Momentum
Anna Dorn and Writing Without an Outline, The Importance of Story and Character, New Masterclass, The Closing of Flothemes, AI Illusions
Hey everyone! Last week, iOS 17 was released, I usually wait for a bit before major iOS update but this time I couldn’t resist. Along with all the cool new features, I’ve noticed a significant improvement in the speed of running Shortcuts. However, I have also noticed that running them in power-mode are much slower than before. Personally, I don’t mind the slowdown in this case, but it’s worth keeping in mind.
Here’s a Spotify playlist that I’ve been enjoying lately:
Now, let me give you some things worth sharing from my previous week:
On Articles
I read this article by writer Anna Dorn, where she shares her journey as a writer and reflects on her creative process. While I’ve learned from many writers who emphasize the importance of outlines in their writing process, Anna Dorn offers a different perspective:
“I don’t outline ahead of time; I don’t know what’s going to happen in the book before I write it. The voice of the character comes first, and the plot comes later. I think writing fast helps create a sense of propulsion. It’s a trick because I’m writing the bulk of it in a few months, and then editing and revising it into oblivion. Writing that first draft so quickly gives it momentum.”
She also discusses the connection between obsession and creativity, which I found relatable based on my own experiences.
“I tell my students, if you notice yourself becoming obsessed with anything—whether it’s a celebrity or a band or a politician or whatever—you channel that, you use that. I find obsession very useful for writing.”
I read this interview with Steven Soderbergh. The interview discusses Magic Mike, a film series I haven’t watched (and probably won’t, to be honest). However, I wanted to read it to see if I could find any insightful information about Soderbergh’s process. Here are some highlights with my favorite takeaways:
On the importance of story and character:
All the audience cares about is the story and the characters. They don’t care what you shot it on; they just want a story and characters that they like. And so every part of my process, as I continue to try and optimize it, is about creating an environment in which the scene and the performances feel alive and like they’re happening in front of you. That’s my ultimate goal.
As a creative, I often struggle with the question of whether I’m repeating myself too much or falling into a formulaic approach. I was glad to read something that balances this out:
“I try not to impose things, but when they develop organically, I embrace them. I never feel like, Oh, you’ve done that before. You shouldn’t do that again. I feel like, Well, if that’s what it needs, it’s what it needs.”
Here’s something I found useful related to perfectionism and having realistic expectations about my own work:
“I’ve never made anything that somebody would look at and go, “I can’t do that,” the way I do when I look at something like Come and See. That requires a way of thinking not only about the world but about yourself as an artist that I don’t have. I’m more earthbound. I don’t have the ability to make Apocalypse Now. What I am capable of is an entire body of work that somebody might look at and go, “Okay, that’s hard. That’s tricky, to do that much and keep the level of quality consistent.” That’s the best I can hope for.”
On Personal Development
James Clear, the author of Atomic Habits, now offers a masterclass called Small Habits That Make a Big Impact on Your Life! His book was tremendously influential for me and sparked numerous positive changes in my lifestyle a few years ago. I am looking forward to set some time apart to watch this.
I listened to The Tim Ferris Show podcast episode 614 which was full of insights on a variety of topics. Some things that stood out:
“The value or cost of something is the amount of life energy you exchange for it.”
“Before you decide what you are going to convince someone of or where you want them to go, to meet them where they are, do a mental audit of the things they love, the things that are easy for them to do, and then try to find a slight variation on one of those themes that allows them to step foot in a way that feels good to them, not just to you, towards a path of self-development.”
“Don’t believe everything that you think. So this is a variation on don’t believe everything you read. But I really think scrutinizing our thoughts and beliefs, which are the thoughts we take to be true, is increasingly important.”
On Web & Design
Flothemes, a well-known service/platform offering Wordpress themes for photographers, is closing down. This is significant news, especially for the wedding photography community. I personally built my own website using their tools over a span of several months, so it’s quite unfortunate to learn that I won’t receive any further support for it. After researching a lot of alternatives, I came across Kadence, which is very recommended for Wordpress sites, it offers great speed and SEO capabilities. If you want more flexibility and ready-made good looking templates/styled blocks, StyleCloud is a popular option that also works with Kadence. In the future, when I update my site, I might consider this option. I’ll keep you updated if I come across anything else.
I discovered VectorMagic, a really useful (and free) tool that can convert jpg, png, and gif files into vectors. This is great for anyone working with logos or icons. It basically helps you turn regular images into scalable graphics. Added this resource to my bookmarks after a few quick tests.
On AI
Last week I found that you can make some amazing optical illusions with AI. This tweet has a mini tutorial and here’s another one. You can use Illusion Diffusion (free) or sign up over at krea.ai and credits try this out yourself.
If you liked this you may also enjoy some content I have up on my YT Channel! I don’t hang around social media a lot, but when I do I’m on IG or Twitter. You can also check out some of my online classes, listen to my music, or in case you haven’t already, subscribe to my weekly newsletter. Thank you for reading!