Reminds me of undergrad writing vs law school writing (not that we did much). Undergrad has arbitrary word minimums/maximums and the like. It teaches you to use or otherwise concoct phrases to hit minimum limits. One of my favorites was, "it is particularly important to note that..." In stark contrast, a law school professor underlined the phrase and wrote, "if something is worth noting, just mention it without all the fanfare." They were right.

@@mrobviousj thank you for the response. Seems scientists and lawyers do suffer similar problems 😂 I imagine this problem is now much worse with the popularity of AI

Love this example!

I totally see your point (I am a researcher). BUT some of the best papers I’ve ever read were often the ones where the authors personality shown through a lot. Some have even made me laugh out loud. Being able to conceal a joke in jargon is truly an impressive skill. There’s a lot of value in writing clearly and concisely, but I don’t think it would be the end of the world if scientists were allowed to show the world they are a little goofy :)

@afraidofmoths6547 i think it also depends on where the paper is published. But if you can get away with putting in jokes that don't take away from the seriousness of the paper, more power to ya.

@@mrfancyshmancy hard agree. Potentially my opinion is the result of my early career, which was almost exclusively plant pathology. The faculty in my department could be described as clinically insane. I don’t see much of that flying in more mainstream journals like nature.

Thanks for having me on David!

Been waiting for weeks in line to watch the sama episode, on the curb, in the rain and sun, eating crushed peanuts, under my lonely umbrella. Reminds me of the lines we used to make for the latest Potter launch.

Thank you!

I think those things shined through in this interview as well

@@DavidPerellChanneltotally. Just to say you come across like that as well. And I especially like how you complement your speakers from a strong place of intellect and passion for writing. I have been a regular visitor to your site and been following all your episodes. I just love all things writing and good writers. 👏

Thanks for listening

Haven't read it! I'll pick it up. What resonated about it?

Perennial Seller - It's a marketing book that is not about marketing, meaning it's all about what it takes to build great work (as well as how). What resonated with me the most is the desire to build work that becomes a Perennial Seller. - Perennial Seller? Yes. In the book, he gives you constant questions and exercises to go through as you work on your project - Questions PART 1: So the creator of any project should try to answer some variant of these questions: What does this teach? What does this solve? How am I entertaining? What am I giving? What are we offering? What are we sharing? In short: What are these people going to be paying for? If you don’t know-if the answer isn’t overwhelming-then keep thinking. - Questions PART 2: “The higher and more exciting standard for every project should force you to ask questions like this: What sacred cows am I slaying? What dominant institution am I displacing? What groups am I disrupting? What people am I pissing off? ” - Questions PART 3: “One sentence. One paragraph. One page. This is a ______ that does ______. This helps people ______. Fill in this template at the three varying lengths. It’s best to do this exercise in the third person, creating a bit of artificial distance from the project so you can’t fall back on, “Well, I think that . . .” Deal with facts instead.” The one sentence I do for all my essays and projects, and also learned first during Write of Passage. “The intended audience is the final blank in the “This is a ______ that does ______” exercise. It’s what ties the rest all together: “This is a ______ that does ______ for ______.” “Who this is for Who this is not for Why it is special What it will do for them Why anyone should care ” - Build a list (which I've learned in Write of Passage). He says it's the most important thing you can do. You know this. But his email list is huge, especially the monthly books one, which he started with the purpose of building a list. Whenever he releases a new book, he tells people about the book. I can forward you that specific email in case you'd like to see it. “If I could give a prospective creative only one piece of advice, it would be this: Build a list. Specifically, an email list. Why? Imagine that, for reasons entirely outside your control, there was a media and industry blackout of your work. Imagine that, due to some controversy or sudden change in public tastes, you were suddenly persona non grata. Imagine if no publisher, no crowdfunding platform, no retailer, no distributors, and no investors would touch what you’ve made.” - Build a list PART 2: “If I could give a prospective creative only one piece of advice, it would be this: Build a list. Specifically, an email list. Why? Imagine that, for reasons entirely outside your control, there was a media and industry blackout of your work. Imagine that, due to some controversy or sudden change in public tastes, you were suddenly persona non grata. Imagine if no publisher, no crowdfunding platform, no retailer, no distributors, and no investors would touch what you’ve made.” - The other half is about marketing, and techniques stories of how he does marketing, one of my favorite stories about The Obstacle Is the Way. At one point, he started getting emails from coaches, so he gave them as many free books as they wanted. “Two years after the journey began, I pitched the story to Sports Illustrated and they were into it. That article-“How a Book on Stoicism Became Wildly Popular at Every Level of the NFL”-sold so many books that the publisher ran out of copies for nearly a month.” - The importance of giving stuff for free, the importance of true fans, etc. - The best marketing for a project is to start working on the next - For any future projects, I plan to read Perennial Seller and War of Art. Both give you a great mindset to have. If you ever talk to him again, talking about some of the ideas from the books would be great. Also, if you ever need help researching people/ideas for interviews, let me know. I became so good with The UIUC Talkshow that I could crack open any person no matter who they are.

A good line from Conspiracy: "Peter is of two minds on everything. If you were able to open his skill, you would see a number of Mexican standoffs between powerful antagonistic ideas you wouldn't think could be safely housed in the same brain."

** creates new KZfaq accounts to help Scott get jacked **

Insane consistency

Sure thing! Enjoy

You swim, he runs

Yep, had a bunch of people requesting this one

Was one of our most requested interviews