Wrote my way to a better holiday

How to actually "steal like an artist"

The truth about writing apps (I used one today)

One thing the gurus might get righter than I

Get your questions answered by my favourite email marketer

What writers get wrong about editing

Starting at the end to avoid a big mistake.

The life-changing magic of actually giving a F***

The real writer's tech stack setup

sometimes you're better to link arms and drink from the firehose together.

When you're enjoying the project so much you forget to write about it...

An open letter to the writer who worries they'll never make it (featuring pirates, for some reason)

Having coffee with a hobbit

Retrenchment days and the tyranny of metrics

<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">Today I got to sleep around 2am, mostly my own fault.&nbsp;Then I woke up at 6am, mostly my kids fault.&nbsp;And so, as I sit here in my sleep-addled state of brain fuzziness, I'm doing what everyone else does on days like today.&nbsp;Having a retrenchment day and meditating on metrics.&nbsp;No?&nbsp;Just me?&nbsp;Oh. Well, then if that makes no sense to you, do read on and all will be made clearish.&nbsp;And I guess it's an unusual take, because five minutes online and you'd think that everyone loves and lives by metrics.&nbsp;<blockquote>How many likes did that post get? How many clicks?&nbsp;&nbsp;How many words did you write? How many posts?&nbsp;&nbsp;How many sales did you make? How much money?&nbsp;</blockquote>&nbsp;Metrics can be a useful thing. What gets measured gets managed and so on. But the tyranny of metrics is that the place this flashing neon sign in front of you saying:&nbsp;"Improve me! Improve me!"&nbsp;They give you an urgent-seeming easy next step. Before you know it, you're six months down the line and you haven't stopped to think.&nbsp;But it's important to stop every so often and clear your day of metrics and mayhem and make time for the stuff that metrics can't measure.&nbsp;Stuff like retrenchment. (Don't google the definition because google definitions suck. I'll define it in a sec.)&nbsp;Ideally, you schedule this in regularly. But hey, if you don't then you can at least use the slow days after a bad night's sleep as a starting point...&nbsp;...you won't be all that productive on your metrics anyway.&nbsp;So, retrenchment.&nbsp;My hardcopy Oxford English Dictionary defines it as:&nbsp;<blockquote>I 1 The action of cutting something down, off, or out; (a) curtailment, (a) reduction. b The action of excising or deleting something; an instance of this. 2 The action of economising or cutting down expenditure; an economy. II 3 A fortification usually consisting of a trench and parapet, esp. an inner line of defence within a large work.</blockquote>&nbsp;(Google only gives you 2 and misses the texture of the word. Grok tells me the word I want is retreat or recenter. Both are wrong.)&nbsp;Yes, a retrenchment day has elements of retreat, of recentering, of refocusing. It probably has elements of a lot of things starting with re-, because it's a day of reflection.&nbsp;It's a day to sit and seriously think about your habits and how they're holding up.&nbsp;I find it far too easy to drift off course, to let the accretion of bad habits go unnoticed until you find that you're weighed down and wasting your weeks.&nbsp;Retrenchment is all about rebuilding your mental fortifications. Taking a step back to reconsider your routines.&nbsp;Of late I've been far too distracted, spent way too much time on my phone, on X-Twitter, frittering away time.&nbsp;And although I've noticed it, I've not yet dealt with it.&nbsp;So today, as I'm sitting here and focusing less thanks to my tiredness, it seemed like a good time to accept this as a low word-count day and spend some time shoring up my mental defences instead. Of cutting out and cutting down, curtailing the constant distractions.&nbsp;In a word, retrenching.&nbsp;What does that look like practically?&nbsp;Well, first I've re-engaged the Freedom app.<ul><li style="margin: 15px 0px;">All social media including email is blocked from 0800 - 1200 on work days</li><li style="margin: 15px 0px;">The entire internet is blocked from 2200 - 0500 every day</li><li style="margin: 15px 0px;">Some sites are permanently blocked</li></ul>As I go, I'll adapt and tweak those until I've got a schedule that works. Probably an afternoon session, maybe an adjusted list of apps.