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icon:: 📖 purchased:: Feb 21st, 2024 start:: Feb 21st, 2024 end:: published:: length:: author:: cover:: reading-time:: score:: - The book that made me a better writer. Tool 1 is what I needed. Tool 2 and 3 nail the lessons. Rest is flare. - **Part One. NUTS AND BOLTS** collapsed:: true - Tool 1: Begin sentences with subjects and verbs id:: 65d6827b-1271-4f27-9db2-6a957ba18f05 collapsed:: true - Tool 2: Order words for emphasis collapsed:: true - Tool 3: Activate your verbs - George Orwell, who wrote of verbs: “Never use the passive where you can use the active.” - Tense defines action within time—when the verb happens—the present, past, or future. Voice defines the relationship between subject and verb—who does what. - **If the subject performs the action of the verb, we call the verb active.** - **If the subject receives the action of the verb, we call the verb passive.** - **A verb that is neither active nor passive is a linking verb, a form of the verb to be** - *"Waiflike, draped in a pale blue veil, Madina, 20, **sits** on her hospital bed, bandages covering the terrible, raw burns on her neck and chest. Her hands **tremble**. She **picks** nervously at the soles of her feet and confesses that three months earlier she **set** herself on fire with kerosene."* - This strategy immerses readers in the immediacy of experience, as if we were sitting—right now— - Avoid verb qualifiers - sort of, tend do, kind of, must have, seemed to, could have, used to, begin to - WORKSHOP collapsed:: true - DONE 1. Verbs fall into three **categories: active, passive, and forms of the verb to be**. Review your writing and circle verb forms with a pencil. In the margins, categorize each verb. id:: 65df68ac-2e26-464f-a5ef-7504d448da8f collapsed:: true - Letters/Having A System - ok ok, about time I **refined** *[active]* and **structured** *[active]* my thinking on 'having a system'. As a precursory reminder, remember a) we **are** *[to be]* creature of habits b) our environment **has an incredible effect** *[passive?]* on our behavior. On a daily basis most of it is beyond our conscious control. Why? Because the amount of details **to keep track** *[passive]* of it **is** *[to be]* just too much. We will not **move** *[active]* an inch if we really **decided** *[active]* to **calculate** *[active]* everything consciously. Therefore we **act** *[active]* via heuristics. The heuristics we often reliably **fall** *[active]* onto are our habits and the "system" we have **built** *[active]* around us OR the system that has surrounded us. Some days are good, some days are bad. On good days we may **set** *[active]* high achieving goals for ourselves but then what happens on a bad day? We **fall** *[active]* back to our habits and system. The auto pilot **takes** *[active]* over until we **gain** *[active]* some will powers (a sort of muscle) to self **motivate** *[active]* ourselves and **kick start** *[active]* the next day to new goals and ambitions. This process **repeats** *[active]*. What remains true though is the **fallback** *[noun]* to our system. I **came across** *[active]* the idea of 'System vs Goals' in Scott Adams hilarious and yet highly pragmatic and effective self-management book - How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big. He states... - From #ChatGPT - "ok ok, about time I **refined** *[active: subject performs action]* and **structured** *[active: subject performs action]* my thinking on 'having a system'. - As a precursory reminder, remember **we are** *[to be: state of being]* creature of habits **and** our environment **has** *[to be: auxiliary for present perfect tense]* an incredible effect *[passive: effect is received by the object]* on our behavior. - On a daily basis most of it **is** *[to be: state of being]* beyond our conscious control. Why? Because the amount of details **to keep track** *[active: infinitive form expressing purpose, not passive]* of it **is** *[to be: state of being]* just too much. - We **will not move** *[active: subject will perform action in future, "will" as modal verb]* an inch if we really **decided** *[active: subject performs action]* to **calculate** *[active: subject performs action]* everything consciously. - Therefore we **act** *[active: subject performs action]* via heuristics. - The heuristics we often reliably **fall** *[active: subject performs action]* onto are our habits and the "system" we have **built** *[active: subject performs action]* around us OR the system that **has surrounded** $red==*[passive: subject is acted upon by the system]*== us. - Some days **are** $red==*[to be: state of being]*== good, some days **are** $red==[to be: state of being]== bad. - On good days we may **set** *[active: subject performs action]* high achieving goals for ourselves but then what happens on a bad day? We **fall** *[active: subject performs action]* back to our habits and system. - The auto pilot **takes** *[active: subject performs action]* over until we **gain** *[active: subject performs action]* some will powers (a sort of muscle) to self **motivate** *[active: subject performs action]* ourselves and **kick start** *[active: compound verb, subject