Posted in Writing, tagged creativity, failure, inspiration, progress, quotes, Samuel Beckett, success, Thoughts, work, Writers, writing, yay on January 29, 2014| 1 Comment »
Some of you will have seen this poem, but I fielded a question about it recently and wanted to revisit what is a sometimes painful yet ultimately encouraging truth:
Ever tried.Ever failed.
No matter.
Try again.
Fail again.
Fail better.
—Samuel Beckett
Not “stop trying.” Not “don’t fail.” Fail better. It’s a sentiment close to the heart of many writers:)
Posted in Writing, tagged artists, Chuck Wendig, creativity, Fiction, finishing, Kameron Hurley, Motivation, rejection, sff, work, Writers, writing on January 22, 2014| 1 Comment »
“Persistence.” That’s what my father told me when I asked what it took to succeed in graduate school. Smart helps, yes, but there’s no beating the commitment and perhaps sheer bloody stubbornness that comes with persistence. That advice served me well in academia and elsewhere, particularly when it came to writing.
There are a lot of challenges around writing: the difficulty of learning a skill so complex that the greatest achievement is to make it look simple, the often solitary pursuit of improvement, and “overnight success” that is usually anything but. Kameron Hurley, author of God’s War, has an essay about this topic today on Chuck Wendig’s site. She sums it up well:
Persistence, I realized, was not the end goal. It was the actual game.
Now, I argue for a balanced approach to writing or whatever your project may be, and I’m too attached to my family and my health to sacrifice them in the hopes that will make me a better writer. For me, the opposite is true; strength in one area translates into strength in others. If, as my ever-wise father says, you are willing to persist. That note rings loud and true.
For more on Kameron’s experiences and her long journey to (and eventual redefinition of) “success,” read the full essay here.
Then whatever it is you are working on, finish it.
Posted in Writing, tagged artists, creativity, Fiction, john scalzi, Motivation, sff, Thoughts, Writers, writing on January 20, 2014|
John Scalzi has a nice piece up today with encouraging words about persistence in writing… I particularly like this bit:
Who knows what will happen tomorrow.
Will you, as a writer, become like George RR Martin? Probably not. But you might find your own measure of success, so long as you keep showing up.
This last weekend I had an enjoyable time at the Confusion convention, which is no surprise, as I usually do — it’s one of the reasons I’ve gone back to it now for nine years running. I mostly hung out in the bar and talked to writers, doing the usual combination of business talk and complete idiocy, as writers generally do at conventions when they chat with each other.
One evening I talked to a couple of different authors about writing careers and the ups and downs careers have, and how from time to time we’re all filled with frustration with them, especially during a downturn. We all want to be on award lists; we all want to have bestsellers. If those things don’t happen we can wonder if what we’re doing matters much at all. As we were talking about it I came up with a metaphor which I…
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Posted in Favorites, Writing, tagged #SCPC, awesome, caffeine, cat herding, creativity, finishing, fun, humanity, Latin, Motivation, procrastination, productivity, TED, Thoughts, work, writing, yay on January 15, 2014| 5 Comments »
The Society for the Constructive Pursuit of Creativity, or SCPC. Yeah, I just made that up. As of five minutes ago it’s my new thing, and it is time to formulate some founding tenets. Like so:
— Be awesome. Duh. And ignore people who tell you that what you are working on is anything but. If you love it, that’s good enough.
— Be constructive. We’re on the planet to laugh and love and all that touchy-feely stuff but we are also here to make things. Elephants think, dolphins talk, even crows use tools. What humans do better than any other species yet met is build. (And don’t give me any guff about acres of mold growing underground or gigantic ant hills; that’s all well and good but when an ant designs the next great handheld device then we can talk.)
— Be productive. That doesn’t mean you have to be a jerk about it, just do your work without worrying too much about the next guy over.
— Be more productive than you were yesterday, or than you thought you could be when you woke up this morning dying for caffeine.
— Try not to overthink. That path leads to insecurity and insecurity leads to procrastination.
— If you must procrastinate, try to make it as constructive as possible. Just because you can’t do what you are supposed to do doesn’t mean you can’t do anything at all. Figure out what your mind will let you work on and do that. When you finish the new thing, add it to your To Do list so you can have the satisfaction of crossing it out at the end of the day. Design a new organization. See? Fun!
