We writers have a reputation for taking everything personally. Many of us would describe ourselves as introverted artists who are highly sensitive. We tend to absorb other people’s emotions and have a hard time letting things go. Am I right? Or, am I right? This can make it hard to build an audience over the … Read more
One of the saddest plays ever performed in American theater is “Death of a Salesman.” It was written by Arthur Miller and first performed on Broadway in 1949. “Death of a Salesman” tells the story of the last 24 hours in the life of Willy Loman, a salesman who never quite achieves the success he … Read more
No matter what or why you write, there is a common element that ties all writers together. We are all on a journey of discovery. We don’t just write to express what we think. We write in order to discover what we think. For many writers, it goes even deeper than that. It’s an itch … Read more
A lot of would-be writers don’t get started because they wonder if they have anything truly unique to offer. As they say, there is nothing new under the sun. When you look at the millions of books, blogs, podcasts, and magazine articles that have been created, what could you possibly say that is unique? The … Read more
There are certain qualities we prize in the writing world. One of them is knowledge. It seems like we should know what we are getting ourselves into, right? Who respects a writer who seems aloof and doesn’t know what’s going on? Another quality we prize is humility. Surely we don’t want to become one of … Read more
As you continue to grow in your writing skills, your connections, and your influence, you will have more and more opportunities. This is both a good and bad thing. Opportunities are wonderful! You can write for more outlets or reach more readers with your own writing. With this expanded influence and connection also comes the … Read more
As we talked about yesterday, you need to have a system where you can plant or store all the thoughts, information, and ideas you will use as raw material for writing. And while that is an important start, you need to water these tiny seeds so they can grow into something useful. We have a … Read more
One of the most important truths you will ever learn as a human being is coming to grips with the idea that you don’t have an objective view of reality. This is hard to hear because we are deluded into believing we see things as they are. We assume we can see ourselves and everyone … Read more
If you ever run a race, you’ll notice there are two kinds of runners: those who are competing against everyone else, and those who are competing against themselves. The ones who are competing against everyone else take running very seriously. They like to set records and get the glory of being known as a winner. … Read more
In a world of equality and opportunity, we usually talk about power as if it’s a bad thing. But power is like time, money, or any other resource. It can be used for good or for bad. Writers don’t think about what we do in terms of power. We use words like creativity, craft, platform, … Read more