Hello, folks! We don’t know about you, but this has felt like a long summer. Out in California, we’re in the middle of a heat wave (Andy’s typing this from Palm Springs, where it’s going to get up to 115° today), and in Chicago where Michael is — as with much of the midwest — there’s been so much rain.

And as usual, our Fancy Corporate Jobs are always accelerating. Gotta make those quarterly goals. Gotta submit that Confab talk. Gotta set up a time to meet with stakeholders. Gotta keep moving; keep grinding; keep making that bread. 

How do we find time for creativity? For rest? We’ve found that some of the best ways to do both is to combine them. 

Creative projects — particularly when you’re doing it just for yourself — can be restorative. Here are a few things we’ve been doing to try to recharge and restore:

• Andy likes to play with fountain pen ink samples — different kinds of fountain pen nibs and different kinds of paper affect how color shows up, and it’s fun (and just a bit messy) to find the best color (ask him about how he tried 40 different types of green ink before he found the perfect shade).

• Michael studied to be a photojournalist back in the day, but recently he’s been having more fun with photography—trips to the office downtown now often include time to explore the surrounding streets and catch different kinds of light. Sometimes, that little break is exactly the moment of rest he needs.

Head to head on Madison Avenue, one of Michael’s recent photos

How do you combine rest and creativity? Let us know by replying to this email or reaching out on social media. And read on for some new workshop dates and appearances.

What we’re reading

Andy: Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin →

This is a really lovely and devastating novel about two people who create video games together. It’s about love, but not romantic love necessarily — the love and respect and devotion of two creative collaborators. If you like video games, you’ll like this story, but you might still like it even if you don’t. Check out my Twitter thread about this book if you’re interested in hearing more.

Michael: The Jasmine Throne and The Oleander Sword by Tasha Suri →

For me, there are few greater joys than sitting in a hammock, reading some amazing fiction. I got hooked on this fantasy series this summer. Incredible characters, a wild plot, and a whole lot of hope in the face of overwhelming evil. The second one just came out, so now I will just be sitting over here waiting for the third.

What we’re doing

New Writing is Designing workshops in October and November →

Check out our latest series of 12-hour, 3-day UX writing fundamentals workshops coming up! These quickly sell out, so if you’re interested, get registered soon. We’re offering the following dates:

• October 26-28: Optimized for US, Europe, and Africa time zones

• November 14-16: Optimized for India, Australia, and other Asia Pacific time zones

If you register before October 1, you can save $200 off the registration price. And if you are a member of one or more disinvested communities, we offer equity scholarships! Read more about that and apply here.

We’re going to Button next month →

If you’re coming to Button in Seattle on October 10-12 — the premiere content design conference by the wonderful folks at Brain Traffic — Michael and I will both be there. We’re not offering our workshop there (they aren’t doing workshops), but we’re still finding ways to contribute. Michael’s doing a talk about leadership, and Andy’s leading a panel discussion about cultivating a healthy team culture. We hope to see you there and can’t wait to learn from you. (And by the way, if you are thinking about registering, you can use the code WELFLE100 to save $100 from your registration price. Or METTS100 if you’re into that kind of thing.)

Pencil of the month

The “Writing is Designing” custom Musgrave

Okay, this is shameless self-promotion. But when we went to Confab in the spring to teach our workshop, we realized how much we missed connecting with folks in person, and wanted a little something to give out, both to workshop attendees, and to the great people we met at the conference! And what better way to do that than with custom pencils!

Turns out, though, that you have to order a BUNCH of them to meet the minimum order. Like, 500 of them. So we have pencils for days.

If you’re coming to Button, ask for a pencil, we’ll have a bunch of them with us and will be more than glad to give them away (along with, perhaps, a sticker!)