"...Storytellers are a lot like athletes. A great athlete makes everything look easy, as though his body just naturally moved that way. But in fact, he has so mastered the techniques of his sport that his technique has simply disappeared from view, and the audience sees only beauty." ~from The Anatomy of Story by John … Continue reading Storytellers are like athletes…
Category: Inspiration
Here you’ll find things that might just make you heave a big sigh and whisper “Oooh, that’s so deep!” or possibly slap yourself in the forehead and shout “That’s GENIUS!” At minimum, I hope to at least give you the kick in the seat of the pants that you need to go out and BE AWESOME!
Quote: Aesop on Acts of Kindness
No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted." ~ Aesop
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Getting Past My Fear of Flying
How I went from being afraid to fly to being a frequent flyer.
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Why Do We Choose to Do Difficult Things for Fun?
What compels us to take up hobbies or pursuits that are sometimes difficult or even painful? It's a question my husband has asked me a few times about my desire to write stories, most often when I complain about how hard it can be. There are just times when characters don't come to life as … Continue reading Why Do We Choose to Do Difficult Things for Fun?
Lessons from Bill Walsh
I've been on a personal/professional development reading kick recently and I just finished reading The Score Takes Care of Itself: My Philosophy of Leadership. Co-written by Bill Walsh and Steven Jamison, it's an interesting combination of football field-meets-boardroom. To be sure, there are many parallels between coaching a winning football team and a winning business … Continue reading Lessons from Bill Walsh
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Quote: Leo Rosten on Writing
"The only reason for being a professional writer is that you can’t help it." ~Leo Rosten
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Do you have the “right stuff”?
I just started reading Mary Roach's Packing for Mars today and came across this passage*: Here's the other thing that's changed since the heyday of space exploration. Crews aboard [space craft] are two to three times the size of Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo crews, and the mission spans weeks or months, not days. This makes … Continue reading Do you have the “right stuff”?
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Art and the Art of Noise
I came across an article in the October issue of Mental Floss (one of my fave magazines) about the role that ambient noise plays in fostering creativity. The article says this: According to a University of Chicago study, moderate noise helps creativity by slowing down the speed at which we process information. The lag keeps … Continue reading Art and the Art of Noise
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The Secret Ingredient to Success
After reading the article that inspired this post on what it takes to be a writer, I was reminded of something I read several years ago on the most important predictor of success. You might think the secret to being successful is talent or intelligence. Or maybe it's having a jumpstart with a good education … Continue reading The Secret Ingredient to Success
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Perversity of Spirit
Perversity of Spirit Talent is the least important thing about a writer, compared to a love of books, which must be deep and abiding. The only thing a writer really needs is perversity of spirit, the emotional equivalent of a cartoon character's bouncy springiness, so that after being run over or blown up—or, in the … Continue reading Perversity of Spirit
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