&nbsp;It's amazing how many times you probably check social media and email during the day without consciously intending to. Even while writing this email I've tried to jump across to X a few times. Admittedly, I'm tired, but still...&nbsp;...think how much better your writing would be if you didn't distract yourself every second you got stuck?&nbsp;I'm also writing this email in the morning so I can wrap up early this afternoon. I'll do chores and boring stuff that needs done today, so that when I'm better rested I can be productive on other days. I'll sit down and sketch out the week ahead, plan my projects more than I sometimes do and so on.&nbsp;The point is to take a step back and seriously look at your life.&nbsp;<blockquote>What's getting in the way of your progress?&nbsp;&nbsp;What's weighing on your mind because you left it undone?&nbsp;&nbsp;What's not in place that would make everything else easier?&nbsp;</blockquote>&nbsp;So often we can get lost in autopilot, forgetting to take a day here and there to retrench, to build up our mental fortifications, to reassess where we're at and set things up for future success.&nbsp;I've noticed that creeping in across a few areas of life and so I'm retrenching, in order to attack my goals much more effectively when I'm done.&nbsp;So take a day this week, dear reader, and retrench a little. Audit your habits. Look at your routines and your life choices. Consider your relationships. Look for places you need to shore up and put more work in, places you can make a small change that makes everything easier. Maybe even study a course that's been sitting on your digital shelves, <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="or indeed buy a new one" data-tooltip-id="kQRQZhhfEswmtJ6wvxepv">or indeed buy a new one</a>.&nbsp;But I have nothing to strongly sell you, because your action from this email is to set aside some time to retrench.&nbsp;Yours,&nbsp;James Carran, Craftsman Writer&nbsp;P.s. if you want something else to do, hit reply and let me know any questions you have for John Bejakovic. I've had some good ones from Saturday's email, but I can always use more and I want to finalise them tomorrow.</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">And I need your help.&nbsp;&nbsp;Dear reader,&nbsp;Those of you who have been reading these emails more than a week or so will know Cabin crewmember Codename Baggins.&nbsp;Codename Baggins is known to the rest of the world as John Bejakovic, master of marketing and scorner of wizards.&nbsp;And for those who are new, he has recently published an excellent book "10 Commandments of Con Men, Pickup Artists, Magicians, Door-to-Door Salesmen, Hypnotists, Copywriters, Negotiators, Political Propagandists, Stand Up Comedians, and Oscar-Winning Screenwriters"&nbsp;&nbsp;Now, the erstwhile hobbit and internet marketer himself has agreed to jump on zoom and have coffee with yours truly...&nbsp;...so I can pick his brain on how we simple minded writers can use the dastardly tactics inside his book to write better and market our work more effectively without selling our souls.&nbsp;Do you have questions for John?&nbsp;&nbsp;That chat will be one week today, at noon UK time.&nbsp;So if you have any questions, you have until noon on Tuesday the 24th of June to get them in by replying to this email. Anything goes, I'll edit, anonymise and filter them of course.&nbsp;And in the meantime, his book can be bought right here: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F8BMKDYY" style="color: #1155cc; font-size: inherit; text-decoration: none !important;" target="_blank" class="mention" colorlink="#1155cc" autoboldlinks="true" data-id="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F8BMKDYY" data-label="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F8BMKDYY" data-tooltip-id="M8j6rW0VCeDquXFcE6pXM">https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F8BMKDYY</a>&nbsp;&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">Dear reader,&nbsp;I know. I get it.&nbsp;Writing is hard.&nbsp;You look out across the seas of social media and see many a scurvy rogue making off with everyone else's hard earned cash.