Reasons to Write Online
This is the 100th issue of my Newsletter, Deliberate Internet . Congratulations to me! I have now made it as a writer.
A friend asked me what I get out of this whole newsletter business. It struck me as an excellent question to ponder, and try to answer in this 100th issue.
Reasons to Write
The upside is limitless; the downside is just a sprinkle of embarrassment.
- David Perrell, Write of Passage.
Writing hones your thinking. It is quality assurance for your thoughts.
Whenever I set out to pack for a business trip or vacation, I am always surprised that my shirts need ironing, my cables are all over the place, and my sweater is half-eaten by clothesworms.
I always underestimate how much work it will take to get my stuff properly packaged, cleaned, prepared, and packed for travel.
It is the same with your ideas before you set out to write them down. You may think you have great insights and coherent thoughts, but only after examining them up close, can you review their state, mend their inconsistencies, and ensure they support the point you are trying to make.
The linear structure of the page requires you to explain your reasoning clearly and persuasively. The form factor of a page, blog post, or newsletter enables specific and actionable feedback to improve your process and thoughts.
The more you write, the more you get average ideas out of the way.
Inside all of us, a teenager is trying to make the obvious point. Some ideas just need to be heard. After you write them down, you can move on to more complex ones.
Regular writing practice lets you flush out these more obvious ideas so you don't repeatedly annoy your friends with the same truisms.
Writing turns chaos into a coherent narrative.
I use writing to manage my ADHD. My brain usually jumps all over the place in a way understandable only for myself and only on a good day.
The page provides an anchor and a strand to weave my thoughts. Once I package them, I can try and explain them to others.
Reasons to Publish what you write.
Thinking is a multiplayer sport.
Every idea builds on a previous one and can lead to something better when improved upon.
The entire history of humanity is a series of individuals building, improving, and verifying the ideas of others.
Progress is not moved forward by the divine inspiration of hermits hiding in caves but by a dialectic process of confronting ideas with reality (or other thinkers), fixing the issues, and facing them again.
If you want to be part of that history of progress, you have to publish your ideas, so others can find them.
领英推荐
Finding your Tribe
Your thoughts are YOU. Once you polish and unleash them into the world – they become a magnet for like-minded people. You can lead with the idea to discover who’s interested in it.
Just plant your flag in the ground and let like-minded people find you.
A digital postcard
Your writing does not have to be very popular to spark fascinating conversations.
I treat my newsletter as a digital postcard sent to my friends, and it brings me the utmost joy when a friend I know from high school or work brings up a point I made three months ago, and we can continue the discussion in person.
Sharing your writing gives your friends more "pickup lines" to reach out.
Increasing the Luck Surface Area
Putting yourself out there increases luck surface area. A friend of a friend can share your writing with a potential employer. A subscriber can reach out to meet for a coffee when he is in town. Somebody who you met once may be into the same things, but it failed to come up when you met.
Luck requires help. By publishing, you can cast a wider net.
Digital immortality
A few issues ago , I made a point about being included in the AI training data:
Large Language Models (the AI stuff) are essentially compressed knowledge of humanity. In particular, knowledge it can get its digital hands on. And it can most easily get to anything published on the Internet. This would mean that writing on the Internet is your best bet for preserving your thoughts through time and - essentially - achieving immortality.
I highly recommend the Write of Passage course as the best resource focusing on the inner game of writing online.
Müller’sches Volksbad
I spent last week in Munich at one of our meetups . After the event, I discovered these fantastic swimming pool / roman baths from 1901.
Inside, you can find 2 swimming halls, 3 saunas, baths, gym and plenty of Jugendstil decor.
"With a dog” - a custom GPT
Our dog loves to be the center of attention. To show you what it’s like, I created this custom GPT that will illustrate any scene you’d like, but there will be a dog photo bombing any image. You will need a ChatGPT Plus subscription to use it.
Enjoy.