The area I knew the least about was architecture. I had always been fascinated by it, but never studied it in-depth. Over the years, as I have learned more about architecture, it has become one of my favorite subjects.

I’m especially drawn to Gothic cathedrals. These medieval works of art represent one of the pinnacles of human ingenuity and creativity. The designers, laborers, and craftsmen worked for decades, in some cases centuries, to complete these massive projects.

My personal favorite is Chartres Cathedral in France. Built from 1194-1260, it’s one of the oldest Gothic cathedrals. Chartres is famous for several iconic features, including its beautiful stained-glass windows, a medieval labyrinth, and a purported relic of the Virgin Mary’s tunic.

Consider the mindset of the artists and craftsmen who built Gothic cathedrals. They worked to build something they knew would outlive them—not only by decades, but by centuries.

That’s a stark contrast to today’s creative world, where we don’t normally think in centuries or decades, or even years. We think in weeks and days, hours and moments.

Today, most of our creative work is designed for quick consumption. We share social media posts that we hope people “like” in the 30 minutes after the upload. We write blog posts that we hope go viral in the days after they are published. We hope our book gets traction in the weeks and months after it’s released. We hope our podcast or video gets downloaded thousands (or millions!) of times.

I’m not saying those things are bad. I engage in all of those mediums, and more. But is there a way to balance the need for relevance and timeliness with a more long-term perspective on our creative work?

The real question is: Will your creative work outlive you? We don’t create just for today. We create for decades from today. So let us create, work, and write with excellence. And with a view to impact not just people today… but many years from now, just as we enjoy the Gothic cathedrals today, many hundreds of years after they were built.

Question: How do you think your writing might impact people decades into the future?

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Most people are passive observers to their own lives. They accept the choices that life hands to them. They assume what they see other people doing is what they should be doing also. They go along with the crowd, never rock the boat, and never achieve their dreams.

On the other hand, successful writers know that life is not a multiple-choice test. If they don’t like the options in front of them, they create new ones.

How do we do this? We do this by taking advantage of all the amazing opportunities we have today as writers. There is an almost unlimited number of opportunities for you to get your work in front of readers and make a good living while doing it. In fact, we just finished a series on making money as a writer. I encourage you to go back and listen to it if you want a few tangible ways to start making income with your skills.

Is it hard to strike out on your own pathway while everyone around you is conforming to social norms? While everyone else is doing what other people expect? While everyone else is not writing books or putting in the work to build their own writing business?

Of course, it’s challenging. Nobody said this would be easy. But if you are going to make something happen, this is not the time to be passive. This is not the time to limit your options. The world is a giant buffet of opportunity. Will you take advantage of it?

Question: Are you ready to start making the most of your opportunities and create your own success as a writer?

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As you probably know, in addition to hosting this podcast and running the Daily Writer Club, my membership group for writers, I’m a ghostwriter. Today, I’m excited to share a conversation with an enormously successful and legendary celebrity ghostwriter, Glenn Plaskin.

Glenn Plaskin is the bestselling author of twenty-five books, including Horowitz: The Biography of Vladimir Horowitz; Turning Point: Pivotal Moments in the Lives of America’s Celebrities; and KATIE: Up and Down The Hall: The True Story of How One Dog Turned Five Neighbors into a Family.

He is also a recognized collaborator and ghostwriter for CEO’s, entertainment personalities, high achievers, newsmakers, performing artists, and public speakers. He is known for his in-depth interviews and human development stories, landing exclusives with film stars, politicians, TV personalities, business executives, and media figures. He is ranked in the 2022 Publishers Weekly Book Publishing Almanac as the lead ghostwriter in the nation.

His profiles and syndicated columns have appeared in the New York Times, the Daily News, San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Family Circle, US Weekly, Ladies Home Journal, and many more outlets.

His interview subjects have included such figures as Meryl Streep, Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro, Katharine Hepburn, Nancy Reagan, Bill Gates, Calvin Klein, Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Michael Jackson, Paul Newman, Dolly Parton, and hundreds of others.

