Few weeks ago…
I got an idea (a good one, I thought) for an article.
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I unlocked my phone and opened a new word doc. And then — and then and then — nothing. I just watched the cursor blink at me.
Blink.
Blink.
Blink.
“Arou-headie?”
I looked up. Kels was standing by the door, looking at me. “Are you ready?” she repeated. We were going somewhere.
“Yeh, coming,” I said. I took my feet off of the ottoman. “Just wanna get this idea down before it’s gone.”
Kevin Kelly ("KK") is the Editor-in-Chief of Wired magazine.
I heard him say something on a podcast and it’s stayed with me since:
“What I discovered,” said KK, “which is what many writers discover, is that I write in order to think. I’d say, ‘I think I have an idea,’ but when I begin to write it, I realize, ‘I have no idea,’ and I don’t actually know what I think until I try to write it,” he said. “That was a revelation.”
“What’s the idea?” Kels asked me.
I looked up and blinked at her. Then I looked back down at my phone. The cursor blinked back at me.
Blink.
Blink.
Blink.
“Actually,” I stood up, “I’m not sure yet.”
“Write to get ideas,” said KK, “not to express them.”
An idea in your head is next to nothing until you can articulate it in writing.
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Hey there, thanks for reading. :)If you want more “micro” content, feel free to explore 100s of articles, interviews, courses, and series — all free. Enjoy!Eddie Shleyner
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