— If you happen to be less awesome or productive than you would like, do not under any circumstances beat yourself up about it. That’s like shouting at a cat, momentarily satisfying but with no long-term benefits whatsoever. Encouragement, goal setting, and bribery are much more effective. I prefer cookies or a chilled glass of Bailey’s, myself.
— Treat projects like practice. It worked for Ender. I take notes on the backs of used envelopes and write in pencil to convince myself that whatever I’m doing, it isn’t serious enough to stress over. Hey, whatever it takes.
— Along those same lines, do not be afraid to hack your mind! It’s a great way to increase productivity, to keep yourself from falling victim to those paralyzingly bad habits you developed in grade school, and if nothing else it gives you an excuse to watch good TED videos.
— Finally, fun is our watchword. Remember, if it isn’t fun and it won’t ever be fun and you won’t feel good about it after, you’re doing it wrong.
Motto: A Posse Ad Esse ~ From Possibility to Actuality
…
Right, that’s done. Now, what was I working on?
Posted in Writing, tagged creativity, inspiration, JK Rowling, quotes, Thoughts, work, writing on January 13, 2014| Leave a Comment »
“…perfection is not necessary to make a real and lasting difference in other people’s lives.”
— JK Rowling
Thank goodness, that’s all I have to say. Because some days the best you can hope for is some small measure of progress. Why, Monday, why?
Time for another cup of tea, methinks:)
Posted in Likes, tagged creativity, Feynman, future, inspiration, Motivation, quotes, science, Thoughts, work, yay on January 8, 2014| 2 Comments »
We are at the very beginning of time for the human race. It is not unreasonable that we grapple with problems. But there are tens of thousands of years in the future. Our responsibility is to do what we can, learn what we can, improve the solutions, and pass them on.
— Richard P. Feynman
Posted in Likes, tagged awesome, creativity, inspiration, neil gaiman, Thoughts, yay on January 1, 2014| Leave a Comment »
The following is from Neil Gaiman’s Journal: My New Year Wish in 2011, and is, as far as I’m concerned, about as good a guide for the coming year as I can imagine:
…for this year, my wish for each of us is small and very simple.
And it’s this.
I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes.
Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re Doing Something.
…
Whatever it is you’re scared of doing, Do it.
Make mistakes, and pat yourself on the back when you do. Then get up and try again.
In related news, I just spent the past hour ice skating. I don’t skate:)
Posted in Holidays, Writing, tagged Anne Enright, creativity, finishing, inspiration, Motivation, resolutions, Thoughts, work, writing on December 28, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Apologies for my lack of presence here; like many of you, I’m up to my ears in holiday fun. Eggnog, presents, family, Swedish smörgåsbord delights, and the ensuing fallout has me busy, busy, busy! I’ll be around the site off and on for the next week and back in force after the New Year. In the meantime, let me leave you with this terrific quote:
Imagine that you are dying. If you had a terminal disease would you finish this book? Why not? The thing that annoys this 10-weeks-to-live self is the thing that is wrong with the book. So change it. Stop arguing with yourself. Change it. See? Easy. And no one had to die.
― Anne Enright
It’s applicable to writing, of course, but substitute “do [fill in the blank with your own white whale]” for “finish this book” and it may also be useful for those looking ahead to the new year, and related resolutions:)
Posted in Writing, tagged Anne Lamott, creativity, Motivation, quotes, sauerkraut, Thoughts, work, writing on December 12, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Some days I find it hard to focus. My mind wanders, and if I don’t turn off the internet I suddenly discover myself researching machine embroidery, the weather patterns of eastern Nepal, or the art of lactic acid fermentation. All fine topics, to be sure, but sadly Not What I Am Supposed to be Doing at the moment.
If you also have this problem at times, I recommend the following bit of wisdom from Anne Lamott:
Try looking at your mind as a wayward puppy that you are trying to paper train. You don’t drop-kick a puppy into the neighbor’s yard every time it piddles on the floor. You just keep bringing it back to the newspaper.
― Anne Lamott
That was yesterday. Today will be better.
If I could just find some more newspaper.
Posted in Likes, Writing, tagged awesome, creativity, inspiration, Maya Angelou, Motivation, Thoughts, work, yay on December 4, 2013| 1 Comment »
You can only become truly accomplished at something you love. Don’t make money your goal. Instead pursue the things you love doing and then do them so well that people can’t take their eyes off of you.
― Maya Angelou
As an addendum, I posit that you don’t have to start out loving your work to be good at it. Pay close enough attention to a thing for long enough, and its beauty becomes clear.
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