performs action]* the next day to new goals and ambitions. - This process **repeats** *[active: subject performs action]*. - What remains true though **is** $red==[to be: state of being]== the **fallback** *[active: subject performs action, used here as a noun]* to our system. - I **came across** *[active: subject performs action]* the idea of 'System vs Goals' in Scott Adams hilarious and yet highly pragmatic and effective self-management book - How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big. He states..." - - Rest of the Review from #ChatGPT - "Imagine Scott Adams as your stereotypical finance MBA nerd who **can** *[active: subject has ability]* neither really **draw** *[active: subject performs action]* nor **has** *[to be: auxiliary for present perfect tense]* ever **accomplished** *[active: subject performs action]* anything via creative endeavors. Yet, he **created** *[active: subject performs action]* the most famous comic strip of all time that **ran** *[active: subject performs action]* for over 30 years in over 300+ newspapers across the world known as Dilbert. He **talks** *[active: subject performs action]* about his success: - This idea of System vs Goals **was** *[to be: state of being]* well **put** *[active: subject performs action]* as a one-liner in a now modern classic book Atomic Habits as: "You do not **rise** *[active: subject performs action]* to the level of your goals. You **fall** *[active: subject performs action]* to the level of your systems." This **captures** *[active: subject performs action]* the idea in its essence. So what **does** it **mean** *[active: subject performs action]* for you and me? It **means** *[active: subject performs action]* creating a system for yourself that **is** *[to be: state of being]* not brittle to failure. In a nutshell, this **is** *[to be: state of being]* good engineering! This **is** *[to be: state of being]* how we **build** *[active: subject performs action]* resiliency in software systems. A system that **can** *[active: subject has ability]* be **kicked off** *[passive: system is acted upon to start]* as a small thing that **works** *[active: subject performs action]*, **is** *[to be: state of being]* maintainable (this simple), and **can** *[active: subject has ability]* be **evolved** *[passive: system is acted upon to evolve]*. We then **iterate** *[active: subject performs action]*. - I **have** *[to be: auxiliary for present perfect tense]* mini systems myself that roughly **connect** *[active: subject performs action]* together into the larger system that I **have seen** *[active: subject performs action]* myself **fall back** *[active: subject performs action]* onto every other day. Good day or bad day. In fact, bad days **are** *[to be: state of being]* when I really **relish** *[active: subject performs action]* in the system. Just the thought of it **makes** *[active: subject performs action]* the bad.. good :). This letter **being written** *[passive: letter is acted upon by being written]* at 6 AM in the morning **is** *[to be: state of being]* an example output of my system. If not for my 'morning routine' I **would have** *[to be: auxiliary for conditional perfect tense]* procrastinated, I **would not have** *[to be: auxiliary for negative conditional perfect tense]* **had** *[active: subject performs action]* the idea of 'writing letters as a style of note-making blogging', and in fact, I **might not be** *[to be: auxiliary for negative potential mood]* **capturing** *[active: subject performs action]* much of anything that I reflect upon daily. if not for 'Logseq' - my personal knowledge management tool for capturing mostly everything quickly unstructured, I **would not have** *[to be: auxiliary for negative conditional perfect tense]* **compounded** *[active: subject performs action]* myriads of ideas that I **can** *[active: subject has ability]* **connect** *[active: subject performs action]* the dots on and **build** *[active: subject performs action]* a cohesive thought and belief - such as this letter. All this to **say** *[active: subject performs action]*, once you **consciously start** *[active: subject performs action]* building a system for yourself it **morphs** *[active: subject performs action]*, it **updates** *[active: subject performs action]*, and **evolves** *[active: subject performs action]* with you. It **becomes** *[to be: state of being]* self-motivating meta-system. - In closing, remember sophisticated ideas **are** *[to be: state of being]* double-edged swords. They **cut** *[active: subject performs action]* both ways. There **are** *[to be: state of being]* many examples of people I **know** *[active: subject performs action]* who **take** *[active: subject performs action]* - DONE 2. Convert passive and to be verbs into the active. For example, “It was her observation that” can become “She observed.” id:: 65df68d6-e2ef-4e2d-8656-eaeed14cbf52 collapsed:: true - As a precursory reminder, remember **we are** *[to be: state of being]* creature of habits **and** our environment **has** *[to be: auxiliary for present perfect tense]* an incredible effect *[passive: effect is received by the object]* on our behavior. - As a precursory reminder, remember that **we live as** creatures of habits. Our environment **effects** our behavior with its incredible influence - Because the amount of details **to keep track** *[active: infinitive form expressing purpose, not passive]* of it **is** *[to be: state of being]* just too much. - Because it's too much to keep track of the amount of details ❌ - Because actively tracking the overwhelming number of details becomes an insurmountable task. - Some days **are** $red==*[to be: state of being]*== good, some days **are** $red==[to be: state of being]== bad. - We have good days and we have bad days - Some days **feel** uplifting, while others **seem** challenging. {{cloze Focusing on the experience or perception of the days from the subject's perspective.