1. Artists Do Not Make Art Here’s a paradox I witness every week: On one hand, artists and authors feel that business is alien to them, and on the other hand, business people feel that making meaningful art is alien to them. I meet, talk, and work with such creative people and business people every…
The book publishing industry’s annual three-day BookExpo America (BEA) has concluded. More than one journalist has reported in the publishing world an air of optimism. Compare that air to six months ago when hyperbolic headlines predicted eBooks, Amazon, the economy, and rogue authors taking down the Big 6 or 5 altogether. Consider the obvious: All…
Why don’t we create as much as we want? What’s the one thing that keeps most Americans from being able to create? If you look at the results from the research firm StrategyOne, you will get one part of the story. The firm surveyed 5,000 adults – 1,000 each in the United States, Germany, the United…
I want to talk about self-esteem and creating. About creating the work not only that we want to create but creating the work that your patch of the planet needs. I want to hear from you because I never have the complete picture, and hearing from you expands my – our – perspective. Here’s what…
How do successful books work? We think they succeed because of some insider mystery, talent, or connection. There is insider knowledge. But the insider knowledge that matters is what can make you a more informed reader and a more captivating author with a brave new story. For a while, I’ve wanted to create book review videos…
The Courage to Create When Rollo May was a boy, his mother often left him alone with his schizophrenic sister. He learned early to empathize with those who view reality differently, and he learned early how to fend for himself. He went on to pursue studies in English, psychotherapy, and even ministry. In the post-World…
When William Faulkner won the Nobel Prize for Literature, he implored the then-younger, perhaps more jaded writers to exhibit this quality. The next year, John Steinbeck followed suit and called for it as well. Maxine Hong Kingston has called it the most important quality a writer can possess. And David Foster Wallace rhapsodized about it,…
Here’s what I’ve been hearing: Something in us aches to be free and brave to create what matters. To take risks to stand up and stand out. To tell the Story we know must be told. But time dogs us. We make a creative mess more than a mountaintop. We’re not sure how to shape…
http://youtu.be/Ozc4nBvprFY For anyone yearning to be heard. For anyone whose voice feels caged in a cubicle or sliced on a chopping board. For anyone whose Muse still battles Time and Mind and Circumstance. For anyone ready to shape a glorious creative mess or message into a Story. For anyone supplicating for courage to make choices…
Where Your Wilds Things Are You know the feeling. Something almost wild resides inside you. A bold idea. A bold story. A bold way of doing or viewing something. Let’s call it a Wild Idea. Let’s say a Wild Idea is, to you, a radically new way of viewing something or it’s a possible…
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