The Unexpected Guide to Writing that Amazes, From the Founder of Wired Magazine | Kevin Kelly

Kevin Kelly is one of the most important tech writers of the last half century.
Kevin started as the publisher and editor of the Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of Steve Jobs’ favorite publications. After being mentored by Stewart Brand, he started writing books and magazine pieces before cofounding Wired Magazine. He has since become a prolific author - writing one feature article for Wired Magazine every year, and writing numerous bestselling books.
The man is full of mysteries. Kevin writes abundantly but types very slowly. He writes often but calls himself a reluctant writer. He constantly explores new ideas but actually likes editing more than writing.
Rare is the opportunity to sit down with the master who has decades of experience as a writer. This episode is a peek behind the curtain.
OUTLINE:
0:00:00 Intro
0:00:31 Whole Earth Catalog
0:04:00 Writing for impact
0:05:00 Writing reluctantly
0:07:10 Editing process
0:08:45 Patron Saint of Wired
0:10:25 Amaze me
0:13:40 Ideating
0:14:20 Control
0:16:45 Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish
0:19:00 Scenius, collective genius
0:24:15 1000 True Fans
0:26:55 Not the best but the only
0:29:20 Wired Story Ideas
0:30:50 Genesis stories
0:34:20 From books to KZbin
0:36:40 Productivity
0:37:10 Writing often but reluctantly
0:38:30 Photography
0:39:15 Most travel man in Asia
0:39:45 Do something crazy in your 20s
0:41:00 Playfulness
0:42:15 Give and Get
0:43:00 Duty
0:46:30 Greatness is overrated
0:48:10 Trade-offs
0:49:20 Greatness
0:50:50 Writing sessions
0:52:30 Time Management
0:54:00 Structure
1:02:00 Marketing
1:03:00 Change in book business
1:04:30 Marketing Strategies
1:07:30 Fame
1:10:00 Ideating
1:13:10 Reading
1:15:30 What compels Kevin to writing
SPEAKER LINKS:
Website: kk.org
Twitter: / kevin2kelly
Latest Book: "Excellent Advice for Living": a.co/d/3nYau0X
WRITE OF PASSAGE:
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PODCAST LINKS:
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ABOUT THE HOST:
I’m David Perell and I’m a writer, teacher, and podcaster. I believe writing online is one of the biggest opportunities in the world today. For the first time in human history, everybody can freely share their ideas with a global audience. I seek to help as many people publish their writing online as possible.

[@DavidPerellChannel]

Kevin Kelly is one of the most influential tech writers of the last half-century. He's published 14 books, founded Wired magazine, and maybe even traveled to more places in Asia than anybody in human history. Here are 28 of his best maxims for writing: 1. Don't aim to be the best. Be the only. 2. Don’t create things to make money; make money so you can create things. 3. The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. 4. Always demand a deadline. Doing so weeds out the superfluous and prevents you from insisting on perfection (which will limit you as a writer). 5. To write about something hard to explain, write a detailed letter to a friend about why it is so hard to explain, and then remove the initial “Dear Friend” part and you’ll have a great first draft. 6. The work on any worthy piece of writing is endless and infinite. Since you cannot limit the work, you must limit your hours. 7. Books are never finished, only abandoned. 8. When you are stuck, sleep on it. Give your subconscious an assignment while you sleep. You’ll have an answer in the morning or by the next time you sit down to write. 9. A multitude of bad ideas is necessary for one good idea. 10. The greatest teacher is called “doing.” 11. Efficiency is highly overrated; goofing off is highly underrated. 12. If you have a good idea, write it down. Don't assume you'll remember it. 13. Writing is not selfish; it's for the rest of us. If you don't do your thing and share your writing, you are cheating us. 14. Most articles and stories are improved significantly if you delete the first page of the manuscript. Start with the action. 15. The best way to learn anything is to teach what you know (and you can do it at scale by writing). 16. Productivity is often a distraction. Don't aim for better ways to get through your tasks as quickly as possible. Instead, look for writing projects that you never want to stop doing. 17. Occasionally your first idea is best, but usually it’s the fifth idea. You need to get all the obvious ideas out of the way. Try to surprise yourself. 18. Pay attention to what you pay attention to. 19. To be interesting just tell your own story with uncommon honesty. 20. Ironically, the best time to write a book is once you're done with the speaking tour for the book. 21. Read the books that your favorite authors once read. 22. When you find something you really enjoy, do it slowly. 23. The main reason to write something every day is that you must throw away a lot of good work to reach the great stuff. To let it all go easily you need to be convinced that there is “more where that came from.” You get that in steady production, which comes from a steady writing habit. 24. Habits are far more dependable than inspiration. Make progress by making habits. Don't focus on becoming a better writer. Focus on becoming the kind of person who never misses a writing session. 25. The quality of a piece of writing hinges on its structure. Nail the structure and the ideas will fall into place. You'll know the structure is good when the reader doesn't even notice it. 26. To write something good, just do it. To write something great, just redo it, redo it, redo it. The secret to publishing great writing is to spend a lot of time rewriting. 27. When in doubt, retreat to honesty. Say more of what you really think and feel instead of trying to sound smart. 28. Principles like what you see here are not laws. They're like a hat. If one doesn't fit, try another. Many of these pearls of wisdom are from Kevin's recent book: "Excellent Advice for Living." Others are from this conversation. Writing regularly is one of the best habits you can build. If you want to learn the craft of online writing, sign up for my free 50-day email course: dperell.com/50-days-of-writing

