This one is for all the 1980s rock fans out there.

In 1985, the music group Heart was choosing songs to record for its 8^th studio album, which was to be named simply, “Heart.” The group normally recorded songs they had written themselves, but they had been presented with a new song written by Martin Page and Bernie Taupin. Page was a singer-songwriter, who had co-written some notable tunes such as Starship’s anthem, “We Built This City.” Taupin was Elton John’s frequent writing partner.

Page and Taupin had written a new tune called “These Dreams,” which had been offered to Stevie Nicks, who turned it down. It found its way to Heart, who agreed to use it for their next album.

When Nancy Wilson went into the studio to record lead vocals for the song, she had a cold that day. This made her vocals sound raspy. The song went on to great commercial success. Later on, producers wanted her to recreate the same vocal style, jokingly asking her if she could just get sick again.

As so often happens in art, the artist’s weakness had become her secret weapon, at least on that song.

What do you perceive as your “weakness?” Maybe you’re divorced. Maybe you have a physical disability. Maybe people have made fun of you for wanting to be a writer. Maybe you didn’t get good grades at school or flunked out of college. Maybe you have failed in a lot of things and you wonder if you have anything of value to offer.

Let me set the record straight: YOU DO. You have so much value, and so much to offer. I want you to begin to look at yourself differently. Turn it around and begin to see your biggest weakness as your biggest strength. It’s what sets you apart and makes you unique.

Don’t run from it. Don’t hide it. Put yourself out there and be proud of the person you are. You have no idea how many other people will relate to that weakness.

Daily Question: What is your biggest weakness, and how can you use it in your writing to help others?

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Have you ever seen someone make pottery? It’s actually quite fascinating. It’s fun to watch them at work, and it’s often breathtaking to see the beautiful pots, vases, bowls, and other works of art they create with their bare hands.

But what comes before the beautiful, finished product? You guessed it—putting a messy lump of clay on the table and getting their hands dirty. The clay is not formed. It’s just a plain, old, unformed lump of clay. But the potter shapes it into something useful and eye-catching.

The same is true for you as a writer. You have to put some clay on the table. You have to start with a messy draft. If you don’t, you won’t have anything to work with. Get that draft done as fast as possible, so you can start working with it.

Remember, the mess always comes before the finished product. Don’t be afraid to get messy. The messy potter’s wheel is where all good writing begins.

Daily Question: Are you willing to get messy with your first draft? Do you think perfectionism sometimes prevents us from moving ahead with our writing?

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Sonny finds Carlo hanging out in the neighborhood street, and they get into a fight. He has Carlo up against a wall and starts punching him. However, because of the camera angle, you can clearly see that James Caan is not really hitting the actor playing Carlo. And of course, that’s what you’d expect since this is a movie. But it’s a flaw so obvious that it makes the fight a little bit comical.

However, that doesn’t detract from The Godfather’s greatness. In fact, it makes the film more endearing because it’s a work of art made by humans who were on a tight budget and a tight production schedule.

Every great work of art has flaws and mistakes. Does this mean we shouldn’t strive for excellence? Of course not. We should do everything we can to make sure our writing flows well and that we are using proper grammar, punctuation, and so forth.

But after we have done these things, there comes a point where we can no longer improve it. We have to release it to the world and move on to the next thing.

As Scott Adams, the creator of the comic strip Dilbert, said, “Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.” Don’t get hung up on the myth of perfectionism. You’ll never be perfect and there’s no such thing as perfect writing. But that is exactly what makes your writing so perfectly human.

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There is something quite magical about a book. Of course, you already know that since you’re a writer. You’re already committed to the art and craft of writing books.

But it’s interesting that so many writers don’t make a lot of time to read. We love books and are committed to creating them… but we struggle with fitting reading into our schedules.

Reading is a critical part of the creative process. Of course, we need to have other inputs as well, such as listening to great talks, watching videos and movies, seeing plays, and other ways to experience great art. But above all, we must read.

Here is a very simple method for reading more: take a book everywhere you go. Now, the truth is that if you have a smartphone and the Kindle app, you are already taking books with you. But let’s assume that you prefer reading print books, as most writers do.

It may seem strange to carry a book with you everywhere, but it works. Think of all the little spare moments you have throughout the day. Ten minutes here while you’re waiting to pick up your kid from school. Fifteen minutes there while you’re waiting to get your license renewed at the DMV. Five minutes here when you’re waiting for your husband or wife in the store. Twenty minutes there before your next Zoom call.

Mark Twain famously said, “A person who won’t read has no advantage over one who can’t read.” You don’t necessarily need to block off huge chunks of time during the day to read. There are plenty of little moments here and there that will add up to thirty or even sixty minutes a day when you can expand your mind and fill your creative well with the amazing power of reading.

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Writing, for all the beauty and goodness it brings into the world, can also be a force of destruction.

For some reason, culturally speaking, writers are usually linked with vices such as smoking, drinking, lack of self-control, addiction to caffeine, ignoring their family to pursue their “art,” or any number of other destructive actions. Why is this?

The answer probably involves a much deeper dive into psychology than we have room for here (It certainly goes beyond my own expertise!). But the core reality is that writing requires such a huge amount of emotional energy that we are prone to fill the subsequent void with things that make us feel good in the moment but leave us empty.

The author John Updike wrote, “My first thought about art, as a child, was that the artist brings something into the world that didn’t exist before, and that he does it without destroying something else. A kind of refutation of the conservation of matter. That still seems to me its central magic, its core of joy.”

Updike didn’t mention that art can destroy the artist, but that is usually the first thing to go when a creative person pursues their craft to the exclusion of everything else.

Don’t make that same mistake. Don’t let your writing be the only thing that defines you. Choose to be a healthy person who is balanced, responsible, and enjoyable to be around. After all, what good is it if your writing changes other people’s lives, but it ends up destroying yours?

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