A Lesser Photographer

I've recently been enthralled by the work of photographer CJ Chilvers, who runs the blog A Lesser Photographer. His minimal approach to photography is one of thoughtfulness and creativity, rather than focusing on expensive gear or "professional" methods.

His blog is full of fantastic posts, but I recommend starting with the A Lesser Photographer Manifesto, which is a free-to-read PDF ebook (look at me staying on-topic today!) that encapsulates his views on photography.

A couple of choice quotes:

"Every new, professional grade camera aims to remove the photographer another step from the mechanical processes of the camera to “focus on the image.”

This has the opposite effect.

Creativity is always enhanced by a constraint. This is true in filmmaking, music, painting, writing and even photography.

How many times has one of your favorite bands, whose best album was produced in days using half-borrowed equipment, gone on to spend a year in the studio on their next album, only to produce a mediocre (at best) result?

How many times has a talented filmmaker been given unlimited funds and technical possibilities only to produce a Jar Jar Binks?

A lesser camera makes you think. Thought is better than automation in art. Automation leads to commoditization. Your art becomes easily replaceable or worse, forgettable."

and

"For years, photographers have been wisely imploring writers to learn to create compelling images to enhance their storytelling. The same argument must be made in reverse. Photographers must learn to write to enhance their storytelling, or find a writer to collaborate with. The two skills are inescapably linked now.

This is why it makes no sense for a photographer, with no professional mandate, to keep a portfolio section on their website. Viewers would be better served, and in turn photographers would be better served, by telling stories. Those stories are better served with great writing. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but the worth of a great story is incalculable."

CJ has inspired me to reflect on my own approach to photography and I recommend checking out his work. Be sure to subscribe.

Work Ethic and Inspiration

"A writer who waits for ideal conditions under which to work will die without putting a word on paper." — E.B. White

Imagine a dusty old attic. This attic is full of boxes, old toys, photo albums, and other artifacts of the past, but in the center of the attic sits the most interesting item of all: a canvas covered by smears of different-colored paints. You see, this is no ordinary paint. It moves. The smears constantly shift, the colors seeming to dance as they blend here and separate there, never quite in the same way twice.

Underneath all of this commotion, at all times there is a painting waiting to be revealed. As the colors shift, the painting in turn continually becomes something else, but each reveal turns out to be beautiful. The canvas appears flat, and yet the artist can dip their hand into the pool of colors, grasping around as they attempt to forcefully extract the painting and present it to the world.

Sometimes the painting will patiently wait as the artist struggles, possibly in vain, but there are rare occasions when the painting grows impatient, bursting forth from the canvas and slapping the artist in the face to leave a colorful palm print behind.

This is what inspiration feels like to me.

As a writer, my mind (the attic) is usually filled with disjointed ideas, vague images, incomplete sentences (the canvas). Each time I sit down to write, my goal is to reach into the canvas and pull out something great. To take the mess and mold it into something I can be proud of. To draw out a line of thought I might not have conceived of otherwise, had I not made that first effort to simply start.

It should go without saying that I fail a lot of the time, everyone does, but I keep trying anyway and I encourage you to do so as well. That's part of the fun. It's also a necessary practice for any writer.

Unless your superpower is 'Having An Ah-Ha Moment Every Time You Write', you're going to sometimes struggle with your writing just like everyone else, including me. And that's okay! The most important thing you can do is find a comfortable place and simply start writing. Doesn't matter what you write at first, whether it's a bunch of stream-of-consciousness nonsense or the first chapter of your next great novel, the process is the most important thing.

Don't wait for inspiration to strike. It may never happen, and you'll have produced nothing. But if you force yourself to do the work, to make that struggle against all odds, that's where greatness comes from.

I'll leave you with this fantastic quote by composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky:

"There is no doubt that even the greatest musical geniuses have sometimes worked without inspiration. This guest does not always respond to the first invitation. We must always work, and a self-respecting artist must not fold his hands on the pretext that he is not in the mood. If we wait for the mood, without endeavouring to meet it half-way, we easily become indolent and apathetic. We must be patient, and believe that inspiration will come to those who can master their disinclination."

