creating to learn and vice versa

short-form

Consuming content is straightforward – we have 5 trillion terabytes of data at our fingertips.

Creating, not so much.

Creators, however, remain ahead of the curve – as opposed to consumers. Opportunity knocks on their doors, not the other way around.

Take David Perell, for example. David had a C- in his college writing class and skipped ten of those classes consecutively because he “didn’t see the value in learning to write.” At the time of writing, he’s a professional blogger who teaches an online writing course called Write of Passage. His 5-week lecture has now collected over a thousand graduates.

When David later shared with his former writing professor that he’d thought thousands of people to write online, his teacher spat out her drink.

From being a below-average writer, David wrote himself out of an unsuccessful and unfulfilling life. In one of his blog posts, he shares that writing online allowed him to grasp riveting opportunities, such as a $20,000 grant from Tyler Cowen’s Emergent Ventures program and a podcast interview with Neil deGrasse Tyson.

In the digital age, everyone is capable of what David did.

How? Buy utilizing our online platforms. Thanks to the internet, everyone now has a voice. And while that could be a double-edged sword, it is pivotal for us to strive to create meaningful, rather than vacuous, content. In this age, we are nodes in a network of people. The more value we provide to our network, the more meaningful our impact on the world could be.

So, let me ask, would you choose to contribute or passively consume?

The decision is up to you.

introduction

• Something relatable:
  • Content creation is hard, but it shouldn’t be. I’m gonna tell why in the following sentences, but first we should understand why people should create. 👇🏻
  • We could all create, but how? First, we should know why we should create.
• David Perell’s story:
  • Who is David Perell?
    • A writer – specifically, an online writer. He’s the teacher behind Write of Passage, a course about writing that promises three outcomes:
      • Publish quality ideas
      • Find your people
      • 2x your potential
  • What has he done?
    • Built Write of Passage
    • Impressed his high school writing teacher:
      • “I was a terrible writer growing up. I got a C- in my college writing class. At one point that semester, I skipped ten of those classes in a row because I didn’t see the value in learning to write. When I told my high school writing teacher that I’d taught thousands of people to write online, she spit out her drink because she thought I was joking.”
  • Why does this matter?
    • It matters because, in the digital age, everyone could be creators (regardless of their area of focus – writing, painting, designing, etc.).
    • In the digital age, we consume information that marginally lags behind the number of created content, regardless if it’s online or offline (this is anecdotal).
    • I’ve heard a few educators in my high school say that everyone in the internet has a platform. And while that could be a double-edged sword, we should strive to create meaningful content, rather than vacuous, for people to consume. Think of yourself as a node in a network of people. The more value you provide to your network, the more meaningful your impact on the world could be. Basically, quality over quantity. Signal over noise.
  • Another thing that matters:
    • Besides impressing a high school writing teacher (or anyone for that matter), I’ve always found myself to live a life of consumption, rather than creation, which perplexes me because I’ve always had the drive to create, not consume.
    • Also, I’ve encountered creators who echo the idea of learning in public so I want to give it a try.

body

• • What is this?
    • An experiment on learning in public through content creation.
• What is this, exactly?
  • Creating to learn
  • Learning to create
• How is this?

conclusion

• When is this?
• Call to action – I’m interested. How can I keep myself posted?