When the fog lifts

I'm not the only one...

It's you. You're the problem.

I grew my Substack by 14,536.6% in a week

Be a Gnome, not a Gnu

The paradox of the writer's life

Announcing The Art of the Start: Pioneer Edition

The Art of the Start: Pioneer Edition cart is now OPEN FOR BUSINESS

Good news for clankers

Wednesday night Writing woes

Starting begets ideas, and ideas beget more ideas

The Art of the STOP

My Email Course Confession

[⏳24H] Important Bunny Update

[⏳19H] How to work less and be happy

[⌛5H] You can stop the stealing now!

[⌛2H] Final reminder for The Art of the Start

[⌛55 minutes] Last minute objections addressed

Will you buy me a house?

Struggle seasons

Bread returns after 4.5 years

Skynet is going to end us, not with a bang...

The Bradbury Basics

can the turkey, can't be beaten

How Far We've Come

Efficiency is overrated.

<pre style="overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap; 
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 font-family: Helvetica; font-size:16px; width: 100%; max-width: 600px">Earlier today I got an email from Cabin Crewmember Codename Seattle.&nbsp;Codename Seattle is one of my Art of the Start Pioneers.&nbsp;In response to lesson #11 which went out yesterday, she wrote:&nbsp;<blockquote>Since this email seems to fit, I would like to add that during November I tried rebooting a technique I used before I listened to all the gurus and books touting their own techniques.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;I dedicated a notebook to write the novel front to back, in cursive, and a computer file (currently a Scrivener project).&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;One session I write in the notebook; the next, I copy from the notebook to the computer and then continue writing from there. Next session is copying back from the computer to the notebook and continuing and so on and so forth.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Efficient? Not by word-count, but it helps get back into the story flow, and I can catch inconsistencies, especially if the tale has been sitting awhile. I do allow myself to do minor edits and make notes when I transcribe, mostly to the computer. I shall be keeping this technique around as it works for me.&nbsp;</blockquote>&nbsp;That was not all she wrote, but I'm not giving away trade secrets here.&nbsp;Those will have to wait until I relaunch The Art of the Start in audio come January. And given the messages calling it my best course yet... I better do that asap, so you can get your hands on it.&nbsp;But I wanted to riff on that section because it's less The Art of the Start and more the Art of the Slowwwwwww.&nbsp;It's the art of the inefficient.&nbsp;I mean, really. Read it over again.&nbsp;Writing out by hand? Inefficient.&nbsp;Copying from notebook to computer by your own fingers? Inefficient.&nbsp;Spending a large chunk of each session on copying? Inefficient.&nbsp;Writing literally every word twice? Inefficient.&nbsp;Editing as you go and breaking the flow? Inefficient.&nbsp;Every single part of this routine that Codename Seattle has developed is horribly inefficient...&nbsp;...and I love it.&nbsp;I think it's great.&nbsp;I may even try it myself some time.&nbsp;If you thought I was making fun of dear Seattle you don't quite know me yet. Not least because I'd never mock someone who takes the craft of writing seriously, even if I thought they were cuckoo.&nbsp;The truth is that contra the gurus, efficiency is overrated.&nbsp;I am not at all efficient and never plan to be.&nbsp;The Art of the Start is about killing procrastination and writer's block, but nary a word is about efficiency.&nbsp;Speed Daemon Secrets is about writing faster and producing more, but nary a word there on efficiency either.&nbsp;And yes, there's a reason it's called Effective Editing and not Efficient Editing.&nbsp;Efficiency is a physics word. It's a machine word.&nbsp;Dear reader you are not a physics equation, nor are you a machine.&nbsp;Efficiency be damned.&nbsp;I want you to be effective. To be productive.&nbsp;&nbsp;To flourish.&nbsp;To grow.&nbsp;To create something worthwhile, to take care with the craft of writing and be proud of what you produce.&nbsp;And half the time or more, the efficient way is the least effective.&nbsp;What codename Seattle is doing by copying down her previous session's work each time is reorienting and setting her feet for the sprint. It's the proverbial saw-sharpening. It's taking the time to get the lie of the land when you've been away, kid-wrangling and distracted.&nbsp;She'll be far more productive in the long run, and write a far better novel.&nbsp;But most important of all is that last sentence:&nbsp;<blockquote>I shall be keeping this technique around as it works for me.&nbsp;</blockquote>&nbsp;That's why Speed Daemon Secrets and The Art of the Start both have "down to brass tactics" sections where they lay out dozens of techniques that can help. Because simplistic one size fits all systems don't actually work.&nbsp;I want to give you options that you can apply and test and see what works for you, not me or Codename Seattle (who shows a near perfect 100% completion rate on all my courses...) or whoever else you follow on Substack.&nbsp;I want you to find what works for you.&nbsp;All of which reminds me that Speed Daemon Secrets currently consists of just the battle-tested tactics and that I am long overdue an update to make it more comprehensive and add in a host of new tactics.&nbsp;When I do, the price will rise to $222, but <a href="https://carran.link/fast?__position__=0" style="color: #1155cc; font-size: inherit; text-decoration: none !important;" target="_blank" class="mention" colorlink="#1155cc" autoboldlinks="true" data-id="https://carran.link/fast?__position__=0" data-label="for now you can get it and all future updates for less than that" data-tooltip-id="abwByxTcTdbV9Bh6dHMB-">for now you can get it and all future updates for less than that</a>.&nbsp;Yours,&nbsp;James Carran, Craftsman Writer</pre>

