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Archive for the ‘Writing’ Category

It’s a new year and a new opportunity to take a breath, reassess, and target new (or old!) goals. That doesn’t mean you have to join a gym or swear off every. single. one. of your favorite guilty pleasures or anything like that. That approach tends not to be sustainable.

(You may remember that I don’t really do resolutions, but I do like to take advantage of the January “fresh start effect” to reset… and to forgive myself when things don’t always go to plan🙂

That said, January is a good time to remember what you like, what you’d like to do, and to do more to get there.

If you’ve been working but feel you’re not making as much progress as you want, this piece might be useful:

How to practice effectively…for just about anything

This video focuses on physical tasks, but writing and many other tasks are also mind-body processes. And the idea of focused, targeted repetition with a concrete result in mind? 

That’s the kind of goal I can get behind. 

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“After that, work and hope. But never hope more than you work.”

― Beryl Markham

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“Art is not a mirror held up to reality but a hammer with which to shape it.”

― Bertolt Brecht

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“You must find the place inside yourself where nothing is impossible.”

― Deepak Chopra

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“Scared is what you’re feeling. Brave is what you’re doing.”

― Emma Donoghue

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“We all have our time machines, don’t we. Those that take us back are memories… And those that carry us forward, are dreams.”

― H.G. Wells

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“That’s what literature is. It’s the people who went before us, tapping out messages from the past, from beyond the grave, trying to tell us about life and death! Listen to them!”

— Connie Willis

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I ran across this short piece by Brian Lewis (self-described Cosmic Poet, which is awesome), and wanted to share. 

In the fall of 1929, with America days away from financial ruin, Joseph Campbell committed what everyone called “professional suicide.” He walked into his advisor’s office at Columbia—degree in hand, future within reach—and announced, calmly, boldly, disastrously: “I don’t want one field. I want all of them.”

Yes, that Joseph Campbell, Mister Hero with a Thousand Faces.

By now, most of us have heard about Campbell’s Hero’s Journey, and how it distills thousands of years of mythology into a useful, easily transferrable model to help reach an audience.

(It also generated follow-on models, including Gail Carriger’s Heroine’s Journey.)

But how did Campbell build that original model? The essay shares some of the backstory of that process, and was full of new-to-me details. How did Campbell go from obscurity to one of the best known framers of storytelling?

Read the full essay for more. And yes, George Lucas plays a significant role:)

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Your first workout will be bad.

Your first podcast will be bad.

Your first speech will be bad.

Your first video will be bad.

Your first ANYTHING will be bad. 

but you cant make your 100th without making your first. 

So put your ego aside, and start.

— Alec Zamora

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Rob Reiner, Actor Who Went on to Direct Classic Films, Dies at 78

“People take a look at ‘Princess Bride,’ and exclaim, ‘God, this is such an odd conglomeration!’” Mr. Reiner told The New York Times shortly after the movie was released in 1987. “‘How could you balance all those things?’”

“But it didn’t seem all that strange to me,” he went on, “because those are all parts of my personality. I’ve definitely got this satirical side to me, and this romantic side, and this more realistic way of looking at things.”

I don’t know about you, but Reiner’s eclectic approach to storytelling was one of the things I loved about his work. That and the clever humor, the touching moments, and the personal stories. 

My favorite quote from this statement, Close friends of Rob and Michele Reiner release statement on their lives and work, is a reminder that we all make an impact.

“Each man’s life touches so many other lives, and when he isn’t around, he leaves an awful hole, doesn’t he?” — from It’s a Wonderful Life

Maybe we’ll watch The Princess Bride this weekend. Or Stand by Me. Or Spinal Tap. Or When Harry Met Sally. Or A Few Good Men. Or or or.

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