The Secret to getting where you are trying to go...

Since college, I have written a lot. A lot. Here's a total count (I think, it may be more) of what I have written:

And I often get asked one question from aspiring writers: How have I written so much? I always tried to answer that question by explaining that I enjoyed breaking stories, liked jotting down notes that become an outline, relished discovering new wrinkles while filling in the body of a work. In short, I enjoyed the writing part of writing. That was my secret. But then somebody else said it better than I did and I understood the secret to my own creative output even better. That human was Moxie Marlinspike.

If you don't know Moxie, peruse his wiki page for a quick answer, or check out a long-form profile from The New Yorker, or read some of his own writing over at The Anarchist Library. All of it is worth a read, he's an interesting character and a person I think about often. In short, he's an entrepreneur, cryptologist, self-proclaimed anarchist, and more. He created an encryption protocol used by Whatsapp, Google Messages, Facebook Messenger, and Skype; was acting CEO of Signal Messenger; and, was the former head of the security team at Twitter. His resume is long and his favorite quote reveals just how he has been able to accomplish so much. He says:

"The only secret is to begin."

That's the secret. When I read that, I knew that that was how I've been able to write so much. Sure, it is unglamorous and simple. But it is incredibly challenging advice to heed. I first read that quote of his in the The New Yorker article. Then... I discovered a video zine he has posted to Vimeo called "Hold Fast." It's a low-rent documentary of sorts. And I love it. It contains the same quote as the article. One of the reasons I love his video zine is because for a few glorious months after high school, a friend and I discussed boating down the Ohio River until it joins the Mississippi and then following that river all the way down to the gulf. We thought we could do it with a chest freezer full of frozen soups and a microwave. We never made it passed the planning stage. I guess we didn't know the secret back then.

Moxie and friends, however, did something similar yet bolder, and actually followed through. And, thankfully, he filmed it and has shared it for free. I hope you enjoy it. I hope it makes you laugh like it had me laughing and leaves you in awe like it left me in awe. Most importantly though, I hope it inspires you to begin something new and wild.