Tentative Steps

"The only reason for being a professional writer is that you just can't help it." - Leo Rosten

I created this site back in October 2010. It started out as a fun hobby, posting the (very) occasional blurb about stuff I was interested in. In the last two-plus years it has grown from a side hobby to something much more.

Rather than posting once or twice a month, I now write every single day, sometimes multiple times a day. I write during downtime at my day job. In the evenings, after my wife and son have gone to bed, I sit down in a comfy chair with some sort of drink and I write. Even on days when I don't post anything, I'm still writing behind the scenes.

It appears that I've finally stumbled onto my life's passion, and because of this, I've had an idea burning at the back of my mind for a while. Perhaps it's time to think about turning Unretrofied into a full-time job. Or at least taking steps toward it.

The idea of doing such a thing both excites and frightens me.

The Why

I'm at a point in my life where I need a change, career-wise. I've been working at my current job for over four years, and while it's not a bad gig, there's no challenge anymore. I can't remember the last time I learned anything new from this job, and I'm still in the same exact position as when I started. On top of that, the nature of my job keeps me away from my family a lot more than it should.

I've long dreamed of having a career based on my creative work, rather than stepping into an office and performing monotonous duties all day. All of my "real" jobs to date have entailed some sort of customer service. In the last 6 or 7 years, I've spent most of my waking hours trying to make customers/end-users happy, rather than doing what I want and allowing my creative mind to flourish. Not very satisfying.

My most creatively-fulfilling moments are when I'm taking photos and writing articles. I have doubts about going professional with my photography, and therefore it will remain a fun hobby for now, but writing is something I think about all the time. I think about it before going to sleep, when I wake up, and every moment in-between.

Before rediscovering my love for writing, it had been many years since I'd felt compelled to master a new skill or seek a drastic new direction in my life, but now I've got the itch, and I'm determined to make my goal a reality.

Anyone who knows me in real life knows that I'm not the type to leave my stable job and leap into the unknown like this. But I'm tired of letting fear rule my life, and my gut keeps telling me that I'm making the right choice. The only choice.

Luckily, I have a supportive wife who understands how much this dream means to me, and she has urged me to pursue it. You only live once, after all.

The How

This is where you, the reader, come in. If I'm going to do this thing I'm going to need your help, which is why today I'm making membership subscriptions available to anyone interested in supporting the site.

There are two options:

• Monthly — Just $3 a month. As Shawn Blanc puts it, it's "like a good cup of coffee."
• Annual — $30 a year. Same benefits as the monthly subscription, but you save $6.

I'm still working out the details pertaining to members-only perks and such, and I promise that I'll announce something special in due time, but for now the membership is simply a means of directly supporting my writing.

I want to stress right now that this is not some sort of scheme where you have to pay to view my articles or get access to a full-content RSS feed or anything like that. Unretrofied is and will remain a free web site.

My hope is that, if enough of you find it in your hearts to part with a few of your hard-earned dollars each month, I can eventually devote myself to Unretrofied full-time and still support my family. It costs only a small amount to you but helps me so much.

If you read this and choose not to subscribe, that's okay! I'm still glad to have you as a reader. Nobody should feel pressured into this thing, it's simply an option for people who enjoy supporting independent creators. I already do the same for a dozen other writers myself.

All I ask is that you consider it. It would mean the world to me.

Consider the Text File

The text file is a versatile thing. It's been around since the beginning of computers and is just as powerful today as it was then. It can be read on any platform of your choice by a seemingly endless number of applications. It's easy to move around between folders and even other devices.

It can contain just about anything—your daily thoughts, a task list, your monthly expenses, article drafts, backups of those articles, a love letter, the book you intend to publish...the list goes on. If you run a blog, you can write your articles in Markdown syntax, which is both human-readable and easy to reformat as HTML. There are scripts that can take a simple text file and turn it into something far greater.

