# Dan Shipper - How David Perell Writes an Essay (Highlights)  ## Metadata **Review**:: [readwise.io](https://readwise.io/bookreview/35471814) **Source**:: #from/readwise #from/reader **Zettel**:: #zettel/fleeting **Status**:: #x **Authors**:: [[Dan Shipper]] **Full Title**:: How David Perell Writes an Essay **Category**:: #articles #readwise/articles **Category Icon**:: 📰 **Highlighted**:: [[2023-12-16]] **Created**:: [[2023-12-17]] ## Highlights - To make his writing interesting, he relies on an ingredient known as surprise. He wraps surprise into each sentence of his essays. He gathers it by constant searching, and he searches by echolocation. He throws out his verbal candidates in conversations and on Twitter at a prodigious, unrestrained clip. He’s looking for ideas and ways of expressing them that raise eyebrows, that generate so many reactions they can’t be ignored. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hhs67ber366vwwr5gwjdf7wr)) ^642527897 (**supports**:: [[George Saunders - A Swim in a Pond in the Rain + TICHN]]) - I listen for a few things in their responses. I have an acronym to help me keep track: CRIBS, which stands for confusing, repeated, interesting, boring, and surprising. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hhs6ep1hd2byd892j97q9nrj)) ^642528330 <!-- New highlights added December 23, 2023 at 1:43 PM --> - Surprise is also the fundamental axiom of Claude Shannon’s [information theory](https://every.to/emails/click/50f38484e58aee7dc857d867a9e82bd914e93deffd75cc9636c234c952ee2126/eyJzdWJqZWN0IjoiSG93IERhdmlkIFBlcmVsbCBXcml0ZXMgYW4gRXNzYXkiLCJwb3N0X2lkIjoyOTAxLCJwb3N0X3R5cGUiOiJwb3N0IiwidXJsIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9wZW9wbGUubWF0aC5oYXJ2YXJkLmVkdS9-Y3RtL2hvbWUvdGV4dC9vdGhlcnMvc2hhbm5vbi9lbnRyb3B5L2VudHJvcHkucGRmIiwicG9zaXRpb24iOjI0fQ==). The more surprise in a message, the more information it contains. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hj3dhhgwm7temjshngmzkt4p)) ^644909747 - I pay a lot of attention to how people respond to these snippets of insight—even more so than when I tweet a long piece that’s taken me months to complete. It’s nice to get feedback about my larger essays after the fact, but it does less to guide my thinking about new ideas. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hj3djc5ap73n6axx0m1g71q7)) ^644909782 - Daily, I write first thing in the morning for 90 minutes, before I open email or check social media. I don’t have a word count I’m shooting for. I just focus on distraction-free writing. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hj3dmrzz1dzgn7p0d186zvj0)) ^644909898 - You don’t have to write. You have permission to not write, but you don’t have permission to do anything else. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hj3dntc8ndh9mtrby1aw6nw6)) ^644911074 #favorite - In the early stages of writing, I listen to big room house music or podcasts, like [*Group Therapy*](https://every.to/emails/click/50f38484e58aee7dc857d867a9e82bd914e93deffd75cc9636c234c952ee2126/eyJzdWJqZWN0IjoiSG93IERhdmlkIFBlcmVsbCBXcml0ZXMgYW4gRXNzYXkiLCJwb3N0X2lkIjoyOTAxLCJwb3N0X3R5cGUiOiJwb3N0IiwidXJsIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9wb2RjYXN0cy5hcHBsZS5jb20vdXMvcG9kY2FzdC9hYm92ZS1iZXlvbmQtZ3JvdXAtdGhlcmFweS9pZDI4Njg4OTkwNCIsInBvc2l0aW9uIjoyOX0=), to inspire ideas and get me into flow. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hj3e017bxs1w2resnf7z1hnh)) ^644912579 - I usually work on three or four essays at a time. That lends variety to my workload without spreading my efforts thin, which can be distracting and demotivating. I have to be excited about what I’m writing. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hj3e2p79jwwjvztgz8dyq5yh)) ^644912658 - I don’t have a content schedule. I just write what stirs my soul. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hj3e35jkj1k55hcqpqydy4e9)) ^644912938 - I break my writing into finite chunks that make my essays feel more manageable. Sometimes, I’ll start by creating an outline to dump all my notes into. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hj3e4w8x2drqwepfhw8q4gqr)) ^644913283 - I create sections based on themes I pull from scanning all the information I’ve collected. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hj3e6cxq96pyt4bfmwxhg874)) ^644913524 - I make these with an app called Concepts, and I create them on an iPad with an Apple Pencil. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hj3e7sp7er8f0yqjma5fa15a)) ^644913690 - I pay attention to the colors I use to make each drawing recognizably mine. I use the same Purple (#5A44e4) to match the color of my website. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hj3e7hwdp944xxpdgbn4wgeq)) ^644913659 #actionable - My ideas may not be fully formulated, but I need to get them down on the page to know how to refine them. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hj3ed5np355ypqyt0e6rk55n)) ^644914040