Year: 2015
My friend Dave wrote to me a week ago with a problem. How do we as artists and entrepreneurs transition to the next project? Dave had just turned in a manuscript. He was trying to get the next idea going. The problem was he didn’t know what that idea was going to be. For me, the transition is as pernicious a Resistance war as the previous project’s attack towards the finish line. Yes, I know we’re supposed to show up, buckle in, lace up the work boots, and “start the next one tomorrow.” [But] sometimes [we] write and write and it…
Read More[To read more of Shawn’s stuff, subscribe to www.storygrid.com] There’s a very instructive moment about the education of a writer in the documentary film, The Promise, a Story nerd nirvana experience about the making of Bruce Springsteen’s fourth album, Darkness on the Edge of Town. Do you know this story? Bruce Springsteen was that slight, shy but indomitable guy that those of us who grew up in the industrial heartland of America in the 1960s and 1970s all had at least one of in our school classes. The Springsteen kid didn’t play football or run for student council or get…
Read MoreOne of the questions I get asked a lot is, “How do I decide on my next project? I have so many ideas, I don’t know which one to choose.” My usual answer is, “Pick the one that scares you the most.” The reason this works is you’re using your own Resistance to guide you. Since Resistance will always be strongest in the case of the project that’s most important to the evolution of your soul, you will feel the most fear when you contemplate working on that project. Voila! That’s the one you should choose, just like an actor…
Read MoreSidd Finch hit the scene in 1985, via a Sports Illustrated exposé written by George Plimpton. Finch was a rare bird and Plimpton did a helluva a fine job writing about him. If you missed the article, Finch was believed to have the best arm in baseball ever—as in of all time, not just that year. With a 168 mph fastball and a set-up that outfielder John Christensen likened to “Goofy’s pitching in one of Walt Disney’s cartoon classics,” it was easy to imagine Finch lacked the accuracy to match his speed, but . . . Not the case. He had…
Read MoreWriting a novel can test your sanity. Consider what you’re letting yourself in for. A two- to three-year slog with no external validation or reinforcement, no paycheck, no day-to-day structure except that which you impose yourself. Support from friends and family? Dubious. Future rewards? Highly uncertain. And we’re not even talking about the work. Will your Significant Other understand? The best advice to the mate of a novelist (or to anyone with aspirations in this direction) is to sit down, pour yourself a stiff drink, and make sure in your heart that this is a starship you’re ready to…
Read More[To read more of Shawn’s stuff, subscribe to www.storygrid.com] When seeking editorial counsel: Don’t ask a writer or editor you do not respect to give you constructive criticism. Find a writer or editor you respect and ask just one time for his/her undivided attention. (unless you are compensating them). You cannot go back to the well again and again and again…unless you stupidly keep paying them for advice you never take… Spend less time with writers and editors you do not respect. Spend more time with writers and editors you do respect. When a writer or editor you respect takes…
Read MoreWhy do we write? Most of us, if we’re honest, probably can’t answer that question. That’s not a bad thing. What I mean is, the reasons that compel us as artists to do the work we do are often (if not always) so deep and so hidden that we’re kidding ourselves if we claim we can name them or understand them. If you’re a writer, you’re compelled to write. Just like a dancer has “gotta dance” or a singer has to sing. Why? I believe in destiny. Each of us is unique, I believe, and every one of us was…
Read MoreSay thank you As in, on a card. No cold, white, computer paper. In your own handwriting. With a pen that isn’t running out of ink. Sharpies are nice. I like thin and medium tipped. It’s a good way to connect. They’ll remember you. Of the thousands of books Black Irish gives away every year? I remember the ones who say thank you. The e-mails are in the dozens. The hand-written notes? Count them on my hands. When I work with clients? There’s a long list of moving pieces. The never-cut, most-often repeated one? The thank you. I served up Mama…
Read MoreThis post goes out with thanks to my friend Derick, who taught me a type of Resistance I had never thought of (or at least had never given a name to.)
Read More[To read more of Shawn’s stuff, subscribe to www.storygrid.com] The one concept I discuss in The Story Grid that captures everyone’s attention is the idea that every single genre has conventions and obligatory scenes. And if you do not deliver those conventions and obligatory scenes to readers, your Story won’t work.
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