Search Results: resistance
For those who can’t wait, here’s the link to get the full story. (Oh, and before I forget, there’s a great Black Irish baseball cap that comes along with the JABs.) But let’s back up first to say what Black Irish JABs are, and how you can use them. How do you learn to write? I mean really. How does an aspiring artist of any kind (or even an accomplished pro) get her ideas onto paper? How does she tell her stories? How does she make it all work? The standard prescription is read read read and write write write.…
Read MoreLet me start with an overstatement: For writers and artists, the ability to self-reinforce is more important than talent. What exactly is reinforcement? It’s when your coach or your mentor or your spouse tugs you aside and tells you how well you are doing, and how proud of you they are, and how certain ultimate success is if you just keep doing what you’re doing. That’s reinforcement. What’s self-reinforcement? It’s when you do the exact same thing for yourself. Let me rephrase my original overstatement by quoting my (fictional) literary agent, 96-year-old Marty Fabrikant: “Talent is bullshit. I seen a…
Read MoreRemember The Way We Were, the 1973 blockbuster starring-vehicle for Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford? The theme song, sung by Babs, won an Oscar; the film itself was rated by AFI as #6 on the list of Greatest Love Stories of All Time. But let’s focus, you and I, on the THEME and how it is expressed in the Opening and Closing Images. Remember our third rule of In and Outs Club: The opening and closing images must be on-theme. The In to The Way We Were is the titles sequence. It’s a montage of quick scenes of students at…
Read MoreLast night for some reason I found myself thinking about my darkest hours as a writer. The period lasted about ten years, more if I include a contiguous stretch where I was too paralyzed to write at all. Was it Resistance? Was that the foe? No. The enemy was self-doubt. Or put another way, lack of self-belief. I may be wrong but I have a feeling that’s the Big Enemy for all of us. In a way, Resistance is self-doubt. That’s the form it takes. That’s the weapon it uses against us. But self-doubt somehow transcends Resistance. It stands…
Read MoreLast week’s “What It Takes” post was about Systems. A new one was left out. Black Irish Books turned to Vellum before the release of The Artist’s Journey by Steve and Running Down a Dream by Tim Grahl. (Thank you Joanna Penn for the recommendation.)
Read MoreI remember when I was a kid reading the Biblical story of the Prodigal Son. I never really got the point of it. I found myself siding with the elder son. “Hey, Dad, what’s the story? My younger brother takes his inheritance early and bolts from the farm. He swaggers into the big city, blows every penny on gambling and fast living and then comes crawling home begging for forgiveness. The kid’s a bum! Yet here you are, Pop, breaking out the fatted calf and rejoicing at your wayward child’s return, when I, the Responsible One, have been here all…
Read MoreBefore I get started with this post, today is the last day to order the special “Resistance Digital Bundle” (audios and ebooks) of Steve’s The Artist’s Journey and Tim Grahl’s Running Down A Dream, both of which were released last week by Black Irish Books. The Odyssey opens with Homer’s call to the Muse, to sing to him of “the man of twists and turns driven time and again off course . . . “ and of the man who fought “to save his life and bring his comrades home,” but who ultimately failed to “save them from disaster, hard…
Read MoreI don’t know when or how I learned about Temple Grandin and her work. She’s lived in my mind for so long that I can’t remember not thinking about her work.
Read MoreToday is the final installment of The Artist’s Journey. Thanks again to everyone who stayed with us from the start. The book officially goes on sale today in all three formats—audiobook (read by me), eBook, and paperback. You can get the paperback from Amazon or other online booksellers. The ebook and audio are on sale now (in bundled version as well) at www.blackirishbooks.com. As I said a few episodes ago, the publication book is a bit different from this serialized version. Shawn came in and made it better. P.S. Are we crazy to serialize this book for free and then put…
Read MoreDad installed odometers on our bikes when my sisters and I were kids. He was into being healthy and wanted us to ride at least three miles a day My first life hack was born from Dad’s focus on health and my need to play:
Read MoreFREE MINI COURSE
Start with this War of Art [27-minute] mini-course. It's free. The course's five audio lessons will ground you in the principles and characteristics of the artist's inner battle.