&nbsp;Seems everyone and their aunt are making out like bandits while you're sailing along steady, glancing askance at the storms up ahead, wondering if you need to batten down the hatches.&nbsp;Wondering if you're going to make it at all.&nbsp;That's when the danger is greatest.&nbsp;When you're looking left and right, up and down, port and starboard, stern and bow, and you're thinking:&nbsp;<blockquote>"is there a better direction to head?"&nbsp;&nbsp;"They seem to be making headway over there."&nbsp;&nbsp;"That water looks calmer."&nbsp;</blockquote><blockquote>"Her ship is running across heavily-laden merchantmen filled with silver and fine wine, and all I've got is this half-finished keg of rum..."&nbsp;&nbsp;"Maybe there's better booty to be had yonder..."&nbsp;&nbsp;"Maybe..."&nbsp;&nbsp;"Maybe..."&nbsp;&nbsp;"Maybe..."&nbsp;&nbsp;"Maybe..."&nbsp;</blockquote>&nbsp;Ah, but comparison may be the joy of thieves, dear reader, but it done do you no good at all.&nbsp;Truth is that comparison doesn't lead you to better booty, it just gets you lost.&nbsp;Start tacking to port and starboard and soon enough you're sailing in circles, chasing the next best new thing, instead of ploughing a straight furrow across the seas until you hit the tropical island of your dreams.&nbsp;The goodship Carran may be a leaky old tub on its off days, but it's sailing straight where it wants to go...&nbsp;...okay, belay the belaboured metaphors a moment.&nbsp;But it's truly an apt word-picture.&nbsp;Because if you've ever sailed the seas, you know that the hardest part is looking out at the vast expanse of ocean ahead of you and seeing...&nbsp;...nothing.&nbsp;There are no landmarks in the open ocean. Likewise, in writing. And so it's easy to start getting distracted by your first mate. Or the ship on the horizon. Or the...&nbsp;...I'm getting carried away with the metaphor again.&nbsp;But hopefully you get the point.&nbsp;It's not like a job where the next step is obvious. Associate, senior associate, manager, senior manager, director, partner, retired.&nbsp;Seaman, petty officer, midshipman, ensign, captain, commodore, various admirals, dead or decorated.&nbsp;It's all straightforward.&nbsp;The <s style="font-size: inherit;">pirate's</s> writer's life is more complicated. Less set out for you. There are no easy signs that you've "made it" as a writer, there are no landmarks, no thresholds you can easily see.&nbsp;It's easy to get distracted.&nbsp;You see what others are doing and you start to question your own progress. You feel like you're standing still. But you can't see what those folks are sailing towards. You can't see how far you've come.&nbsp;You get a little sun-struck and start making silly decisions when you don't keep your bearings.&nbsp;What is the solution, dear reader?&nbsp;Know where you're aiming for. Your tropical island ain't mine and ain't Kieran Drew's and ain't Ben Settle's. Neither is your writing goal. Copywriters have different goals to fiction authors who have different goals to hymnwriters. And even looking at one copywriter to another copywriter, you have different goals.&nbsp;So set your own, I can't help ya with that one mateys. You gotta sit down and do some solid introspecting to figure out what you actually want and set those goals.&nbsp;Then you got to set some landmarks, thresholds and such along the way.&nbsp;You want to get rich writing? Fine. Define rich. Then break it down.&nbsp;Say that's never having to worry about money, and you figure that's a few million in the bank. Fine. Break it down. You got to pay the rent first. Earn enough to do that each month, celebrate. Then add the utilities and the food bills. Then add luxuries and so on.&nbsp;Celebrate at six figures, at seven, keep on track by recognising that you're traveling the right direction.&nbsp;But judge your progress by your own metrics. And make them input focused. How many nautical miles did you sail? How many words did you write? How many queries did you send? How many comments did you make?&nbsp;Celebrate your output, but sail by your input.&nbsp;I celebrate milestones like selling 10,000 books or hitting 100,000 followers, or being asked to co-write a book with a brilliant author and theologian...