Here is why writing feels so hard to many people: because their expectation doesn’t match the reality of how good writing is actually created. Many people have an ideal of sitting down at a computer and just letting the words flow out perfectly. The heavens open up, birds sing outside, and a ray of light … 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
One of the most pervasive ideas in Western culture is the concept of “finding your dreams.” No one knows for sure where this idea came from. It has probably been around in some form for as long as there have been stories about heroes and their goals. The idea goes something like this: the main … Read more
One of the most fascinating characters of Hollywood’s classic film era is Norma Desmond, the lead character of 1950’s Sunset Boulevard. She is a silent film-era actress who lives in a fantasy world where she makes a triumphant return to her glory days. In the final scene, she has completely lost touch with reality as … Read more
One of the curses of being a writer is that we are too rational. We pride ourselves on reporting the facts of a situation accurately. We love the idea of having an objective point of view, then giving our commentary or perspective. We don’t like the idea of getting carried away with our emotions. We … Read more
Every day, you are surrounded by news—news on the internet, news on television, news in the newspaper, news that other people deliver. Have you ever thought about how the “news” is actually created? What makes a “news” story, anyway? Let’s take the most ubiquitous form of news we all grew up with: the nightly news … Read more
Writers are people who create things. We can literally create books, articles, speeches, podcasts, or stories out of thin air. It’s what we do. Why, then, do so many writers look at the world in “glass half empty” sort of way? A writer can be the most creative person in the world when it comes … Read more
In the classic 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz, we meet Dorothy, a teenage girl who dreams of a life “somewhere over the rainbow.” She’s stuck in a drab, sepia-toned farm in Kansas and wants nothing more than to run away and experience a more exciting life. But when she is swept away to Oz … Read more
One of the most pervasive ideas in Western culture is the concept of “finding your dreams.” No one knows for sure where this idea came from. It has probably been around in some form for as long as there have been stories about heroes and their goals. The idea goes something like this: the main … Read more