The Write Path

I signed up for Dickie Bush & Nicolas Cole's cohort-based writing course, Ship 30 for 30, this past January. The course goes through what they call “the fundamentals of digital writing.”

"But Ernie," you say. "You had a blog! You know how to write! Why do you need to enroll in an online writing course?" First off, I'm flattered. But here are a few reasons why I signed up:

1. It’s been a while. I'm re-learning how to write at a cadence again. I've been in crisis management mode the past couple of years, the burden of what’s left of my family heavy on my shoulders, and that’s not counting the breakup and the subsequent move from Florida back to the Bay Area.
   
   Things have gotten a little bit more stable and, well, here I am.
   

2. Monetization is no longer the taboo it once was. There was still a relative taboo for monetizing personalized content back in those days, terrified of being accused of "selling out."
   
   Now, the web has evolved from a platform for hobbyists to a legitimate career path for content creators such as Patreon, Substack, Kickstarter, hell, and even OnlyFans. If I started creating content in 2024 with the same energy I started blogging in the 2000s, I'd be selling out early and often.
   

3. The nature of the writing on the web has changed. Which makes sense, right? As internet speeds go faster, there’s more ways to share a life online: words. Pictures. 7 second video clips. Longer high-def video clips! As for me, I'm good at writing about my feelings and wacky familial hijinks.

   
   But can I write outside of anything that isn't directly related to my overdramatic life? Will I be able to write about React Server Components without a passing reference to Mom walking into a Zoom call I'm having in the spare bedroom with a bowl of washed Bing cherries?
   
   We’ll find out together!

Perhaps I’ll write a little more about the Ship30 program in the future, but for now this is just a note to let you know I plan on updating this newsletter a lot more often. I’m hoping to have the same personal and familial hijinks, but maybe a 47-year old version of those hijinks.

As to what I’ll be writing: give as I’m trying to "learn in public" I’m hoping it’ll be more technical in nature. In a never-ending quest to deal with my ADHD — which I feel has gotten worse over the past couple of years — I've naturally gravitated to tools like Obsidian to keep track of everything in my life, and Otter.ai or even ChatGPT to summarize meeting notes or YouTube transcriptions.

I'm excited to start sharing what I know online. If you’re reading this, I am pretty curious as to what kinds of things you’d like to see. Join me on this adventure—and let me know if you have any questions!