Do you have those moments when you are excited to start a new project, but as soon as you sit down to work on it, your mind starts coming up with excuses to put it off?
"Maybe I can start it tomorrow, promise!", and before you know it, a week has gone by and all you have to show for it is...nothing.
That's me the last week.
I started freelance technical writing again after two years. While it was exciting to be back, I struggled with some major creative blocks. As soon as I opened up the editor and stared at the blank page, my mind raced for laps with all sorts of reasons to do anything but write.
But this morning, I finally sat down to write the detailed outline with a rough draft, no matter what.
I told myself, just five to ten minutes, and the creative block will go away automatically and I will get into the flow of writing. And you know what? It worked! I had to fight off the urge to doom scroll on X (formerly Twitter) but I made it through.
What worked well for me was permitting myself to write a crappy first draft, something of an anti-perfectionist draft. The first one should just exist. Once I had something on the page, I could always go back and revise it later.
If you are struggling or struggled with creative blocks, I would love to hear about it. Maybe we can figure it out together!
Articles
Xcode and AI: I think this is one of the best articles I have read this month. It is about prompting to code in Xcode with Claude 3 by @jamesrochabrun.
James Rochabrun
EU Digital Services Act: One of the questions frustrated iOS developers are asking nowadays is: Are they a trader?
I was helping a friend with it, and it feels like we all are hesitant to give out our number and address. I found a GitHub repository that contains detailed information on how to go about it:
russell-archerPrivacy Manifest: Another chore for developers is the privacy manifest files. I have already started to get warnings when uploading a build. I found the documentation confusing, so I searched and found an article that simplifies the process:
Joel Jerushan
Here is another that goes into the "what" part:
Tomer Ben Rachel
Quote of the Week
After the last fiction sprint of reading Norwegian Wood, and processing the ending for a while, I have jumped back into Elon's biography. I am currently around 400 pages in, and still as hooked as I was when I first started. But, I have not come across any quotes worth sharing from that one this week.
I am also finishing The Untethered Soul on the side, and I found this huge paragraph worth introspecting about:
All you have to do is stop expecting the mind to fix what’s wrong inside of you. That is the core, the root of it all. Your mind is not the guilty party. In fact, your mind is innocent. The mind is simply a computer, a tool. It can be used to ponder great thoughts, solve scientific problems, and serve humanity. But you, in your lost state, told it to spend its time conjuring up outer solutions for your very personal inner problems. You are the one who is trying to use the analytical mind to protect yourself from the natural unfolding of life.
On a different note, I spent the week contemplating the movie Past Lives and a line from it that has been haunting me. A bit too personal to share in a newsletter, but I highly recommend watching the movie for yourself if you have not already. The first time I watched it on a flight, but this time I want to take my time to cherish the movie and watch it from Arthur's perspective.
Artist of the Week
I am always on the lookout for some amazingly talented musicians that I want to shout from the rooftops about but also keep a secret. 🤫
This new section balances both! Every week, I will share an artist that I am currently obsessed with, and I think you should be too.
This week, I am binging the songs of Marley Chaney. I stumbled upon Marley's latest song, Pillow Case, on my YouTube feed, and I was immediately hooked. Her voice is full of raw emotion and relatable lyrics.
Do yourself a favour and give Marley a listen!
Conclusion
The last week of March is ahead, and I have taken on a lot more work than I can chew this month. I am trying to stay positive and view it as a good thing. After all, being busy is better than being bored, right? Plus, it gives me less time to sit around and overthink, haha.
But enough about me. I want to hear from you! Do you enjoy these newsletter dispatches? I try to write for myself, but some extra validation never hurts! So if you have a moment, please let me know what you think. I would love to hear your feedback!
String Catalog - App Localization on Autopilot
Push to GitHub, and we'll automatically localize your app for 40+ languages, saving you hours of manual work.