Glenn’s TV appearances include The Today Show, Oprah, Larry King, Joan Rivers, Sally Jessy Raphael, Geraldo, and Good Day New York. He will be appearing in two upcoming film documentaries in 2023, one on Katharine Hepburn (Netflix) and another on Leona Helmsley (HBO). He lives in New York City.

In this conversation, Glenn shares his journey into becoming a writer, some of his habits and routines, how to get started writing, and some thoughts on working with clients. You can find out more about Glenn at https://www.ghostwriteyourbook.com/.

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But have you ever considered exactly what it was that made Michelangelo so great?

Was it his creative genius? His relationship with powerful and influential people such as the Pope? His ability to organize massive projects such as the painting of the Sistine Chapel?

All of those factors surely played a part in his greatness. But above all, Michelangelo was a guy who got things done. He finished projects and saw them through to completion.

Contrast this with his contemporary, and creative rival, Leonardo da Vinci. Even though da Vinci had a wider array of creative interests, and he had one of the most fertile minds in history, he often left projects half-finished. As anyone can see in his famous notebooks, da Vinci was a guy who had lots of great ideas but struggled to translate them into practical reality.

Michelangelo once said, “I saw an angel in the marble and I carved until I set him free.” We like to focus on the angel in the marble, but let’s not forget about the part where he kept carving until the angel was set free. Marble is a hard substance. It took Michelangelo four whole years working on his 16-foot statue of David until it was done.

But he eventually finished and moved on to the next project. That’s a great lesson for all of us writers working on big projects. You keep showing up every day, carving, and making a little progress. Then one day, almost like magic, you’ll be finished. That book you’ve been working on, that little angel, will sprout wings and finally fly.

Question: What project do you need to keep carving until it’s set free?

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After you have prepared by tilling the soil of your mind, planted by keeping track of your ideas, watered your mind by reading, pruned the dead weight from your schedule, and harvested your creativity by getting your writing done, it’s important to celebrate by enjoying your success.

For some reason, writers have a hard time being content with their success. Maybe it’s jealousy or a mentality that says whatever they have achieved, it’s not enough. Maybe it’s an attitude they inherited from their family that they can never measure up.

Whatever the case, it’s vital to recognize that when you write, you have done something worth celebrating. It doesn’t need to be a giant ego boost. You can celebrate in a way that inspires others and doesn’t put yourself in the spotlight.

When you accomplish something worthwhile, take a moment to stop and recognize the value of what you’ve done. Take pride in your work. Enjoy your success.

If you don’t develop this habit of celebration, you will never be happy with your achievements. How sad would it be to work so hard but never feel satisfied?

Question: Are you taking time to celebrate your success?

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Now we come to harvesting, which is simply creating the words. The previous actions, if you do them consistently, make it much easier to write. You have probably noticed in your own life that it’s harder to write if you don’t have ideas, you’re not exploring curiosity through reading, and you’re too busy to write.

Harvesting as a concept couldn’t be any simpler. You simply go to the field, get the crop, and bring it to the barn for processing. In writing terms, it means you must sit down and produce the words.

If there is one universal truth in writing, it is this: the words won’t write themselves. This means you need to aside time each day to write. It’s that simple, and also that difficult.

A growing writer is an intentional writer. When you plant the seeds, water them with reading, prune unnecessary activities, and harvest your words, you have joined an illustrious club known as “writers who get things done.”

The price of admission to the club? Nurturing a growth mindset and doing what is needed to produce the crop.

Question: Are you “harvesting” your words on a daily or weekly basis?

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He held up another person’s book, and to the front of it he had taped a mock-up of a cover for the book he was writing. He already knew in advance the print size of the book, so he made sure to choose another print book of the same size.

I thought this was a genius idea and have been doing the same thing ever since. Anytime I’m working on a book, I always have the cover designed as early in the process as I can.

Then, I find another print book of the same size, tape the printout of my cover to the front, and keep it on my desk during the whole writing and publishing process.

