Footnotes is a weekly newsletter with ideas and inspiration to support your creative life.
Hello friends,
It’s MLK day in the U.S., so I’ll be humming the official birthday song all day. And writing, always writing… Here’s what piqued my interest this week:
"What are you going to point a camera at?" A great reminder from a former video journalist: “A good story has strong visual scenes, conjured up by your words alone.”
You may be familiar with the 80/20 rule, also known as the Pareto Principle, that 80% of your results are created by 20% of your efforts. This article has tips for putting the principle into practice. What stood out to me: Eliminate distractions and focus on what matters. Find your most productive hours and use them wisely. And, try to focus on the things that make you happy. :)
Sometimes that’s how it seems. But reviewer James Davis Nicoll asked the hard questions and did a semi-scientific survey from a couple hundred books that he’s reviewed. The answers surprised him and me. Oligarchies came in on top with 49%. Representative democracies at 36%, and autocracies were just 11%. This isn’t a peer-reviewed study or anything, but I found the results heartening.
And from the interesting facts file, which is always good for random inspiration, comes this list of inventions from the ancient world that seem like they should be from the future. Included are Greek fire, which couldn’t be extinguished, a clock with computer-like calculation abilities, and cement that doesn’t crack.
I'm busy working on my worldbuilding course and have opened up a very limited number of beta spots, available at a steep discount, for those willing to give me feedback on the course as I build it.