Listening to Jeff Goins interview fellow author Seth Godin yesterday, I was expecting the conversation to focus on writing. For the most part it did of course, and anyone who aspires to write for a living will find this a fascinating interview.
One of Seth's standout ideas here (for me anyway) is the value in writing, no matter what the size of your audience:
I would blog even if no-one read my blog, because the practice of having to sit down every day, notice something, and describe it in a way that other people resonate with is priceless to me, selfishly, nevermind to some people who like to read it. That is at the core of my practice as a professional.
When it came to discussing the use of new technology to spread ideas, he started by explaining his indifference to Twitter:
On the other hand, the only reason I could think of to go on Twitter would be to amuse me, distract me, or play to my ego. It would not make my work better. It would just expose me to critics... and I would keep track of all sorts of stuff that would kill my writing. It doesn't make me better at the work I want to do, so even though it might be fun or a helpful distraction, I don't do it.
But then Seth said something which really caught my attention:
When it came to What To Do When It’s Your Turn, I wanted to do the whole book myself, so I taught myself InDesign, because that was a piece of technology I needed to do my work better.
As a graphic designer, it's easy to become distracted by shiny new things, so I love the idea that by eliminating distractions we can free up time to learn more useful skills.
By all means, embrace the shiny new tool.
But only if it makes you better at your job.
Posted to Uncategorised in 2015.