The first one

This is the very first edition of 'The Conversation Starter'.

Please stop reading this.

I’m serious, quit it. This stuff isn’t meant to be read yet. It’s just for me to practice secretly, silently, in some dark corner of the internet somewhere.

This is my first newsletter ever.

I sure hope you haven’t subscribed. If you have, here are some possible (very valid) reasons to unsubscribe that you might want to consider:

• You consume too much content anyway. And you don’t create enough. Why not get to work instead of reading this meandering junk drawer of mumbo jumbo drivel.

• As every novice I’m still poor at my craft. I’m hardly managing to stumble through getting this one done. The tone is not really my voice yet. It’s not flowing as it should. It’s an irresponsible and unwieldy experiment. Come back in a few years and read it then, I say.

Despite my explicit discouragement, you’re still reading. I’ll continue but this is on you.

Why am I starting this newsletter? A couple of reasons. I want to

• write consistently

• have a lens through which I consume content

• improve the craft of writing itself

• curate external sources that are valuable or remarkable

• share what I’m working on

• possibly spark meaningful connections with other humans (you for example)

Before over-explaining myself some more and running out of steam, I want to quickly encourage myself here. With some ultra-rewatchable video-snippets from two seasoned creators I admire. I’ll be playing these over and over in years to come, I imagine creative people like yourself might as well.

Ira Glass on the gap between taste and skill & Neil Gaiman on making good art as the antidote to all life’s problems.

The spark behind this newsletter

This past month I took part in my second cohort of the transformational writing course Write of Passage (WoP) led by David Perell.

In a nutshell, David and his team preach and teach how publishing your writing online is the biggest force multiplier for creating opportunities in the internet age.

Twice a year WoP-students are immersed in an epic, 5-week, write-a-thon. Bursting with cutting edge writing education, thorough feedback and support, and high-energy Zoom sessions.

Going through the process twice, I’ve started a solid information capture system, published more essays than in the 40 years before, and made writing friends on all continents.

Quantity over quality

After the first cohort I didn’t manage to start a newsletter. Call it perfectionism, call it imposter syndrome, call it crippling fear of failure.

Keeping myself stuck in a loop of ‘But what will I write about?’ and ‘Surely people don’t want to hear what I have to say.’

Right before the second cohort started I broke out of this loop by remembering that, to make any habit work, you start with quantity not quality. Stacking up a streak of easy wins to get off the ground before worrying about the content being up to your standard.

In terms of a writing habit then, my only challenge is to write and publish something every week (however short and/or crappy).

But what will I write about?

What I’m (mostly) going to write about (probably).

I’m currently on a mission to teach as many people as I can to be supportive in their conversations. So I’ll probably talk about that. This is already a broad topic which includes fields like coaching, psychology, self-improvement, practical philosophy, and trauma.

Since I’ve started to write I’ve been fascinated with the writing process and the art of creating (plus the inspiration behind it). No doubt I’ll talk about that. For example:

• I’m a sucker for a good quote, I’m sure those will be sprinkled in.

• I geek out on the origin of words. So etymology will feature once in a while.

• Music and comedy are huge influences, I’ll share some of what inspires me.

• I love animation as an art form, I’ll share some animations every now and then.

• You’ll see some of my favorite commencement speeches and inspirational talks for sure.

• Other rabbit holes TBD.

Long story short. It will be a rollercoaster. With ups and downs. And twists and turns. And possibly some other cliches.

Ultimately, this newsletter is my carte blanche to try out stuff. While probing what you like and don’t like.

Or even better. Tell me specifically what you did or didn’t love and why. So I understand a little bit more about you. Authenticating this as a conversation starter indeed.

Thank you so much for reading this double Dutch (it’s a term, not making this up).

But please unsubscribe.