Bulldozers lay eyes on the rope and immediately recognise it for what it is – an arbitrary irrelevant barrier in their way. They instinctively realise there is nothing sacred about the rope and without hesitation decide to completely ignore it. They step over it, walk round it or take it down. They are brazen in their decisiveness and bold in their action. They understand there is no point asking for permission as it won’t be granted but know if they forge ahead as if it wasn’t even there no-one is going to stop them.

Read the full article for an excellent analogy that also applies to any creative career.

One fundamental difference I've noticed between successful indie-creatives and those still struggling, is the tendency of successful artists and entrepreneurs to ask for forgiveness rather than permission.

By in large, "rules" are fences designed to keep the sheep where the shepherds want them. Isn't it time you hopped the fence?

Caring for Pets Left Behind by the Rapture

For a fee, this service will place your dog or cat in the home of a caring atheist on Judgment Day

By Mike Di Paola

Many people in the U.S.—perhaps 20 million to 40 million—believe there will be a Second Coming in their lifetimes, followed by the Rapture . In this event, they say, the righteous will be spirited away to a better place while the godless remain on Earth. But what will become of all the pets?

Bart Centre, 61, a retired retail executive in New Hampshire, says many people are troubled by this question, and he wants to help. He started a service called Eternal Earth-Bound Pets that promises to rescue and care for animals left behind by the saved.

Promoted on the Web as "the next best thing to pet salvation in a Post Rapture World," the service has attracted more than 100 clients, who pay $110 for a 10-year contract ($15 for each additional pet.) If the Rapture happens in that time, the pets left behind will have homes—with atheists. Centre has set up a national network of godless humans to carry out the mission. "If you love your pets, I can't understand how you could not consider this," he says.

Pure. Genius.

To be honest, I don’t have a specific agenda for what I want to do all that differently, apart from what I’m already trying to do every day:

• identify and destroy small-return bullshit;
• shut off anything that’s noisier than it is useful;
• make brutally fast decisions about what I don’t need to be doing;
• avoid anything that feels like fake sincerity (esp. where it may touch money);
• demand personal focus on making good things;
• put a handful of real people near the center of everything.

All I know right now is that I want to do all of it better. Everything better. Better, better.

Well said. I concur. Cheers! To "Better."

Design is not "making things pretty", it's defining the grammar you will use in your application to talk with your users. The designer needs to act as a filter between the entrepreneur and the public, translating a vision to an implementation.

There's a reason I chose the word "grammar", it's because most elements, like typography, the navigation, the grid system, the palette used and the general branding, should be common in all the pages: consistency is a good thing.

True, that.

In his wonderful book Musicophilia, neurologist Oliver Sacks describes Clive Wearing, a musician and musicologist whose memory was erased almost entirely after a severe brain infection. Post-trauma, Clive’s short-term memory lasted only a matter of seconds. Sacks writes, “He remembers almost nothing unless he is actually doing it, then it may come to him.”Yet Clive’s musical self, his performative self, remained almost completely intact. It just needed to be activated. When playing music or conducting a choir, Clive could re-attain his former virtuosity. As long as his fingers and his mind were in motion, he could play beautifully. Clive’s wife writes, “The momentum of the music carried Clive from bar to bar… He knew exactly where he was because in every phrase there is context implied, by rhythm, key, melody… When the music stopped, Clive fell through to the lost place. But for those moments he was playing he seemed normal.”
 
We are perhaps not so different from Clive when it comes to creative projects. The minute that we lose momentum, we lose the thread. We become extremely vulnerable to distraction and defeat. Our inner critic awakens, and we start second-guessing ourselves, doubting the possibility of success. Other people’s demands creep in, vying for our attention and focus. We start to generate shiny, new ideas that seem even more worthy of execution, tempting us to move onto the next big thing without ever finishing.

The minute that we lose momentum, we lose the thread.

Although we're only starting to grasp how the insides of buildings influence the insides of the mind, it's possible to begin prescribing different kinds of spaces for different tasks. If we're performing a job that requires accuracy and focus (say, copy editing a manuscript), we should seek out confined spaces with a red color scheme. But for tasks that require a little bit of creativity, we seem to benefit from high ceilings, lots of windows and bright blue walls that match the sky.

This article leads me to believe that the reason so many writers like to work in cafes has more to do with the high ceilings and large windows than the background noise or the coffee.

