Write of Passage Weekly

Hey writers,

Welcome back to Write of Passage Weekly. Last week, you learned how to uphold your half of the covenant. Today, we’re talking about a special characteristic shared by all your best ideas.

Are You Interested in Joining Write of Passage?

Our upcoming Bootcamp is fast approaching (April 8), and we want to get a census on participation.

Don’t worry — you still have eight days left to enroll. Take all the time you need. This just helps us understand if you’re Write of Passage-curious, and how we can better serve you in the future.

Notice What Repeats

On average, sea turtles lay 110 eggs in a single clutch and average between two and eight clutches per season. After roughly 60 days under the warm sand, the baby sea turtles hatch and dig their way up onto the surface of the beach, where they make a run for their lives towards the ocean. Three out of every 10 hatchlings never make it to the sea, and even when they do escape the beaks of seabirds, they remain at the bottom of the food chain until they reach a certain size. In the end, only 1 in 1000 sea turtles grows to adulthood.

Ideas are like the hatchlings; only a handful will be of note, and only the most resilient survive.

In a previous issue, you learned to create what’s missing from the world. That’s because you want to find the intersection of what's unique to you and valuable to others. You want to find your one-in-a-thousand idea. And a good place to start is to notice what repeats. Which of your ideas keep coming up and won’t leave you alone? Sift through your psyche for the ideas that are core to who you are. Those are the ones that will survive the predation of opposition and skepticism and competition. Just as in the animal kingdom, your fittest ideas are the ones that survive. Your core ideas will reveal themselves over and over again — persisting. You won’t be able to avoid them.

Not only does history erase all that is mediocre, time filters out everything that’s not truly important to you. If an idea isn’t aligned with your personal philosophy or deeply rooted in your psyche, you are bound to forget about it, given enough time. Notice the ideas that repeat, and focus on those.

Look through your notes, listen to what people say about you, observe what your mind automatically defaults to when daydreaming, or find patterns in what you enjoy talking about. Like the motifs of a fairytale, your recurring ideas are hints that reveal the fabric of how you think and who you are. The ideas that repeat color your view of the world.

If an idea keeps appearing to you, let it be a sign of the world reflecting your identity back at you. If you find a pattern in your insights, that's a strong signal of what you need to write about. Just like how familiar landmarks reappear on a well-trodden path in the forest, these core ideas serve as affirmations of your deepest convictions and trusty constants amid the constant flux of your journey.

How I Write Podcast

How to Write With Brutal Honesty | Neil Strauss

Neil writes about all the icky, taboo things you’re not supposed to say out loud. As the author of ten New York Times Bestselling books, he’s built his career on getting celebrities like Rick Rubin, Kevin Hart, and Jenna Jameson to open up in a way that most writers are too afraid to do.

But don’t get it twisted — “being vulnerable” doesn’t mean “word-vomit your deepest, darkest secrets to the world.” It means sharing who you truly are in a way that’s interesting to other people.

In this episode, Neil reveals how to be vulnerable in your work, the right way. He breaks down story structures that hook your reader. He reveals how to cultivate your life to support your writing. And he shows you how to say things in public that most people would be too scared to share with their closest friends.

If you’re scared of sharing your work in public, this episode is for you. Come learn how to synthesize your vulnerability in a way that resonates with other people. 

Listen Now: YouTube | Spotify | Apple

Thank you for reading Write of Passage Weekly. This week, write about an idea that won’t leave you alone.

Happy writing,

The Write of Passage Team