Search Results: bad habits
We all have bad habits as writers. Here’s my worst: I have a terrible tendency to back off on the money shot. Meaning I’ll fail to maximize the drama in key scenes. I know why I do this. It’s Resistance. Fear of success. Fear of making something really kick ass. But I still do it. Even knowing this is my Bad Tendency, I still go soft on the accelerator pedal. It’s a terrible habit. Here are two examples, both from my book Killing Rommel.
Read MoreThis is an edgy subject and maybe I should stay away from it, but I feel like I want to squeeze it a little more, so here goes. To review quickly, we were saying a couple of weeks ago that sometimes a public figure or personality (the “principal”) will be stalked or cyber-stalked or just plain bugged by a fan/frenemy/hater (the “profile.”) And that each of us probably has both tendencies-in-potential in our psyches. The reason I’m exploring this is to see if we can learn something that will help us. A couple of observations: You don’t have to be…
Read MoreMarch 31, 2010, “Habit” first appeared on the site—and is revisiting the home page today as I’m on the road. Konrad Lorenz, the Nobel Prize-winning zoologist, had a pet goose that he allowed the run of the house. The first day when the goose waddled in the door, there happened to be a mirror near floor height; the goose mistook his own reflection for some rival bird and flew into attack mode.
Read MoreThis is an important post. I say that because this piece addresses (after procrastination, which is the #1 champ), the single greatest excuse/reason/cop-out that prevents aspiring writers, artists and entrepreneurs from taking action to pursue their dreams. That excuse is, “First I have to _____________.” “___________” can be anything from “finish my research” to “pay the rent” to “get rid of my slacker boyfriend.” I’m not saying such excuses can’t be real or serious.
Read MoreKonrad Lorenz, the Nobel Prize-winning zoologist, had a pet goose that he allowed the run of the house. The first day when the goose waddled in the door, there happened to be a mirror near floor height; the goose mistook his own reflection for some rival bird and flew into attack mode.
Read More[Continuing our series on Bad Guys in film and fiction … ] The villain believes in a world of scarce resources and a competition of all against all. As the villain sees it, the human race inhabits a post-Edenic cosmos, i.e. a universe in which all of us have been kicked out of the Garden (where our needs were provided for in abundance) and are condemned for ever after to scuffle for a living out here on the mean streets. Or, as the tribesmen of Pashtunistan might phrase it, I against my brother; my brother and I against our cousin;…
Read MoreShawn Coyne: Hi and welcome to Part Five of The War of Art Mini-Course. My name is Shawn Coyne and I am the publisher of The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. All right. Let’s say we understand that everything we’ve talked about in these first four episodes. We know what Resistance is. We understand its own presence in our own lives. We’ve seen how it’s beaten us into submission in the past. We totally understand overcoming and combating it by “turning pro” and we understand how important it is to master our own craft. So at that point, where…
Read MoreBefore computers stepped in, if you wanted to find a book in your library, you walked over to a shelf of drawers (or a few walls of drawers depending on the size of your library), scanned the labels on the outside of each drawer, opened the drawer that corresponded with the author or title for which you were searching, and then flipped through the cards until you found the title. It took going through this process to find out if a specific book was available in your library. If the card wasn’t there, either the book wasn’t available, or (as…
Read More“In an Uber-fied future, fewer people own cars, but everybody has access to them.” —Marcus Wohlsen, Wired (January 2014 issue) In the above quote, “Uber” refers to a company. Set that factoid aside and think about the meaning of the German word uber, translated as above, beyond . . . Substitute the word cars with the word televisions or theaters, or books or radios, or other modes of transporting words and stories and sounds to readers and viewers and listeners. Then, substitute the word them with the corresponding action. For example: “In an uber-fied future, fewer people own televisions, but…
Read MoreAre you writing a novel? Don’t talk about it. Are you recording a new album, planning a new product launch, gestating a new philanthropic venture? Keep your mouth shut. Talking too soon is bad luck. It’s bad karma. I go even farther. Here’s a short quote from an upcoming book called The Authentic Swing: I’m superstitious. I have habits. I always give a false name to the book I’m working on. I never use the real title when creating the working file. Why? Because the devil might see the real title. Then he would have power to jinx it. I…
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