Newsletter Subject
I'm cooking up something new
From
perell.com
Email Address
david@perell.com
Sent On
Fri, Sep 13, 2024 04:15 PM
Email Preheader Text
Hi friends, One of the weirder things about me is that I handwrite my to-do list on a
HTML
[Read in your browser here.](=) â â Hi friends, One of the weirder things about me is that I handwrite my to-do list on a restaurant napkin every morning. Standard pieces of paper are too big, the lines on an index card are too constraining, and Post-It notes get crumpled up in your pocket. But restaurant napkins? Just right. First on the list today: "Send a letter." Iâm going to share some of the best lessons Iâve learned from working on a new project of mine called Writing Examples. Writing Examples will be a celebration of great writing. Every article will give you X-Ray vision into the tools and tricks that history's best writers have relied upon. Analysis usually means dry, but instead of going technical, we've gone technicolor with videos, text-explainers, and summary graphics. â But before I get into the lessons, I want to remind you that the final [Write of Passage](cohort starts on October 7th. This is our last goodbye. Our graduation tour. If youâre thinking of joining but have some questions, Iâm hosting a free Q&A on Monday, September 16th. [Register here.]()â Now, onto the lessons. The published examples will be paired with text and sometimes videos, but today, I'm sharing some summary graphics to give you a sense for what's coming.
â
1. How to Describe a Party (F. Scott Fitzgerald) One colorful anecdote is worth a thousand generalities: the more specific the scene, the more you can say about the whole picture. â 2. How to Title a Book (James Clear) Atomic Habits has sold 20 million copies and was the #1 best-selling book on Amazon in 2021 and 2023. Itâs found a permanent place on the recommended shelf of just about every airport bookstore, and its success indicates that people do judge books by their covers. Is it any coincidence that it has the perfect cover for a self-improvement book? â 3. How Symbols Tell a Story (George Orwell) This is the first sentence of 1984, and it tells you exactly what the rest of the book is going to be about. Orwell's observation that the clocks were striking thirteen describes the dystopian world of Big Brother and Doublespeak, a world defined by the distortion (or inversion) of truth. Instead of describing everything thatâs upside down and dishonest about the world of 1984, Orwell chooses the 13th hour as a symbol to show you that something is off and that nobodyâs questioning it. â The plan is to publish an example every week, and if you want me to send them to you whenever ones goes live, [click here.](=) Have a creative week, â David Perell â â P.S. Recorded a [How I Write]( episode with Sam Altman last week, and it'll go live on September 25th. â â â [David Perell Logo 2x]
Thanks for reading! If youâre serious about learning to write, [sign up for my 50 days of writing series.]() Iâll send you a series of emails about every aspect of the craft, from finding new ideas, to editing your writing, to building an email list. If you'd like to update your email settings, choose one of the options below. 1. [Click here](=) to unsubscribe from Monday Musings only. 2. [Unsubscribe]( to be removed from all future mailings. That'll make me sad. But hey... I get it. You're busy. Just know that once you click this link you won't receive any more emails from me. If you want to opt-out of Monday Musings and don't see a link above to do so, just hit reply and let me know. I'll take care of it for you personally. 3. If you're interested in subscribing to my other emails, [click here](). In particular, I recommend my weekly [Friday Finds]() email. In it, I share my favorite books, articles, videos, and podcasts every week. 10900 Research Blvd Ste 160C PMB 3016, Austin, Texas 78759
EDM Keywords (99)
writing
worth
world
working
want
upside
update
unsubscribe
tricks
tools
today
title
thinking
text
tells
symbol
subscribing
specific
something
show
sharing
share
serious
series
sense
send
see
scene
say
sad
rest
removed
remind
recorded
recommend
receive
reading
questions
questioning
publish
post
pocket
plan
people
particular
paper
paired
orwell
options
opt
onto
observation
nobody
make
list
link
lines
like
letter
let
lessons
learning
learned
know
joining
inversion
interested
instead
hosting
history
hey
handwrite
going
give
get
found
exactly
emails
editing
doublespeak
distortion
dishonest
describe
craft
covers
cooking
constraining
coincidence
clocks
click
celebration
busy
building
browser
book
big
amazon
2023
2021
1984