<pre style="overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap; 
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 font-family: Helvetica; font-size:16px; width: 100%; max-width: 600px">It's carnage in the Carran house today.&nbsp;"...and?" I hear you ask.&nbsp;After all, one assumes with four children, it's always carnage.&nbsp;It is not.&nbsp;It's always chaos. But it's rarely carnage.&nbsp;There is a difference and every parent on this list knows it.&nbsp;Actually, the carnage is because we don't have the kids in the house right now.&nbsp;Mum and Dad took three out of four for an overnight stay at theirs yesterday (great love from them, great joy for the children, great peace for us) and they're not due back until bedtime tonight.&nbsp;So we're Sorting Out The House.&nbsp;Specifically, emptying the eaves of the accumulated clutter from six years of living here.&nbsp;My dear wife is not the "ten minutes now to save an hour tomorrow" type, but very definitely the "throw it in a corner and it can wait" type and so that accumulated clutter is substantial.&nbsp;Every new child and every new year has seen more accumulation.&nbsp;But with a move, God-Willing, on the horizon in a year or so...&nbsp;...it needs to go.&nbsp;And hence, carnage.&nbsp;There are screws and random curtain rings and hammers and wool and knitting needles, and newspaper clippings from the 1960s or something (they were under the carpets and I kept a hold of them in fascination) and shoes and goodness knows what else.&nbsp;And there in the midst of it all was an old tattered notebook, covered in pencil.&nbsp;The words are bracketed off and strange marks adorn the tops. I can't line up all the dots and dashes above the lines so I haven't tried but the rest looks something like this:<blockquote>[A long] [came a] [dragon] - [the strange] [thing is][He thought] [that gold] [throne should] [really] [be his][The King] [replied] ["No, I] [don't think] [it should.][He chased] [it far] [off, as] [fast as] [he could][But look] [king to][take re] [venge on] [the king][That bad] [dragon] [tried to] [spoil eve][rything]</blockquote>As the astute among you will have guessed, it was an early draft of my children's book <a href="https://carran.link/kad?__position__=0" style="color: #1155cc; font-size: inherit; text-decoration: none !important;" target="_blank" class="mention" colorlink="#1155cc" autoboldlinks="true" data-id="https://carran.link/kad?__position__=0" data-label="The King and the Dragon" data-tooltip-id="zoMuBs8G4OiWt0Rtcy7JM">The King and the Dragon</a>.&nbsp;A short time before, I'd sent it to a publisher and they replied with this:<hr>I have to confess that I've never formally studied poetry. So forgive me if I don't know what I'm talking about here! But I think the poetry could use some more refinement.&nbsp;&nbsp;Of course there's hardly a child or parent out thee who is going to care about the number of metric feet in a poem. But even if they can't put a label on it, I think this affects the rhythm and cadence, and therefore the book's effectiveness.&nbsp;&nbsp;The poetry is written with rhyming couplets (AA BB CC, etc.).&nbsp;&nbsp;The first line has ten syllables, each with one-to-two syllable words, which makes the reader's mind get into the groove of iambic pentameter.&nbsp;<blockquote>There once was a King who ruled on his throne&nbsp;</blockquote>But with iambic pentameter, the unstressed syllable is followed by a stressed syllable&nbsp;<blockquote>Shall&nbsp;I&nbsp;compare&nbsp;thee&nbsp;to&nbsp;a&nbsp;summers&nbsp;day?&nbsp;</blockquote>In this first line, though, it doesn't quite work that way:&nbsp;<blockquote>There&nbsp;once&nbsp;was a&nbsp;King&nbsp;who&nbsp;ruled&nbsp;on his&nbsp;throne&nbsp;</blockquote>The other thing is that I can't figure out if there's supposed to be some sort of pattern in terms of the syllables per line. Maybe there's a 10/12 known pattern that I'm not familiar with, but that's what it looks like what he's doing initially, but there 13 syllables get thrown into the first line of the third couplet:&nbsp;&nbsp;There once was a King who ruled on his throne&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 10&nbsp;And a more wonderful King has never been known.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 12&nbsp;He ruled the whole world, he had made it you see,&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 10&nbsp;And his people were happy and healthy and free.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 12&nbsp;They lived in a garden, where all things were beautiful &nbsp;&nbsp;13&nbsp;Not to eat from one tree was the King’s only rule.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 12&nbsp;&nbsp;Then in the next stanza, it becomes even more inconsistent:&nbsp;&nbsp;Well, along came a dragon, and the funny thing is&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;13&nbsp;He thought the King's throne, should really be his.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;10&nbsp;But the King said: "Oh no, I don't think it should."&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 11&nbsp;And he chased the beast off, as fast as he could.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;11&nbsp;Then looking for mischief, revenge on&nbsp;the King,&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;11&nbsp;The dragon decided to spoil everything.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;11&nbsp;He took a disguise, to more easily lie:&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;11&nbsp;A slithery serpent to sneak and to spy.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 12&nbsp;&nbsp;Again, poetry is certainly not my specialty. (Google is my friend on the technical stuff!) So it very well could be that I'm missing certain conventions out of ignorance.&nbsp;&nbsp;It seems to me like there is a lot of promise in the content and the basic trajectory here, but before it's ready for prime time (i.e., for our committee), I think it'd be good to spend some more time refining (perhaps consulting with others who have more expertise on this).&nbsp;<hr>Dear reader,&nbsp;He was not missing conventions out of ignorance and his knowledge of poetry was far superior to mine (at the time) even if I had a good instinct for it.&nbsp;So, following principles that I later codified in <a href="https://carran.link/effective?__position__=0" style="color: #1155cc; font-size: inherit; text-decoration: none !important;" target="_blank" class="mention" colorlink="#1155cc" autoboldlinks="true" data-id="https://carran.link/effective?__position__=0" data-label="Effective Editing" data-tooltip-id="MSjgoj_-BxRcn6sreD5tw">Effective Editing</a>, and after buying and reading The Poetry Toolkit by Rhian Williams on recommendation from a friend with an English Degree so I knew what an iamb was...&nbsp;(Not my recommendation, by the way. A Poetry Handbook by Mary Oliver covers the same ground in fewer and more readable words. Oliver is an actual poet, Williams is an academic - it shows.)&nbsp;...I wrote each verse out on a new page in a new notebook, bracketed it, and marked the stresses.&nbsp;It was eye opening.&nbsp;And embarrassing.&nbsp;I had no idea what I was doing, and worse, no idea that I had no idea.&nbsp;I was making all these mistakes, and thinking it was totally fine.&nbsp;It took someone with a more practiced eye to pull it apart, and then another person to come along and point me in the right direction.&nbsp;(And then it took weeks of study and careful revision to make it acceptable.)&nbsp;Looking back, the process was far longer and more drawn out than it needed to be. And it's far longer than anything else I've done since.&nbsp;How far we've come since the scribbled notes and scattered beats.&nbsp;I'm a far better poet than the one who <s style="font-size: inherit;">carefully archived</s> tossed that early draft in the eaves. Not to mention a far better writer in general, and a far better editor.&nbsp;That same clunky book (well, after I edited it, not quite the same...) has sold over ten thousand copies, and that same publisher has since paid me several thousand dollars to edit their own content, and several more thousand to create new content for them.&nbsp;But back in the beginning I thought I knew so much and I knew so little.&nbsp;I didn't know what I didn't know.&nbsp;It took somebody to show me. It often does.&nbsp;Like my most recent paid subscriber to The Write Way wrote after reading the latest post on <a href="https://open.substack.com/pub/getpaidwrite/p/the-building-blocks-of-story?__position__=0&amp;r=fkosl&amp;showWelcomeOnShare=false&amp;utm_campaign=post&amp;utm_medium=web" style="color: #1155cc; font-size: inherit; text-decoration: none !important;" target="_blank" class="mention" colorlink="#1155cc" autoboldlinks="true" data-id="https://open.substack.com/pub/getpaidwrite/p/the-building-blocks-of-story?__position__=0&amp;r=fkosl&amp;showWelcomeOnShare=false&amp;utm_campaign=post&amp;utm_medium=web" data-label="The Forgotten Building Blocks of Story" data-tooltip-id="3DkHBpPCFCqoy1NPkgFaM">The Forgotten Building Blocks of Story</a>:&nbsp;<blockquote>I have a lot to learn here.&nbsp;- Your new paid sub&nbsp;</blockquote>&nbsp;We all do, but sometimes we need someone to point us in the right direction.&nbsp;It's why I invest relentlessly in my own education, studying seminars from Dan Kennedy, paying thousands to Daniel Throssell and Ben Settle and others.&nbsp;It's why I'm annoyed that I don't currently have the cashflow to bid on Cabin Crewmember John Bejakovic's Endorsement Auction, currently running at twelve-thousand dollars.&nbsp;(Fun fact, when I checked earlier another of your Cabin crew-mates was winning it. I gotta raise my prices...)&nbsp;At a risk of sounding trite, I can't see what I can't see until someone shows me.&nbsp;My guess is that neither can you.&nbsp;And so I have a question for you...&nbsp;Could I be your second pair of eyes?&nbsp;Here's how it would work... Every week, say on Monday, you send me your writing. Course content, books, emails, social media content, newsletters, whatever it be.&nbsp;Every week by Friday I'll send it back with my comments and editorial suggestions, rewriting where necessary, recommending further study where it would help, that sort of thing.&nbsp;We're talking hours of my time here so this would not be cheap. But it would also be "cancel at any time" with no long-term commitment.&nbsp;The time commitment also means I could only do a few of these and priority will go to existing customers if there's too much demand.&nbsp;But if it's something that interests you, hit reply and let's email back and forth about it (with no obligation). I've been wondering about offering this for a while, but never quite thrashed out the details so we can do that together in order to make it work for you.&nbsp;If nobody hits reply, I'll chase off the idea back into the night like a wayward dragon and we'll all move on.&nbsp;Now, back to the tidying...&nbsp;Yours,&nbsp;James</pre>

