Yes, it's hard

A while back I wrote about how writing is like Michelangelo creating David from a block of marble. The act of creation in turning a hulk of rock into a glorious sculpture. I was reminded of this... when one... [someone] mentioned that writing a first draft is actually creating the marble itself, creating something out of nothing first. Then the subsequent rewrites and edits turn it from a block of stone into a beautiful sculpture.

Once you've quarried the marble, carve. And carve and carve. And carve. That's where the real fun begins.

More from this great post on How It Feels to Finish the First Draft of Your Novel.

If you don't, who will?

You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. Anne Lamott

This and other bon mots from her Twitter: @ANNLAMOTT

Naked is sexy

True freedom is liberating somebody else by telling your story, and even though it exposes you, it will set somebody else free. Oprah Winfrey

Dare to be uncomfortable

To the degree we're not living our dreams, our comfort zone has more control of us than we have over ourselves. Peter McWilliams

To the misunderstood geniuses

Creating a life that reflects your values and satisfies your soul is a rare achievement. In a culture that relentlessly promotes avarice and excess as the good life, a person happy doing his own work is usually considered an eccentric, if not a subversive.

Bill Watterson, creator of Calvin and Hobbes

Perseverance, my fellow geniuses, can often mean having to stand against being understood by friends, lovers, etc, as a stubborn eccentric. To find power in truth, personal truth, is the essence of the good life. And, if truth destroys something––as has been said––then it may truly be something that needs to be destroyed. What can be more noble than destroying fraud with truth? That is capital T truth.

"According to legend, Honore de Balzac drank 50 cups of coffee a day to fuel his writing."

He also died of a heart attack at 51. 

(It was probably worth it, though.)

The headline quote was found here.

If she's Reading Great Gatsby or 50 Shades of Gray, your chances of getting laid are better

According to this helpful little article on Jezebel, women's likelihood of hooking up whilst traveling can be easily assessed by checking out the book in their lap. (Women do most of their reading while traveling, apparently.) The information was culled from a survey. How scientific or reliable the survey was is uncertain. According to its research, women who read "blockbusters" are your most likely candidates, i.e. a lady of... regressive, heteronormative proclivities, to paraphrase.  

Also, lumping women who read Gatsby with those reading 50 Shades seems rather unscientific. On the other hand, maybe they're both game just stylistically different. E.g., think of the possibilities of the woman reading Twilight (or better yet, the last one in the series whatever it's called––I could've googled it but, really, who cares?).

I'd avoid the Twilight reader.

Be a God, Create Something

"You must write every single day of your life… You must lurk in libraries and climb the stacks like ladders to sniff books like perfumes and wear books like hats upon your crazy heads… may you be in love every day for the next 20,000 days. And out of that love, remake a world."

More here.

Never a failure, always a lesson.

Papa Preach to Me

Write drunk, edit sober.

Ernest Hemingway

I think what he was trying to say was first find the freedom to dig, then use discipline to bury it well. Drunkenness can lead to all kinds of behavior which the artist should unashamedly indulge in for the work. In the work, mind you. As George Carlin has eloquently said, in a manner of speaking, drunkenness can be a positive but is best used under controlled conditions. 

(Of course, one can also indulge in drunkenness metaphorically.)

Indulge Your Crazy & Admit that You Can't Not Do It

I'm totally crazy, I know that. I don't say that to be a smartass, but I know that that's the very essence of what makes my work good. And I know my work is good. Not everybody likes it, that's fine. I don't do it for everybody. Or anybody. I do it because I can't not do it.

Maurice Sendak as quoted from 10 Things You Might Not Know About Maurice Sendak

Also:
Q: How do you write for children?
A: I really have never figured that out. So I decided to just ignore it.

I thought it was also interesting to note that Sendak's In the Night Kitchen is on the list of most frequently banned books, according to the ALA, which is one of the best before-bed picture books ever done, in the humble opinion of our house. When my daughter was of picture book age In the Night Kitchen was one of her favorites. Because of this she would've seen Sendak's rendering of a small boy's penis countless times. Still, I think she'll be all right.

The Fear of Feeling Fear Is What You Fear Most

Every day, we make a thousand little compromises, avoid opportunities, actions and people--all so that we can stay away from the emotion of fear.

Note that I didn't say, "so we can stay away from what we fear." No, that's something else entirely. Right now, most of us are avoiding the things that might merely trigger the emotion itself. That's how distasteful it is to us.

Seth Godin, marketing guru and purveyor of the concept that effective marketing is about creating something remarkable and authentic, the opposite of traditional advertising.

His blog, the "#1 ranked marketing blog in the world," can be found here.

Muses Love Not Slackers

This is the other secret that real artists know and wannabe writers don't. When we sit down each day and do our work, power concentrates around us. The Muse takes note of our dedication. She approves. We have earned favor in her sight. When we sit down and work, we become like a magnetized rod that attracts iron filings. Ideas come. Insights accrete. 


Steven Pressfield

From The Daily Love