Matt’s Mix Tape, Vol. 103

Hi, I’m Matt Tillotson and this is Matt’s Mix Tape, a weekly Mix of ideas on writing and content strategy for the Creator Age.

This week’s Mix:

• Producing creative fruit

• The power of suboptimal choices

• Journaling: no rules, just write

• Quick Mix (Ghosts!)

• This week’s Florida photo

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This week’s Mix Tape logo: producing creative fruit

Two weeks ago, a Mix Tape reader sent this:

I don't have the creative gene you do and I am glad you're out there adding substantive content!

I appreciate the compliment. But the sentiment about not having a “creative gene” isn’t true. 

We are all creative. It’s part of being human.

And more than ever, we owe it to ourselves and others to seek out, explore, and express our creative gifts.

Let’s face it: Today, algorithms and organizations work to control both what you consume and what you create. So protect and use your creative gifts.

Creative gifts come in infinite forms: 

• The gift of writing with extraordinary rhythm and sentiment

• Woodworking

• The ability to connect with others and sell

• Photographing food 

And that brings me to the palm trees in the logo. 

I’ve always loved palms. Mostly as a symbol of fun and relaxation. 

But in my middle age, palm trees have taken on new meaning, as expressed in Psalm 92:

But the Godly will flourish like palm trees. 

[…]

Even in old age they will still produce fruit; they will remain vital and green. 

We are all designed to produce fruit, even as we age.

Palm trees are my reminder of that.

As Elizabeth Gilbert said in “Big Magic”:

“What we make matters enormously, and it doesn’t matter at all.”

So don’t put so much pressure on creativity. You are already creative. Access it, explore it, and share it. It’s human to do so. And it’s never been more important.

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The power of suboptimal choices

Through the lens of Jack Reacher, Kieran Majury shares a five-step story framework I’ve not seen before.

Let’s dive deeper on step four:

Kieranmajury.com | 👑 of Vtweets| Writer & Editor @KieranMajury

Then you give them a choice. Here's the thing. It has to be between two bad options. Choosing between good and bad is not a real choice.

Setting up sub-optimal choices also works very well in marketing copy. First, make the customer the hero. Then offer two unattractive options:

A) Do nothing and live with the problem

B) Choose a difficult or complicated solution the prospect is trying to avoid

Next, position your solution as the third way: the one that solves the prospect’s problem and allows her to avoid doing things the hard way.

Fast example: Let’s take intermittent fasting. The prospect wants to lose weight. To start, offer two sub-optimal choices. He can:

A) Do nothing and remain unhealthy.

B) Do endless hours of unpleasant cardio, trying to sweat the pounds off.

Or, he can try intermittent fasting, which helps limit calories and increases fat burn—without tons of laborious cardio.

Use suboptimal choices to highlight the pain of either doing nothing or choosing a difficult path to solve a problem. Then position your solution as a better and easier third way.

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When journaling, forget the rules

Jen Vermet, on the “rules” of journaling:

Forget the rules. There are so many rules we have to follow in the world. For journaling, make this space your safe haven where it can be as chaotic as you please.

I’ve journaled daily for over two years. How do I keep going?

Outback Steakhouse’s old tag line was “No rules, just right.”

My journaling tag line is, “No rules, just write.”

My journaling might include any or all of these on a given day:

• Recap of challenges from the day before

• Prayer

• Points of gratitude from the prior day

• Worries / fears / etc.

• Writing ideas

• Day planning

Journaling clears your head so you can focus on your core tasks. No rules, just write.

Give it a shot, and let me know how it works for you.

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Quick Mix

(I like trying new stuff in the newsletter. Here’s a quick collection of thoughts and links I hope are fun/helpful/interesting.)

• Thanks to Leo Mascaro’s excellent Shuffle Sundays newsletter, I learned Leon Bridges has a new album out: Gold-Diggers Sound. It’s more jazz-oriented than his earlier works. “Don’t Worry” is my favorite track among many good ones.

• Lord, grant me the creative zest and zeal of The Boss at 70, getting after it here with “Ghosts,” a song with—pun intended—great spirit. Bruce sings about carrying on to honor the friends and family he’s lost along the way:
  

• The AppleTV+ documentary of the making of Bruce and the E Street Band’s “Letters to You” album is great. (Mom found this one. Thanks mom!)

• If you’re like me—way too stiff and knotted up—check out Oliver Anwar’s ten-minute stretching routine. He shares a good and quick routine for the neck and shoulders especially.

• I’m no fan of the Dallas Cowboys, but it was cool to see owner Jerry Jones and legendary coach Jimmy Johnson bury the hatchet and buddy up this week at the NFL Hall of Fame game. I like getting life reminders from unlikely sources.

• If you’re into flavored whiskeys, give Skrewball, a peanut butter whiskey, a try. It’s on the sweeter side but it’s smell and taste is excellent.

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This week’s Florida photo

Had to go with a palm tree, and I like this shot taken at Universal Studios several years ago.

What causes a sun halo?

the refraction, reflection, and dispersion of light through ice particles suspended within thin, wispy, high altitude cirrus or cirrostratus clouds.

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Welcome to 37 new subscribers

Including Monique, Ian, Keith, and Rueben.

And thank you to you for reading. 

Please reach out and say hi, ask a question, whatever—anytime.