Hit send before you’re ready
Oh, hi friends!
I have no idea what to say.
Most of the time I actually write this newsletter in reverse. The fun bit (or fake link) at the bottom leads into a quote that turns into a tip or line or saying that kicks off this letter.
I try not to overthink it. Because if I started to overthink it, I’d never actually write it. And if I never wrote it, it’d be another unfinished project hanging over my head.
Instead, I just start. And take the dribble of ideas and lines and links, as they come, day by day.
But really, I didn’t know what I was going to write about just now. The hubris I must have, to start writing and not know my ending!
Yet maybe there’s something hiding in here…
If you’re stuck on a project, can you approach it in reverse? Start from the bottom up, or backwards, or think about the end consumer instead of the next logical step?
And if you’ve been sprinting on your project, drinking from the hose on full blast, well, what would it look like if you switched to a dribble? A slow but deliberate accumulation of pages or ideas or applications?
Same projects, different tactics.
Same newsletter, different day.*
*There's some irony in the fact that I wrote this newsletter on Monday night, scheduled it to send Tuesday morning, and didn't know that it wasn't sent? I accidentally scheduled it for Wednesday instead.
Sorry for the hiccup, now back to our regularly scheduled programming...
“If we wait until we’re ready, we’ll be waiting for the rest of our lives.”
From Lemony Snicket, and shared with me by Brass Ring reader Holly Potter. (Apparently, this quote is so famous it’s been turned into prints, posters, T-shirts, and onesies. Where have I been?!)
Regardless, I’m feeling it now, as we creep into 2020.
Let's Nerd Out on Creative Process!!!
Here’s Lulu Wang breaking down the differences in the first and last scripts of The Farewell, which she wrote and directed. I loved seeing how so much changed — three conversations in different locations were condensed into one conversation — and how the dialogue was translated not once, but twice, including by her own mother! It’s also an essential reminder that your first draft doesn’t have to be perfect. It only has to be.
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Thanks, as always, for reading.
Love, Kara