A designer who writes.
A friend who’s working on a new book (hi Corey!) asked if he could pick my brain about book marketing, seeing as I’d recently released one. Most of the advice I was able to share was just stuff I’d learned from others. Abby Covert sent me a very nice and helpful email of tips when … continue
Been using the app Streaks for close to a year. I know this because I borrowed the idea for a “Don’t Die” habit from @hotdogsladies, and that one is closing in on 365. Habit tracking is about building habits, right? Obviously. You want to read more, so you make “Read for 5 Minutes” a habit, … continue
Extended focus is … not in my strengths column, let’s say. Here are seven of the more common excuses I’ve used to stop writing when I really really really should have still been writing: *** Originally published as List No. 59 of the 7×77 newsletter project.
My journal is full of entries, my Ulysses inbox is full of notions and half-starts. So I’m writing a lot. I’m writing a lot. Good. Great. But I’m not quite getting to what I want to with a lot of it. I want to be on that Austin Kleon wavelength, you know? That easy, collected, … continue
There’s a joke that having a writing deadline is the best way to get your house clean. Personally, I channeled this form of productive procrastination into digital spaces while getting to a finished first draft of the book. This was also partly out of thoroughness and desperation — “I know I’ve thought thoughts about this … continue
I learned a lot while writing the book, and honestly it feels like I’m just barely starting to unpack the lessons from this project.
Used a couple of Sharpie twin tips and my Baron Fig Mastermind pad to prototype my latest post for the Brain Traffic blog. Normally when I use pen and paper in my writing workflow it’s very messy and haphazard — notes jotted in random places, maybe a partial mind map, maybe a bullet point of … continue
I tried Streaks (what an awful name) a while back but it didn’t stick, I think because I picked overly-ambitious things to track. The gang was talking about it recently on Do By Friday and I gave it another spin. It’s clicking this time. This is my current mix: I’ve been try to pick habits … continue
In case you‘re as unobservant as me, I thought I’d point out this useful button on the iPad keyboard. I didn’t notice it for at least a month: A quick tap in the bottom-right minimizes the on-screen keyboard. This is essential in making stuff work in your web browser. Form fields and the like are … continue
When I know what I want to say I start at the top-left corner of the page. “Dear Sir or Madam, I demand satisfaction!” When I don’t know what I want to say — or even what I think — I start in the middle of the page. Then I can go up. Or down. … continue
Or you will, if you subscribe. Personal dispatches from the desk of Scott Kubie, a designer who writes.