This is a collection of notes and thoughts on writing that I’ve picked up on my own journey over the years. If there’s an area that you’d be curious to see me talk about or expand on, let me know!
Why Write?
The most important thing to figure out when it comes to writing is your motivation. Without it, all the tools and tricks in the world won’t help you. You need to find your own why so that it can fuel you as you embark on your own writing journey.
Motivation and inspiration comes from different places for everyone. Here are a few thoughts on where it comes from for me:
- Benefits of Writing Online
- Why Bother? — I found myself in a crisis of questioning: I was writing more than ever, but wasn’t sure exactly why. In this essay, I share the story of how I tackled this difficult question, and embraced the values of learning in public.
Beating Writer’s Block
- Writing Your First Post — Getting started is always challenging. This note shares some thoughts on setting up a blog and writing your very first posts.
- The Burden of Expectation — The biggest obstacle in creative work is the burden of expectation. In the ruthless game of self-criticism, our judgements are binary: everything we make is either perfect or garbage. This is a short post on overcoming creative blocks, and learning to let go.
- Peeling the Onion — I’ve come to believe that a big part of why I write is simply to make space for what’s next.
Defining Success
- Flip the Script: I try not to optimize for ‘growth’ with my writing. Instead, I look to do things that will help me engage more, learn more, and have more fun. This note is a comprehensive summary of the ideas so far.
Reading Workflow
- Newsletter + RSS Workflow: My workflow for reading newsletters and RSS feeds, collecting highlights and taking notes from everything I read. This is a crucial part of how I fuel my writing with quality inputs.
Writing Workflow
I’ll expand on this section soon, but TL;DR is that I use Roam Research to take notes, draft essays in Bear, and them publishing essays on my site as Markdown pages. I also publish weekly newsletters on Substack.