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Making Project-based Practice Work

Wed, 08 Aug 2018 18:00:21 +0000

My previous post was about some ways to use deliberate practice to improve narrow areas of your creative work.

The idea was simply to take a portion of someone else’s finished work, and fill in the gaps yourself… that way you can focus only on the parts you most need to work on. If you’re having trouble with endings, rewrite other people’s endings. If dialogue is an issue, rewrite other people’s dialogues… etc.

Deliberate Practice in Creative Pursuits

Tue, 17 Jul 2018 11:08:49 +0000

I’ve started writing fiction again, with the intent to improve.

But I know that simply “writing a lot”, while being a necessary condition to improve, isn’t enough.

For a long time, I used the “project-based” approach to learning instead. This involves picking a project that uses the skills you want to improve, and implementing it. While it’s fun and sounds like you’ll be improving by doing this, the truth is that it’s only effective in the very early stages. There’s simply too much happening at once, and not enough repetitions, to be able to improve.

Reset Expectations to Overcome Creative Blocks

Tue, 26 Jun 2018 16:37:26 +0000

Resolution - How To Be Interested in Anything

Tue, 05 Jun 2018 10:06:43 +0000

It’s unavoidable that sometimes we’ll have to slog through a part of our writing that feels like a bore. Whether you’re ghost-writing a book for a client, writing your thesis literature review, or even when you’re smack in the middle of that novel you always wanted to write. Chances are you’ll hit a spot where you just… can’t … keep … writing.

There are a hundred reasons why this might be the case, but today I want to tackle just one: boredom.

Here are a few scenarios that most would find boring:

Filling out your tax forms.
Playing a mindless kid’s board game with your 3 year old nephew.
Sitting in a hospital waiting room (in Quebec, this can stretch out for 6 hours+, even in the “emergency” ward).
Meditating: just sitting and focusing on your breath.

But notice that in all of these, there are examples of people who don’t find it boring:

Gingko and the "5 Why's" Technique

Wed, 18 Apr 2018 10:45:29 +0000

If you feel you’re constantly reacting and putting out fires with your work, instead of working calmly and proactively on your priorities, you could benefit immensely from doing a root cause analysis (also know as the “5 Why’s”).

It’s a simple technique, made even simpler by using Gingko to write it out.

Here’s how it works:

Write out the problem you’re facing, in the first card.
Ask yourself “Why did this happen?”, and put down all the reasons you can think of, as a child of that one.
For each of those reasons, ask yourself “Why did this happen?” again.
Keep going until you feel you’ve exhausted the reasons (try for at least 3 columns of “Why”)
Once you have uncovered not just the superficial reasons but also the deeper causes, you can edit those cards with potential solutions.

As an example, and in the interest of transparency, here’s my “5 why’s” for a recent serious bug with Gingko Desktop: after having saved once, doing something like “File > New” didn’t block to ask “Would you like to save your changes?”.

Resolving Freedom vs Constraint

Thu, 08 Feb 2018 09:00:38 +0000

Sometimes, we have no trouble starting a story or project, but we’re unable to stick to one for long enough to actually get it done.

That’s fine if we’re just playing and exploring, but at some point, we need to learn to push for completion in order to grow.

The trouble is that we tend to rebel against any restrictions on our freedoms. We might start out with enthusiasm, but you will hit a point where continuing feels like a chore.

Freedom is important because it’s one of the few (if not the only) values that one can argue as being intrinsically good. Restrictions are important because constraints now can lead to freedom later. When used in this way, it’s called “self-control” or “discipline”.

This tension between Freedom and Constraint is present whenever we have the power to choose. And we always have that power, even if it might not seem like it. So how do we resolve the tension?

The Input/Output Ratio

Tue, 16 Jan 2018 19:00:48 +0000

Are you reading several books a month, but somehow you “don’t have time” to write?
Do you read for inspiration, but avoid writing even when it strikes?

I read. A lot. If I’m into a good story, I can hardly stop. My wife will see me gravitating to my Kindle during every random time pocket, and she’ll tell our son “Oh, looks like we’ve lost papa to a book again!”

Writer’s block? 6 things to try to get unstuck

Tue, 21 Nov 2017 20:08:47 +0000

If you’re struggling to start writing, or struggling to continue, here are a few things you can try to get unstuck.