“The Craftsman’s Creed” by Josh Kaufman

I am a craftsman. I am dedicated to perfecting the art and science of my craft, which I have chosen freely.

I am constantly, relentlessly searching for ways to improve my craft. I am dedicated to learning from the masters who have preceded me in every way I am able.

I create valuable things that other people want or need. I generously offer my work as a gift when it is wise, but my purpose is to help those who value my work enough to pay for what I have to offer. No one has an unlimited claim on my craft, knowledge, or the fruits of my effort. I work for people who value and support me.

I honestly promote what I have to offer, consistently and to the limit of my capabilities. I make no apologies for promoting my craft. I am proud of my work, and it is my duty and responsibility to reach people who may benefit from my craft. I can help them no other way.

I do my best to ensure that every single person who trusts me with their time, attention, or money is happy with their investment. If they are not, I will do whatever is in my power to do right by them without delay.

Skills are a craftsman’s credentials. I care more about a person’s character, what they know, and what they can do than where they grew up, where they went to school, or how many letters they have after their name. I choose to work with other craftsmen: people who are skilled, not simply schooled.

I respect other craftsmen, and I generously assist them however I’m able. I have no respect for the fool who searches for a way to enjoy the fruits of labor without effort, or the scoundrel who seeks to enrich himself by deluding others. Value, not wealth or fame, is the true measure of every craftsman.

I take good care of myself. My mind and body are the tools I use to advance my craft, so I take care of them. Rest and recovery are essential to my life: a worn-down tool is of no use at all.

I never stop pushing my limits. I am constantly testing and experimenting with new ways to expand my capabilities. It is my way of life.

I refuse to waste precious time and energy on trivial matters, trivial problems, and trivial people. I choose to focus only on the most important of demands: those that help me advance my craft or take care of the people who depend on me.

The world is an uncertain place, which I can not fully predict or control. Regardless, I will do everything in my power to prepare for every challenge and weather every storm. Nothing in this world is powerful enough to stop me from continuing to practice my craft.

Anything that I can do to improve my craft, I will do. This will keep me busy until the end of my days: a challenge I gladly accept. I am a craftsman, and always shall be.

This is excellent. And so is the author's site: The Personal MBA. Highly recommended.

My C.A.R.E. Framework is perfectly aligned with this, too. Which by the way, is coming soon-ish.

Sounds fun. Seems like a great way to up your writing output on a novel. I'm in.

Small Talk is Boring

The life streaming sharing is disappearing. What you post on Facebook can get you fired or sued are the social media un-savvy users deciding that it isn’t worth the trouble? How many thoughts does anyone really want to share with immediate or extended family, current or potential boss, former/current class mates, partner and friends?* With the “What’s on your mind” status updates gone, we are left with small talk. Small talk is boring, and small talk will not keep daily users.

* Yes, you can put people into lists for sharing purposes, but when you have an average of 130 friends per Facebook user that can be a chore to maintain. I don’t use lists myself because by the time the feature was released I didn’t want to spend the initial time to setup them up.

Moving on?

Where will the people go to share with friends? Will it be Twitter? Joining the 200 million registered accounts already on Twitter. Or will it be somewhere new? What do you think?

I'll tell you what I think. I think you're spot-on. Facebook *is* boring. That's the problem. When you're "everything for everybody" you're nothing special for anyone.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not bashing Facebook. It is a useful tool. Sharing photos with friends and family who might actually want to see them couldn't be easier.

It's just dreadful boring. I mean, if you're not a *close* friend or family member, and you want me to look at a picture of your cat / dog / husband / first-born / new car / birthday cake / new outfit...frankly--no offense--but I think my time is better spent elsewhere.

In a way, Facebook has become basic cable. If you want to watch something truly interesting--truly engaging--you get HBO or Showtime or what have you. Even people who are freaky-amazing-fascinating, on Facebook, are drained of their entertainment value.

So for me, yeah, it's time to find a better social network. At least when I want to have fun or actually learn something.

The U.S. has not just misplaced its priorities. When the most powerful country ever to inhabit the earth finds it so easy to plunge into the horror of warfare but almost impossible to find adequate work for its people or to properly educate its young, it has lost its way entirely.

This isn't meant to be a political blog, but if creative folks don't lead the wake up call, it'll never happen.

