No. 128 The predicament of the writer who doesn't write
Diving into the creative struggles, upcoming course to conquer them, barn progress, and the value of writing how-to's.
No. 128 • 12/19/2025
Dear readers,
I know for a fact some of you reading this are feeling stuck. You want to work on creative work, but are feeling the overwhelm that comes with "not knowing what to work on." You want to move a piece of writing forward, but you're "not sure how to proceed." I know this, because I get emails telling me these very specific things.
Ring a bell?
- Engaging media (books, pods, feeds) gives you ideas, but the less you transform these ideas into creative work, the more you feel backlogged.
- Feeling backlogged causes the creative juices to dry up (cuz nothing's happening), so now you feel despondent about your creative abilities.
- Feeling despondent means you produce even less work (or work you feel less enthused about), which leads to self-judgment ("I'm not creative").
- The less work you produce, the more "I'm not creative" gets reaffirmed (although it's not true).
- The more you believe you're not creative, the less motivation you have to be creative.
- Which eventually leads to you no longer engaging media (or the creative world at large), because what's the point? It all makes you feel bad anyway.
Ironically, my therapist might say you're doing the right thing. By not engaging the creative world, you're choosing self-preservation over self-harm. You're protecting yourself. It's a good thing. But, my therapist would also say, it ain't sustainable. At least not if you intend to continue being a creative person (which you are, and I could prove it if given the chance).
It's not enough to simply doing no harm. At some point, you need to cut off the source of what's forcing you to choose between harm and no-harm. There's more to creative work than this.
The course I start teaching on January 6, is designed to help people have options. It gives you choices. Through a simple, intuitive system of "knowledge work," it helps you not only navigate the barrage of information that's pummeling you (and me) everyday, but more importantly, it helps you (and me) transform the barrage into material which can be funneled into creative work.
Here's what some who've taken the course have said about this very thing:
- "This course was the boost I needed.... I now feel more confident with reading/writing." — Corey
- "Let me declare the following: 'One of the most valuable lectures ever'." — Matteo
- "Super helpful. Very insightful. Removed a lot of friction for me with Zettelkasten. I may actually start creating my own work!" — Slobodan
PS: I keep these small and intimate, and registration will soon be closing. So now would be a good time to get on it!
What I’m up to writing / teaching / speaking….
Published a short excerpt of a much longer piece of writing on the theory of working with ideas: Reading Ideas as Information: Sketches of a Theoretical Framework.
What we’re up to on the property….
The barn is getting electricity! No more hundred foot extension cords. No more using your phone to find things. This weekend, we're finishing the trenching job, which due to a frozen 6" crust, took forever...
...and finishing cladding the knee walls in hemlock boards....
What my book, A System for Writing, is up to....
Still selling. The flywheel is real. Also, the Thai translation is almost finished. Read me in Thai!
FROM LAST THIS WEEK'S COMPOSITION...
Writing how-to helps you how-to
Writing how-to stuff is a great way to figure out for yourself whether you know the theoretical material supporting it. There isn't a theoretical / conceptual framework I can think of, at least not one related to the humanities, that isn’t represented practically. Anarchism, Marxism, feminism, systems theory, cybernetics, relevance theory, reader response, whatever…. All of it must eventually be translated into human actions: doing things, engaging things, behaving, interacting. If you can articulate how aspects of, say, systems theory function in day-to-day life, you've not only given your reader something to build on when you dive into the theory, but you've done the same for yourself.
To read the rest, sign up here.
Get my book
Pick up my latest book, A System for Writing, [here].
Got a question or something you'd like me to write about? Send me what you're thinking!