}} - What remains true though **is** $red==[to be: state of being]== the **fallback** *[active: subject performs action, used here as a noun]* to our system. - However, we consistently fall back on our system, a truth that endures. {{cloze This version removes the 'to be' verb ("is") and focuses on the action ("fall back"), making the entire sentence active. The phrase "a truth that endures" actively conveys the idea of something remaining true over time}} - DONE 3. In your own work and in the newspaper, search for verb qualifiers and see what happens when you cut them. id:: 65df68da-8501-458d-8068-f2663c1cc0fe collapsed:: true - Working with the garage door open - Always to fun to find a fun expression that encapsulates a hard to explain idea so well that it turns into a meme - as in you can picture the idea in your head without a need for logical deduction. Such images bypasess the rational resistance. - This idea of working with the garage door open tells all there is tool about a 'way of working'. It _red==just== resonated, for with whom it does, that it requires no further explanation or building through concepts and abstraction. Beautiful. - I love this idea. It invites the bystanders in. It motivates the doer. Come see how's it done. When people see the process they value it more. They then understand what it takes to get the product out. - I envision using this philosophy with engineering cultures in companies. Something that @Sven G can definitely benefit from as his style is _red==more o==f a closed door. - The creative process or the process of creation is exciting and interesting. Sometimes it's better than the product itself akin to tv shows where 'behind the scene' footages are _red==more== interesting to watch than the show itself. Back in 2000s there were entire shows dedicated to behind the scene footage - peek inside the creation process. - Gary Vee also talks.. preaches about this in his videos non stop. Document what you are doing and post on tik tok. *You process to create the content is the content itself.* #boom - DONE 4. Experiment with both voice and tense. Find a passage you have written in the active voice and in the past tense. Change the verbs to the present tense and consider the effect. Does it seem more immediate? id:: 65df68dd-e1a9-4d2b-8772-708bc824b514 collapsed:: true - From #ChatGPT "Changing the verbs in your passage to the present tense can give the text a more immediate and engaging tone, ==as if the insights are being realized in real-time.==" - #Realization - This is what got me satori. @Alan Watts writing in present tense. - "The effect of this change is to make the narrative feel more current and dynamic, as if the speaker is sharing wisdom in the moment rather than reflecting on past experiences. This can make the advice feel more urgent and directly applicable to the reader's current situation." - Letters/Working with Alioto - **I'll** tell you a management secret today - you don't fight other people's battle. collapsed:: true - ==**I am** telling you== a management secret today - don't fight other people's battle - I **learned** this at Compass but I often make this mistake again only to be **reminded** of it in a way that resembles waking up from a painful dream. collapsed:: true - I learn this lesson at Compass but I keep repeating the same mistakes. Then I get reminder from the unknown waking me up from a dreadful dream. - I **have learned** this **stranded and broken down** in the battlefield; ill-prepared for a fight that was never mine. collapsed:: true - ==Breaking down and stranded in the battlefield, ill-prepared for a fight that was never mine, I internalized the social lessons.== - You see - not all painful experiences are the learning experience. Some are just to to be outright avoided. collapsed:: true - You see - not all painful situations are a potential learning experience. Some you ought to outrightly avoid. - **I am** telling you a management secret today - don't fight other people's battle. I **learn** this lesson at Compass but I keep **repeating** the same mistakes. Then I **get reminder** from the unknown waking me up from a dreadful dream.** Breaking down** and **stranded** in the battlefield, ill-prepared for a fight that was never mine, I **internalized** the social lessons. You see - not all painful situations are a potential learning experience. Some you ought to outrightly avoid. - DONE 5. I described three uses of the **active voice: to create outward action, to express inner or emotional action, and to energize an argument.