When only the richest 10 percent of our citizens receive 100 percent of the average income growth from 2000 to 2007, and General Electric doesn't pay even pay a dime in taxes--Houston, Los Angeles, New York, St. Louis, Seattle, Phoenix, Austin, Cleveland, Detroit...

WE HAVE A FREAKING PROBLEM!

So please, share this article with your friends. No one will care if no one knows.

Not to say that authors don’t need to have a strong online presence; of course they do. But anytime you’re thinking about some other promotional activity--a blog post, a trip to a convention, an hour on Facebook--you have to measure the value of that time against the value of writing and publishing a new story. The new story earns money, both for itself and your other works. The social networking stuff doesn’t.

I agree 100% with this, and I *sell* website solutions to writers. Great article. A must read for all authors.

What’s the takeaway?  If you’re lucky enough to have an activity that excites and inspires you, then put in the time and put in the money.  There’s zero risk if you enjoy the activity itself (the means is the end), and you expose yourself to the possibility of luck and success.  Success comes unevenly, so 99% of  your efforts might yield zero rewards.  But that 1% — the black swan event — can make it all worth it.

This is from an excellent article that all indie-creatives should read. Heck, I'm going all-in, and subscribing to this guy's RSS feed. Great stuff here!

They brought up Barry and his sister in West Los Angeles, and their best friends were Rod Serling, who created “The Twilight Zone,” and his family. Serling gave Michels his first lesson in writerly discipline. When the families took vacations together, Michels noticed that Serling woke up every morning at five or six to work and did not emerge from his room until eleven.

This is but one gem from a very interesting article. I have a B.S. in Psychology (try to resist swinging at that lob, folks), and a long-time interest in the profession of therapy (and no, I don't see a therapist--not that there's anything wrong with that). As you might imagine, seeing the keywords "Therapist" and "Screenwriters" in the same headline really dinged my antennae.

It's worth a read.

Genius is the high end of the dimension of creativity.

Creativity in turn is the expression (effect, result, projection) of awareness. Awareness is what the individual experiences inside one's mind (the experience of experience itself; the being aware of the fact that one or anything exists), while creativity is what others perceive when observing that individual. Awareness and creativity are the inner and outer aspects of the same thing. One's creativity is a measure of one's awareness. A non-creative person is not aware; A genius is the most aware of all.

I like this definition of genius. And not just because...

Great performers are an exception. Typically, they sleep significantly more than the rest of us. In Anders Ericcson's famous study of violinists, the top performers slept an average of 8 ½ hours out of every 24, including a 20 to 30 minute midafternoon nap some 2 hours a day more than the average American.

The top violinists also reported that except for practice itself, sleep was second most important factor in improving as violinists.

This is so true, writers! What good is one additional hour of productivity if it costs us a full day of lackluster performance tomorrow?

“A jack of all trades, master of none, often times better than a master of one.”

“I don’t get it.”

“It’s okay, I will let it sink in.”

“I am not niave…”

“No, you aren’t but you also miss the point.  People are driven by passions, and if they so happen to be passionate about creating, then it’s misguided people like yourself that assume having more than one passion is a bad thing. It’s assumed that because I didn’t go to school for photography that I can’t read books about it or I don’t have a natural eye.  It’s assumed that since I didn’t go to school for video that I don’t read hours and hours on the internet learning.  It’s assumed that since I want to better myself in every art form that I can imagine that I have nothing better to do with my time.  Answer me this, if you had a project due, and needed a project manager, would it be better to hire a photographer to manage the graphic designer? Or would you rather the illustrator manage the video department?  Not saying that they couldn’t do the job, but wouldn’t you want someone more prepared to take on the responsibility in case someone crapped out on you?  Pick

This is great stuff. You should go read the whole article.

Time=money.

First, it's important to understand that in traditional publishing (which my friend Barry Eisler calls "Legacy Publishing"), time moves slowly.

When your agent sells you novel, it can take several months to get the contract.

Once you sign the contract, it can be months before you're paid.

Once you turn in the manuscript, it can be months, or even over a year, before your book is published.

The large, inefficient, unwieldy industry that is legacy publishing is painfully slow.

If you're an author about to get published, traditionally or otherwise, you owe it to yourself to read the rest of this article: http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2011/02/time-is-money.html.

Good stuff.