This helps make the book tangible and real, instead of just a file that just lives on your computer. It also helps you make it through the rough spots in the writing and editing. When you keep the vision of the final product clear and it’s sitting on your desk, you will feel much more motivated to keep going.

Question: If you are working on a book project, do you have the cover designed yet? Have you printed it out and attached it to another book of the same size to keep your vision clear?

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So how do people actually pull it off? What is the process for actually completing a marathon?

Let’s start with the obvious: if you break down a marathon into smaller sections, you come up with a certain number of miles—26.2 of them to be exact. Then you can break those down into half miles or quarter miles.

But what is the simplest, singular motion that causes a runner to complete a marathon? It is the single stride. For the average person, it is between 2.1 and 2.5 feet.

It takes the average runner somewhere between 55,000-63,000 strides to complete a marathon. Sounds like a lot, doesn’t it? Maybe so, but now you have a specific number you can get your head around.

Interestingly, the number of words in an average non-fiction book is around 50,000 words. So, you can think of writing a book almost like running a marathon.

How does a runner complete a marathon, and how does a writer complete a book? You keep moving, no matter what.

The screenwriter and producer Brian Koppelman said, “Resilience is a writer’s best friend. Train like a marathon runner. Move a little further each day despite the pain.”

There’s no special trick to writing a book or running a marathon. It’s all about training, persistence, and action. Put one word after another and keep moving until you reach the finish line.

Question: In your book project or other writing-related work, are you committed to keep moving until you reach the finish line?

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Lots of people want to write a book, start a podcast, create a blog, or build a writing business. But why do so many people stop short of following through?

The answer is simple: it gets hard and people give up. You have probably fallen victim to giving up as well. You have started something, it got hard, then you quit because it wasn’t as fun anymore.

I’ve been there myself!

Here is a simple yet effective way to ensure you will follow through: before you get started, commit to the middle 50%.

The first 25% of a project feels fun. You have lots of enthusiasm and energy. People are cheering you on because you have announced it. The whole thing feels new and fresh.

But the middle 50% gets hard. The enthusiasm wears off and you have to stick with it. You are far away enough from the starting block that you’ve lost the initial excitement. But you’re too far from the finish line to see it. So, you have to manufacture your own enthusiasm and keep pressing on, knowing the end is coming.

When you get to that final 25%, the excitement of finishing is going to pull you forward and give you a second wind. But that middle 50% kills an awful lot of projects because it forces you to focus and be disciplined.

So before you get started, make sure to commit to the middle 50%, knowing it’s going to get hard. But you can make it if you keep pushing through.

Question: Think about your most difficult project right now. Have you made the commitment to keep going in the middle 50%?

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The idea goes something like this: the main purpose of your life, vocationally speaking, is to find your dream. The dream is what you are meant to do. It’s granted by some otherworldly force or power. Your task, should you choose to accept it, is to keep seeking and searching, defeating obstacles and naysayers, until the dream becomes a reality.

There is some truth to that story. Anyone who has achieved anything worthwhile has defeated obstacles and ignored naysayers. But the main fault in this philosophy is that a dream is “out there” somewhere. And if you work hard enough and seek it out, you will eventually find it.

The truth is that dreams are not found. A dream does not exist out there somewhere. The whole idea of finding your dream is based on the idea that you are a passive observer to your own life.

In truth, a dream doesn’t exist anywhere outside of yourself. A dream is created from within.

A lot of writers spend years or decades passively waiting for their dream to come true. Maybe they’ll get discovered by an agent or a publisher. Maybe that book will magically get written. Maybe someone will hand them that opportunity they’ve been waiting for.

That’s not how it works. Yes, people do get discovered sometimes, and their dreams come true. But for the vast majority of writers, their dreams become reality because they worked for them. They did the work. They put in the years of effort and built their platform, their business, and their success one brick at a time.

It’s the cold, hard truth… but it’s also the most liberating thing you can possibly hear. Your dreams are not out there… they’re in here, in your mind and heart. But it’s up to you to do the work and take them from the realm of possibility to the realm of reality.

Question: Do you find this truth frustrating or liberating? Why?

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