BC WRITING
Saved by @zmbnski

The world's most valuable skill:

Writing effectively.

But colleges charge you 120k and still do a terrible job teaching it.

Instead, here are 9 writing frameworks that cost you nothing and will save you hundreds of hours:

 1. Start with building your writing habit by leveraging @jamesclear's Four Laws of Behavior Change.

https://t.co/P3RMSIlswk
2. With your writing habit down, study these 10 tips from the world's most legendary marketer: David Ogilvy.

https://t.co/sMNdjETd24
3. Then, immerse yourself in the takeaways from the bible on business writing.

https://t.co/GzDvf32qoY
4. Like to learn on the go?

Dive into the creative process of the world's best writers in these 10 episodes of the @timferriss show.

https://t.co/QYwkilTWHY
5. Like to read instead?

These 10 books more than cover everything you need to know:

https://t.co/vtVunx88C3
6. Struggling to find time to write?

Discover the life-changing magic of Sacred Hours.

https://t.co/zORePxKLmt
7. Finding yourself constantly distracted?

Stop relying on willpower. Design your environment distraction impossible.

https://t.co/gTyVQp1VFq
8. Overwhelmed with too many choices?

• What to write?
• When to write
• Where to write?

Leverage the power of creative constraint.

https://t.co/l9tbAORUS6
9. Once you've started writing, now you need more ideas to write about.

Use the AAAA framework to never stare at a blank page again.

https://t.co/UwVKwDQuax
Now, you could passively read all of these ideas and then stuff your notes somewhere to be forgotten forever.

Or you can learn to write by writing and publishing every day for 30 days with 500+ other writers.

https://t.co/JJNKZQKb75
If you found these threads valuable:

1. Toss me a follow for more threads on writing and building → @dickiebush

2. Go down the rabbit hole of the best threads I've ever written:

https://t.co/GIVdfYvXZI
And if you think others will find these threads valuable too:

Hop up to the top and retweet it to share it with them.

↓

https://t.co/EZja7jy6Sk

More from Dickie Bush 🚢

Dickie Bush \U0001f6a2
Dickie Bush 🚢
@dickiebush
What is the best book you read in 2021?

Will compile every response and rank them by number of recommendations!

Going out to everyone subscribed to my
LEARNING
Dickie Bush \U0001f6a2
Dickie Bush 🚢
@dickiebush
If you use it right, Twitter is the most powerful platform in the world.

But Twitter does a horrible job of showing you its advanced features.

Here are 10 of them you probably know nothing about:

The most underutilized Twitter feature: advanced search.

It blows my mind how few people know this.

Want to find someone's best tweets?

In the search bar, type:

from:dickiebush min_faves:500

Replace the handle and the number of likes as you see fit.

Another good advanced search tip:

Want to see everyone's tweets on a particular topic?

In the search bar, type:

from:dickiebush "consistency"

Again, replace the handle and keyword as you see fit.

You can filter by popularity too:

from:dickiebush "consistency" min_faves:100

We all have those people we don't want following us, but don't want to block.

Here's a good hack:

Block them, then unblock them.

This will unfollow you, but they'll never know.

Get mentioned in a tweet that is receiving way too many replies, turning your notifications into a disaster?

I've been there.

Click to expand the details of the tweet, then click the three dots on the top right-hand corner.

Then, click "mute this conversation."
ALL , TWITTERTRICKS , TWITTERFEATURES
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Dickie Bush \U0001f6a2
Dickie Bush 🚢
@dickiebush
The first principles of selling online:

1. Increase the number of people who see your product.

2. Increase the percentage of people who see your product that buy it.

3. Increase the percentage of people who buy your product that rave about it.

Writing increases all three.
WRITING
Dickie Bush \U0001f6a2
Dickie Bush 🚢
@dickiebush
In January 2020, I started writing online.

What followed was 9 months of lonely, frustrating, and painfully slow growth.

So if you're a beginner, let me save you hundreds of hours and plenty of headache.

If I was starting over again, here's the exact playbook I would follow:

Here's the playbook breakdown:

• Where you should be writing
• How often you should be writing
• 1 thing you shouldn't waste time on
• The single most important thing you should do during your first 9 months (that I completely ignored)

Let's get into it:

First, where you should be writing.

When just starting out, I followed the conventional playbook.

I spent (wasted) hours creating a fancy website to host my fancy new blog.

And that's where I published.

I had to own my platform, right?

Except, there was 1 big problem:

No one knew my blog existed!

I was publishing into the void, spending hours every Sunday morning slaving over a hot keyboard & nitpicking every word.

Then, I would hit publish, waiting for the rush of attention.

Except... crickets.

The internet's crickets of indifference.

And because no one knew my blog existed, there was no feedback loop.

I had *no clue* whether what I was writing was interesting, helpful, or valuable to the reader.

Instead, I was *assuming* I was on the right track.