The text file has been around this long for a reason, and it's not going anywhere anytime soon. It's just about the most future-proof type of file around. It has become indispensable in my workflow, and it can do the same for you. In a world full of incredible apps, people often forget about the building blocks that got us this far, which is the point of this piece. Consider it a reminder that even the simplest tools can often be the most powerful.

Go ahead, open up your text editor of choice. The possibilities are endless.

Speaking of Supporting Independents...

J.D. Bentley has unveiled his reader-supported site, The Handshake. I gladly signed up and look forward to the exclusive essays that will be published there.

Ignoring Big Media in Favor of the Little Guy

As time goes by, I find myself depending less and less on big-name sites to stay on top of matters in the world of tech. At one point or another I've subscribed to them all: Ars Technica, Engadget, Gizmodo, The Verge, Macworld, AllThingsD, The Next Web, TechCrunch, Wired...I'm sure I'm forgetting a few.

The problem with these sites is that they're too broad in scope. They attempt to cover every possible thing, they compete to post scoops first — sometimes to their own detriment — the sheer number of articles in their RSS feeds can accumulate at a seemingly exponential rate, and most of these articles are low-content or cover events I simply do not care about.

["Oh, some Android OEM has decided to shit out yet another phone, just like they have several other times in the last week? How novel and interesting!" - something I have never uttered]

I don't want to keep up with this deluge of information. I want stories. Tech writers are encouraged to slap together several "articles" a day on every possible bit of news that hits their inbox. I just can't stretch my interest amongst that much content.

Because of this, I've unsubscribed from all the big-name publications and started exclusively reading what I call 'personality' blogs. I'm talking about places like Daring Fireball, ShawnBlanc.net, Curious Rat, The Brooks Review, 512 Pixels, and a bunch of others. Without editors and advertisers standing over their shoulders, these blogs have the luxury of publishing at a much slower rate, which typically leads to more thoughtful pieces. A stark (and rather refreshing) contrast to the postpostpostpostpost mentality of the big players.

I'm not saying the larger media outlets don't write great pieces every now and then, but I've found it to be a pretty rare occurrence. Also, these 'diamonds in the rough' will usually be shared around by others anyway, so that I don't have to dig through the garbage myself.

All of this applies to magazines, as well. I can't remember the last time I renewed a paper magazine subscription. Not only is it a gigantic waste of paper, but I feel like I'm getting better mileage out of publications like The Magazine and the Read & Trust Magazine.

Going a step further than simply unsubscribing from the big sites, I've also become a paid member of some smaller sites because I believe it's important to support independent writing. That's where the truly interesting stuff is published, and I want to make sure more of it gets put out into the world. If I ever turn this site into a full-time job, I would hope that people find it in the hearts to support what I do. Why shouldn't I do the same for the sites I love?

"The Verb is Writing"

I've been going through some of the Daring Fireball archives this morning, something I do now and again with my favorite sites. I reached the post where Gruber discusses the SXSW talk he and Merlin Mann gave in March 2009.

I'm pretty familiar with this talk, because I enjoy listening to it every once in a while. I rarely go back and listen to old podcast episodes but this talk provides so much meaningful advice that I can't help but return to it again and again whenever I need some inspiration. I have a 'Listen Later' folder in Instapaper and this talk never gets deleted, unlike everything else I've ever saved in there. It's that good.

I had forgotten about Gruber's article regarding the talk though, and as I was reading through it again, this quote smacked me in the face (emphasis mine):

"There is an easy formula for doing it wrong: publish attention-getting bullshit and pull stunts to generate mindless traffic. The entire quote-unquote “pro blogging” industry — which exists as the sort of pimply teenage brother to the shirt-and-tie SEO industry — is predicated on the notion that blogging is a meaningful verb. It is not. The verb is writing. The format and medium are new, but the craft is ancient."

I don't think I could ever put it any better that.

Lasting Value

As some of my recent posts may tell you, I've become engrossed with writing lately. Guys like Shawn Blanc, J.D. Bentley, and Patrick Rhone have inspired me to pursue a greater mastery of the craft, and over the years their essays have struck chords within me that have caused me to rethink my perception of the world.

