Publishing regularly and getting immediate feedback will improve your writing more than any book on the subject
The only thing better is a personal writing coach.
They help you develop your style, which is why I recommend them to advanced writers. The problem with serving the algorithms is it makes people sound just like everybody else.
But coaches expand your individuality.
Don't just write tweets. Write essays.
Long-form thinking attracts nuanced responses, both of which are limited by Twitter's 280 character limit.
Though Twitter has its virtues, it's best to go beyond likes + retweets.
True improvement lies in the email responses you receive.
Tweeting is like skipping stones across a pond. You touch a lot of surface area, but never get very deep.
Essays are the opposite because they force you to slow down and clarify your thinking.
Nothing will help you understand an idea like writing a long-form essay about it.
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I write, tweet, podcast, teach, and invest. Here's how my media engine fits together.
Solid lines = The current flywheel
Dotted lines = The future flywheel
For an explanation of every element and my vision for the future, read the thread below.
1. Twitter
The vast majority of people find me on Twitter. It's the town square of the Internet and an always-on conference where I make friends, grow my audience, and share what's on my mind.
Twitter is the top of the funnel for my professional life.
2. Essays
Long-form writing is my favorite art form. It's the hardest thing I do, but also the most rewarding.
When I started writing, I focused on publishing as much as possible, which helped me find my voice. Now I’m focused on publishing essays that stand the test of time.
1. Every creative project is different, but the creative process is timeless and unchanging.
2. When you're in a creative rut, make fresh snow
The mind is like a snow-covered mountain. Every thought is like a sled. Over time, the sled creates trails in the snow and new sleds favor the existing trails.
Fresh snow changes that and creates new paths for exploration.
3. Create fresh snow by finding new ideas
Every Michelin Star chef knows that delicious food begins with quality ingredients.
The same is true for creative work. The quality of what you consume is a leading indicator for what you'll eventually produce, so cultivate your taste.
Philosophers are the best thinkers I know, and their tactics can help us all.
Here are my favorite ones:
1. Be an intellectual boxer: Understand ideas by making them battle with each other. Create characters in your mind and make them debate each other.
2. Dissect ideas
The smartest kid in my middle school class used to take computers apart and put them back together again in order to understand how they work.
Good philosophers are like my friend from middle school. But instead of playing with computers, they play with ideas.
3. Think by writing
Deep thinking happens by writing, which allows us to navigate the hazy labyrinth of consciousness.
Most roads lead to a dead end. But every now and then, the compass of intuition leads to an epiphany that the top-down planning mind would’ve never discovered.