The Japanese firm Somenotsukasa Yoshioka [https://www.textiles-yoshioka.com/eng/] has produced textile dyes since the Edo period, but until the fifth-generation head of the family, Sachio Yoshioka, took the reins, the company operated like any other modern dyer, whipping up its colors in test tubes. Easier, faster, and cheaper,

This week is short and sweet because we’re heading out to the Berkshires and I’m trying to tie up loose ends before we go. The problem is, in the writing business, it’s all loose ends. (I have no idea what that means, but it sounds right, doesn’

> Nobody calls me chicken.Marty McFly, Back to the Future Part II Our capacity to write is a precious resource. Some days a single good hour, fluid and focused, can feel like a gift from above. Of course, writing is my full-time occupation, so an hour a day won’

> Just hold that happy thought, Peter! —Tinker Bell, Hook I’d always imagined a pupa as something straight out of the original Transformer s cartoon, the caterpillar sealing itself up in its chrysalis only to BI-BUH-BO-BOO-BUH [https://youtu.be/i1Nj1pEz6A0?t=11] into a beautiful butterfly. Turns out, no.

The opera singer Farinelli [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farinelli] (1705–1782) sang comfortably in all vocal registers, tenor through soprano. He was a European celebrity of the highest order, an 18th-century Beyoncé, and while Her Beyness can sing across four octaves to Farinelli’s three, I doubt she can

First: my friend Michael Margolis has a new book coming out in October: Story 10x. It’s about getting your business’s story straight—an admirable goal. In announcing the book to his mailing list, Michael mentioned “Moldawer’s Rule” (technically, Moldawer’s Law, but I forgive you, Michael): authors

Author and productivity expert Dave Crenshaw [https://davecrenshaw.com/] and I met up the other day for a chat about writing books. We made a super-short video [https://www.linkedin.com/posts/davecrenshaw_authors-writing-publishing-activity-6557606359834198016-iJMM] . It was fun. It’s good to be reminded how weird I look on camera—it

Federico Viticci and John Voorhees of MacStories [https://www.macstories.net/] recently launched Dialog [https://dialogpodcast.net/], a podcast about creativity and technology. The first season features professional writers working across various genres: screenwriting, songwriting, etc. Since I love learning about niche writing apps, this show should be pure catnip.

That last essay, about the lost art of creative correspondence [https://mavengame.com/2019/06/the-lost-art-of-creative-correspondence/], struck a chord. I received (counting) five responses. That’s a spike, folks. Is the Maven Game finally going viral? This is probably the right time to sign with a top newsletter agent at

I miss sending and receiving letters. Lengthy, well-constructed epistles demanding careful thought and deliberation. Typed or hand-written messages of multiple paragraphs worthy of proper capitalization and punctuation. Forget paper, I even miss lengthy, properly constructed e-mails that begin Dear So-and-so. Nowadays, it’s all likes and emojis and beeps and