<pre style="overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap; 
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 font-family: Helvetica; font-size:16px; width: 100%; max-width: 600px"><blockquote>"I tested it all yesterday. No problems. I think it's fixed."&nbsp;</blockquote>&nbsp;<blockquote>"Well, if you have any trouble let me know, it'll take about half an hour to put the new switch in."&nbsp;</blockquote>&nbsp;<blockquote>"Nah, I used it for hours. It'll be fine."&nbsp;</blockquote>&nbsp;Thus opened my email on this day last year.&nbsp;I went on to say how I'd cooked twelve kilos of ham, six kilos of turkey, five kilos of mashed parsnips, five kilos of boiled carrots, ten kilos of roast potatoes, homemade stuffing, homemade cranberry sauce, homemade gravy and so on.&nbsp;That year I was in the kitchen prepping for eleven hours straight, no breaks, the day before. The only thing that I really needed to do was turn on the pans and roast the turkey.&nbsp;Ah, but as I said back then:&nbsp;<blockquote>That was the problem.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;As I went down to the kitchen I bumped into our minister's dad who acts as unofficial caretaker and fixer. Big Wes is one of those solid older gents, the kind that can fix literally anything better than new.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The kind that kept the family car running about fifteen years after it should by rights have been replaced.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;We'd had some trouble with the oven and he'd fixed up the switch but wasn't sure that it wouldn't fail again.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;I was confident it was fine.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;I'd used it for hours the day before to dry out bread for stuffing and roast the hams. There would be no problem.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Hence our conversation above.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Famous.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Last.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Words.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Dear reader, it was not fine.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;It started out fine, but then I came down to get going and cranked up the oven to get the turkey cooking faster. I checked it in half an hour.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The temperature had barely budged.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;I checked it in another half an hour.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Same story.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;It just wasn't hot enough, the oven wasn't up to the task.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Eventually we served up the ham and veg and I moved the turkey to the smaller ovens.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In my frustration I turned the oven off and on, I don't even know why.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The light came on and I realised...&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;...it had turned itself off! Soon it was piping hot, the potatoes were roasting and everyone was well fed.&nbsp;</blockquote>&nbsp;The lesson a year ago was that if you put the work in there's a way to make it work, even when things seem to be falling apart and I argued it was the same story when it came to living the Write Life.&nbsp;This year I share that excerpt to make an entirely different application.&nbsp;After all, yesterday I wrote you an email talking about that self-same Christmas dinner being served up to a slightly smaller crowd.&nbsp;Did you notice what was missing?&nbsp;I'm sure all of you memorise my emails and compare them year on year...&nbsp;...you don't?&nbsp;sigh&nbsp;&nbsp;Fine, I'll tell you what was missing.&nbsp;Any disasters.&nbsp;Did we finally arrive in the promised land of the new Church buildings? Did Big Wes finally fix the oven for good?&nbsp;No sir, not one bit.&nbsp;We're using the same old dodgy oven in the same old cramped out kitchen.&nbsp;But I learned from the disaster.&nbsp;I canned the turkey from the menu and went with a more forgiving ham. I switched up roast veg for boiled and pureed alternatives. I precooked the sprouts so when I inevitably forgot them it only took ten minutes to heat them through.&nbsp;In other words, I accepted the limitations in place, made a solid plan, and worked around them.&nbsp;(It also cut a solid 3-4 hours from my prep time the previous day.)&nbsp;The harsh reality of life is you can't always match up what you daydream about with what you can actually achieve, and the danger of daydreaming is it stops you from taking action on what actually works.&nbsp;Too many people look at a dodgy oven and think "well, either I have to stress my nut about the turkey or just give up".&nbsp;But instead of deciding that your book won't make J .K. Rowling money, why not figure out a plan to make it an Amazon bestseller?&nbsp;Instead of deciding that you can't land a major copywriting job, why not use our Ghostletter Seminars to land a couple of recurring thousand buck a month newsletter clients?&nbsp;Instead of despairing that you can't go mega-viral, why not figure out how to reliably add a couple of subscribers every day on Substack Notes?&nbsp;(The Art of the Start Pioneers are recognising the underlying issue with all of this because we covered it last week.)&nbsp;None of these are hypothetical issues, they're all real feelings I've wrestled with over the years.&nbsp;And as my laptop and mental batteries start to fade...&nbsp;...let me wrap this up by reminding you that perfect is really just an excuse for not doing anything at all.&nbsp;<a href="https://carran.link/bad?__position__=0" style="color: #1155cc; font-size: inherit; text-decoration: none !important;" target="_blank" class="mention" colorlink="#1155cc" autoboldlinks="true" data-id="https://carran.link/bad?__position__=0" data-label="I can help you overcome that" data-tooltip-id="cZ21pOPR3JWIMVrECY8UT">I can help you overcome that</a>.&nbsp;Yours,&nbsp;James Carran, Craftsman Writer</pre>

