interlude: trust the process

how the writing gets done

Apr 12, 2023

what are interludes? this space will focus less on the music and more on the newsletter at large. i’ll sporadically share these peaks behind the curtain on what makes Run It Back flow. hope you enjoy :)

today’s interlude will be focused on my process when it comes to writing the newsletter! while still a work-in-progress, i’ve fine-tuned my craft over the years and felt like sharing

(my 6th grade english teacher would’ve never predicted i’d write this much lmao)

i get a lot of influence from what i consume. initially, i was reading a lot of New York Times, so i felt i had to follow the traditional MLA format

i made the pivot over the past year to write how i text, which is the whole essence of Run It Back. i view this space as a big ass group chat where i share song recs and memes 🙏

another big influence: Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. part memoir, part lessons on becoming a good writer, this has been supremely helpful in guiding my process. but what initially drew me to the book was its cover (if you know me, you know i love birds):

it was hard initially to find a groove, but this is what works for me. using last week’s volume as an example, here’s a breakdown:

phase 1: bullet points

Anne makes a great point to not be so self-critical when you’re first putting pen to paper. why judge a word dump? the first draft is never the final draft

exit through the gift shop: banksy: street art: what is true art?
how does it relate to examples like kenny beats’ discord community
past and present generations: do they have to experience the same challenges?
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.

i find that leaving myself open-ended questions is easier to work from when starting out. the verbatim answers may change but the result is the same. also using loren ipsum text helps me visualize what the end product could look like

phase 2: arrange & write

this is where i start answering my open-ended questions and start arranging. there’s a certain flow i’m after with each volume, so i’m looking for what makes the most sense in the reader’s eyes. the bullet points develop and i’m starting to see the words match my vision

phase 3: paragraphs

at this point, i’m ready to remove the training wheels and really start narrowing down my thoughts. i’ll make some light edits and ensure i’m coherent in my thoughts lmao

it’s the last step before final edits so there is some element of getting close to a final draft, but i’m not looking for perfection. i may leave some phrasing / topics in to see how they land in the grand scheme of things

final phase: review under a microscope

i won’t add every final product from the examples i previously used, but this is the part of the process where i review with a fine tooth comb. the initial pass is done by my editor-in-chief (and my partner) Veronica, who’s great at calming down my anxiety and asking good questions. i intentionally only bring her in at the end because i want her to review with fresh eyes

(i used to edit by myself but sometimes i was too close to the work and didn’t make the strongest edits)

after the EIC review, i do a final pass under a microscope. i optimize for the email experience on mobile so i’m reading with that in mind. i go back and make some minor changes before scheduling the final product

continued from #3 above:
with this accelerated foundation comes new challenges / different grinds for current and future generations. we can’t evolve if we force ourselves to face the same problems because “that’s the way it’s always been done”

all that said, writing can feel like an overwhelmingly daunting task at times. but if Run It Back has taught me anything, it’s to take things one step at a time. brick by brick. bird by bird

hope y’all enjoyed this special peak behind the curtain ❤️‍🔥

- claudio / claud / @offballscreen

p.s. - i’m taking next week off as i’ll be celebrating my birthday! Run It Back will resume it’s regularly scheduled programming on Tuesday, 4/25

memes of the week 🤠

note: with the introduction of Substack Notes (which is like Twitter but without ads), Elon seems to have started a war against Substack. moving forward, i’ll be pivoting from embedded tweets until he unblocks the functionality