Newsflash: I wasn't.
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Dickie Bush \U0001f6a2
Dickie Bush 🚢
@dickiebush
To master the creative process, give yourself permission to create junk.

This is one of the many things I learned diving into everything @jamesclear has published on creativity and building a writing habit.

Here's a thread of his best articles, tweets, and podcast appearances:

1/ Reasons @JamesClear writes

• Write for yourself
• Write to learn more
• Write to build a business
• Write to clarify your thoughts

But most importantly, writing is leadership at scale.

And it will carry your ideas further than

2/ Five steps to mastering the creative process

1) Give yourself permission to create junk
2) Create on a schedule
3) Finishing something
4) Stop judging your own work
5) Hold yourself accountable

I can't overstate the value of this resource 👇🏼



3/ How to overcome others (and yourself) judging your writing

• The first obstacle: overcoming your own judgment
• But once you start publishing, you will meet external judgment.

His advice comes from Mario Andretti:

Focus on the road, not the

4/ Three tips for getting started as a writer:

1) Publish on a schedule
2) Share your writing publicly
3) Write about what fascinates
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Sara Benincasa
Sara Benincasa
@SaraJBenincasa
#NationalAuthorsDay Hi! Here's a thread about how I love you for buying my books anywhere, but I especially love when you support independent bookstores. You can get delivery through @indiebound via a store near you. Read on for places I love around the US and beyond...

In Asheville, North Carolina, go buy or order some great books by authors you love (hint, hint) via @Malaprops! #NationalAuthorsDay

In Chapel Hill, NC visit @FlyleafBooks. If they don't have my books in stock, I bet they'll order them for you! This is also true for other authors! #NationalAuthorsDay

In New York and NJ visit @wordbookstores! Ask for my books if they don't have them, and also buy lots of stuff by other authors! #NationalAuthorsDay

In Washington, D.C. visit @PoliticsProse for all your #NationalAuthorsDay needs. Ask for my books and those of hometown hero @baratunde and also buy cute objects!
WRITING
People_of_Space: Nicholas
People_of_Space: Nicho...
@People_Of_Space
So a final thread from me as your host today: some top tips on how to write for a popular audience about complicated subjects #space #science #writing #storytelling


The essence of any good communication is simplicity. It’s the same in print, television, radio, online, or attaching notes to carrier pigeon’s legs.


In the sixties, a Granada current affairs show set the template for using a visual medium more effective: it was pioneered by a remarkable fellow called Tim Hewat, a flavour of whose personality is here:

Up to this point, most television in this country had been akin to putting radio on television: most of it was beyond parody though this from Harry Enfield is spot on -- the patronising smug tone that meant the BBC was nicknamed "Auntie" --

And take a look at the longest running TV show as it then appeared: https://t.co/T4FdppnQMo

(Patrick was a brilliant broadcaster. The point I am trying to make is the medium was not exactly groundbreaking in the visuals department)
WRITING
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Nicolas Cole
Nicolas Cole
@Nicolascole77
🚢 Atomic Essays Republishing Framework 🚢

1. Write Atomic Essay
2. Post image on Twitter
3. (Bonus) Copy/paste text as thread
4. Find relevant Question on Quora. Copy/paste Atomic Essay + image.
5. Copy/paste again on Medium.
6. Again on LinkedIn
7. Win

Guide below ✍️🚢👇

Step 1: Write Atomic Essay

I really enjoy writing right inside the Figma template. It helps give me a good sense of exactly how much "real estate" I have/have left before my time us up and I'm out of space.

Once finished, I export the image and send to my phone on Slack.


Step 2: Post image on Twitter

Before I publish my Atomic Essay on Twitter, I use the Edit/Photo Markup function on the iPhone to highlight standout sentences.

These are usually power-phrases: things the reader skims and thinks, "That's interesting," prompting them to read more.


Step 3: For the Ship 30 for 30 challenge, I only turn Atomic Essays into threads if...

1. The piece is SUPER actionable and lends itself well to the thread format (lots of bullets, quick points, lists, etc.)

or...

2. I'm referencing research and want to link to the pieces.

Step 4: Find relevant Question on Quora. Copy/paste Atomic Essay + image.

Search on Quora around the topic you wrote about. Find a related Question. Copy/paste the whole Atomic Essay as your "answer" (& fix formatting). Then include image so it appears in the thumbnail.
WRITING
Dickie Bush \U0001f6a2
Dickie Bush 🚢
@dickiebush
In the last 60 days, I've helped 253 people build an online writing habit.

Here are 10 lessons they've taught me in behavior change, human psychology, and writing online.

THREAD...👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼

1. Start smaller

The foundation of Ship 30 for 30 is the Atomic Essay.

• One idea
• Under 200 words
• Fits in one iPhone screenshot

This eliminates any friction to publishing ideas online.

And without that friction, momentum is inevitable.

2. Constraints create freedom

"Write something every day" is hard.

There are too many choices to make.

