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“My mind rebels at stagnation.” –Sherlock Holmes

Recently, I found my mind feeling a bit stagnant.  I hadn’t been writing, and I started to wonder if I’d lost my creative prowess.  I just didn’t have any thoughts to write about.

But, then I realized that it was the other way around.  I wasn’t taking time to write (or read), so I wasn’t doing as much thinking.  Moreover, I wasn’t taking advantage of the clarity of thought engendered by writing.

I’ve mentioned the importance of writing and blogging quite a bit here on the blog.   It’s one of the most powerful thought refinement techniques.  I suppose I can’t say it enough–heck, I forget sometimes myself.

-Kevin
12.16.2010

The last week or so of blog posts haven’t been up to my expectations—not anywhere close.

Writing is important to me, and when I’m not writing interesting things, it’s a bad sign.  Writing requires clear thinking.  And if I’m not writing interesting things, I’m not spending as much time thinking clearly about interesting things.

It’s easy to figure out why I’m not writing as prolifically: I’m not focusing on it.

Focus.

In this current moment, I hate the word.  I fully recognize its importance and have become very good at focusing.  Nonetheless, I hate it.  To me, “Focus” doesn’t mean “get to work and stop lollygagging.”  Focus means “ignore all those great ideas and other interesting things that you could also be doing.”

We live under the constraint of time.  It is our most brutal reality.  We must pick our priorities.

I spent some time going over my priorities today.  Writing was one of them.

-Kevin
7.21.2010

This week, I realized that I’ve done almost nothing to really promote my book, which isn’t good.  Consequently, I’ve decided to give away two free copies next Friday.  In order to win them, you just need to tweet a link to this page using the following form:

RT to WIN a copy of @KevinVogelsang ‘s BOOK, 10 POWERFUL PERSONAS: http://bit.ly/a0CqKg

For each Tweet, you’ll get an entry into a drawing for the book. (If you tweet a link to this page twice, you’ll have your name in the drawing twice to double your odds.)

You can also get one entry into the drawing by posting to your Facebook status with the following form:

Check out Kevin Vogelsang’s book, “10 Powerful Personas”: http://bit.ly/a0CqKg

Leave a comment to let me know you’ve done this.  I won’t have any way of knowing that your facebook status was updated.

Winners will be announced on the morning of Friday, May 21st.

Also, remember:

You NEED To PURCHASE “10 Powerful Personas” on CreateSpace (better margin for me if you buy it here!)

Or, Purchase it on  on Amazon.

To learn more about the overall contents of the book, check out the Preview. Also, here’s a link to a PDF of one of the Powerful Personas you’ll meet in the book: The Cocky Son-of-a-Bitch.

-Kevin
5.14.2010

Writing a book is a complex endeavor.  It has taken much longer than I ever expected.

A good work of art is all about the details.  And it’s almost time to fling this work of art out into the world.

Right now, the manuscript is being read by my “editors.”  If you’re interested in getting an early read and giving me feedback, email me at KVogelsang11*at*gmail.com

Once my editors have gotten back to me, it’ll be about typesetting and design, a few last reads, and hitting print.  It’ll be a big relief.  It’ll also unleash a back log of writing I’ve been putting off.  I haven’t written an essay on VogelWorks in months and I’m itching to continue with my essays on the Future of the Digital Space……

-Kevin
10.25.2010

Persona: a "social mask"

I’ve met a lot of people in my short life.  Many of these people have been very successful.  They owe much of their success to their strong and magnetic personalities.

“Personality” is a complex thing.  And on the surface, our personality not only “changes” over time, but it also changes depending on context.  We shift gears according to our environment: we’re very different at work or with our college buddies or in front of a crowd.  Moreover, we’re not necessarily conscious of these shifts.  Our personality seems to have many faces.  These many different faces are called personas.

Personas are shared between people; you’ll find certain personas in more than one place.  This shouldn’t come as a surprise.  A persona is simply a cohesive package of behaviors.  And people certainly “rub off” on each other.

I find this deeply intriguing.  And over the years, as I’ve watched people, I started noticing patterns in these personas.  Specifically, I found certain personas to be especially powerful.

In my book, I highlight 10 powerful personas, personas that really stand for something and enable people to do great things. Here’s a few:

• The Artist
• The Cocky SOB
• The Helping Hand
• The Man in the Arena

I highlight these personas with a purpose, not merely for the sake of exploration.  If we learn to recognize these personas in other people, we’re more likely to be influenced by them, and therefore more likely to spread their valuable characteristics. This is a very good thing.

I’ll be announcing the release date soon–stay tuned.  Follow me on Twitter (@KevinVogelsang) for updates.

I hope you’ll check it out.  To date, this will be the most important thing I’ve done.