&nbsp;...but I judge myself on words written, ideas generated, and emails sent.&nbsp;I can't fill the sails with wind, but I can make sure the rigging is sound, the decks swabbed and the tiller held steady in the right direction.&nbsp;Have I made it yet?&nbsp;No, I don't think so.&nbsp;For me, that day comes when publishers start approaching me for new books under my own name. For now, they do that to help with other people's books. Which means that my skills are up to scratch but my reputation hasn't risen to match it yet.&nbsp;(More consistent income would also be good. But I'm nearly there with my trading, I'd just like to write some more fuel for that fire.)&nbsp;There is, of course, only one solution to getting there quicker.&nbsp;Write more.&nbsp;Dear reader if you haven't reached your tropical paradise quite yet, sail faster.&nbsp;And if you haven't reached your writerly paradise quite yet, write faster.&nbsp;And you know what to do if you want to learn that, right?&nbsp;Say: "<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="Aye, aye, captain Carran!" data-tooltip-id="6djzFNgrMHsBQuh_q5Vdn">Aye, aye, captain Carran!</a>"&nbsp;Yours,&nbsp;Cap'n James Carran, Craftsman Writer and erstwhile terror of the high seas.</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">...as happened to yours truly today.&nbsp;Approximately five minutes ago I was relaxing back with a pipeful of LJ Peretti that Wade kindly sent me a year or two ago...&nbsp;...and I suddenly realised I'd been sitting here since nine in the morning and I done wrote you nothing.&nbsp;Woops.&nbsp;After drinking from the firehose all last week, as I mentioned in Friday's email, then spending the weekend hosting a visiting preacher and friend, I was excited to get started tapping away at some of the ideas I had.&nbsp;So I did.&nbsp;I started with writing down all the ideas I'd come up with last week.&nbsp;Then I took one, and brainstormed ten different ways to apply it (which turned into twelve).&nbsp;Then I typed those different applications up into my computer (by that point it had turned into sixteen).&nbsp;Then I spent the day outlining six of the sixteen ideas.&nbsp;Over the coming week I'll outline all of them, then pick the most solid ideas to draft examples and send to my publishing contact for feedback.&nbsp;But I was so wrapped up in all that, that I forgot about my daily email until now.&nbsp;Dear reader, it's possible that to some folks out there I look less driven and consistent than the average CAW-CAW. After all, where is The Weekender from this weekend? Where was Thursday's email last week?&nbsp;Most writerly types on the interwebs pride themselves on their consistency, on never missing a day. They'll send justifications for sending their email late, or sending fewer emails than normal, like they're answering unto their boss despite having none.&nbsp;Not so in the cabin.&nbsp;Truth is, when I miss a day (or nearly do) it's nine times out of ten because I'm too busy writing to write content-about-writing. &nbsp;(The tenth time it's because I was lazy, just being honest there. It happens.)&nbsp;And for all I love my cabin-crewmembers, you ain't my boss so I feel no need to justify it either. A statement which might feel ironic coming in an email talking about why I sometimes miss emails, but I'm driving at a different lesson here.&nbsp;That lesson being that if you never get caught up enjoying the project so much you forget to write about it...&nbsp;...maybe you're running a bit too much CAW-CAW and a little too little craftsman.&nbsp;Because yes, content creation should be easy if you're living the life you're preaching about. I don't think I've ever struggled to find things to say about writing because I write all the time.&nbsp;But what shouldn't be so easy is finding the time to create said content. If you have nothing to do all day other than writing an email or some X-Twitter content?&nbsp;Go get something better to do...&nbsp;...and if you do have lots of better things to do and you're struggling to find time to write everything?&nbsp;<a href="https://carran.link/fast?__position__=1" 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__=1" data-label="Then you know what to do..." data-tooltip-id="al2ssDotyYy9fij-uVHXD">Then you know what to do...