Tom Ruwitch

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The #1 Thing to Know Before You Prompt Your Robot

By Tom Ruwitch

I remember the first time I attended an “AI Training” following the 2022 release of ChatGPT. The expert shared a mountain of prompts… …prompts to write an email… …prompts to generate content ideas… …prompts to create a Facebook ad… …even prompts to write a job application. Everyone in the room dutifully wrote down all the…

The Critical Question my Robot Didn’t Ask…

By Tom Ruwitch

I’ve crawled from my cave at Story Power HQ in St. Louis and ventured north to Chicago where I’m attending Perry Marshall’s Definitive AI Seminar this week. I wanted my GPT-powered robot, “B-9?” to join me as my note-taker and valet, but he’s afraid to fly… …so “B-9?” will stay behind. Before I left, I asked “B-9?”…

RecomMONDAYtions ~ 2024.04.15

By Tom Ruwitch

Recommended Reading Ā Brain Farts (etc.) from John CarltonIn this must-read post, copywriting legend John Carlton writes, “I was going to slap a quickie book on Amazon for you stuffed with all the advice, shared wisdom, tactics and strange asides I’ve been assaulting folks with lately on my Facebook page. But then I thought, ‘screw that.’…

Crappy Process, Well Worth It…

By Tom Ruwitch

My first colonoscopy mistake came on Monday when I munched half a bag of popcorn while watching the eclipse. I’d forgotten: No popcorn allowed within seven days before the procedure. Popcorn munching was Monday. The procedure was three says later — on Thursday. (Oops!)Ā  I called the doctor to confess, and his nurse said, “No…

You’ve Earned the Praise. Celebrate It.

By Tom Ruwitch

Here’s a cool idea I picked up from Austin Kleon in his book Steal Like an Artist: Keep a Praise FileĀ  Here’s the idea… “…down the road, I will have a dark day when I want to quit, when I wonder why the heck I even bother with this stuff.” Kleon writes. “That’s why I put…

How to Keep the Content-idea Well Flowing Forever

By Tom Ruwitch

“Oily242” wants to throw in the towel. Writer’s block has wrecked him. He creates a “ton of content” for a startup — a blog/article each day, five LinkedIn posts per week, one weekly post on X, and a bi-weekly email newsletter. And now the well runs dry. In an online forum, Oily242 said, “I’m drawing…

A Cure-ation for Writer’s Block

By Tom Ruwitch

In yesterday’s email (RecomMONDAYtions ~ 2024.04.08), I shared Austin Kleon’s blog post “On quantity and quality.” In the post, he shares a story and quotes liberally from David Bayles and Ted Orland’s book, “Art & Fear.” The story: A ceramics teacher divides his class in two. He said he would grade Group 1 on volume.…

RecomMONDAYtions (Total Eclipse Edition) ~ 2024.04.08

By Tom Ruwitch

Recommended Reading Ā On quantity and quality by Austin KleonI love this short blog post from Austin Kleon and the quantity vs. quality paradox. This is aĀ must-readĀ if you ever procrastinate or get stuck releasing your work. Note: You’ll have free access to the first half of the post (which covers the key point). If you’d like…

He Innovated and Implemented b/c his Life Depended on It

By Tom Ruwitch

I like inspirational stories. Here’s one… On November 23, 1942, Poon Lim was working as a steward on the British cargo ship SS Benlomond when a German sub torpedoed it to oblivion. The ship sank minutes after the torpedoes hit, and Lim was left floating in the south Atlantic. A weak swimmer, Lim clung to a wooden…

A Rembrandt-inspired Cure for Writer’s Block

By Tom Ruwitch

For many decades, a painting called Portrait of a Young Woman hung in the Allentown Art Museum. Curators thought an unknown artist — a disciple of Rembrandt’s — created the portrait. It resembled the Dutch master’s work, but it wasn’t Rembrandt’s… …or so they thought. When Allentown curators sent the painting to be cleaned, conservators at New…