Category: Creator Confidential
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Creativity and data
In Nightingale, the journal of the Data Visualization Society, Victor Muñoz discusses applying my post on the four stage creative process to his data physicalization project. I really appreciated Victor’s post, which was a demonstration in how widely creativity is applied. (Other parts I liked: The journey involves Figma, a daily creative operation, and is…
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To find a good position, list out every possible criticism and craft the narrative
I was discussing a recent draft of my next manuscript with my friend and colleague Rahul, and he mentioned Nikita Bier’s tweet: You could replace “your product,” with your work, or your career path, or anything really, and this statement still holds true. When it comes to repositioning, an emotion like doubt comes in extremely…
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“The road is made by walking”
Walker, your footsteps are the road, and nothing more. Walker, there is no road, the road is made by walking. Walking you make the road, and turning to look behind you see the path you never again will step upon. Walker, there is no road, only foam trails on the sea. Border of a Dream: Selected Poems of Antonio Machado, translated by Willis Barnstone
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On why people around you stop you from changing
The people closest to you serve as your anchors. The benefit is that they keep you steady and provide support. The drawback is they also hold you back from making changes that you may want to explore. If they’re not suited in a similar worldview to where you want to go, this force feels practically…
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The right season
A fruit is nothing picked out of season. Even a brute’s praise won’t stand to reason. Border of a Dream: Selected Poems of Antonio Machado, translated by Willis Barnstone
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Put the words on the page
When Lauren Martin was writing her book, and dealing with the anxiety of it, she sought out advice from other writers (via Jimmy Chim). She learned: The consensus was obvious: Stay present. Stay with what’s in front of you. Don’t get ahead of yourself, don’t worry about the middle and the ending, just stick with…
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It’s still hard
A few weeks ago, a friend—a fellow author who also blogs every day—said something to the effect of, “I can’t believe you blog every day while you work a full-time job.” I shrugged it off. My memory of the experience mostly involves having a lot of fun, the writing feeling easy, and a deep sense…
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Serve tomorrow’s lucky 10,000
Every day, many people will learn something for the first time that you had taken for granted for years. For some of these people, the thing they learned could change their life. (Here’s a fun thread illustrating this possibility.) Randall Munroe makes this point with this comic at xkcd: There are some important implications here:
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Can’t vs. didn’t
“People may say I can’t sing, but no one can ever say I didn’t sing.” — Florence Foster Jenkins PS Mag (via Anthony Iannarino) See Tommy Wiseau in Creative Doing. Go down the Florence Foster Jenkins rabbit hole here:
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Two questions for choosing a company to work with
Seth Godin suggests two great questions for choosing a college: Are the people this place attracts the sort of people I want to spend time with and become more like? Is the system that is in place here one that pushes and cajoles and processes people to become more like the kind of person I’d…