** Look for examples of all three in your reading and for opportunities to use them in your writing. id:: 65df68cc-5620-474f-a063-ee57c1e92b52 - Reading Tool 5: Watch those adverbs. Yup. I see now. - Tool 4: Be passive-aggresive - Tool 5: Watch those adverbs - **Part Two. SPECIAL EFFECTS** - Tool 11: Prefer the simple over the technical collapsed:: true - Use shorter words, sentences, and paragraphs at points of complexity. - literary technique called *defamiliarization*, a hopeless word that describes the process by which an author takes the familiar and makes it strange. - For balance, call the strategy *familiarization*, taking the strange or opaque or complex and, through the power of explanation, making it comprehensible, even familiar. - ==reader benefits from shorter words and phrases, and simpler sentences, at the points of greatest complexity.== - I am often stunned by the power that authors generate with words of a single syllable, as in this passage from Amy Tan: - *The mother accepted this and closed her eyes. The sword came down and sliced back and forth, up and down, whish! whish! whish! And the mother screamed and shouted, cried out in terror and pain. But when she opened her eyes, she saw no blood, no shredded flesh. The girl said, “Do you see now?” (from The Joy Luck Club)* - Fifty-five words in all, **forty-eight of one syllable**. Only one word (“accepted”) of three syllables. - **Simplicity is not handed to the writer. It is the product of imagination and craft,** ==a created effect. It derives first from a sense of purpose—a determination to inform.== What comes next is the hard work of reporting, research, and critical thinking. id:: 65fc9423-b806-4d14-b745-ff65583c0c07 - **WORKSHOP** - DONE Review writing you think is unclear, dense with information. A tax form, perhaps, or a legal contract. Study the length of words, sentences, and paragraphs. What have you discovered? id:: 65fc94c8-003c-428d-a1b8-ff50183714a9 collapsed:: true - eb1 Criterion 8: **The person has performed in a leading or critical role for organizations or establishments that have a distinguished reputation** - First, USCIS determines whether the person has performed in a leading or critical role for an organization, establishment, or a division or department of an organization or establishment. collapsed:: true Examples of lead or critical roles may include, but are not limited to: - Senior faculty or senior research position for a distinguished academic department or program; - Senior research position for a distinguished non-academic institution or company; - Principal or named investigator for a department, institution, or business that received a merit-based government award, such as an academic research or Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant; - Member of a key committee within a distinguished organization; - Founder or co-founder of, or contributor of intellectual property to, a startup business that has a distinguished reputation; and - Leading or critical role for a distinguished organization or a distinguished division of an institution or company, as explained in detail by the director or a principal investigator of the relevant organization or division. - Considerations: In evaluating such evidence, officers examine whether the role is (or was) leading or critical. For a leading role, officers look at whether the evidence establishes that the person is (or was) a leader within the organization or establishment or a division or department thereof. A title, with appropriate matching duties, can help to establish that a role is (or was), in fact, leading. For a critical role, officers look at whether the evidence establishes that the person has contributed in a way that is of significant importance to the outcome of the organization or establishment's activities or those of a division or department of the organization or establishment. A supporting role may be considered critical if the person's performance in the role is (or was) important. It is not the title of the person's role, but rather the person's performance in the role that determines whether the role is (or was) critical. This is one criterion where letters from persons with personal knowledge of the significance of the person's leading or critical role can be particularly helpful to officers in making this determination, so long as the letters contain detailed and probative information that specifically addresses how the person's role for the organization, establishment, division, or department was leading or critical. Evidence of experience must consist of letters from employers. Second, USCIS determines whether the organization or establishment, or the department or division for which the person holds or held a leading or critical role, has a distinguished reputation. The relative size or longevity of an organization or establishment is not in and of itself a determining factor but is considered together with other information to determine whether a distinguished reputation exists. Other relevant factors for evaluating the reputation of an organization or establishment