When I have a piece of writing in mind, what I have, in fact, is a mental bucket: an attractor for and generator of thought. It’s like a thematic gravity well, a magnet for what would otherwise be a mess of iron filings. I’ll read books differently and listen differently in conversations. In particular I’ll remember everything better; everything wi

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In his 2012 essay, “More people should write,” writer and programmer James Somers described this process as creating a mental bucket for an idea, thereby unleashing a magnetic force between that idea and the world:

When I have a piece of writing in mind, what I have, in fact, is a mental bucket: an attractor for and generator of thought. It’s like a

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Whether it’s to organize ideas for a project (me); to have material to turn to for inspiration when you get stuck (Adam Alter); to save idea-sparks without getting distracted by them in the moment (Steven Johnson and Dan Pink); or to create a receptacle of fleeting impressions (Rachel Ingalls), I think having a repository for interesting things you... See more