Expose yourself to bad work. Get some examples of terrible work in your genre, and read them. Here’s a video I made describing why this works.
Be playful. If you’re stuck in the middle of a piece, save your draft, then try throwing out all the rules for a while. You can pretend that you’ve stumbled on someone else’s work, and want to be devious as you continue. Kill off darling characters, throw in a crazy twist… the point isn’t to find a path forward, but instead to loosen you up.
Set your bar at “existence”. Do the words exist on the page? Success. Are they in the ether of your mind? Failure. We tend to get paralyzed when we compare our current state (nothing/blocked) with what we imagine (some perfect, or even “good enough” finished piece)… and the gap between now and then is overwhelming. But really, we should be comparing “non-existence”, which is the default state of everything, to “existence”, which isn’t too hard to achieve.
Forget ordering. This is why writing in index cards, or software like Gingko is so effective. You can write without worrying too much about structure.
Work at a different level. If you’re stuck with a scene or description, jump up to writing rough overviews of entire chunks of your book. If you’re stuck on the overall structure, zoom in to one part and write out all the details.
Cut off all input. Being stuck comes from unrealistic expectations, which comes from repeated exposure to Quality. If exposing yourself to bad work (point 1.) isn’t enough, then cut off your exposure completely for a week or so. Don’t read, watch, or listen to anything related to what you’re hoping to write.

These strategies aren’t meant to help you find the correct path forward. The more you try to do that, the more stuck you’ll be. These techniques are meant to allow you to discover for yourself that there is no one true path.

How do you start writing your thesis?

Mon, 05 Oct 2015 16:33:08 +0000

How many times a week do you think “I should be writing”?

For some reason, even when reaching the end of their PhD, most people have trouble actually starting to write the thesis.

“Just a little more data.”
“There’s just one more source I have to cite.”
Or the seemingly rational “but I don’t have my key results yet!”

The truth is, we procrastinate on starting because we don’t know where or how to start. We imagine The Thesis as a complete whole, as a monolithic slab of pages; and we cringe and avert our inner eye. If you’re at the beginning of the PhD, you also feel it’s probably pointless to start, because you don’t have results or even a firm topic.

Marketing: Ramjets vs Signals

Wed, 06 May 2015 09:00:33 +0000

In Kuwait, where I grew up, one can still find local fisherman using funnel cage traps. I used to watch them throw their cages into the sea, and found myself wondering about the funnel.

“How wide does the mouth need to be to capture enough fish?” “How narrow does the funnel end need to be to keep them?” and finally, “I wonder what it feels like to be the fish?”

We Restrain Ourselves

Tue, 28 Apr 2015 09:00:57 +0000

“THE YEAR WAS 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren’t only equal before God and the law. They were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else. All this equality was due to the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution, and to the unceasing vigilance of agents of the United States Handicapper General.” - “Harrison Bergeron”, by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

“Harrison Bergeron”, is a dystopic short story (a 10 min read). It asks and answers the question: What if everybody were forced to be equal?

I understand now that to produce a dystopia from equality requires a set of false assumptions. The very same false assumption that I’ve uncovered lately: that there is a measurable and fixed amount of intrinsic worth available to each human being. For one person to have more, of anything, another must have less.

Taken to the extreme, this fixation of the fixedness and limitedness of the resources of the planet and the internal resources of each person, combined with a desire for equality, leads directly to a world of mediocrity.

What’s incredible to me is that we don’t need a “Handicapper General” to diligently limit people’s abilities. We limit ourselves.

I feel like we’re all Harrison Bergeron: great in our own unique way. We’re also our own Handicapper: putting on our own shackles and distractions, weights and masks…

The Lies I Tell Myself

Thu, 23 Apr 2015 01:06:02 +0000

On the morning of April 4th, my “self reliance” ritual was cut short when I looked at the calendar and saw the day before was an empty box, where there needed to be a checkmark. I felt a dull ache rising in the back of my gut.

“Did I forget to write yesterday?” “Did I break my unprecedented 123 day streak?” “No no no! This can’t be!”

My panic rose steadily, but I simply wasn’t sure. So, I seized the benefit of the doubt, slowly filled in the missing checkmark, and went about my days, trying to forget this lie I told myself.

Exhibit A: The lie I tried to tell myself.

It’s now 3 weeks later. My mini-habits of writing, programming, and exercising daily have lost all their former power. Even my morning ritual is starting to slip.

Rationally, I know that one misstep shouldn’t matter. That I should brush it off, learn from it, and keep going. But I can’t stop myself from feeling that it does matter.

Worse, this pattern is disappointingly familiar. Something is deeply wrong here…

Lessons from Living Without Time

Wed, 15 Apr 2015 13:06:10 +0000

Here are some fictional diary entries, reconstructed from actual events:

Six months ago: My PhD is almost complete! And I finally received my citizenship. Both of those open loops are now closed. I’ll finally have more time to focus!

