Prompt: Write about doing something again.

June 13, 2026 — Doing Something Again

All right, the prompt for today, June 13, 2026, is: Write about doing something again.

I think this is really at the heart of craft: repetition. Doing something over and over again, but repetition with intentionality. Intentional repetition.

It’s not the exact same process being repeated each time. Instead, minor, almost unnoticeable improvements are being made with every repetition. It’s not doing the same thing over and over again like a robot would. It’s doing it as a human would, where adjustments and improvements naturally occur along the way.

Of course, improvement isn’t linear. You’ll make mistakes in some of those iterations. You’ll have setbacks. But I think the overall trend is upward.

And I think that’s really what craft is.

A lot of what we do these days is search for novelty. I know I do. I’m always looking for the next new thing. What’s exciting? What’s interesting? What’s worth pursuing next?

But building craft through intentional repetition is, on the face of it, quite boring. Each individual action is boring. There aren’t huge leaps or dramatic changes from one repetition to the next. The differences are often so small that they’re difficult to notice in the moment.

Still, doing things again matters. It’s really important.

Even in education, we talk a lot about how people learn. Right now, the Ontario government is pushing for more rote learning—the kinds of worksheets and repeated practice that many of us experienced as children.

Before that, there was more emphasis on conceptual understanding. Students were often asked to demonstrate their learning in different ways, and if they could demonstrate understanding once, that was often enough.

Now there’s a greater emphasis on repetition: can you do the same thing successfully over and over again?

I think there’s value in both approaches.

I think we learn through the novel, but we master a skill through repetition.

I think that’s all I’ve got.

I probably repeated myself there, didn’t I?

You can find this prompt and many more at Letters’ Lounge. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this prompt—or any of the others. Please leave a comment with a link to your blog, audio journal, or simply share your thoughts in the comments.

All right, folks. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.

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This transcript was lightly cleaned up with the help of AI to improve readability while preserving the original voice and intent of the recording.