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Thinking outside of what exists
In a world where it’s challenging to think outside of what exists, the ability to be able to conceive of something—i.e., to imagine, to put shape and form to it, to express it and find comfort with or at least tolerance for ambiguity and confusion and being misunderstood and confrontation without giving up—that’s a competitive…
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“Work on your terms, at your own pace”
Max Alper received a DM from a student who has burned out making a living as a working musician in Brooklyn. For the sake of his mental health, the student told Max he was giving up on music altogether and applying to trade school. Max responds in an excellent letter, which I’m excerpting from: Not…
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Cash for longevity, not capital
If Nintendo was a person, a week ago it would have celebrated its 134th birthday. This type of longevity is rare; as my friend Hamza observes, the vast majority of companies that make it to a public listing stage don’t make it through half that time. In his book Nintendo Magic, Osamu Inoue takes a…
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Forget what happens next
There’s something powerful about letting go of all expectations; focusing on the thing that’s right in front of you, and taking the closest next possible step. When you’re actually doing what you’re supposed to be doing, you need to shift your brain into a state that can let that happen. Success or failure is probably…
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Kirby and the power of polish
In 1991, Japanese game company HAL Laboratory Inc. was 1.5 billion yen in debt and had to bet its future on one game. It was called Tinkle Popo, featuring a rotund protagonist named Popopo. HAL Laboratory had planned to publish Tinkle Popo independently, and sold 26,000 pre-ordered copies. Nintendo—a HAL Laboratory client and investor—intervened; game…
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Finding a way, with minutes a day
These days, it feels easy to get carried away. Energy from a jolt of inspiration—or constant jolts from social media—build an idea up quickly. The problem with these grand aspirations is when its size gets in the way; when you feel like you don’t have enough time to do something, you put it off into…
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Anna Wintour on audiences
The relationship between creator and audience is one of leading and following. If you’re a creator, you may find that you’re best off making things that you wanted to see yourself; that your audience will follow you because they want the same thing. For me, I’m glad I caved into my instinct and found the…
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Anna Wintour on developing taste
Anna Wintour says (in Masterclass, which I found via Anna: The Biography by Amy Odell): Developing a creative eye or developing taste, I think that’s something that you have within you from a very early age but it is also something that you can develop through exposure to culture, to the arts, through reading, visiting…
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Write the book you want to live
On either fence of, “Write what you know,” I tend to lean towards writing about what I don’t know; “Write What Obsesses You,” as Meg Wolitzer describes it. A year after publishing Creative Doing, and a few years after the initial manuscript, I still pick it up and enjoy flipping through it. Although there are…
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Cut it in half
A constraint is the best way to start making creative decisions. One prompt I’d recently come across, from observing feedback on various drafts, is simply to cut the word count in half. How can I summarize? Would there be a good rephrasing that can keep the original intent? If not, what elements will I keep?…