</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;Best,&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">Dear reader,&nbsp;I write this with my eyes half closed.&nbsp;Your intrepid interlocutor is dog-tired today.&nbsp;Over the last three days I have listened to about fifteen hours of theological lectures and discussion, pitched at a high-level, drunk some dozen or so pints of good beer, and taken part in many hours of conversation.&nbsp;I also travelled a bunch, wrote a bit, and planned a lot.&nbsp;What I have not done is slept much...&nbsp;So, as I sit here with my eyes half closed and wonder about catching up on that shut-eye mid-afternoon, let me just draw out one simple thing for ya today.&nbsp;Because when I got up at four am to fly off to this conference, I had a long lull in my idea generation when it came to my Kid and Christian book writing side.&nbsp;By the time I got back on a plane to get home again, I had a flood of ideas. I had a notable theologian offer to co-write a book with me (more on that if it cometh to pass). I had new friends. I'd gotten my hymns into the hands of ministers and professors of theology alike.&nbsp;I'm a big fan of constant, careful, consumption and connection. In other words, taking a little time each day to consume something useful, to learn, to grow. To take a little time to connect with someone else or share something you've learned.&nbsp;But sometimes you're better to link arms and drink from the firehose together.&nbsp;Sometimes you set aside a chunk of time to just bombard your brain with information and advice. You get in the zone, you start to see connections, you make connections with other people on the same journey...&nbsp;...and you grow faster than you thought possible.&nbsp;So if you're building online, let me suggest you join a group and do it together.&nbsp;It's why I recommend Masterclass 24/7 periodically. Not only is there a ton of content from roadmaps to mini-courses...&nbsp;...and eighty different webinars with creators like Joshua Lisec, Sahil Bloom, Kieran Drew, N***las C*le, Eddy Quan, Zuby, Doug D'anna and more...&nbsp;...but there are also over three-hundred other creators in the trenches with you, learning and growing together, helping each other out.&nbsp;The reason I'm mentioning it today, other than it being a natural end point for this email, is that AoP is running free 7-day trials right now.&nbsp;He only leaves those up for a short time each round, and they always go quick.&nbsp;So why not sign up (free) and check it out? Maybe this week is a good time to link arms and drink from the hose together...&nbsp;<a href="https://carran.link/M247?__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/M247?__position__=0" data-label="https://carran.link/M247" data-tooltip-id="kbYWPTJANFI4JzH_3Yqxe">https://carran.link/M247</a>&nbsp;&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">Someone asked about my tech setup lately.&nbsp;And the truth is that my "tech stack" comprises my laptop...&nbsp;...and that's about it.&nbsp;Okay, that's not quite true.&nbsp;I also normally have:&nbsp;<ul><li style="margin: 15px 0px;">a pipe</li><li style="margin: 15px 0px;">a comfy chair</li><li style="margin: 15px 0px;">something to drink</li></ul>&nbsp;For software?&nbsp;Well, that gets a little more fancy.&nbsp;I type words in whatever box the software gives me to type 'em.&nbsp;If I'm writing an issue of the Write Way, I type it in Beehiiv. If I'm writing this email to you, I type it directly in Berserkermail. If I'm writing a hymn, maybe I'll do it in OneNote or more commonly Notion because can see them all on a kanban board. If I'm writing something else, word or google docs or scrivener, whatever is handy when I start.&nbsp;The point is that there is no carefully honed point.&nbsp;Never let assembling your perfect setup get in the way of actually doing the work.&nbsp;You're a writer, you can do that with a bit of paper and a pencil.&nbsp;I'm writing this email after a good day of learning and a few pints, and I'm doing it with my laptop propped up on my knee, half lying down in bed in my hotel room.&nbsp;Do I miss my comfy chair, my pipe, my cabin with sun streaming in the windows on a bright Aberdeen afternoon? You bet.&nbsp;Do I need them? Nope.