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On Monday 6/15, I'm hosting a workshop to kick off a reading group for classic essays: RSVP here.

michael-dean-k/
Michael Dean
michael-dean-k/

Architect-turned-writer, founder of Essay Architecture. Building pattern languages, software, anthologies, and community for essayists.

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Recent Essays

Live-Streaming a First Draft

· 90 words

In the spirit of experimenting, I live-streamed myself drafting on Substack Live yesterday. 50 minutes, 2,700 words, 38 viewers. It was interesting to see how that context shaped the writing process. Since I knew people were reading live, it was like I tapped into this unbreakable flow state in order to weave thought together at a rate of 54 wpm. I thought the whole thing was 10-15 minutes and almost missed my train. It’s similar to typewriter brain, but perhaps the opposite in terms of speed. Maybe it’s a mode that’s actually helpful at certain stages of drafting. TBD.