This is the first entry in a new interview series on Macdrifter. A couple of years ago I interviewed some of my favorite indie bloggers to find out how they get down to business and write great stuff online.
This new series is a bit more personal and something I ask myself all the time: “Why Do You Blog”.
To kick it off, Jay Wood of Frakintosh has graciously donated his time.
I’m going to do a self-link to something that I really like.1 I’ve been fortunate enough to have some amazing people participate in the Writer Workflow series here at Macdrifter. This series has been one of my favorite parts of running a “blog” but all the credit goes to the contributors. I started the series hoping for technical insight but each interview has provided unexpected philosophical jewels that I contemplate every time I write.
Editor's Note I am extremely honored to have Glenn Fleishman participate in this series. I have been reading his work for many years and he is one of the best technology journalists in his field. I highly recommend his latest book Take Control of BBEdit as an example of his technical and literary expertise. I also recommend seeking out Glenn's work wherever it is available, which is just about every publication I respect.
Editor's Note: Seth Brown writes about extremely technical topics over at DrBunsen.org. His interests span from awesome vim overviews to personal productivity with some stop overs in whisky town. Virtually everything he posts I put straight into Instapaper. That is if I can wait to read it. Most of the time I stop everything to read each post entirely. Each post is a little technical course on a single fascinating topic.
Editor's Note: Michael Schechter first caught may attention over at BetterMess.com with some clever ideas about OmniFocus. He writes smart things about productivity, writing and blogging, which are unlikely topics for me to follow. But Michael writes regularly and he writes well. He writes honestly about things he cares about or is trying to figure out. His articles are generally long reads that say something meaningful without preaching or selling something.
Editor's Note: MacStories.net is one of the best Apple related news sites around. I also think it is one of the most credible sources for interesting and reliable Apple information and app reviews. I fully credit Federico Viticci with the MacStories rise to prominence. From what I can tell, it's his darling and he pours an amazing amount of care into his work. His stories are well written, thoroughly thoughtful and heavily referenced.
Editors Note Sven Fechner is the force behind SimplictyIsBliss.com and one of the biggest evangelists of OmniFocus next to Ken Case. I am a regular reader because he says smart things and provides keen insight. He understands his simple set of tools and shares his discoveries in succinct posts. Sven doesn't post about the latest cool apps or cute "tricks." He writes about solving real problems with basic tools. He’s currently working on a new OmniFocus book that I am anxiously awaiting.
Editor's Note Justin Lancy is better known to me as Veritrope. He's the man behind one of the most useful public AppleScript repositories you'll find anywhere. His scripts are elegant and instructive. I've examined his work just to learn how to be better. His own scripts span a wide number of uses but he caught my attention with Evernote and OmniFocus scripts.
In addition to the geeky scripting stuff, Justin writes about real and culturally relevant things with a personal insight that is still rare.
Editor's Note Eddie is that ideal combination of intelligence, thoughfulness and generosity that I love about this community. He first caught my attention by saying smart things about OmniFocus but kept my attention with everything else he has contributed. I have not heard anything from Eddie that was not something I could immediately take advantage of to improve my work and I'm honored he agreed to participate in this series.
I’m not sure if Dr. Drang needs an introduction. He’s a mysterious super-hero engineer holed up over at Leancrew.com. I don’t know his true identity and hope I never will. He’s often inspiration for me here and one of the two guys that really got me thinking about how other people write. He’s also one of the most generous people I’ve interacted with on the Internet.
Why do you write at And now it’s all this?