&nbsp;Now, a lot of the "tech stack" stuff can help to get your words on the page and then out to your readers with less friction, but a lot of it is just a fancy name for procrastination.&nbsp;CAW-CAWs love to crow about it because it's an easy way to create their content-about-writing, without having to write anything. Everyone loves a list of tools, and they can pepper it with affiliate links too.&nbsp;But it's all for show, real writers write. The tools are largely irrelevant.&nbsp;Here, then is the approach you oughta take:&nbsp;Write.&nbsp;Write a lot.&nbsp;Write some more.&nbsp;When you're done all that writing, and you've kept it up a goodly while, if you happen to spot a point of friction, something that is getting in your way, then you can spend some time fixing it.&nbsp;But if you're sitting there day after day and not writing because you're trying to figure out what app to use? Then dear reader you are missing the point.&nbsp;Pull up a google doc and get typing.&nbsp;Figure the rest out later.&nbsp;And if you really want to figure out where you have friction, move faster. Write more.&nbsp;Something I can help with here: <a href="https://carran.link/fast" style="color: #1155cc; font-size: inherit; text-decoration: none !important;" target="_blank" class="mention" colorlink="#1155cc" autoboldlinks="true" data-id="https://carran.link/fast" data-label="https://carran.link/fast" data-tooltip-id="RPobMJihQ8GiZGxjLLdko">https://carran.link/fast</a>&nbsp;&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">"You need a QR code."&nbsp;&nbsp;"But this is what they sent me..."&nbsp;&nbsp;"Need to scan it."&nbsp;&nbsp;"Yeah, but I got the boarding pass from British Airways and this is it."&nbsp;&nbsp;"Go get another one."&nbsp;&nbsp;Dear reader, I'm writing this at 0945 and I've been on the go for four hours already.&nbsp;Forgive any slight typoos or...&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;...lapses in concentration.&nbsp;I'm at a conference in London for the next three days, it's my one decent break each year. Three days of good teaching, good friends, lots of overly-expensive pints and a good time had by all.&nbsp;But that's tomorrow.&nbsp;Today was getting there. Alas, by the time I'd lined everything up and booked my flights, the best option was the 0540 out of Aberdeen.&nbsp;So I dutifully booked at taxi at 0440, set seven different alarms...&nbsp;...and then couldn't sleep until one in the morning before naturally waking at three. I never sleep well before travelling, alas.&nbsp;The taxi arrived, one hour to departure.&nbsp;I got to the airport, cutting it a little fine, only to be met at the security desk by a disinterested gentleman who wasn't letting me nowhere without a boarding pass that scanned.&nbsp;Only, the boarding pass I was sent had no such option.&nbsp;Forty-five minutes to departure.&nbsp;&nbsp;So I hauled myself back to the desk and queued up.&nbsp;An elderly couple were having a lengthy argument with the check-in clerk...&nbsp;...the minutes dragged on...&nbsp;...eventually she got rid of them and asked if anyone was on the 0540, letting us skip the queue. I got my new QR code enabled boarding pass and hightailed it back.&nbsp;Thirty-five minutes to departure.&nbsp;&nbsp;It's fine because Aberdeen security only takes five minutes except...&nbsp;...something is up with the scanners, or the travellers, and they're flagging every single bag for extra checks - including both of mine at the end of a queue of ten or so.&nbsp;Thirty minutes to departure.&nbsp;&nbsp;Twenty-five minutes to departure.&nbsp;&nbsp;Twenty minutes to departure.&nbsp;&nbsp;And my bags are back in my hand and I'm hightailing it through the terminal while hearing the dulcet tones of the announcer making the last call for my flight.&nbsp;Which all goes very smoothly, the new train line makes getting into London a breeze, and I find myself at the hotel at 0800. Check-in isn't until 1500, but I figured I could drop a bag off in a cupboard somewhere and check-in later...&nbsp;...only to meet the nicest hotel receptionist I've met in a long time.&nbsp;(They're a strangely grumpy breed.)&nbsp;We chat about Aberdeen and she asks me what it's like and makes small talk as the computer loads up.