Rupak Bid

For the relief of doing something we don't have to defend.

I often get drawn in by writing tips from proclaimed experts on how some writers made $1000 in their second month. Their recent articles will look like this: - Do this to boost your LinkedIn views by 10X - How I gained 1,500 followers in just two months - This is why people aren’t reading your stuff - 31 hooks because it’s my birthday - January: Here are my impression numbers! To new writers, these posts are intriguing. They want to boost their views and learn from those who succeeded! Even I used to follow them. That’s when it struck me. They hit $1,000 talking ‘about’ writing, not ‘by’ writing. Some of my favorite writers have pivoted to writing on LinkedIn, but I can’t do anything about it. If I go to the comments of these posts, I see tons of comments like: “That is such great advice!” “Wow, this is an incredible perspective!” “Really?” I remember reading articles that have unique advice on writing from writers who have gained hundreds of thousands of followers. I have nothing against that. But these posts are different. Some people argue that these posts provide value. For 99% of posts, I disagree. The advice is rudimentary and it probably took them a few minutes to type. It feels like writers are being incentivized to write these, instead of personal ones. Why should I spend hours writing a post when I can farm views by telling others how to write better? If everyone does that, what the hell are we doing here? I will still be writing the occasional stats update and my perspectives. But overall, I hope to continue writing about work-life, self-improvement, and tech. P.S. Sorry if this post was a rant. I just had to get this out.

You can control exactly one thing: that you show up. Every day. That’s about it. Showing up isn’t a silver bullet. It’s not an easy win. It’s not a life hack. It’s not a shortcut. But it’s the only way to build anything. The truth is we’re too focused on instant wins. Instant gratification. We’re too focused on breaking out. But it’s such a nonsensical way to think about what we do. As makers, as writers, as artists, as creatives, we can’t be chasing flash in the pan, quick success. There’s no algorithm that can predict it. You can’t count on much more than the power of consistency. You can’t count on much more than just showing the hell up, day after day, and organically. Showing up gives you the chance to grow. Stagnation happens to the best of us, it happens to the worst of us and it happens to everyone. It means your readers are going to get bored of how you write. Because you aren’t listening to your audience. You aren’t listening to their passions and their needs. You’re just watching the numbers. You’re sacrificing any creative spark you ever had. If you build a slow, long-term, dedicated relationship with the people who actively give a shit, that’s something else. The way to do that? Showing up with your whole, your values, what makes you unique, but above all, showing up with a consistency that lets people know who the fuck you’re. That’s where you create a career of worth and work. Does that sound like bullshit? It’s the truth. Your role as a creator is to create a journey that allows someone to forge a link to you. There is no way to do that if you can’t maintain a steady output of work. Anything else is a distraction.

Hey, @deepigoyal If I'm paying cash for an order and the delivery partner doesn't have change, how about adding the change amount to my Zomato Money?

Like most other writers, I procrastinate like mad. When I’ve finished research and the time comes to start writing, I’ll poke in a zillion other tasks, absolutely anything to avoid cracking down on the task at hand: WRITING THE VERY FIRST DRAFT. For me, first-draft writing is all about finding ways to trick myself into avoiding procrastination. I wrote a post a few weeks ago about one of those tricks… “writing as if you are a journalist.” As I pointed out there, a big chunk of avoiding having procrastination is about emotional regulation. The reason I avoid writing is because I’m worried I’ll be stuck. When I’ve convinced myself, I write by with these rules: - I begin each paragraph with a hyphen. - I don’t put period at the end. Instead in lieu of a period, I end using two slashes, like this “//”. The upshot is that when I’m writing a draft, the text looks pretty weird. It helps me write a draft? Because it makes my prose look provisional. That makes it look like “unofficial” writing. I regard the words as clay that I’m shifting around into place. I mentally know, “This is still under construction.” In contrast, if I try writing a first draft using regular punctuation, every sentence looks too “finished.” I wind up getting overly invested in the exact sentence. I leave it in that odd format right up until the day before I’m filing a big feature. This frees me up to become obsessive about words on a sentence-by-sentence level. Will this work for you? I have no idea! I have no idea if this will work for anyone who isn’t me! It’s idiosyncratic when I described it to other writers. Their reactions have been completely baffled. But none of them ever said “Oh yeah, I do the same thing.” Do you have a technique similar to mine? If so, lmk!

just stop

Happy 50th, @Apple! You really did change the world.