Most of all, I’m look­ing for­ward to hang­ing out with read­ers of the Word­slinger blog, and mak­ing new writer friends. That’s always been the high­light of the SCWC for me: the tight-knit net­work of like-minded writ­ers that you end up bond­ing with and the long-term friend­ships which result. I’ve been to a lot of writ­ing con­fer­ences, and the SCWC def­i­nitely has the most inti­mate, friendly, pro-writer feel to it.

By the way, if you’ve been on the fence about attend­ing, you still can. Details here.

Here’s just a few of  the work­shops and authors in atten­dance that I’m excited about:

Get­ting To The Heart Of Non-Fiction: What Makes Per­son­al­ity Tick?

Are you writ­ing a mem­oir? An auto­bi­og­ra­phy?  A pro­file of some­one inter­est­ing? How do you take the nugget of a person’s expe­ri­ence and turn it into a gem?  Whether you’re writ­ing about your life or that of another, get­ting to the heart of per­son­al­ity and story is essen­tial. Learn how to dig into rich detail, anec­dotes and dia­logue to high­light a person’s inspi­ra­tion, insights, invalu­able lessons, and incred­i­ble jour­neys.  Come ready to write!!

Work­shop Leader: Sylvia Mendoza

How it Works Today: The Lay of the Pub­lish­ing Land

Learn the basics of the pub­lish­ing indus­try today, from the big New York pub­lish­ing houses to the smaller inde­pen­dent presses and the scary world of self-publishing. How does the pub­lisher, dis­trib­u­tor, and whole­saler rela­tion­ship work? How do e-books fit into the mix? Learn to eval­u­ate your options, whether you need an agent, and what to expect dur­ing the pub­lish­ing process.

Work­shop Leader: Car­olyn Hayes Über

Cre­at­ing and Pitch­ing Series Ideas for Television

Just like in fea­tures, con­cept is king in TV devel­op­ment, and the cri­te­ria for what makes an idea work­able (fresh, com­pelling, and real) are very spe­cific. In this work­shop we’ll dis­cuss what I’ve learned from expe­ri­ence pre­sent­ing dozens of ideas to net­works, stu­dios, pro­duc­ers, and my own agents at CAA, from mis­takes made to actions taken to find suc­cess­ful solutions.

Cur­rently Staffed By: Erik Bork

And of course, I’m really look­ing for­ward to teach­ing my work­shop: From Zero To Rockin’ Writer’s Web­site In One Workshop.

Hope to see you there! It’s going to be a con­fer­ence to remember.

I may be biased, but this is the best writers' conference there is. Hope to see you there!

This is brilliant. You can bet I'll be stealing this concept and integrating it into the CARE Platform Building Framework course (to be released soon-ish).

This is a collaboratively edited question and answer site for authors, editors, reviewers, professional writers, and aspiring writers. It's 100% free, no registration required.

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This is a really cool resource for getting your questions about writing answered.

So true. So true.

So true. So true.

If you’re a writer, or other indie-creative, I think you’ll really enjoying reading the rest of this article here.

Awesome stuff.

Here's just a taste:

Using the television as their primary tool, very-high-level marketers have managed to create a nation of people who typically:

• work almost all the time
• absorb several hours of advertising every night, in their own homes
• are tired and unhealthy and vaguely dissatisfied with their lives
• respond to boredom, dissatisfaction, or anxiety only by buying and consuming things
• have disposable income but can’t find a more fulfilling line of work without losing their health insurance
• create health problems for themselves, which can be treated with drugs they can “ask their doctor about”
• own far more items than they use, and believe they don’t have enough
• are easily distracted from the unhealthy state of their lives and their culture by breaking news and celebrity gossip
• perpetually convince themselves it is not the right time to make major lifestyle changes
• happily buy stuff that breaks within a year, and which nobody knows how to fix
• have learned, through the media’s culture of blame-mongering, that the key to solving public and private issues is to find the right people to hate

Not that it’s drastically different in the rest of the developed world. Trillionaires (or at least their employees) are working around the clock to pipe these habits into living rooms everywhere. Huge economy, huge population, global influence.

Healthy people — who know how to deal with disappointment, who have given up on the idea of magic bullets, who don’t watch TV indiscriminately, who are fulfilled by things that don’t cost money — are poor consumers, and so the very-high-level marketers have nurtured a culture which produces the exact opposite.

Very thought provoking.