-Kevin
2.3.2010

Yesterday, I wrote a post about the surprising significance of the tools we use to accomplish a given task.

Bryan Hernandez wrote this comment:

I started to reply, but then I realized I had a lot to say.  People that take something seriously tend to have a very precise routine and have particular requirements for the way they go about their business: football players wear their pads a certain way, programmers may listen to certain music when they code, basketball players lace their shoes up precisely, and so on.  Especially when performance is desired, people pay close attention to the intricacies of their craft.

So how do I write?

My primary weapon is  a 5×8 Moleskine sketchbook. Hardbound to keep the pages flat.  Thick pages to keep my pen from indenting the following pages.  Elastic strap to keep it closed.  No lines because I do sketches it it as well.

I used to try and use regular, spiral bound notebooks.   That didn’t work. I didn’t keep track of where I put them. Pages got ripped out and bent.  Pages got messed up from writing on the pages on top of them (which is surprisingly annoying.) Because of these things, I didn’t write often.  A regular notebook just wasn’t special, so it felt like my writing wasn’t particularly special.    If you value something, you have to treat it right.

The 5×8 size is versatile size.    Putting little notes doesn’t look awkward–it seems right. But, it’s not a problem to write something longer.  It feels good to fill up some pages sometime.

It also doesn’t take up much space, so I can keep it right on my desk next to my computer mouse.  When an idea comes to me or I have an epiphany, I can quickly and easily write it down and get it out of my head before I forget it, and more importantly, before it distracts me any further.

My 2nd weapon is my pen. I use a Pilot G-2 pen (black, blue looks gaudy).  It makes my handwriting look a little wiser, and it glides along the paper quickly.  You need to be able to write quickly when the thoughts are coming.  Otherwise you’re wasting moments of inspiration, you will more quickly lose momentum.  You certainly won’t be able to get into a state of flow.

I don’t like using a word processor to get rolling.  It’s weird, it makes me feel less like a writer.  I just can’t get my “game face” on.

My 3rd weapon is this blog.  Blogging imbibes the words with an added purpose: you’re talking to someone.  There’s an audience out there conversing with you .  Additionally, talking to someone, talking through a concept, forces us to think and speak with even greater clarity.  And conversing by the written word takes this clarity to new heights–you can talk without thinking, but you can’t write without thinking.

-Kevin
1.27.2010

Over the past week or so I’ve written about why it’s important to find your passion and gain expertise.

Blogging can help you with these, and more.

Blogging is an awesome thing.

If you blog consistently, you’ll blog about what’s on your mind.  And soon enough, you will realize what’s on your mind and what you want to share.  This says a lot about you.

You’ll talk about things you know.  People will challenge you and ask you questions.  This will cause you to learn more.

People will learn from you.  People will appreciate your experience and the shared experiences between you.

People will also learn about you.  It’s strange how little we know about what is on each other’s minds and what our interests are, even our close friends that live next door to us.  Our minds are in a constant state of flux.  It’s hard to keep up with.  (Ever written something and looked back at it even a few months later?  It almost always gets the response, “Did I write that?  What was I thinking?”)

Blogging gives you an audience to write to.  Writing to people will require you to write clearly, and consequently, think more clearly.  Therefore, you’ll learn from writing.  One of my primary motivators to write is just to figure things out.  When I start writing about a topic, it leads me to unexpected ideas and conclusions.

It’ll also help you stay in touch with others and help them stay in touch with you.  You’re constantly offer people something to talk about with you.

Lastly, when someone writes a comment, or just visits your page,  they provide you with positive feedback.  Your work has been noticed.  As you see your number of visitors slowly increase, you’ll want to keep doing it.  Like running, once you get in shape, once you get in a groove, you won’t want to give it up.

Starting a blog is easy. Just go to WordPress.com .

-Kevin
1.22.10

In my previous post, I shared a few thoughts on good writing. I realized I forgot the most important element of good writing:  Voice.

“Voice” reflects the character of the messenger, and the character of the messenger needs to match the content.  “The messenger is the message.”

We encounter the importance and effectiveness of Voice all the time.  For instance, a given statement is much funnier when said by a funny person.  The reasons why are very difficult to put a finger on.

Creating the right “Voice” requires a masterful use of the right language. It requires the writer to wield the most subtle aspects of communication.   But more than that, it also requires the writer to build a relationship with the  reader.

The most difficult aspect of Voice is consistency.  The writer really has to step into the character of the messenger for the entirety of the work.  If there’s a deviation, there needs to be a clear reason.  The reader will notice the chance and will expect it to mean something.  If it doesn’t, they’ll be left confused.

Let me know your thoughts on good writing.

-Kevin
1.14.2009