Three months ago: Gingko’s server crashed. The cause was a silly mistake from two months ago. No big deal. I just brought it back up, and made a note to fix it more thoroughly… when I have the time.

Two months ago: We noticed a poster for a children’s play that our son would love. Great! I’ll just put a note in my inbox, and process it later. I’ll get tickets… when I have the time.

One month ago: We missed a meal again today. It was sunny out (and a “warm -5 C”), so we rushed out for a walk. But we didn’t have snacks at home, or much in the fridge. Ended up “hangry” at each other most of the walk. We need to figure out meal plans or a more regular grocery schedule! If only we had more time…

And now? My PhD is done, but I don’t know where all the “extra” time went. I never did get around to fixing that issue, and the server crashed briefly again a few days ago (sorry!). The play for my son was sold out by the time I managed to look into it.

So. I’m a 31 year old husband, father, and business owner, with full control of my schedule, goals, and income, yet still find myself with an empty fridge or an overflowing laundry pile like I did as a teenage student. My customers missed some work time, my son missed a play, and I could list countless other instances of small and big failures that were predictable and completely avoidable.

A heavy question hangs over this, that I’ve always been afraid to ask: Why?

It took living without time for one week to finally answer it.

Here’s what I discovered by living without clocks for just 7 days…

The Pump and the Generator

Tue, 07 Apr 2015 09:00:32 +0000

Productivity and wealth are both powerful aids in enabling flow. But we need to keep these in their place, as a means to an end: Freedom.

If you must do a great deal of work that is unsatisfying and dreary, you are poor. If you can do only what you love, you are rich. There is no other definition that matters.

We can achieve this for every one of us, but we must first change our beliefs and our mental models…

The Wealth of The Future

Tue, 17 Mar 2015 17:05:57 +0000

I have an odd relationship with money. Often I feel that I’m beyond it or above it. I focus on the pursuit of happiness over the pursuit of wealth. At other times though, I think maybe these are stories I tell myself because I have deep-seated fears or misconceptions regarding wealth.

The truth is, I’m not sure if my attitude towards wealth is incredibly wise, or incredibly stupid.

I know that I’m not making as much as I could if, for instance, I were to focus more on promoting Gingko as-is, and less on creating Gingko as it ought to be. On the other hand, I’m very happy most days, so I must be doing something right.

In any case, since I don’t fit into either the “Profit profit profit” camp, nor the “Money is evil” starving artist category, I do a lot of thinking on the subject. In particular, I try to argue both for and against wealth as a goal.

Here’s an argument that occurred to me, in favor of wealth:

Money is a way to travel into the future.

Trust Thyself

Wed, 11 Mar 2015 00:43:11 +0000

Every morning, I wake at 5:30am, put on my jogging clothes, and run up and down the stairs of my building a few times (I admire those who jog in -25*C weather, but I’m not one of them). When I’m done, I freshen up, fill a glass of cool water, head towards the office (quietly, so as not to wake my wife and son), and sit down for a few minutes and just breathe.

Starting him young!

Then I perform my most important ritual. I open to where I left off in my copy of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay “Self-Reliance”, and read.

A few minutes later, I mark my place, close the book, turn on my PC, pull the keyboard towards me, and get to work.

The recurring litany of Emerson’s words has a powerful effect on my mindset. In short, it’s brought me closer to my ultimate goal: a life of tranquility and creative flow.

What is it about this work that is so profound?

Unlike almost anything else you have ever read, “Self-Reliance” is wholly and completely about you. The essay is a battle-cry not for any one flag or banner, but for every person’s own inimitable self.

What if instead of projects, you used questions to guide you?

Tue, 17 Feb 2015 22:52:26 +0000

My PhD started with an intriguing question: “Why do DNA and other charged polymers attract each other in certain conditions?”

It’s not just counter-intuitive (like-charges should repel), it also goes against the results of simple calculations that you would make for the system.

At first, the question was exciting. A mysterious phenomenon, one that once unraveled might have wide-reaching implications, such as new possibilities for medical implants, or preventing cystic fibrosis patients from drowning in their body’s own fluids.

It was decided (note the passive tense), that “a good project” would be to extend some simulation results published in 1997, using the much greater computational resources available today.

Two years later, I had lost all enthusiasm. My project had stalled. None of the simulations I wrote produced any meaningful results. Nothing I read on the subject of “like-charged attraction” made any sense to me.

I had always assumed that I simply got bored with the drudgery of research. But I recently realized the truth:

My PhD died the minute it stopped being a question and became a “project”.

Use Perfectionism to Achieve Flow

Tue, 03 Feb 2015 14:04:35 +0000

If you struggle with perfectionism, I understand how you feel. For years, I’ve seen perfectionism as my biggest weakness.