<pre style="overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap; 
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 font-family: Helvetica; font-size:16px; width: 100%; max-width: 600px">Yesterday, yet again, I exchanged my computer for an apron and set to work.&nbsp;(And yet again, cooked up a writing lesson from it...)&nbsp;It was the annual Christmas dinner for our student ministry.&nbsp;This year I took it easy, because I'm still recovering from the various winter illnesses.&nbsp;So instead of turkey, we served up pineapple ham, cauliflower cheese, potatoes, parsnip-apple purée, maple-glazed carrots, minted peas, bacon Brussels and homemade cranberry sauce.&nbsp;All for forty-five folks, and all prepped and cooked by my own two hands.&nbsp;(I did get someone else to blend the puree, but that was it.)&nbsp;That evening, while I wrangled kids into bed, Jenni was out at the Carol service and one of our friends said:&nbsp;"You sure married a great cook."&nbsp;To which my dear wife, never one to let egos expand, replied "No, I married a mediocre cook... And a scientist, not a writer."&nbsp;Well, she is right, though I would amend it to say she married a competent cook.&nbsp;Which is exactly what I was.&nbsp;Competent.&nbsp;I could make a big pot of chilli. An okay curry. I could execute most basic recipes and they'd come out just fine.&nbsp;But I have a philosophy that if you have to do something regularly, either you learn to be efficient and get it over with, or you learn to enjoy it for its own sake.&nbsp;Otherwise, you're just wasting your life away one day at a time.&nbsp;So I set out to enjoy cooking for its own sake.&nbsp;I learned more recipes and tried different things.&nbsp;I learned some basic cooking techniques and terms.&nbsp;In other words, I became more competent, until I could make some pretty decent food reliably.&nbsp;And then, in a phase where Jenni was working and I was free because my Masters in Molecular Parasitology (the aborted PhD) was over and my accounting job hadn't started, I hit the fast forward button.&nbsp;I cooked a new recipe nearly every single day, worked through my favourite cookbook almost cover to cover, discovered Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat and learned the principles of flavour creation in cooking, and started to embed the skills and principles into my brain.&nbsp;All of which mean that now I can rock up to cook for forty-five people, make six different sides, and my own recipe ham, and do it all without a plan or a single glance at a recipe.&nbsp;What does it have to do with writing?&nbsp;Nothing, and everything.&nbsp;Skill development across all disciplines is a little different, but it's a lot the same.&nbsp;You have to master basic technical aspects of your craft before you try and "be yourself" or "create something new" or else you're going to make a complete hash of it.&nbsp;I love this quote from Ray Bradbury:&nbsp;<blockquote>And finally, have you trained well enough so you can say what you want to say without getting hamstrung? Have you written enough so that you are relaxed and can allow the truth to get out without being ruined by self-conscious posturings or changed by a desire to become rich?&nbsp;&nbsp;Ray Bradbury, Zen and the Art of Writing</blockquote>&nbsp;There is a certain level of basic technical competence in ever field that is required before you can even think about "creative expression". Call it the the Bradbury Basics.&nbsp;Until you have trained at least that well, you cannot even think of saying what you want to say, let alone saying it well.&nbsp;With writing as with cookery, most people have imbibed at least enough to reach basic competence in their own language by default. Though it seems in both cases that is slipping away in the modern world...&nbsp;But that can breed a false level of confidence when people branch out to adjacent skills, only to find out that no, baking is not the same as cooking. Nor is, say, fiction writing the same as essay-style prose.&nbsp;That last is especially annoying to me on sites like Substack where people will peddle their wares as storytellers and fictioneers and never have studied basic craft like motivation-reaction units or creating conflict.&nbsp;I've stumbled over stories were nothing happens (and not in a good way) or the thoughts of the character are divorced from their actions and the writers seem blissfully unaware that there's any problems.&nbsp;Then, of course, they post platitudes about being true to yourself and having the confidence to tell the story only you can tell etc.&nbsp;Dear reader, if you are not competent, you have no story to tell. You are hamstrung. You will start to tell your story and stumble over the first steps.&nbsp;Master the Bradbury basics of whatever type of writing you have in mind and then start to experiment or else you'll never know what you're doing wrong when it fails, or what you're doing right so you can repeat it.&nbsp;And because I don't have much to sell on that, let me direct you instead to an old Write Way issue "Writing Routines and Skinny Jeans" which I've recently refreshed on Substack, it's an attempt to drill down into what I think are the "Bradbury Basics" of writing routines (not that I use that phrase, given I only coined it today):&nbsp;<a href="https://open.substack.com/pub/getpaidwrite/p/wwn23-writing-routines-and-skinny-jeans?r=fkosl&amp;utm_campaign=post&amp;utm_medium=web&amp;showWelcomeOnShare=false" style="color: #1155cc; font-size: inherit; text-decoration: none !important;" target="_blank" class="mention" colorlink="#1155cc" autoboldlinks="true" data-id="https://open.substack.com/pub/getpaidwrite/p/wwn23-writing-routines-and-skinny-jeans?r=fkosl&amp;utm_campaign=post&amp;utm_medium=web&amp;showWelcomeOnShare=false" data-label="https://open.substack.com/pub/getpaidwrite/p/wwn23-writing-routines-and-skinny-jeans?r=fkosl&amp;utm_campaign=post&amp;utm_medium=web&amp;showWelcomeOnShare=false" data-tooltip-id="7CNf4ZwmS_gYcXwr2ai5W">https://open.substack.com/pub/getpaidwrite/p/wwn23-writing-routines-and-skinny-jeans?r=fkosl&amp;utm_campaign=post&amp;utm_medium=web&amp;showWelcomeOnShare=false</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;Give it a share while you're there,&nbsp;James Carran, Craftsman Writer&nbsp;P.s. for those who are paid subscribers, I have now reinstalled the Craftsman's Corner on all the appropriate posts, including this one, which specifically looks at another of the Bradbury Basics - idea generation.&nbsp;I plan to start recording old issues of the Write Way as audio soon, another paid perk. But it'll have to wait for a full vocal recovery... Then further down the line perhaps I'll do tidied up deep dives into storytelling, persuasion etc. But at that point I'll raise the price on any new subscribers.</pre>

