Stephen Pressfield on Art & Artifice
When I say ‘artificial,’ I mean crafted with deliberate artistic intention so as to produce an emotional, moral, and aesthetic response in the reader.”
Jack Kerouac on What He Likes in Art
Goddamn it, FEELING is what I like in art, not CRAFTINESS and the hiding of feelings.”
The Foolscap Method: Get it on One Piece
‘God made a single sheet of foolscap to be exactly the right length to hold the outline of an entire novel.’ (foolscap is 8.5 x 14 inch legal paper)
[…]
Outline the sucker.
Break it down to its fundamentals.
Identify its theme.
Do it on one page. Do it without preciousness. Do it now.
Don’t start the actual writing until you know where you’re going and what you’re trying to accomplish.”
I think for the first time I just read a thing and knew full well it was going to change the way I worked forever.
This tip has that “ugh, duh! goddamit, of course” quality; like something in me already knew it was true, I just needed someone to articulate it for me.
As I’m in the middle of creating a large and {hopefully) important course for business builders, this tip is about 4 days late.
But I’ll be prepared for next time. (I’ll try that one and go for these if I like it more than using blank printer paper).
One piece of paper… hand written. Duh!
(Vintage) Merlin Mann on Life Hacks
I’ve suffered most of my life from chronic concentration problems and different flavors of mental restlessness, so I have a substantial history of what I call ‘”‘critical encoding errors.’ I’m attracted to this stuff like a drunk preacher is to the pulpit; explaining it to others — inasmuch as my modest skills allow — becomes a way for me to internalize some of the processes as well as better understand why they work in my own head.
As to where I get my material, virtually everything on my site is stolen uncredited from friends and strangers who are too polite to call out my larceny.”
This interview is a great reminder of how much Merlin captured my attention at that tender time of my first project management position. He bamboozled me with the mix of wit and jargon and “holy shit that’s useful”-ness. Still does.
Maximum Fun’s Greeting, Credo & Lifestyle
Our greeting: a double thumbs-up. Our credo: ‘Be More Awesome.’ Our lifestyle: ‘Maximum Fun.’ Throw caution to the wind, friend, and live The New Sincerity.”
Behind The Scenes There’s Work & Workers
Behind the scenes of incredible experiences and seamless experiences and beautiful things and families that love each other and relationships that work and sex where you don’t cry after it and things you’re proud of (and mind altering monster scenes) there is work and workers.
I so often see something great and think, “f*ck. That’s incredible. I’ll never build anything like that.”
Relax, these things take time. Don’t forget: there’s a man in there. (or a woman).
Image via danforth.
The First Third of Every Project is Building Scaffolding
via Frank Chimero
Steve Jobs on the Secret
“Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you.”
Steve Jobs
Mark Frauenfelder on the Barrier to Entry
“The only barrier to entry is how interesting you are.”
How To Connect With Anyone
“You and I have been able to connect because I wrote this and you’re reading it. That’s the web. Despite our different locations, devices, and time-zones we can connect here, on a simple HTML page.”
What a stellar fk’n reminder. We don’t “write HTML.” We don’t code or market or sell or “create content.” We share something with the world.
Ugh, read this whole thing and help me remember this.