Newsletter archive · 18 Apr 2024

Taylor Swift made me do it

Hello Reader—

My daughter is a big Taylor Swift fan.

It was her birthday a few months ago.

So, my wife and I decided to get her Taylor Swift tickets.

I spent hours in a queue with Ticketmaster to buy them.

Ticketmaster kept kicking me out.

So, I took out my credit card and bought some overpriced VIP tickets for the tour.

I gave my daughter the tickets as a birthday present, and she loved it, but…

Spending so much time in a virtual queue and an eye-watering amount on concert tickets got me thinking about my credit card bill.

And Taylor’s back catalogue.

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How does Taylor Swift write so many hits?
I stumbled across an interview with Taylor where she describes writing ideas down as soon as they pop into her head.

Instead of worrying about what will or won’t become a song, she categorizes her ideas into three buckets:

Quill Lyrics. These ideas for songs sound like a letter written with a quill pen by poets like Emily Dickinson. Example song? Anti-Hero.

Fountain Pen Lyrics. These are usually ideas or storylines with a plot twist, like All Too Well.

Glitter Gel Pen Lyrics These are carefree, bouncy lyrics that become hits like Shake It Off.

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Why am I telling you all of this?

Taylor’s approach to writing–capturing and categorizing interesting ideas–isn’t unique.

After interviewing best-selling authors for my podcast, many write iteratively rather than setting out to write a best-seller.

Instead of trying to write thousands of words daily, they capture interesting ideas from books, articles, podcasts, and videos.

They don’t necessarily worry about what to do with these ideas or even if they’ll ever use them.

So, if you don’t know what to write about or are unsure how to use something interesting you read or listen to, write it down in one place.

Categorize it with a hashtag or some other system. And review your notes regularly.

If you want to set up a system for your writing, I created just the thing. Click below to learn more

https://zettelkasten.carrd.co/

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I use Grammarly's AI writing assistant and grammar checker daily–it's powerful and fast.

Write on,

—Bryan Collins

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