Sometimes life has to get really, really uncomfortable before we are willing and motivated to make lasting change. Debt has to become an unbearable weight before we alter our spending habits. Corporate life has to become so soul-crushingly miserable that we are willing to give up the regular paycheck. The pressure of not acting on […]
Read MoreWe are not done at twenty, thirty, forty or fifty; we have not ruined our chances by not writing for a decade; we have not precluded the possibility of a second act by making even the worst mistake. Alcoholics get sober, cowardly lions find their courage, and with each new dawn, every writer gets a […]
Read MoreAt the start of 2014, I drafted a series of ambitious goals, the SMART kind, which involve specific, measurable steps with corresponding deadlines. A few weeks later, I crunched numbers to find that two of my goals weren’t financially worth the effort, and letting them go was a welcome relief. Even if those projects had […]
Read More–Walt Whitman, from “Song of the Open Road” Photo by Sylwia Bartyzel
Read MoreIn my last post I mentioned frequently reading interviews with writers who share their creative insights and daily work process. The International Arts Movement recently featured author Sally Lloyd-Jones in an interview on her creative process and insights. Below are a few of my favorite nuggets. “For me it is key to keep things playful, […]
Read MoreSomeone, somewhere, right now needs to read your words, your gift. Someone, somewhere, right now needs to know that even if the words come out all wrong, they came out anyway. They need to know that someone transcended their own insecurities, excuses and reluctance. Someone, somewhere, right now needs to know that because you write […]
Read MoreIra Glass, the critically acclaimed radio host of “This American Life,” offers encouragement for anyone starting out in a creative field who finds that the work they’re currently producing doesn’t match up to their tastes and ambitions. His advice: Don’t quit. Keep steadily producing a volume of work and you will eventually close that gap.
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