can include the scale of its customer base or relevant media coverage. For academic departments, programs, and institutions, officers may also consider relevant and credible national rankings and receipt of government research grants as positive factors. For a startup business, officers may consider evidence that the business has received significant funding from government entities, venture capital funds, angel investors, or other such funders commensurate with funding rounds generally achieved for that startup’s stage and industry, as a positive factor regarding its distinguished reputation. Merriam-Webster's online dictionary defines “distinguished” as “marked by eminence, distinction, or excellence” or “befitting an eminent person.” - Observations: - many qualifiers before noun - many comma separated categories - big many syllable words - establishment, distinguished, determines - DONE Repeat the process with your prose. Pay attention to passages you now think are too complicated. Revise a passage using the tools described in this section. id:: 65fc94dd-dd8e-4e67-b8c6-4de9f317fd76 collapsed:: true - Taking an excerpt from Letters/Writing is Hard - {{embed Block Reference}} - What we call thinking is not articulating but a set of cloud and thought bubbles with our minds jumping and skipping logical steps to confirm our biases and belifes. This is why it's hard to articulate a nuanced idea which we might think we have know very well. - Thoughts jump around. They skip logical steps and confirm our beliefs. We believe we know a topic well. But when articulating the very topic with nuance we find ourselves in trouble. - There are many topics that I know very well but I can't acticulate. I haven't done the 'thinking' on it. Now, I dont' need to, as am not trying to convince anyone or take a position in a debate panel or even hold an opinion that I feel needs to be justified. But if I had convince or influence or even share this with the world, I need to think about it. I need to articulate. Writing is that articulation! - I can't articulate many ideas I hold in my heart. I haven't done the 'thinking' on it. I never had to. My thoughts have not been up for debate. They are secure with me without justification. But I need think If I ought to influence the world. I need to articulate my thoughts. Writing is that articulation. - DONE Look for an opportunity to use the sentence “Here’s how it works.” id:: 65fc94e9-5201-4e7e-a05d-fb3dc4210d0b - The black hat Tech/ASO strategy {{renderer :wordcount_}} - Life on the Appstore is hard. There are 2 million+ apps on the AppStore, 83% of them do not make it to $1000 monthly revenue. But there is one technique that sets you apart in an instant. It brings the highest ROI. It involves wearing a black hat. **Here's how it works.** - You buy installs for a search keyword. Apple ranks app higher on search results if an app is more likely to be installed by the users. For a new app this is a catch 22. You will not get downloads because you are not high on the search results, and you are not high on the results because you don't get enough downloads. So you play the system. You research and collect search keywords relevant for your apps. You then buy an actual app install for that keyboard . Like an automated test, a user will browse and search the app store and then install your app from the long list of results. With the right frequency and consistency the app starts ranking higher in search results. Once you hit top 3 you start getting organic installs which gets the flywheel started. You rinse and repeat this with all keywords relevant to the app. - TODO Collect examples of stories where the writer has turned hard facts into easy reading. Start by browsing through a good academic encyclopedia. - **Part Three. BLUEPRINTS** - Tool 24: Work from a plan collapsed:: true - WORKSHOP - TODO Shakespeare’s plays are divided into five acts, each divided into scenes. Read a comedy and a tragedy, such as As You Like It and Macbeth, paying attention to the structure of the play and what Shakespeare tries to accomplish in each of the big parts. - DONE Find the longest piece you have written in the last year. Using a pencil, mark it up according to its parts. Now label those parts with headings and subheadings. id:: 663028a4-3d2e-49de-a77e-fc3c4a541f6b - I sponsored my own H1B Visa - TODO 3. Over the next month, pay attention to the structure of the fiction you read. Notice the point where you begin to perceive the global structure of the work. After you finish the work, go back and review the chapter titles and their effect on your expectations as a reader. id:: 663028bc-ee04-42c5-9afc-8ce2ab2d0bc6 - TODO I started doing with when re-reading The Game. I admire it's structure. Pickup steps laid out as narrative fiction. Put it here. The Game - Narrative Structure - - TODO 4. Listening to music helps writers learn the structures of composition. As you listen, see if you can recognize the big parts of songs. - TODO 5. For your next story, try working from an informal plan that plots the three to six big parts of the work. Revise the plan if necessary. - - **Part Four. USEFUL HABITS** - **Part Five. BONUS TOOLS** - - - **Random Highlights**