"Publish a 200-word essay with a 30-minute time limit every day for 30 days."

This is easier.

Within these constraints, creativity thrives.

3. Results come from tight feedback loops

The foundation of Ship 30 for 30 comes from @jackbutcher:

Make noise, listen for signal.

Weekly blog posts sent into the void = no feedback.

Daily Atomic Essays on Twitter = immediate feedback.

Faster feedback = faster iterations.

4. Impostor syndrome is curable

But not with common advice of "believing" in yourself.

Early writers think everyone else has figured out.

Until they start writing.

Then, they realize everyone is figuring it out as they go.

Cure impostor syndrome with action, not belief.
WRITING
Damien
Damien
@damiengwalter
LARPing Our Way To Armageddon

The intense and present danger of fantasy

a thread

One of the interesting things about the scifi / fantasy writing community is that it contains many people who have much higher tolerance for fantasy than the norm.

People who can be around fantasy a lot, without losing track of reality.

Counter intuitive perhaps. But people who deal with fantasy at a professional level become expert at recognising its stench.

That's a useful skill in 2021, when the world, and particularly America, is being sucked into a vortex of unreality.

Because human beings do not, as a rule, have good tools for distinguishing fantasy from reality.

This isn't a bug of humankind, it's very much a feature.

Humans are what we are because of our ability to engage in the shared fantasy we call society / culture / civilisation.

Homo Sapiens are the species that LARPs

Which has always brought with it some structural issues

That just got waaaaaaaaaaay more serious
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My website doesn't have any product reviews, but people scatter them everywhere else in forums, tweets, xtube vids, etc.

If you ARE a previous customer, and you like the thing, can you drop a review on my site to help others?

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The current cost sustains production and development of new tech, and is helping create jobs. We are 2 people now!!

It IS 3D printed, because injection molding is orders of magnitude more expensive for the initial tooling, and I am still making small revisions to the enclosures.

Injection molded plastics are a six thousand dollar commitment for fifteen cent parts. Great for mass mfg.

Also, if you didn't know, 3D printing technology allows for some shapes which would be difficult, expensive, or impossible on injection molding or milled parts!!

Undercuts, which I use in this design, require special lifters to mold that cost a tremendous fortune.
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The man who invented autocorrect should burn in hello.

It was meant to put a smile on your face. Please stop sending me instructions on how to turn my autocorrect off. 😳🤔

Texted my friends to ask if I could take their kids with me to Satan... still have not heard back from them. I meant Santa...

Thanks for all the love, I appreciate a follow. 💗
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William
William
@wimgz
🛠️ OPEN BUSINESS IDEAS 🛠️

Below a list of business/product ideas I had or read about.

They are worthless if they remain ideas and if you don't overcome the challenges in building them, so feel free to copy / tweak / implement them!
👇

Better: use one and make a MVP during the #24hrstartup challenge!

😻 Product Hunt Time
A clock that displays the time it is @ProductHunt
Also displays what you should do and where you should post, at each specific time during your launch

🚧 IndieCrunch - VC free tech news
Techcrunch but only for bootstrapped companies

🎧 Kickstarter for audiobooks
A lot of awesome books are not available as audio.
Crowdfund the money to buy the audio rights + a voice actor
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Jim O'Shaughnessy
Jim O'Shaughnessy
@jposhaughnessy
I’m torn on how to approach the idea of luck. I’m the first to admit that I am one of the luckiest people on the planet. To be born into a prosperous American family in 1960 with smart parents is to start life on third base. The odds against my very existence are astronomical.


I’ve always felt that the luckiest people I know had a talent for recognizing circumstances, not of their own making, that were conducive to a favorable outcome and their ability to quickly take advantage of them.

In other words, dumb luck was just that, it required no awareness on the person’s part, whereas “smart” luck involved awareness followed by action before the circumstances changed.

So, was I “lucky” to be born when I was—nothing I had any control over—and that I came of age just as huge databases and computers were advancing to the point where I could use those tools to write “What Works on Wall Street?” Absolutely.

Was I lucky to start my stock market investments near the peak of interest rates which allowed me to spend the majority of my adult life in a falling rate environment? Yup.
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Filippo Valsorda
Filippo Valsorda
@FiloSottile
“We don’t negotiate salaries” is a negotiation tactic.

Always. No, your company is not an exception.

A tactic I don’t appreciate at all because of how unfairly it penalizes low-leverage, junior employees, and those loyal enough not to question it, but that’s negotiation for you after all. Weaponized information asymmetry.

Listen to Aditya


And by the way, you should never be worried that an offer would be withdrawn if you politely negotiate.

I have seen this happen *extremely* rarely, mostly to women, and anyway is a giant red flag. It suggests you probably didn’t want to work there.

You wish there was no negotiating so it would all be more fair? I feel you, but it’s not happening.

Instead, negotiate hard, use your privilege, and then go and share numbers with your underrepresented and underpaid colleagues. […]
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