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 font-family: Helvetica; font-size:16px; width: 100%; max-width: 600px">...but a whimper.&nbsp;On Sunday, I'm cooking Christmas lunch for the students in our church. Thirty or so.&nbsp;In my repeated illness and general exhaustion I figured this year I'll take it easy.&nbsp;So instead of masterfully managing turkey in our dodgy church oven, I'm going to make ham. My own rough recipe, slowcooking it in pineapple juice before glazing in dark muscovado and maple.&nbsp;I need enough for some thirty hungry students.&nbsp;So I figure a couple of five kilo hams will do the trick for a generous Christmas lunch.&nbsp;But alas, nobody has recipes for that and I can't seem to find an equation for slow cooker timing (plenty for boiling).&nbsp;So I google the question directly.&nbsp;"how long to cook 5kg ham in slow cooker"&nbsp;Up pops the "helpful" AI summary.&nbsp;<blockquote>For a 5kg ham, cook on Low for 6-8 hours or High for 4-5 hours, but use a meat thermometer for accuracy, aiming for 63°C/145°F (or 75°C/160°F if uncooked) internally, and remember longer cooking (up to 10 hrs) makes it more tender/shred-able. Always ensure your ham fits and allow resting time after cooking.&nbsp;</blockquote>What? Six hours?&nbsp;That seemed a little low to me because recipes had been suggesting that length of time for a 2kg ham.&nbsp;So I changed one number to check it out...&nbsp;"how long to cook 3kg ham in slow cooker"&nbsp;Up pops the "helpful" AI summary.&nbsp;<blockquote>A 3kg ham will take 10-12 hours on low or 6-7 hours on high in a slow cooker. To check if it's done, use a food thermometer to ensure the internal temperature has reached 71°C (160°F) and the meat is tender and cooked through.</blockquote>&nbsp;So a 3kg ham takes twice as long as a 5kg one? I am no thermodynamic wunderkind but I am one-hundred percent certain it does not.&nbsp;&nbsp;Alas, not all people have the common sense and the cooking instinct to double check it.&nbsp;Some poor unsuspecting midwest Mom is going to cook their five kilo ham for less than a three kilo one deserves and as the dinner party lie dying, doubled over the bathroom with a whimper, Skynet will win.&nbsp;We thought it would send the Terminator but it sent the Trichinella instead.&nbsp;(That is one heck of a nerdy joke, but my second degree was in parasitology, so I'm leaving it in.)&nbsp;But humourous (and slightly concerning) AI mishaps aside, this highlights the problem with CrapGPT and its companions.&nbsp;People think they're whipsmart computer intelligences.&nbsp;They're not.&nbsp;They're really, really dumb.&nbsp;I guess A.D. was already taken, so they had to call it A.I. instead.&nbsp;(Another nerdy joke, aren't you lucky?)&nbsp;But I do hate it being called "intelligence" when all it's doing is picking the next most likely word, or scraping the first ten google results and smashing it together. If you can't realise that a larger ham takes longer to cook, you're not "intelligent".&nbsp;Now, I'm sure AI has a use if you can be bothered to figure it out. If you treat it like a not-very-bright toddler and give it braindead simple, step by step instructions, then maybe it only kills you with food poisoning one time out of ten.&nbsp;Maybe that's helpful to you.&nbsp;I don't get it.&nbsp;Personally, I prefer to do things the old fashioned way.&nbsp;Learn to do things badly first, then well.&nbsp;Write fast enough that your own thoughts go out into the world unsullied and just as speedy as the AI bot-botherers.&nbsp;Hone those words all by your lonesome, effectively, so they do their job.&nbsp;Develop your unique voice so you stand out amid the roboslop.&nbsp;It's the hard way, but the good way.&nbsp;And if you do, your writing career might end with a bang but never a whimper.&nbsp;<a href="https://carran.link/fast?__position__=0" style="color: #1155cc; font-size: inherit; text-decoration: none !important;" target="_blank" class="mention" colorlink="#1155cc" autoboldlinks="true" data-id="https://carran.link/fast?__position__=0" data-label="Start by writing fast, it's foundational." data-tooltip-id="eiPyyejnd7jExODOImhfH">Start by writing fast, it's foundational.</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;You'll pick the rest up as you go.&nbsp;Yours,&nbsp;James Carran, Craftsman Writer</pre>