I’ve written close to a thousand blogs over three years. I never formally learned how to do this well. But every time I write and publish, I learn something. I learn from my experiences. I learn from my thoughts. I learn from what people have to say and what they write. I learn from what fails. And I learn from what works. Most importantly, I process those lessons in my head. I realized many things have become my second nature. It’s like an invisible skin. There are certain things I do that make my writing resonate. If you were to ask: “Hey Rupak, what do you ask yourself when you write?” Great question! Those exact thoughts would be: - What core problem does this content solve? - Who’s this for, and how do I speak their language? - How can I present this in a fresh way? - What story makes this hit harder? - What action am I driving my readers to take? So, here’s a task for you. Write something today that follows these questions. Or you can create a checklist. If it gets better, would you use them on every piece of writing from now on?

@dharanshi_ how did you put the webcam thing on the lightbar thing?

as a developer, music or silence while coding?

I started writing on the internet about half a decade ago. And I started writing seriously since only three years. I’ve had success. I’ve made good decisions. But I’ve also made terrible ones that cost me tons of time. Unfortunately, time is a writer’s most precious assets. Fortunately, this is something I now know. Many years ago, when I started, I didn’t want to become a “writer”. I wrote for myself, every day. All because I liked it. Being read was secondary for me. It was only after a few years of writing for myself that I dared to dream bigger. I started writing online. I tried so many things. Mistakes piled up one on top of the other. - Creating on platforms that weren’t made for me - Stubbornly sticking to formats that don’t work - Creating content on too many platforms - Starting the newsletter too late - Wasted too much time releasing products This is a short list of those that come to mind, there are many. Try it yourself, you’ll find it too. So, if I had to start writing all over again, I’d do things a lot differently: - I’d only work on one platform, two at maximum - I’d do a newsletter from day one - I’d only publish a few times a week - I’d make content related to my branding - I’d track my stats religiously - I’d only work on one big project at a given time and most importantly - I would make peace with my identity as a writer Imposter syndrome kept following me. I loved writing, but I did not feel capable. I couldn’t call myself a writer. And that’s probably the mistake that cost me years. You love to write. You’re a writer. Don’t ruin this title. I wish I’d had this list from ‘Day One.’ It would have saved me a lot of time. And sanity.

Three years ago to this day, I made a deal with myself: Don’t say yes to any job. Say yes to jobs that respects your voice, vision, and values. Say yes to jobs that make room for voices like mine, loud or quiet, when needed. So I stayed independent. And it paid off well. I worked with some incredible teams at Shardeum, Dell, and Offchain. I got to experiment, say yes to weird ideas, and earn trust across teams that expect clarity. But in between the wins, there were choices. Between projects, I always wondered: “What would it take for me to say yes to a job again?” I tried once with an agency, didn’t work out. It reminded me that some teams are built just for results. I learned that ‘creative freedom’ is often a bullet point on a slide. So, it only made sense once it felt like home. Now I’ve found a team that feels right to commit to. Not because it was the logical next step. But because this crew doesn’t run on logic alone. They run on soul and substance. I want to build with those who lead with heart in a world that moves without ideas. Today marks my first year with @BullishBrewCrew. I’ve always believed that creative work in Web3 can do more than entertain. It can restore trust. And I’m here to do just that: build boldly and move with intention. Send a signal to rupak(at)bullishbrewcrew(dot)com

Hey, @grok! Stop replying to all "Hey, Grok!" stuff on X!!!

Hey @GoogleDrive, @sundarpichai, and @Google I'll charge no money to help you code and deploy a 'View Folder Size' feature on Google Drive. Let me know if you can give me a Mountain View tour in return.

Who can reply to this?

@techbharat next week

When is your phone recharge due?

@ProofofIntern what did we miss?

current state of twitter: cHeCk If YoU cAn RePlY To tHiS

@Darky1k we never were bearish. but were you?

So everyone turned bullish again?

@KaiXCreator this is some next level fuckery

Good news! Macbook now supports windows

@TedPillows land

$ETH or $BTC? If you have $1,000,000 to invest.

@anxietymsgs Java and C++