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Posts Tagged ‘writing’

“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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“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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With crisp sunbright snow

on a cardinal’s red cape

winter welcomes you.

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All Of Us

Last night I had an idea for today’s post, but now it’s gone missing because some days my mind is a sieve. I’m sure the idea was fabulous but I’ll have to wait until it comes back around.

In the meantime, my word of the day is “flawsome: someone who is both flawed and awesome.” And isn’t that all of us?

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Here’s a lovely thought piece by Spencer Sekulin on making peace with the ghosts of lives unlived and becoming your imperfect, unpredictable, beautiful self.

Forgive Yourself for Not Becoming Everything You Wanted – Spencer Sekulin

To live one life, you need to condemn many others.

Yet to try to live all of them keeps you stuck, forever.

Spencer’s fiction is also terrific. If you’re looking for excellently written fantasy, check out his work!

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Emily Bressler is helping you recognize, reflect on, and reject hypocrisy with this story at McSweeney’s:

I Work For an Evil Company, but Outside Work, I’m Actually a Really Good Person

I love my job. I make a great salary, there’s a clear path to promotion, and a never-ending supply of cold brew in the office. And even though my job requires me to commit sociopathic acts of evil that directly contribute to making the world a measurably worse place from Monday through Friday, five days a week, from morning to night, outside work, I’m actually a really good person.

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What does James Patterson, one of the world’s top authors, have to say about leading a creative and happy life? Here are three suggestions that resonated with me:

James Patterson’s Maxims for a Happy Life

2. Pay attention to process rather than outcomes.

3. Excellence is less about talent and inspiration, more about hard work and persistence.

5. Focus on what’s getting better, rather than fretting over what’s getting worse.

For the full list, check out the article above, or listen to the full podcast with Arthur Brooks.

In the end, “how does Patterson find the work of writing? ‘I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it.’”

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