RC #020
Creator of the year, This is a website and Tips for the restless and creative
Welcome to issue #020 of Rational Creatives, a weekly newsletter that empowers curious people to make a living doing work they love.
Happy new year!
Hope you had the chance to rest and spend some quality time with your loved ones during the holiday season. As some of you already know, I got COVID since last week. But I'm feeling much better now. Almost all symptoms are gone and I'm starting to feel myself again. Actually, getting the virus has been sort of a blessing in disguise because it gave me a lot of extra free time to work on my no-code projects.
Speaking of no-code projects, I'm proud to announce that I'm officially launching The Online Writing Bible on January 11th. At launch, it will cost $25. But by signing up for early access now, you'll get an invitation to an exclusive presale and will be able to get it for $15 before I make it public.
On another hand, I'm doing Ship 30 for 30 again this month. In fact, I already shipped today's essay on Twitter. This time, though, I'm going to be hosting all my atomic essays on a pretty little website I built on Notion. I’ll share the link with you next week.
Now, onto the newsletter.
Growth 💸
2020: My Year in Review. I had the chance to see how a lot of amazing creators built and monetized their audiences in 2020. And even though all of them accomplished some incredible stuff and have very inspiring stories, I think the most remarkable creator of the year was Robbie Crabtree. In his annual review, Robbie tells the whole story behind his successful cohort-based course Performative Speaking. Unlike most of the things I feature in the
Growthsection, this piece is not very actionable. But it will show you how much you can get done and accomplish in just a year if you're courageous, smart and willing to work your ass off.This is a website. This is one of the most powerful and insightful essays I've read in a long time. Using only 428 words — yeah, I bothered to count them —, Justin delivers a potent punch of truth: "At its heart, web design should be about words. Words don't come after the design is done. Words are the beginning, the core, the focus." You should read this essay every freaking day. Seriously.
This year I want to focus on building sustainable systems. I’m going to be extremely mindful of my systems, habits and processes, and will optimize them for creativity, exercise and screen-free time as much as I can:
If you aren’t DMing people on Twitter every day, you’re leaving followers on the table. Not just that — you’re also missing out on the most beautiful and rewarding side of being a citizen of the internet: making friends with interesting people. Be mindful of how you approach this, though. Be respectful of people’s time and attention. Try to be as straightforward, honest and kind as you can.
Rationality 🧭
How scientific literacy can save us from the internet. Neil deGrasse Tyson is one of my favorite contemporary thinkers. He’s not just a brilliant scientist, but also an honest intellectual. In this 4-minute video, he explains why scientific literacy might be the only thing that can save us from disinformation and the rigid tribalism of the internet.
‘Wisdom of the crowd’: the myths and realities. Who’s smarter, the crowd or the individual? This is actually a very old question. Plato, for instance, thought the masses were not apt to make their own decisions and each country should be ruled by a wise emperor, what he called the philosopher king. But turns out that, under the right circumstances, crowds can make more accurate predictions than a well-educated individual.
Creativity 🎨
Everything I know: Sacred Tips for The Restless and Creative. Paul is one my favorite writers. He’s curious. He’s sincere. But, more importantly, he’s unapologetically himself. Whenever you feel uninspired, read this essay. I promise you’ll feel refreshed and ready to go back to work.
Morning Pages (and variations). The single thing I struggle the most with when it comes to writing is overcoming perfectionism. I have a hard time writing profusely. I judge every word I type, even though I know that you’re supposed to write freely first and then prune. That’s why I’ve started doing Morning Pages. If you haven’t heard about them, I highly recommend you check Austin’s blog post out.
This is what I call creative exposure therapy. And it’s the reason why Dickie’s Ship 30 for 30 works so well. The best way to stop caring what other people might think about your shitty articles is to write and publish one every single day:
Curiosity 🤯
Despite the pandemic, companies raised more capital than ever before in 2020
Last week I found this website called Library of Scroll that curates three great articles per week. They cover a wide range of topics, but all of them seem fascinating to be honest. So far I've read Roger Federer as Religious Experience and The Running Novelist. Both amazing reads.
The clues to a great story. In this TED Talk, Pixar screenwriter and director Andrew Stanton shares some of the storytelling secrets they used to turn movies such as WALL-E and Toy Story into all-time classics.
If that video left you wanting to some other storytelling tricks, then take a look at Pixar's 22 rules of storytelling.
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Thanks Daniel for sharing so much interesting resources in the newsletter. I have bookmarked many links for today's reading. Really looking forwards to your weekly shares, especially on the creativity and writing sessions.