“Curation is creation,” Eric Jorgenson told me. “There’s this false god of originality that I just don’t buy. Maybe that’s because I stumbled into this awesome niche as a curator-editor, but I have no problem being front and center about saying this other person who is really smart said this thing and I learned from it. Here’s something I learned from Charlie Monger or Nassim Taleb and here’s what I learned from it or here’s how it conflicted with this other thing.”
“If that’s borrowed authority or curation, I find it so much easier to write when I’m reacting to something or complimenting something or rephasing it. I have no problem being upfront with the reader about that. Respecting curation as a form of writing is maybe what unlocked the opportunity of these books. These books aren’t written. I’m not sitting with a blank page and generating content. Every word of this book came from a resisting resource where I’m the super-editor, trying to take everything they’ve ever said and stitch it together to make something great.”
These books include The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and Happiness and The Anthology of Balaji: A Guide to Technology, Truth, and Building the Future. “I don’t know if it’s harder or easier, but I certainly respect it as a craft. I think it’ made me a better writer. It’s given me permission to write a shitty first draft and then edit my own work. To some people who maybe struggle with pushing themselves towards originality or getting that first draft done, I say don’t shy away from using raw material or reacting to something that’s out there or borrowing heavily and making that your source material.”
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