creative

Orson Welles on the genius of not knowing what you’re doing.

Why we need to take control of our influences and what we can learn from artists about how to do so

Content is about emotion, not informationIf you look at the transcript of one of Nima’s or Gary’s talks, you’ll notice just how little interesting information is included. But if you listen to them talk, you can’t help but be mesmerized.They will pull you into their world and keep you captivated until the very end.What they both understand is that the world rewards whoever is best at communicating ideas, not the ones with the best ideas.They both have the gift of gab and charisma is of course a…

Mark Manson is the bestselling author of Models: Attract Women Through Honesty, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, Everything is F*cked: A Book About Hope, and co-author of the Will Smith memoir, Will. He has sold tens of millions of books in over 60 languages and has over 500,000 email subscribers. In this …

It used to be well lit. Apply to a famous institution, get picked. Get the agent of an agent or A&R person. Get picked. Get good grades… get picked. Now, many of the “pickers”…

Intelligence and specialized skills are par for the course: we have to find ways to pair them with purpose, opinions and drive -for ourselves and our teams

Last week, I unveiled the new brand of my business and this newsletter. Previously known as Creative Companion, I made the transition to the new name: Creator Science. I’m proud of how smoothly the transition has gone thus far, but I wish I could have avoided a rebrand entirely

Every shade and stripe of every possible variety of connection is about wanting, above all else, to be known; for someone else to see as much of you as possible. Shared experience is important. It’s not everything, but it’s something, because nobody wants to be explaining at forty to a hostile audience why they are the way they are, but you don’t want to punch below your weight class, either, and wind up with somebody who only loves you because they don’t know any better—because the day they do know better is the day they’ll walk out the door.

Be careful how you pay the bills

Beethoven started going deaf in his late 20s.   Already famous by age 25 for his piano sonatas, at 31 he was traumatized by losing his hea...

Trying to 'game' social media platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter and others with odd spacing, click-bait/copy-paste lists from Wikipedia etc doesn't accomplish what you think

The biggest trend in branding this year appears to be one of the oldest trends — signature models. From shoes to guitars, old-school brands are flooding the market with products stamped with a creator’s personal brand. A “brand” is just a “reputation.” The bigger you get as a company, the

Initially published on April 17, 2020

Finding a niche is not helpful early in a creator journey. Instead find a mode where you can keep showing up and feel connected to yourself

Reviewing The Generalist's first 12 months.

What makes a work of art beautiful?

From the late painter’s irresistible journals of 1970s New York

Why great things never came from comfort zones? Because the world is always changing. We need to face uncertainty to move forward.

Here are my 10 best survival tips

Lower the barrier and master the art of the start.

Two years ago, frustrated with a long list of unfulfilled project ideas in my phone notes, I decided to give myself one week to try each idea out in its tiniest form.

It’s a stepping-stone, not a compromise. The media and our culture push us to build something for everyone, to sand off the edges and to invest in infrastructure toward scale. But it turns ou…

“Not to eat but to think.”

Most are probably unaware of the effort involved in maintaining a personal website or of the benefits that result.

Hello, everyone. I'm going to be taking an extended break from kottke.org, starting today. I've been writing here for more than 2

Hey, you. You're doing great. Click here to read this on the web. Source: ATJ's bulletin board Welcome to the 112th issue of Total Annarchy, a…

I felt like I somehow needed fame. In retrospect, there was a lot of self-loathing from tough childhood experiences, and I desperately hoped that love from without (i.e., from masses of other peopl…