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For as long as I’ve been writing books, I’ve been in a constant battle with the design of word processing software.Just the phrase “word processor” itself is soul-sucking. But the real problem lies in the common interface conventions almost all word processors share, locked in a framework that took shape in the early days of computing, when software was almost exclusively oriented around the business market. These tools are undoubtably well-engineered for producing an inter-office memo, or a short business plan that follows a conventional structure. But they are almost comically unsuited for long, complex, and structurally open-ended documents like non-fiction books or novels. To understand why, you need to consider the entire the life cycle of a book, from the early ideas to the completed project....
April 18, 1521, Martin Luther faces Emperor Charles the V in the Heylshof Garden to defend the infamous 95 Theses. Few people noticed the quiet banker in the room, simply known as “Jakob the Rich.” Jakob is a common merchant who will become the richest person who’s ever lived. Jakob will go on to accumulate a personal net worth equivalent to 2% of Europe’s GDP at the time. Jakob’s net worth is basically Bill Gates + Warren Buffet + Jeff Bezos combined — then doubled. Who the was Jakob the Rich? Why was he at Martin Luther’s trial? How did he get so damn rich? Well, he was a data-hungry banker looking after his investment. Over the previous 16 years, Jakob had been lending the Catholic Church money — and the Pope had racked up an enormous debt. In order to pay off those debts, the Church launched a campaign for people to pay to have themselves and their deceased family members absolved of all sins....
Awesome Copywriting Examples
Any description I write for this collection will pale in comparison to the excellent copywriting examples contained herein....
Andy Martin spent much of the past year with author Lee Child as he wrote the 20th novel in his Jack Reacher series. Here he describes Child’s bold approach to writing.
Nobody really believes him when he says it. And in the end I guess it is unprovable. But I can put my hand on heart and say, having been there, and watched him at work, that Lee Child is fundamentally clueless when he starts writing. He really is. He has no idea what he is doing or where he is going. And the odd thing is he likes it that way. The question is: Why? I mean, most of us like to have some kind of idea where we are heading, roughly, a hypothesis at least to guide us, even if we are not sticking maps on the wall and suchlike. Whereas he, in contrast, embraces the feeling of just falling off a cliff into the void and relying on some kind of miraculous soft landing.
Of course he is not totally tabula rasa. Because he, and I, had a fair idea that the name Jack Reacher was going to come up somewhere in this, his 20th novel in the series....
If you want to make something that people really care about, that they actually give a hot shit about, you have to care about it yourself. Because if you don’t, then try as you might, it’ll come out in the final product.
The reason for this?
Making something is hard. Making something you don’t care about is even harder.
The only way you’ll be able to consistently work, when you don’t want to work, consistently try when you don’t want to try, is by deeply and honestly caring about your work....
As soon as you start to try to write, everything freezes up.
How can you fix this?
Don’t write.
Instead, answer questions.
Think about it like this:
If my wife asks me “Bryan, why do you think most people never act on their ideas?”
I would answer in less than 5 seconds with at least 3 minutes worth of dialogue....
I guess I’m in a metaphysical mood today. Thinking about writing for the internet, how it’s different, and finding your own style.
So, let’s set the scene…
Seth Godin, Lao-Tzu and I walk into Hemingway’s Bar & Grill. Godin says, “I’ll have a Purple Cow.” I say, in my best Homer Simpson salutation, “Beer me.” Lao-Tzu says, “Ommmmm.”
Drinks with Seth Godin
That’s me channeling Seth Godin, echoing Lao-Tzu.
Except I’m not a bald guy and I don’t wear saffron like either of these wise men....
Now that TV is the place for serious people with long attention spans, we’re really in trouble
...Allow me to paraphrase. Back in the day, the powers that be had an imperfect but workable recipe for turning our brains in to nice steaming bowls of beef stew using television. But some people saw through that plan. Today, TV is really just as dumb as ever, but it is out-dumbed by the internet. When these two forces work together… Ding! Stew’s ready....
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We invited eight female literary powerhouses, from Michiko Kakutani to Anna Holmes to Roxane Gay, to help us create an updated list of books everyone should read. Each participant made 10 picks. It's a new year, a new Esquire.com. We're looking forward to reading and we hope you are, too.
If you live in America, chances are you've heard (or used) the phrase "Don't put all your eggs in one basket."
Most of us know it means, essentially, that you shouldn't make all your plans based on one possible thing happening. But it's kind of a weird phrase, right? Have you ever stopped to wonder where it originated?
Its use in print has been traced to the novel "Don Quixote" by Miguel de Cervantes in the early 1600s, although it possibly was mistranslated to an inexact English idiom from the original and may have other roots in Italian phrases.
Different cultures around the world all have their own similar sayings — proverbs, if you will — that make sense to those who've grown up speaking the language but sound downright odd to anyone who hasn't.
James Chapman is fascinated by these sayings and how they translate across languages and cultures....
One of the reasons writing a great novel is so challenging is that there is no obvious starting place. Is it a character? A premise? A theme? A single sentence that won’t get out of your head?
While that argument continues to rage, what remains in less dispute is this: there are a set of principles and essential elements that, before the story works, you need to get right. With that in mind, this series introduces – reintroduces, actually, since these are the foundation of this body of work, and my three writing books – ten of those essential elements.
Today’s post defines and explores the one that is in the running for that Square One focus….
The Oxford Dictionaries has chosen its Word of the Year for 2015: An emoji depicting the “face with tears of joy.”
Oxford Dictionaries cited an explosion in “emoji culture” over the last year as one of the reasons “face with tears of joy” was selected.
“You can see how traditional alphabet scripts have been struggling to meet the rapid-fire, visually focused demands of 21st century communication,” said Casper Grathwohl, President of Oxford Dictionaries in a statement. “It’s not surprising that a pictographic script like emoji has stepped in to fill those gaps—it’s flexible, immediate, and infuses tone beautifully. As a result emoji are becoming an increasingly rich form of communication, one that transcends linguistic borders.”
Other words and expressions that made the 2015 Word of the Year shortlist: Ad blocker, Dark Web, lumbersexual, on fleek, refugee, Brexit, and sharing economy. A curious entry into the shortlist was also “they.”...
The most brilliant writers and clearest thinkers I personally know have gone on to become lawyers, web developers, and even doctors. They wouldn’t be caught dead as content writers.
That’s a shame, because writing and developing great content is an incredibly valuable profession — and it requires a unique sensibility that is just as difficult and worthwhile to pursue. It doesn’t come easy.
But I don’t think everyone sees it that way — I’ve come across hundreds of writers who think they’re qualified to opine on behalf of my company just because they speak English.
Content writing still suffers from a lack of pride, skill, and craft. How do we change that?...
Insider information about the most enduring animated clichés, from the identity of the Grim Reaper to the true location of people stranded on desert islands.
When the masses only connect to the net without a keyboard, who will be left to change the world?
It is possible but unlikely that someone will write a great novel on a tablet.
You can't create the spreadsheet that changes an industry on a smart phone.
And professional programmers don't sit down to do their programming with a swipe....
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Why Writing Books Is More Than Processing Words. We’ve been writing with word processors for 40 years. What if we’ve been doing it wrong all this time? Thoughtful reading! 9/10