<pre style="overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap; 
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 font-family: Helvetica; font-size:16px; width: 100%; max-width: 600px">There's a passage in my favourite book of the Bible I've quoted before:&nbsp;<blockquote>Cast your bread upon the waters,&nbsp;for you will find it after many days.&nbsp;Give a portion to seven, or even to eight,&nbsp;for you know not what disaster may happen on earth.&nbsp;If the clouds are full of rain,&nbsp;they empty themselves on the earth,&nbsp;and if a tree falls to the south or to the north,&nbsp;in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie.&nbsp;He who observes the wind will not sow,&nbsp;and he who regards the clouds will not reap.&nbsp;&nbsp;As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.&nbsp;&nbsp;In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good.&nbsp;&nbsp;Ecclesiastes 11:1-6</blockquote>&nbsp;Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days.&nbsp;I was reminded of that today when I got a random email from Gumroad. Now, Gumroad, or Scumroad as I call it, is a platform I have not used in many years.&nbsp;I hate it, if you can't tell.&nbsp;It was all the rage in years gone by, but then they redesigned it to look like a thirteen year old girl on acid did the graphics, and demanded 10% of your revenue (plus transaction fees) while providing no benefits.&nbsp;I moved to Thrivecart and never looked back.&nbsp;But that's not the point.&nbsp;The point is that Scumroad is where I hosted my original lead magnet Secrets to Make Your Sentence Sing, which I threw together in early 2021 when I figured I should start collecting emails.&nbsp;Nearly five years later, today I got this email from Scumroad:&nbsp;<blockquote>[email redacted] reviewed Secrets to Make Your Sentence SingFive Stars"Wonderful... I get the point and try it after reading! It's work!"&nbsp;</blockquote>&nbsp;The funny thing is after over three-thousand downloads and seventy-eight ratings, [email redacted] is the first review.&nbsp;I cast my bread upon the waters.&nbsp;After many days I found it again.&nbsp;First, in the form of my email list. Some of you have been with me since those early days. (If you joined my email list from downloading 7 secrets, hit reply and say hi.)&nbsp;After a few more days, in the form of partnering with TheArtofPurpose on Masterclass and CPP and other content creation ventures.&nbsp;After yet more days, in the form of a ghostwriting partnership with J. K. Molina and then for a time on my own.&nbsp;After many, many days, it's still returning in small ways.&nbsp;This is the sum total of the writing career model.&nbsp;At least, if you want a sensible and sustainable business instead of hoping to get lucky.&nbsp;You keep casting bread on the waters. Some of it comes back big. Some of it comes back small. Some of it comes back soon. Some of it comes back a long time later.&nbsp;But every single crumb is a part of a breadcrumb trail that leads people back into your world.&nbsp;It's all about the slow accumulation of authority. Of building a body of work.&nbsp;Take the recent launch of The Art of the Start. Did it do well? Yes, I'd say so.&nbsp;Will it set me up financially forever? No.&nbsp;But does it add to my body of work? Deepen my relationship with the pioneers? Give me something new to cast upon the waters? Increase the quality of my email list? Improve my own thinking and writing?&nbsp;Yes to all of those.&nbsp;It's more bread.&nbsp;Do things that accumulate.&nbsp;Write things that can be spread and shared.&nbsp;It's one reason I publish a public weekly newsletter in addition to this smaller, more cosy, cabin email list.&nbsp;The Write Way is written to be cast upon the waters and see what happens. I want people to share it, to spread it far and wide. To bring more people into our world. It's why I recreated Craftsman's Corner, and offered paid subscriptions and a referral program.&nbsp;To help it grow and go out.&nbsp;The plan there, because I can share the behind the scenes with you guys, is also to introduce a podcast where I read the Write Way posts for those as prefer to listen (that'll be a paid perk) and to use the Substack Chat feature to build a little community of writers.&nbsp;As I build out the feature set I'll also raise the price of the paid subscription.&nbsp;And what will I do with my new-found riches?&nbsp;(That was a joke, it's a cheap offer and unlikely to make me millions.)&nbsp;Reinvest it in flour, yeast, and water.&nbsp;Make more bread.&nbsp;Cast it out.&nbsp;In other words, I'll use it to run ads in other people's newsletters, promote the Write Way, and figure out new ways to make it grow.&nbsp;Again, that's how you actually succeed.&nbsp;While the world is reaching for the "big win" that's going to "put them on the map" you just keep casting out your bread. Doing the little things, writing a body of work that builds on itself.&nbsp;And if you want to help cast some bread on the Substack waters, <a href="https://open.substack.com/pub/getpaidwrite/p/the-five-horse-secret-to-effective?__position__=0&amp;r=fkosl&amp;utm_campaign=post&amp;utm_medium=web" style="color: #1155cc; font-size: inherit; text-decoration: none !important;" target="_blank" class="mention" colorlink="#1155cc" autoboldlinks="true" data-id="https://open.substack.com/pub/getpaidwrite/p/the-five-horse-secret-to-effective?__position__=0&amp;r=fkosl&amp;utm_campaign=post&amp;utm_medium=web" data-label="share our latest post over there and/or upgrade to paid" data-tooltip-id="RgsYwuoHbhVU_h-YTgWD-">share our latest post over there and/or upgrade to paid</a>.&nbsp;Yours,&nbsp;James Carran, Craftsman Writer.</pre>

