Quieting the Lizard Brain [Seth Godin]

I would say that I need this reminder at least once a week. All 18 minutes are worthwhile. If you’re in a hurry, you can skip to minute 11.

Says Steven Pressfield about resistance: RESISTANCE IS MOST POWERFUL AT THE FINISH LINE. (page 18 in his The War of Art)

First Date Woes…

Writing Warmup for April 4

First Date Woes

The porch light was flickering.

Ditto my hopes for a vibrant social life.

Still, I knocked. Three times.

Silence. Should I have added a fourth? Or would that have been pushy? Or seem too desperate?

Should I have brought my therapist with me?

“Good evening.” Date Enders Images serial killer look reduced

I did a full-body flinch and spun around. “Geezus!”

“I’m sorry. Did I alarm you?”

“Alarm me?! How about scare the–”

He issued a cold, blank stare.

I rolled my shoulders to release the tension. “Do you always teleport on a first date?”

To be continued…

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Props Week, continued: Writing wisdom via Jordan Rosenfeld…

@Jordanrosenfeld

http://jordanrosenfeld.net/

Some of her gems include:

  • A fast draft gets it down, but it doesn’t finish it for you.
  • Reading is an aerobics class for your writer mind.
  • At the beginning, your character shouldn’t be too self-aware; leave room for growth.
  • Each scene should still have a goal for your protagonist—and readers are most interested in your protagonist.

 

The source of Dabble Hour…

My first foray into Dabble Hour went fairly well. I only allowed myself that 60 minutes to follow peripheral projects, including writing for animation. Problem: I planted myself in Distraction Central, our public library. Good place to sit and work, but all those books…

library book pyramid

No, I didn’t pick all these up in one trip. But still…someone here needs therapy.

Don’t you love the irony of my having a copy of Deep Work?

In his book Turning Pro, Steven Pressfield says “The amateur prizes shallowness and shuns depth.”

Seems I have a way to go with this…

Dabble Hour: Keeping Favorite Projects Alive

I have confess…there are projects I still want to stay involved with, but, as Steven Pressfield says [and I agree], delving into multiple projects–thus leading to nothing being finished–suggests yet another triumph of resistance over progress.

And so, for the next week, I’m going with a compromise: Dabble Hour.

dabble hour--jugglers-acrobats-864

I’ll give myself one hour a day to at least stay in touch with some of those side creation/writing projects…even if it’s five minutes to type up a few pertinent ideas, a snippet of dialogue, or log a resource-filled website or two.

Better than letting them sit in the corner of the room in a dust-blanketed notebook.