writing

My Writing Process

65 Thoughts Spreadsheet
(Screenshot: leo.notenboom.org)

With 65 daily essays, and a bit of a breather, under my belt, I thought it might be useful to review my reasoning and process.

Having a deadline forces me to produce. My weekly newsletter forces the Ask Leo! wheels to produce or update content each week. I started Not All News Is Bad as a daily newsletter to force myself to find something good in the world every day.

Honestly, 65 Thoughts was the same thing. I wanted to write more, and I wanted what I produce to be a little more meaningful. Setting a cadence of having to publish something every day for 65 days in a row did the trick.

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On Writing (II)

Writing
(Image: canva.com)

I’ve mentioned writing and particularly speaking English and doing it well in multiple places over the years.

The idea is simple: people judge you by your spoken and written word. The better a speaker or writer you are, the better you’ll be perceived.

But there’s more to it than that. Set aside the quality issue for a moment.

Just … write.

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On Writing

Writing
(Image: canva.com)

I find it fascinating that I’ve transitioned over the course of my life from being someone who absolutely hated writing, with a passion, to someone who now primarily writes for a living.

I’ve written (ha!) about it before, but it’s true: if I had to do it all over again, I’d have invested more of my education in writing, English,and communications classes, at the expense of classes that, to this day, have not added a single thing to my life. (I’m looking at you, Chemistry 140.)

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Why I Stopped Reading “Enlightenment Now”

Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker gained notoriety of late because of Bill Gates’ statement that it was “My new favorite book of all time.” Bill’s hard to ignore, especially when something reaches the top of any of his lists. I picked up a copy and dove in.

It’s a great book. Not sure it makes the “favorite book of all time” list for me, but even having not completed the book I can already heartily recommend it. And yet, I’m setting it aside.

Why? Because of something I stumbled across elsewhere, and the fact that I agree with the message behind the book.

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