[@user-ni8im7qt8e]

This is truly is one of the best conversations about writing I've ever heard. How this only has 3.8k views is baffling. This vid epitomises diamond in the rough. Well done, David.

[@DavidPerellChannel]

Thank you!

[@simonoregan8924]

Fountain of gems. Uncovers a lot of the practicalities adjacent to Kevin Kelly's best ideas. Lots new here for Kevin Kelly fans.

[@willmannon9185]

+1, well put Simon. And great to a Write of Passage alum in the How I Write comments! Hope things are good!

[@koopuluri]

Thanks for doing this! Kevin, David and the entire team. So much wisdom packed into an hour. I think anyone thinking about expressing themselves in any form should give this a watch.

[@DannyMiranda]

This was amazing.

[@DavidPerellChannel]

👊🏼

[@Because_Reasons]

Wonderful conversation

[@gregggullickson]

What a beautiful interview. My favorite YT video of 2023. Kevin is thoughtful and caring and I love all that he writes. David: Loved your questions and reactions. Thank you.

[@DrBrianKeating]

Nice conversation between friends is the vibe

[@quibaos]

Hey man! This is a great podacst, with very useful insights into writing. I think there is a mistake in the title; “ How to write WHAT amazes…” not “How to write THAT amazes...”

[@khameelmustapha]

Wonderful exchanges throughout. Probably one of the highest signal-to-noise interviews on KZbin.

[@_stevenfoster]

I resonate with that idea of the Photographer becoming the Writer. Loved the interview.

[@robleon]

This video is gold! Thanks for having Kevin on.

[@renjithravindran5018]

Brilliant..

[@heyisforhumans]

Excellent excellent excellent interview!

[@nicholaswidmer9101]

Wonderful conversation gentlemen.

[@yigechongzi]

“This is GOLD David, this is GOLD!” 😂

[@ravinagarajan989]

Great interview! I am enjoying the new podcast. Thanks.

[@saidboujeeane]

When Kevin mentioned the notion having a hundred unpublished things omg did anyone else resonate hard? 🤣

[@jashdholani5569]

Great conversation!

[@foeppel]

Was the book referenced “A Writer’s Time” by Kenneth Atchity? 52:50

[@simonburton992]

Thankyou for this. Some more space between the words would be good, did you edit out silences? The audience needs time to process aswell. Especially when you throw in the next question on your list, it can be quite jarring.. Anyway, awesome interview!

[@jakobw135]

The well-known adage of - Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish - is also incorrect. It should be: stay hungry and stay CURIOUS! 😁

[@eugeniocg3079]

beautiful

[@jakobw135]

It sounds like what Marshall McLuhan was saying is not what is being said, but rather, who is talking, or through which medium the content is being revealed.. This is simply not true. It is WHAT is being said by no matter who or through which medium - period.