For two years I've been writing articles about happenings in the tech world, but as I look through my archives — which I've been trying to organize — I realize that many of them have become meaningless to me after the fact. Too often I've latched onto a popular story and written something about it despite any real interest on my part, or simply posted something low-content that could have been linked on Twitter instead.

I want this site to be better. I want to be better. I'm a little embarrassed by the mountain of drivel I've allowed to accumulate around here. The goal is to be a capital "W" Writer, not just some guy who managed to assemble a vapid link list.

This doesn't mean that I want to stop writing about technology altogether. Far from it. I'm simply burnt out trying to keep up with the daily firehose of tech news, and from now on will only contribute to discussions I truly care about, at my own pace. The focus of this site will be narrowed, rather than being thinly spread over several dozen subjects.

Forcing myself to stick with a smaller range of topics should allow me to write more thoughtful material. This could result in a slower posting schedule, but that's better than shovelblogging in my opinion.

Also, I will be removing those posts from the archive that I feel have lost any meaning, or perhaps had none to begin with. I want readers to return to my archives years from now and still find something worthwhile, no matter what post they click.

I want lasting value, not fleeting pageviews.

Introverted

J.D. Bentley on being an introvert:

"What separates extroverts from introverts isn’t shyness or unsociableness. It’s small talk.

We don’t do small talk.

Ask me about writing or technology, mandolin or entrepreneurship and I will talk your ear off. Ask me about the weather and you’ll be disappointed."

This is how I sometimes feel about conversations in my personal- and worklife, because I am an introvert by nature.

To me it often feels like people try to fill dead air with words, any words, to alleviate the awkardness of silence they feel. Or perhaps they do it to feel some sort of companionship, however weak, with the other person.

I understand it, but I am not wired that way.

If I don't feel like I have anything interesting to say, then I prefer not to speak at all. To do otherwise encourages discussion that is empty, hollow, devoid of meaning. Sometimes radio silence is okay.

Review: 'Drafts' for iOS

Ever have an idea that suddenly popped into your head that was so good you needed to jot it down, but by the time you get a chance to write, you've forgotten what it was? Or do you have an idea that isn't yet ready for the big time and needs to be refined first? You need an app like Drafts.

​Drafts is designed to help you get your ideas out of your head into text form in the quickest way possible. When you open the app, it promptly greets you with a blank white canvas and a keyboard. No searching for previous notes, no need to add a title first, no distractions. Once you open the app, you simply start typing.

After you've finished typing, you can tap the '+' icon on the center toolbar and save it for later, or you can tap the 'Share' icon on the right side and export it to many different places, including Evernote, Tweetbot, SMS, Facebook, Reminders, Dropbox, ​Omnifocus, Sparrow, Agenda Calendar, and a lot more.

Drafts supports ​Markdown as well, if you're into that sort of thing. I've personally been using it as a tool for practicing Markdown on the go, since it includes options to preview the HTML output of your Markdown or send it elsewhere for use.

​If you would like to go back and see all of your previous drafts, just tap the 'paper' icon on the tool bar and the keyboard will slide down, revealing the drafts list underneath. There's no organizational structure that I'm aware of (like folders or tags), but if you need to find any specific thing you can just use the search feature (obviously, it's the magnifying glass icon on the toolbar).

​Drafts has become extremely useful for me, because I often have an idea spring to mind that I forget by the time I can get it into text form. I could just open Evernote and create a new note there, but Drafts feels so much more direct and I don't feel like I'm going to forget anything by the time it opens because it only takes a second or two.

With Evernote, I have to wait for the notes list to finish syncing, then tap the 'New Note' button, then tap in the body area to start typing. Those extra seconds really do matter, especially when you're doing those same things every single time you open the app. Plus, with Evernote, I'm tempted to properly tag and title each note when I'm done, but with Drafts I don't feel that compulsion. In this case, simple really is better.

There are plenty of other features in Drafts that I haven't even talked about here. For such a simple app, it's pretty powerful, and I highly recommend it. The iPhone version is $2 and the iPad version is $3.