S_peak
_T_each
FAST writing (as taught by @david_perell) vs SLOW writing (as taught in school)
FAST Writing:
_F_ind
_A_ssemble
_S_peak
_T_each
18/n
SLOW writing (as taught in school) vs FAST writing (as taught by @david_perell)
SLOW writing:
_S_yllabus
_L_isten
_O_bserve
_W_rite
SLOW writing (as taught in school) vs FAST writing (as taught by @david_perell)
SLOW writing:
_S_yllabus
_L_isten
_O_bserve
_W_rite
19/n “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half.” Same with your ideas - no way to know which ones resonate with others!
Talk to people, and you'll find out: if they get back to you, you found ideas worth refining and distributing.
Talk to people, and you'll find out: if they get back to you, you found ideas worth refining and distributing.
20/n
Audience building is just as important as great writing.
There are plenty of writers on-line who aren't read - don't be one of those people!
Learn how to build your audience and get your message out.
Get feedback, refine, connect with more people, rinse, repeat.
Audience building is just as important as great writing.
There are plenty of writers on-line who aren't read - don't be one of those people!
Learn how to build your audience and get your message out.
Get feedback, refine, connect with more people, rinse, repeat.
21/n
Grow your audience on Open Platforms.
Build relationships on Owned Platforms.
You need a synergy between the two.
In the beginning, you need to piggyback off open platforms.
However, don't get stuck there - you might lose your work overnight (see examples below)!
Grow your audience on Open Platforms.
Build relationships on Owned Platforms.
You need a synergy between the two.
In the beginning, you need to piggyback off open platforms.
However, don't get stuck there - you might lose your work overnight (see examples below)!
22/n
As @naval put it:
"Building a following on Twitter is building a castle out of sand, as the implacable tide shifts in and out. Invest in the free and open web - blogs, podcasts, newsletters."
As @naval put it:
"Building a following on Twitter is building a castle out of sand, as the implacable tide shifts in and out. Invest in the free and open web - blogs, podcasts, newsletters."
23/n Example of fails and successes (not) using the Open-Owned principle
- Meerkat was built off of twitter, killed by Periscope
+ Youtube was built off of MySpace
+ Instagram was built off of Twitter + Facebook
Grow on other people's open platforms.
Channel it into your own
- Meerkat was built off of twitter, killed by Periscope
+ Youtube was built off of MySpace
+ Instagram was built off of Twitter + Facebook
Grow on other people's open platforms.
Channel it into your own
24/n Building a Personal Monopoly
"You do not merely want to be considered the best of the best. You want to be considered the only ones that do what you do." - Jerry Garcia
Make your own Kind of Music!
"You do not merely want to be considered the best of the best. You want to be considered the only ones that do what you do." - Jerry Garcia
Make your own Kind of Music!
25/n Defining your Personal Monopoly
Do something on the intersection of various domains that is unusual, specific, experimental and complimentary - and above all, unique to YOU.
Do something on the intersection of various domains that is unusual, specific, experimental and complimentary - and above all, unique to YOU.
26/n
Example #1 of personal monopoly:
Of Dollars and Data - personal finance using data analysis by data scientist Nick Maggiulli ( @dollarsanddata)
Example #1 of personal monopoly:
Of Dollars and Data - personal finance using data analysis by data scientist Nick Maggiulli ( @dollarsanddata)
27/n
Example #2 of personal monopoly:
Travel Write Draw - celebrating the unique, bold, and colorful worlds of travel, fashion, and art by Megan Morrison ( @TravelWriteDraw)
Example #2 of personal monopoly:
Travel Write Draw - celebrating the unique, bold, and colorful worlds of travel, fashion, and art by Megan Morrison ( @TravelWriteDraw)
28/n
Recap: The Write of Passage Method - check it out on https://www.perell.com/write-of-passage
This was one of the best webinars I've ever been to - chock full of usable info getting my creative juices flowing!
Thanks @david_perell!
Recap: The Write of Passage Method - check it out on https://www.perell.com/write-of-passage
This was one of the best webinars I've ever been to - chock full of usable info getting my creative juices flowing!
Thanks @david_perell!
