I’m embarking on a new system, perhaps you could call it a framework. To learn and grow more, after I read something that resonates with me deeply, I will process it through notes and trying to relate it back to my world and context; Write about it and put it out there in the inter web for both accountability and in doing so – with the effort, remember it deeply. Intergrate it into a life habit and actually practice it on actual life events. Finally, try to communicate said truth, findings and results if any in my way, teach it and explain it in simple terms.

I’m stealing these pearls from twitter about Kevin Kelly. The founder of Wired magazine and an incredibly prolific writer. I recently bought his book about advice and look forward to reading more from him, having discovered him late in life through various podcasts.

I will take time to process through these gems and integrate them into my own process. At first glance, they are tremendously honest, which agrees with my process greatly and reiterates a lot of wisdom that we already know. So it’d be good to distil them down to perhaps 5-6 concise, easy to remember gems. Here they go.:

Here are 28 of his best maxims for writing:

1. Don’t aim to be the best. Be the only.
2. Don’t create things to make money; make money so you can create things.
3. The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.
4. Always demand a deadline. Doing so weeds out the superfluous and prevents you from insisting on perfection (which will limit you as a writer).
5. To write about something hard to explain, write a detailed letter to a friend about why it is so hard to explain, and then remove the initial “Dear Friend” part and you’ll have a great first draft.
6. The work on any worthy piece of writing is endless and infinite. Since you cannot limit the work, you must limit your hours.
7. Books are never finished, only abandoned.
8. When you are stuck, sleep on it. Give your subconscious an assignment while you sleep. You’ll have an answer in the morning or by the next time you sit down to write.
9. A multitude of bad ideas is necessary for one good idea.
10. The greatest teacher is called “doing.”
11. Efficiency is highly overrated; goofing off is highly underrated.
12. If you have a good idea, write it down. Don’t assume you’ll remember it.
13. Writing is not selfish; it’s for the rest of us. If you don’t do your thing and share your writing, you are cheating us.
14. Most articles and stories are improved significantly if you delete the first page of the manuscript. Start with the action.
15. The best way to learn anything is to teach what you know (and you can do it at scale by writing).
16. Productivity is often a distraction. Don’t aim for better ways to get through your tasks as quickly as possible. Instead, look for writing projects that you never want to stop doing.
17. Occasionally your first idea is best, but usually it’s the fifth idea. You need to get all the obvious ideas out of the way. Try to surprise yourself.
18. Pay attention to what you pay attention to.
19. To be interesting just tell your own story with uncommon honesty.
20. Ironically, the best time to write a book is once you’re done with the speaking tour for the book.
21. Read the books that your favorite authors once read.
22. When you find something you really enjoy, do it slowly.
23. The main reason to write something every day is that you must throw away a lot of good work to reach the great stuff. To let it all go easily you need to be convinced that there is “more where that came from.” You get that in steady production, which comes from a steady writing habit.
24. Habits are far more dependable than inspiration. Make progress by making habits. Don’t focus on becoming a better writer. Focus on becoming the kind of person who never misses a writing session.
25. The quality of a piece of writing hinges on its structure. Nail the structure and the ideas will fall into place. You’ll know the structure is good when the reader doesn’t even notice it.
26. To write something good, just do it. To write something great, just redo it, redo it, redo it. The secret to publishing great writing is to spend a lot of time rewriting.
27. When in doubt, retreat to honesty. Say more of what you really think and feel instead of trying to sound smart.
28. Principles like what you see here are not laws. They’re like a hat. If one doesn’t fit, try another.

This is the link to the original Twitter post: https://x.com/david_perell/status/1701970638489993238?s=46&t=AoAG2igKjK7FLlNqtJb-iw