Pen & paper
Ideas on how to write better. The focus is on self-expression and person-to-person communication, rather than on craft.
Pen & paper
You can’t write a viral essay that says “it’s complicated and I’m not sure.” But this is the only path to truly novel insight.
Anu • Franchise Thinking
This is the wall I smash my head in every time I read back my first draft and realise that really what I want to say is that there’s is no clear answer to anything
One of the big losses I see in the vibe shift is the opportunity for writers to loose themselves from the chains of personality and just write interesting things.
Perfectly elaborates why I always, and especially now, felt icly about Substack and writing on there. It’s like I never fit in, because I wanted to be my whole sense and write about whatever the heck stuck in my mind that week and instead I’ve been forced to follow some sort of marketable thread that is obviously more beneficial to the system it is for myself
My reason is existential. By writing the things that pop into my head down into my notebook, I teach my brain that those ideas - my ideas - are worthy of being written down at all.
Each note becomes another brick of the house I’m building, a monument to a simple yet elusive truth: that what I notice is worth noticing.
Each note becomes another brick of the house I’m building, a monument to a simple yet elusive truth: that what I notice is worth noticing.
"Why do I keep a notebook at all?"
Design makes you look good.
But copy makes people trust you, believe you, and buy from you.
That’s why great brands invest in words before visuals.
Because if the message isn’t right, nothing else matters.
But copy makes people trust you, believe you, and buy from you.
That’s why great brands invest in words before visuals.
Because if the message isn’t right, nothing else matters.
I think the best writers actually just write about what they want to write, what they know, what they experience, and generally their story...
Writers who do that and let the readers connect the dots without explicitly holding their hand through an article are better writers imo.
When we emphasize the target audience we give away our creative power.... See more
Writers who do that and let the readers connect the dots without explicitly holding their hand through an article are better writers imo.
When we emphasize the target audience we give away our creative power.... See more
Mal on Substack
You can give anyone a camera but doesn’t make them a professional photographer. That takes skill, passion, artistry, style, and countless hours of study and training.
Why do people hate Canva Designers??
Same goes for any kind of artform - but also applies to existence of specific tools for specific jobs (to an extent)
I think most leave without answers. For me, that’s okay. Not all who wander are lost. Sometimes, all you need is to know that you are not the only one searching for a different way of being.
This made me rethink how not having an answer or, rather, attending an event and going home with more questions than answers isn’t necessarily as bad as I thought
Some things take time. Some things take years before you see how it comes together. But the more you can remember the wholeness of it all, the more you will find that despite your unknowing, the grass, the trees, and the creatures throughout this vast landscape are still growing, and somehow, through it all, it all works together, and you too, are... See more