Advice

Welcome to The Everything Wars

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Bonnie and I write on video wars, text wars, audio wars, book wars.  I'm starting to think that we may have this wrong.  Not that we're wrong about there being a LOT of competition over standards, delivery methods, media, etc.  I think we're not looking at it from a big enough picture.

We've seen Google announce an OS aimed at Netbooks.  Microsoft suddenly announces Office for Web really isn't as far away as it seemed.  Amazon is working on text deployment (Kindle of course), which conflicts with Barnes and Noble, and also runs on the iPhone.  The iPhone now has to cope with Android (Google), but Verizon is also getting in on the phone app store act.  EVERYONE is busy with some kind of video, while Hulu finally explains why PS3 people got locked out for awhile, and Netflix is scrambling to work with Microsoft.  Microsoft as we noted, is tussling with Google, so who knows what's next.

We don't have video wars.  Or audio wars.  Or text wars.

In the technical side of the Geekonomy we've now got the EVERYTHING wars.  Everyone at some point seems to be butting heads with everyone else in the technology and media side of things.  I'd say we've got unprecedented conflicts, changes, and just plain weirdness coming our way for at least two years.

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And one brainstorm book is set aside . . .

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I've written before about my Brainstorm Book technique.  To sum it up quickly – I keep a book with me to write down Great Ideas relevant to my life/career/ambitions and review it regularly.  I use a relatively small, 7×5 inch book that fits easily in my briefcase or sits on my nightstand.

This one I've been using since October 2008, reviewing it every few weeks to refresh myself on ideas I had, integrating certain ones into my future plans, preserving others for later.  Indeed, part of this blog and how it's evolved came from there, as have generators at Seventh Sanctum, and other ideas.

I looked through the recent entries, and then placed it on my "must reread" shelf of books for review in the near future.  I felt oddly sentimental, because I have a lot of great ideas in there, things that have changed, are changing, and will change and improve my life.

The brainstorm book idea, as I said, is a way to get, keep, and review good ideas – but it also provides the discipline to keep working on your personal vision for your life.  It makes thinking about the future, about developing Great Ideas, a habit, an instinct.  Great Ideas are really easy to have – we tend to make them hard, ignore them, or brush them off.  Giving them a chance at life takes some work.

I have over eight months of great ideas, in my awful handwriting, sitting on my shelf.  The ideas in that book – and it's brother, which now sits on my nightstand – will be with me for years or decades to come.

Yeah.  It's worth doing.  If you haven't, go read this essay, and go get one.

– Steven Savage

The Changing Role Model

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I'm big on advising people to find role models to learn what to do (and what not to do).  However I've been darkly speculating that some role models as of late may not be as good as they once were because of changing economic and technological conditions.

Specifically, be careful of your role models in fiction writing, manga, and comics.  Those media who are experiencing rapid industry and distribution change.

I'm not saying you can't learn from your favorite artists and authors, but these are areas of the geekonomy that are underground rapid change.  Publishing is having issues, web distribution is up, serial fiction is poking around a potential comeback.  Written and graphic media is changing rapidly.

This means that even your best role model may have less to teach you as they became famous and respected in a different environment than you are.  Even someone who hit the big time as  a writer or artist or mangaka a few years ago was in a far different world than you are now.

So when you go looking for lessons from your favorite role models, keep in mind what is relevant today and what isn't.  You may even need to seek new role models to learn from.  Your comic idol from ten years ago may have less to teach you than you can learn from Penny Arcade or Girl Genius today.  There may be no new J.K. Rowling or Stephanie Meyer ever – their success stories may be no longer relevant.

What made success even a few years ago is not the same as today in some media markets..  It's a hard lesson, and it makes learning from others harder, but it's something we have to face.

As for what is coming next?  We'll, I've been speculating and may try that in another column . . .

– Steven Savage