Hi Everyone,

Happy Friday! Thanks for spending part of it reading The Lake Street Journal.

How to Write Strikingly Well

I've never read a Lee Child book, but I might be in the minority there. According to this episode, a Lee Child book sells every nine minutes.

It was a conversation on writing between David Perell and Child, the bestselling author and creator of the Jack Reacher series.

There were a ton of writing nuggets in this episode, but two stood out to me.

The first was his advice to young people who want to be good writers: wait. Spend 20 years reading books and living an interesting life, and your writing will be much better from your experience. Child says he intuitively knows how to do all the things he does in his writing because he reads hundreds of books a year and has for decades. His database is deep.

The second wasn't so much about writing but an insight on why people like violence in stories. Most people, he said, are conventional, law abiding citizens who don't want society to be any different. But they're still frustrated by such a polite, law abiding society. When their car gets stolen, they want to punch the thief in the face. Violence in a fictional universe is a release from reality and a consolation for the way the world really is, so people love to see it in stories.

If you're a writer, you'll find this episode useful, and if you're a reader, you'll find it interesting to peer behind the curtain.

Can You Pass the Man Test?

I'm a sucker for fitness benchmark tests. Found another one this week that I thought was pretty solid. I can do most of them.

✅ 7 minute mile run

✅ Back squat bodyweight for 10 reps

❌ Bench press bodyweight for 10 reps

✅ 10 pull-ups

✅ Deadlift 1.5x bodyweight for 10 reps

❓ Sandbag ground to shoulder w/ bodyweight

✅ 30 pushups

✅ Swim 500m in under 10 minutes

Where do you stand on this test? And do you think it's a good one?

This is the Way

This article is the best life advice piece I've ever read. It's written as a letter from father to daughter, and it's the length of a short book. The author does a fantastic job of distilling valuable lessons down to their essence and conveying them through personal stories.

I discovered this a few years ago and like to revisit bits and pieces from time to time.

Any parent will appreciate this, or honestly, anyone trying to live a better life.

Workout of the Week

This workout is one of my trusted favorites. Been doing it for almost ten years.

"Pyramid Climb"

For time:

• 30 cal row

• 15 burpees

• 15 DB thrusters (50/35)

• 15 burpees

• 30 cal row

I've done this in 6:43 by itself, but I also like doing multiple rounds with a few minutes rest between each. Let me know what you think!

Quote of the Week

"We do not educate people to think but, rather, to have opinions, and that is something altogether different." - Louis L'Amour

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Talk soon,

Joe