<pre style="overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap; 
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 font-family: Helvetica; font-size:16px; width: 100%; max-width: 600px">Sometimes the world lines up just right.&nbsp;More on that in a moment.&nbsp;But here I am, lying back in bed at four in the afternoon, tapping out this email.&nbsp;In my post-launch crash I appear to have acquired a flu.&nbsp;Which, to be fair, I think is just a bad cold but in my sleep-deprived toddler-riddled state post-launch, is hitting me pretty hard.&nbsp;I have floods of emails to reply to from The Art of the Start pioneers, and the emails for the course itself to send out.&nbsp;And so I'm not in the right frame of mind to think up a witty and wise daily email for you as well. But the daily rhythm is important and I don't like to miss it without really good reason.&nbsp;So what do I do when I'm struggling like this?&nbsp;What do you do on the days when a warm blanket and a hot toddy seem a lot more appealing than writing?&nbsp;Well, I don't have the energy to wrap this up in a witty way so let me just tell ya straight that I have three things.&nbsp;First up I do admin.&nbsp;Exciting, I know.&nbsp;But as Art of the Start Pioneer and Cabin Crewmember Codename V for Vendetta confessed recently, cleaning out of emails has become her latest doomscrolling habit.&nbsp;A habit I sympathise with, but as I said to her the problem is that the emails do need cleaned.&nbsp;And so I do it when I'm ill and struggling.&nbsp;That way it's out of my way when I get my energy back.&nbsp;The second thing I do is that I remind myself why I do this in the first place.&nbsp;If it was just for me, I would have given up ages ago. But I get the emails from Art of the Start pioneers interacting and enthusing about the latest lesson... I get reviews of my kids' book from parents whose children are finally sleeping through the night because of it... I have comments on Substack notes thanking me for clarifying concepts.&nbsp;All of that reminds me that writing nothing is not just a tragedy for me, but for the readers who want my writing out there in the world.&nbsp;And lastly, because all the motivation in the world can't fix up the flu...&nbsp;...I have a fallback plan.&nbsp;Which for my email list is Cabin Crewmember John Bejakovic's Daily Email Habit.&nbsp;That's a separate thing to Daily Email House, <a href="https://carran.link/daily-email-house?__position__=0" style="color: #1155cc; font-size: inherit; text-decoration: none !important;" target="_blank" class="mention" colorlink="#1155cc" autoboldlinks="true" data-id="https://carran.link/daily-email-house?__position__=0" data-label="the free community I linked in yesterday's email and which you can still join here" data-tooltip-id="4sNzTKsxiVqzMxk1ajbJ_">the free community I linked in yesterday's email and which you can still join here</a>.&nbsp;Daily Email Habit is my fallback plan for my email list.&nbsp;John sends out a little "prompt" every day for your daily email, together with some hints on how to execute it.&nbsp;Now, normally I'm so brimming with ideas of my own that I don't need it.&nbsp;But then there are days like today.&nbsp;And that's where the world lined up just right because I turned to daily email habit and lo...&nbsp;...John's prompt this morning was this: How can I inspire people by sharing what I do when I struggle?&nbsp;&nbsp;Which is all starting to feel a little bit meta, in a way that's quite confusing for my flu-addled brain, because that's exactly what I've done.&nbsp;So, dear reader, when you're struggling...&nbsp;...clear out the braindead admin tasks, reconnect with your readers, and have some backup systems in place.&nbsp;Simple? Yes.&nbsp;But it works to keep the wheel rolling until you wake up again.&nbsp;Yours,&nbsp;James Carran, Craftsman Writer</pre>