But what if there was a way to work better with perfectionism?

What if perfectionism is not a weakness, but instead a misused strength?

For me being a perfectionist means living in the constant strain of the gap between what I can envision, and what I can create. And my vision grows faster than my skills, so my choices are: finish imperfectly or not at all.

How to Make Better Decisions

Tue, 27 Jan 2015 06:00:58 +0000

You read a lot about productivity out there.

“50 Producivity Hacks that will Change Your Life”
“The 13 Things Every Successful CEO Does”
“17 Reasons Why Your Routine Sucks”

Most of these content-farm articles are just rehashing the same crap. On the other hand, there are people who go very deep on a topic, and risk overcomplicating things (ahem… someone like me!).

Remember though, productivity is just about three things:

Your Supercomputer Mind

Tue, 20 Jan 2015 06:00:40 +0000

During my physics PhD, I spend a lot of time working with supercomputers. Before I had direct experience with writing and running code on supercomputers, the image that came to mind for “supercomputer” was something like this:

The reality is far more mundane:

I’ve never actually seen the supercomputer I used to do my PhD work. It was in Toronto, I was in Montreal, at home in my pajamas.

This was in part disappointing (“What, I don’t get a cool security clearance card?”). But in another way, it was kind of awesome. I’d be sitting in my PJ’s at home sending instructions to a multi-storey supercomputer, and telling it what to do.

Besides making my PhD work possible, I received something else from my work there. Something quite unexpected, that I’ve found very useful to me in my daily life.

I found a new model for thinking about my own mind, that allows me to solve problems without thinking about them.

And it’s one you can practice as well…

Two (silly) Techniques for Lasting Change

Mon, 05 Jan 2015 20:25:02 +0000

The following was sent as a newsletter for the end of 2014. I’ve decided to add it here, for the benefit of future readers (hey, that’s you!).

The world is abuzz with people making resolutions, going on diets, signing up for gym memberships, and making promises to themselves. Promises that they know deep down they won’t really keep…

Sound familiar? If you’re determined not to fall into the same trap this year, read on…

Why I take a week off every 7th

Sat, 27 Sep 2014 14:46:23 +0000

There’s only a finite amount of time in the day, and when things feel out of control, our tendency is to fill the time with more action and busyness. But this exactly the wrong approach.

In order to maintain perspective, I do two things regularly, and it’s been immensely useful to me.

Thinking Thursdays

Every Thursday morning, I block off time to simply think.

First, I do this starting 6am in the morning, when my wife and son are still sleeping. I close the door, lay out a yoga mat, put a clipboard with a pile of fresh paper and some pens next to it, set a timer for 90 minutes, and lie down to think.

Mindset: From "To Do" to "Could Do"

Fri, 04 Jul 2014 20:00:33 +0000

I’ve set myself a goal to write a blog post a week. But, since Gingko is used for so many different things, from academics and graduate students, to game designers and novelists, I find I’m often faced with the question, “I have so much to write about.. how do I choose?”

Analysis paralysis & the paradox of choice. It’s a situation I’m in constantly. And as creatives, I am sure you are too.

A Lesson from Quantum Mechanics on Constraints & Creativity

Wed, 21 May 2014 09:37:41 +0000

It’s spring, and my wife and I have been decluttering our apartment. We do this more often than most, and get more ruthless each time, but there’s one thing that I keep hanging on to: assignments and term papers from my Physics undergrad program.

I’ve been trying to figure out why I can’t just get rid of them, like we did with so much of our old clothes.

My son, "helping out".

The assignments in question.

After all, they don’t mean anything to anybody besides me, and I keep them stuffed in a trunk, and never see or show them to anyone unless it’s to decide “should I throw this away?”

Sketching with Words

Wed, 25 Sep 2013 21:37:06 +0000

When I visited the Louvre, the thing I remember the most (besides the Mona Lisa mosh pit), was the secluded and dimly-lit room where renaissance sketches were kept.

Master painters would prepare to paint by drawing dozens of sketches. The sketches were rough, and contained only the essential element being studied. The overall composition. A facial expression. An eye. Only when the painter was satisfied, would he sketch directly on the canvas.

How else could they have produced their masterpieces?

We would never expect a painter to just start without a plan, and proceed like an inkjet printer: use a tiny brush, start at the top, and scan left-to-right until reaching the bottom. They would very quickly run into problems. Perspective would be off, composition cliched, and postures awkward. Unless the painter were extremely experienced, the piece would fall apart and be impossible to finish.

This is obviously a terrible way to paint.
But we do this all the time, when writing.