&nbsp;It turns out my room wasn't used last night, so she not only checks me in a full seven hours earlier than I'm supposed to, but also invites me to help myself to coffee and the breakfast buffet seeing as I'm here anyway.&nbsp;"I'm afraid I can't give you a full breakfast, but help yourself to the buffet and the coffee.&nbsp;Just like that, my day goes from a rough start to excellent...&nbsp;...and for the price of a flat white, a double espresso, a croissant, a bagel and some granola...&nbsp;...(I get hungry when I travel in the early hours okay?)...&nbsp;...she locks in my custom for life.&nbsp;That's the life-changing magic of actually giving a f***, right there.&nbsp;The difference between the disinterested security guard and the helpful hotel clerk is night and day.&nbsp;And it's the difference between customers being glad to swipe their credit card for hundreds of pounds for a few nights' stay, and grudgingly paying what they have to until there's a better alternative.&nbsp;Which customer do you want, dear reader?&nbsp;And to swing this into writing more specifically, which reader do you want?&nbsp;The casual reader that's in it for what they can get out of it and gone when another writer flashes a sexier headline at them?&nbsp;Or the reader who knows you care? Who sticks around? Who reads the flashy headlines and the dull ones? Who seeks out your recommendations and buys them all? Who spreads your stuff for you?&nbsp;Dear reader I have plenty of both, and believe me I prefer the latter lot. Good folks who I know by name and could pick out on social media, in email replies and so on.&nbsp;But getting that kind of reader requires you to show that you actually care about your people and not just about a quick buck.&nbsp;There are lots of ways to do this, maybe we'll talk about some of the different ways soon, but one person who does this excellently is Kieran Drew&nbsp;He has figured out the life-changing magic of actually giving a f*** when it comes to his readers and customers.&nbsp;Heck, we started messaging partly because I bought his Viral Inspiration Lab a while back, and he sent me a personalised video thanking me.&nbsp;(He did it for everyone, I think he still does.)&nbsp;Now you might be thinking:&nbsp;"But James, you most excellent writer, how is that scalable?"&nbsp;And honestly, I have no idea. Ask Kieran how he does it, it would exhaust me. But given he makes hundreds and hundreds of sales, it's certainly a monumental task.&nbsp;And yet...&nbsp;And yet...&nbsp;He has a ludicrously large wall of testimonials (seven pages of them) on his sales page. I suspect a lot of those are partly because of the personal touch.&nbsp;And every so often, I'm sure one sparks off something.&nbsp;Like the conversation we had, that led to lunch, and partnering together on quite a few affiliate launches. And given that my own cabin crewmembers know that I care about them and trust my recommendations...&nbsp;...and given that those who try Kieran's stuff love it and keep buying it...&nbsp;...that one ten second video has led to seventy-two new customers for Kieran's business and $15,538 in revenue so far.&nbsp;Most businesses would kill for that kind of ROI.&nbsp;But in order to get it, you have to stop thinking in terms of "ROI" and start creating the life-changing magic of actually giving a f***.&nbsp;And the only way to do that is to actually give one...&nbsp;But more on that if there's interest, write me if you have any thoughts because I actually do love to hear from you.&nbsp;And in the meantime, this would perfectly segue into Effective Editing or Sacred Statements for Serious Scribes which covers caring for your readers in more depth, but alas, neither are currently for sale.&nbsp;So let me point you instead to Kieran's High-Impact Writing, which has a lot of excellent help about defining your one-true fan so you can serve them better.&nbsp;You can get that (and check out all the testimonials) here:&nbsp;<a href="https://carran.link/impact" style="color: #1155cc; font-size: inherit; text-decoration: none !important;" target="_blank" class="mention" colorlink="#1155cc" autoboldlinks="true" data-id="https://carran.link/impact" data-label="https://carran.link/impact" data-tooltip-id="tVGKlIsSafOucpWm3j1lz">https://carran.link/impact</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;Yours,&nbsp;&nbsp;James Carran, Craftsman Writer&nbsp;</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 Friday night.