Isak's Blog

I like to daydream about the perfect writing space. Usually it’s a cabin in the backyard with a desk, big windows, a shelf of books, a coffee pot, and — if I’m really treating myself — a wood stove and sleeping cot. Somewhere I can get away from all my cares, distractions, and worries to do good work.

It’s not really about the actual space. It’s the daydream that the space would unlock something within you, that you’d finally overcome your blocks and weaknesses to unleash your full creative potential. And in that way, it really is a daydream.

Happy Friday,

Cue the music, brew that pot. A wood thrush (rare!) can to our yard yesterday — and if you’ve ever heard their ethereal, flute-like song, you have some idea of how excited I was.

Here are 10 interesting things worth sharing this week:

1. I spend a lot of time reading book recommendations instead of just reading books. So maybe reading Emma Reads Too Much’s list of books about books will entice me to finish a few more?
2. Plug-in solar laws are being passed in different states, my social feeds are full of gardening and DIY, and I think the time is ripe for solarpunk optimism. I love this solarpunk animation from years back (yes, it’s a Chobani commercial; the irony is not lost on me) and think we could all benefit from imagining better futures we can build rather than doomscrolling.
3. “And what a pleasure that is; to be, on the page, less of a dope than usual.” Really enjoyed George Saunders writing about his creative process, especially the small incremental changes he makes that end up making his writing more compassionate.
4. Oh to be gifted a well-serviced typewriter from the patron saint of typewriters himself, Tom Hanks.
5. “Somehow, before personal computers and email, they managed to collaborate on an entire book—drafts of pages written on typewriters were placed in yellow envelopes and mailed across continents and ocean.” There’s a lot to love in this creative advice from Anna Brones’ mom, but I am fascinated people used to write books without computers.
6. I have way more ideas for creative projects than finished products — so I really enjoyed this video about how you can get stuck in it. Time to make a few zines and short stories!
7. It’s the season of commencement speeches: I prefer Harrison Ford’s to the viral AI one going around. But DFW’s “This Is Water” speech and Baz Luhrmann’s sunscreen speech are my two all-time favs.
8. We’re on the Zara Larson hype train in our household, and the viral clip of her being very tired (and relatable) doing a 5 a.m. sound check for The Today Show is how I feel being on a video call before 10:30 or so.
9. Western AF introduces me to a lot of great music, but I’ve come back to “Wishing Bone Blues” by Cristina Vane so many times over the years, I think I’m responsible for 1/10th of the views. Such a good guitar solo.
10. I wrote about the four reference books I keep on my writing desk and had a great time paging through my usage history again — another encouragement from DFW!

See you on down the dusty trail,

I wrote in my last post that I keep four reference books on my writing desk: a dictionary, a usage dictionary, a thesaurus, and a copy production book.

Sure, you can use Google to answer questions while you write. But opening the internet invites too much distraction for me. I already procrastinate way too much of my writing (don’t ask about my Screen Time stats!), so I’d rather open a book than the internet. Then when I do procrastinate, at least I’m reading about writing instead of scrolling an algorithm.

Happy Friday,

Cue the music, brew that pot. I’m having one of those weeks where I flip between creative procrastination and quick bouts of writing, which is my least favorite part of the process.

Here are 10 interesting things worth sharing this week:

1. This sketch gets exactly at why daily writing goals haven’t worked for me, because they prioritize quantity over quality. I’ve had better look making a goal to sit and write. Some writer said they can sit and write or sit and do nothing — but they aren’t allowed to sit and do something else. Good writing advice!
2. Braxton Haugen did a great job making writing look fun and exciting on his TikTok Tapes series back in 2021 (just scroll to the bottom of his profile and start there). I loved his Neistat-Sachs-inspired studio, the jazz, the typewriters, the Bob Dylan — the series is as good as I’d remembered.
3. Robert Caro having almost 1,000 pages of his fifth and final LBJ book is the best news I’ve had this week. His entire interview with C-SPAN was fascinating, especially how he can’t write until he knows the last line of the book.
4. “Remember what it was to be me: that is always the point.” I’m not able to consistently keep a journal but admire those who do, so I enjoyed Joan Didion’s essay on keeping a notebook to remember a past version of yourself and how you felt, not merely writing down events, thoughts, and observations.
5. I like reading quotes from creatives and artists, so @nitch on Instagram and @PoeticOutlaws on Substack are great — and both have a similar black-and-white aesthetic?
6. Ever wonder why composition notebooks have that iconic black and white speckled design? Well, this two-minute research party TikTok gets into how the design evolved and what it has to do with the lapwing bird.
7. Every spring the Kentucky Derby catches me by surprise and I celebrate by rereading Hunter S. Thompson’s essay about how the real event is the decadence and depravity of the elites that attend. This year, I listened to its word-by-word radio drama read by Tim Robbins (Shawshank Redemption) doing a passable impression of HST and Bill Frissell (Finding Forrester) composing — and an “All Things Considered” interview with illustrator Ralph Steadman.
8. I like Merriam-Webster’s “Word of the Day” newsletter to make my definitions more exact. They often hit that sweet spot of sharing words you can’t succinctly define but have heard and can use in daily conversation. Too many vocabulary resources share interesting and niche words you’ll rarely use.
9. I find electric typewriters to be a great middle-ground between the speed of computer typing and dexterous clunk of manual typewriters. Electric typewriters — again, hit that sweet spot — of speed where I can get my thoughts on the page at a reasonable speed, but not fast enough for lower-quality stream of conscious. So this video on the iconic IBM Selectric Typewriter has me curious about getting one with many diifferent typefaces.
10. Speaking of typefaces: I love old writing reference books from before the digital age. My mother-in-law shared her “Words Into Type” book when I started freelancing in 2019, and it’s fascinating to read how physical publishing used to work. Bonus: Mary Norris, the New Yorker’s Comma Queen, recommends it (I keep four reference books on my writing desk, and I’m delighted to learn they include her three recommendations).

See you on down the dusty trail,

Robert Caro doesn’t just start with a detailed outline before he starts writing his books. He starts with a clear idea of how he’s going to end it.

“I can’t write a book until I know the last line,” he said on a recent Q&A podcast episode with C-SPAN.

I’m also a big outliner — but not a last liner.

Caro tells how when writing his first book — ”The Power Broker,” a thick biography about Robert Moses, the most powerful man in New York City — he had finished his research but had no idea how to start. There was too much material. He had no idea how to begin (something a lot of creatives can relate to!).