思考与写作shwood.squarespace.com
14 年前：Teller 告诉我魔术事业秘诀的那一天
14 years ago: the day Teller gave me the secret to my career in magic.
2012 — 2022，它一次次回到首页
黑点是上首页（≥ 50 分）的那次投稿，空心点是没冲上去的投稿，点越大分数越高。
导读
作者回忆 14 年前向魔术师 Teller 求教经历：他写了一封具体、真诚的求助信，Teller 回以一封长信，分享了关于发展个人风格、跨界借鉴（如把电影剪辑思维用于魔术）以及“给观众惊喜”等职业秘诀。文中附有两封往来信件全文，是难得的关于创作与职业成长的真知灼见。
为什么经久不衰：标题看似标题党，实则包含 Teller 亲笔的、跨越行业通用的事业建议——如何形成独特风格、如何向高手提问——因此十年来反复被推荐。
HN 评论精选
具体、展示过自身努力的提问才容易获得高手的认真回复
我最欣赏的其实是 Brushwood 写给 Teller 的那封信。Teller 的回信固然精彩，但 Brushwood 的邮件之所以能得到好回应，是因为它针对一个具体问题求助：不是“我想成为像你一样的伟大魔术师”，而是“我在发展自己的风格，已有一些成绩，但卡在如何更上一层楼，你作为做到过的人有何建议”。这样的邮件往往能得到最好的回答。
kevinalexbrown查看英文原文
It took me a while to appreciate it, but what I enjoyed most about this was the letter from Brushwood to Teller. Teller's letter was awesome in all of the general ways, and he makes great points about about doing something besides the thing you want to excel at. But Brushwood's email was great because it asked for advice for a specific problem, and it was a problem that Teller had the expertise to answer. Not "Oh Teller! I want to be a great magician just like you!" Not "What are 10 things an aspiring magician should do?" Not "Dear Teller, would you mind sending me information you find relevant or letting me pick your brain over coffee?" It was "I want to develop my own style, here's what I've done to that end. I've had some success, but here's how I struggled with taking it to the next level. What do you suggest, as someone who's accomplished this?" Emails like that tend to get the best kinds of responses.
Teller 的核心秘诀是跨领域借鉴：把电影剪辑的功力带入魔术
让我印象深刻的是 Teller 竟记得一年多前见过的新人魔术师的名字，还主动提到当年的玩笑。另外大家可能忽略了关键一句：“如果我够好，那是因为我本该做电影剪辑。巴赫本可以写歌剧，但他选择了十八世纪对位法。”把一个领域里成熟的东西带到另一个不熟悉它的领域，有时叫“特色”，有时叫“范式转移”。
boredguy8查看英文原文
Is anyone else as impressed as I am that Teller remembered the name of an up-and-coming magician they met after a show more than a year earlier? And that he referenced the 'inside joke' with no prompting? Also, I think folks are missing what seems to me to be the key takeaway: "And if I'm good, it's because I should be a film editor. Bach should have written opera or plays. But instead, he worked in eighteenth-century counterpoint." He's taking something that's well understood in one area and bringing it to an area where that thing is not understood. Sometimes people call that a 'distinctive'. Sometimes it's a 'paradigm shift'. Teller could have been an average film editor, or he could take ideas from film and bring them to magic.
Teller 的建议可迁移到创业：多尝试、跨界寻找灵感、做独一无二的自己
这些建议很适用于创业心态：大量地“发布”和尝试；伙伴关系始于相互尊重欣赏而非友谊；在创业/技术之外拥有自己的英雄并真正热爱他们；热爱技术之外的东西——你成不了某个名人，但可以成为“创业界的萨尔瓦多·达利”，那是个空位。
Sukotto查看英文原文
I think there are some great points that adapt well to the startup mindset. * [Ship stuff]. A lot. Try stuff. Make your best stab and keep stabbing. If it's there in your heart, it will eventually find its way out. Or you will give up and have a prudent, contented life doing something else. * We did not start as friends, but as people who respected and admired each other. Crucial, absolutely crucial for a partnership. * Have heroes outside of [startups / technology / business]. ... You're welcome to borrow [other people's], but you must learn to love them yourself for your own reasons. Then they'll push you in the right direction. * Love something besides [technology / startups / business]. Get inspired by a particular poet, film-maker, sculptor, composer. You will never be [ $famous_startup_personality]. But if you want to be, say, the Salvador Dali of [startups / technology / business], THERE'S an opening.
魔术的本质是“惊喜”，而实现惊喜必须了解你的观众
“给你一个构图秘诀，简单到你会觉得我在胡扯：给我惊喜。把 2 和 2 摆在我眼前，却让我以为看到 5，然后揭示真相是 4，让我吃惊。”Teller 是认真的。关键在于了解你的观众——同一个戏法，对 Teller 这样的行家表演才成立。
alanfalcon查看英文原文
"Here's a compositional secret. It's so obvious and simple, you'll say to yourself, 'This man is bullshitting me.' I am not. This is one of the most fundamental things in all theatrical movie composition and yet magicians know nothing of it. Ready? Surprise me. That's it. Place 2 and 2 right in front of my nose, but make me think I'm seeing 5. Then reveal the truth, 4!, and surprise me." Teller absolutely means this. Watching the Penn and Teller Magic and Mystery Tour, this was the one best scenes in that show or in anything else I watched on Netflix last year: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgtgOs_OkTU Yes, Teller is speaking, but that isn't what matters at all. The takeaway for me is that you must KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE! This is a magic trick that would not be a magic trick at all if it weren't performed for someone like Teller, a master of his craft. This scene from an otherwise interesting but forgettable show blew my mind.
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