<pre style="overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap; 
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 font-family: Helvetica; font-size:16px; width: 100%; max-width: 600px">This email is the hardest to write.&nbsp;The one straight after a successful promotional push.&nbsp;Here I am, pretty tired and emailed-out...&nbsp;...I have a bunch of new people on the Carran's Cabin list who bought The Art of the Start from the Write Way list.&nbsp;...I have even more who bought The Art of the Start from the Cabin and are getting an extra daily email from me for the next few weeks.&nbsp;...I even have some (I still love ya, promise) who decided The Art of the Start wasn't for them this round and are sitting somewhat stunned by the volley of emails I sent out last weekend.&nbsp;And on top of all that, I have already sent one email today and written one up for tomorrow, for Pioneers of The Art of the Start. On top of some hymn-work and thinking through a book idea.&nbsp;Not to mention we're still competing with the promotional flurry everyone leans into at this time of year - yes, even the people who haven't emailed you in months.&nbsp;All to say there's a certain pressure to "get this one right".&nbsp;A pressure that I instantly say "clear off" to, (I didn't create "<a href="https://carran.link/bad?__position__=0" style="color: #1155cc; font-size: inherit; text-decoration: none !important;" target="_blank" class="mention" colorlink="#1155cc" autoboldlinks="true" data-id="https://carran.link/bad?__position__=0" data-label="how to write bad" data-tooltip-id="AApviTTeMm1K90VWrYbD7">how to write bad</a>" for nothing), but I am going to continue my tradition after these heavy promotional pushes...&nbsp;...of offering up a free resource you might not know of.&nbsp;I've mentioned before that I signed up for Cabin Crewmember and copywriter John Bejakovic's service "Daily Email Habit". Well, as part of his launch of that he offered a bolt-on community for customers called&nbsp;"Daily Email House"&nbsp;&nbsp;(That's not the house that lived in my head, in case you thought I was paying off the subject line already.)&nbsp;Said community cost around thirty bucks a month to be part of and was well worth the cost. Especially because John put a ton of effort into creating various playbooks for growing your list, reaching out to partners, increasing your open rates etc.&nbsp;But I said something about a post promotional free resource...&nbsp;...which I shall now unveil as that self-same Daily Email House.&nbsp;Because of his belief that an email list plus community is a stronger marketing channel than a list alone, John has made the resources inside the community completely free. Not a free trial or a limited access model, just straight up free.&nbsp;He's a generous fellow, from whom I have learned a lot.&nbsp;But let me pay off that subject line before I send you over to John's house.&nbsp;Because the mission of that community is to "use your daily email list to pay for a house" and here I am, thinking about moving next November.&nbsp;After all, we currently live in a three-bed house, all six of us plus regular guests.&nbsp;And when I say three-bed, I do not mean American-suburb-three-bed, I mean a hundred-square-foot-plus-cabin-three-bed. I mean each bedroom has about enough room for a bed.&nbsp;So I'm looking at John's mission...&nbsp;...and looking at the house I've had my eye on for five years...&nbsp;...and looking at our mortgage running out next November...&nbsp;...and looking at you, dear cabin crewmember...&nbsp;...and wondering...&nbsp;...will you buy me a house?&nbsp;Not you, personally, though if you happen to be filthy rich and willing to send me $300,000 or so hit reply and let me know. But you (and future yous) collectively.&nbsp;Now, none of that means anything to you.&nbsp;You likely don't care if I live in house, hut or hovel so long as I keep sending these emails and creating great products for you to help you in your writing craft.&nbsp;But here is an interesting thing I realised as I pondered it.&nbsp;I started feeling a LOT more motivated to make offers. To send these daily emails. To create something valuable and market it better.&nbsp;Money means nearly nothing to me.&nbsp;But making it tangible like that?&nbsp;Being able to look at the specific house we could live in as a family, see where each room would be, realise I'd (almost) have space for my books, planning where we could have whole families to stay, how much closer to church and the beach we'd be...&nbsp;...suddenly it made it seem worth the work.&nbsp;And I started planning ways to fill in the gap we'd need.&nbsp;Find a way to make your dreams more tangible - and you might actually achieve them.&nbsp;I think that's the genius of John's Daily Email House community challenge. It makes it feel real. At least if you do as I've done and pick out the house you're working for.&nbsp;So if you send daily (or near daily) emails and you want a community to help and a challenge to make it feel real, I recommend applying to join today.&nbsp;Like I said, this is free.&nbsp;So it won't help me pay for that lovely old house at all. But maybe you'll be inspired, strike gold, make millions, and buy everything I sell to help me hit my own house goal...&nbsp;...maybe.&nbsp;But regardless of what's not in it for me, I do think there's a lot in it for you:&nbsp;<a href="https://carran.link/daily-email-house" style="color: #1155cc; font-size: inherit; text-decoration: none !important;" target="_blank" class="mention" colorlink="#1155cc" autoboldlinks="true" data-id="https://carran.link/daily-email-house" data-label="https://carran.link/daily-email-house" data-tooltip-id="2yyk3t9bHRTNMsKWebi6t">https://carran.link/daily-email-house</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;Yours,&nbsp;James Carran, Craftsman Writer</pre>