&nbsp;The kids across the pond are fighting again, so my timeline is noisy and obnoxious.&nbsp;And as I turn it all off, tune it out, and wind down with a pint of good English ale, I find myself reflecting on a common editing mistake.&nbsp;It's a mistake many writers make.&nbsp;A subtle and deadly one.&nbsp;And I know, because I caught myself doing it lately, while I was editing Undisclosed Book Reduction Project for Major Publisher.&nbsp;By this stage, I'd done all the reductions and I was editing my own work, which is harder than editing someone else's, simplifying syntax and so on.&nbsp;There I was starting at chapter one and working steadily through.&nbsp;Boom. Done.&nbsp;Boom. Done.&nbsp;Boom. Boom. Boom. Chapter forty and done.&nbsp;It needed another pass.&nbsp;Scroll to chapter one.&nbsp;Boom. Done.&nbsp;Boom. Done.&nbsp;Boom. Boom. Boom. Chapter forty and done.&nbsp;But something wasn't quite right.&nbsp;Over the weekend, I realised exactly what I was doing wrong. When I came back to look at it on Tuesday, I found it ten times easier.&nbsp;The mistake, dear reader was simple:&nbsp;I was editing linearly.&nbsp;Specifically, I was going from chapter one to chapter forty. Then going back up and going from chapter one to chapter forty again for my next pass through. But that's a disastrous way to edit things.&nbsp;Why?&nbsp;Because you get tired at the same point every time.&nbsp;&nbsp;You're at your freshest for chapter one, and you're flagging around chapter thirty.&nbsp;Then you start again and you're at your freshest for chapter one, and you're flagging around chapter thirty.&nbsp;Maybe you're smart enough to take a break at chapter thirty because you're flagging, but you still find that your weakest editing is done at the same point (say, twenty-seven to thirty) and that when you come back after a short break you're a little off your groove.&nbsp;The solution is braindead simple:&nbsp;On the second pass, start at the end and work up.&nbsp;On the third pass, if you need one, you can start at the beginning again. Or if you flag earlier than I do, start in the middle and work down, then back up or something like that. Or you only edit the odd numbered chapters.&nbsp;The exact details matter little.&nbsp;What matters is hitting things in a different order so you're high-energy when you were low-energy before and vice versa.&nbsp;Of course, there are a lot more aspects to editing than just energy, all of which I cover in my flagship course Effective Editing.&nbsp;&nbsp;...The real goal of editing and why perfection isn't an option. ...Two Great Commandments for Editing ...The real goal of editing and why it's not making your writing better....The one absolute rule for editing...Setting up a street and satellite approach...How to edit the structure, the substance and sound of your piece, why those are all different, and how they should be approached in every phase of editing....and a whole bunch more.&nbsp;Plus, of course, the new case study I'm preparing on Undisclosed Book Reduction Project for Major Publisher where I walk step by step through the whole project, with more to come on that soon.&nbsp;As you'd expect, all that is worthy of a large price tag, and though I'm not quite at Daniel Throssell levels of selling $1,000+ courses yet, it does have one.&nbsp;But I've knocked a little over ten percent off because it's still in beta and the case study isn't ready yet. As I said yesterday though, that's only until midnight or five copies are gone.&nbsp;And if you have the course and haven't worked through it yet, consider this a reminder.&nbsp;If you do and you have? Consider working through it again...&nbsp;...but this time start at the end.&nbsp;<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="For anyone else, avoid the big mistake of missing out completely by clicking here." data-tooltip-id="UDrujuS16RWa9OIj4KbZx">For anyone else, avoid the big mistake of missing out completely by clicking here.</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;It goes down automatically when all the five copies are sold or midnight, my time.&nbsp;Yours,&nbsp;James Carran, Craftsman Writer</pre>