I once heard an influencer claim that she was born a great writer. When I scanned through her book I saw that her self-assessment was wrong. She did, however, have quite a following.
Continue reading “Born A Great Writer”Born A Great Writer
Bad Writing Mostly Goes Unnoticed—But Not By Rigorous Writers
A fellow writer once told me that she doesn’t need to be precise in her use of language because she (unlike me) isn’t into the hard sciences (engineering). Her opinion was that because writing is an expression of her thoughts, anything goes.
I’ve encountered this idea many times. The argument is that language belongs to the arts therefore should not be rigorous. Language doesn’t deal with precision like mathematics and engineering. An essay, unlike a math problem, does not have a right answer. This means that we can essentially write what we want.
This is a foolhardy argument. Good writing requires rigorous effort. Much the same kind of effort that one would put into understanding difficult mathematics.
Continue reading “Bad Writing Mostly Goes Unnoticed—But Not By Rigorous Writers”Reading For Meaning
A pet peeve of mine is the phrase reading for meaning. It’s a nonsense idea. When we speak of reading, the meaning part should be implied because reading without meaning isn’t really reading at all. We should call that, moving your eyes across a page. Or zoning out with eyes open. Or zombie zigzagging. Or just something else.
Continue reading “Reading For Meaning”Do An Experiment – Make A Tiny Piece Of Art
Making a small piece of art isn’t necessarily hard, especially if you’ve done it before. Making a small drawing might take a few hours. A first draft of a short story might take an afternoon. Creating an interesting guitar riff—a few minutes.
Continue reading “Do An Experiment – Make A Tiny Piece Of Art”Why Reading Is Hard (And What To Do About It)
It’s easier to scroll than it is to read. It is difficult to prioritise reading above, say, watching TV. It is easy to scan through tweets and comments—but quite difficult to focus on a worthy book or article.
Here are my thoughts on why reading is hard and what to do about it. (Click here for an expanded video version of this post.)
Continue reading “Why Reading Is Hard (And What To Do About It)”Emotional Work: Containment
There is a difference between emotional containment and suppression. If we want to process through our emotions, we need to be aware of this distinction. This post discusses the difference between containment and suppression.
Continue reading “Emotional Work: Containment”How To Know If Your Consistent Efforts Are Serving You
I’ve often found myself pushing too far with a certain approach only to realise that my rigid consistency was actually damaging. Mindless consistency isn’t a good thing. The first John Glock short story touched on this idea. Mechanically repeating certain actions, just because you’re supposed to, isn’t a way to live.
Besides, it’s possible to be consistent in the wrong pursuits. It is possible to push too far with something that might have been good initially.
So, the question becomes, How do we know if we have moved too far with something? How do we know when to shift gears? Ho do we know when to slow down or when to try a different approach?
Continue reading “How To Know If Your Consistent Efforts Are Serving You”How to Build Inner Strength (Probably Not What You Think)
How do we build inner strength? Do we push ourselves to the limits? Do we attempt really difficult things? Do we take enormous risks? Well, maybe. But I have a different take on this.
Continue reading “How to Build Inner Strength (Probably Not What You Think)”The Biggest Obstacles to Creative Work
If there is one question that I am always trying to answer for myself it is this: what are the things that allow me to do more (better quality and quantity) creative work and what are the things that hinder creative output. This post discusses some of the biggest obstacles to consistent creative work.
Continue reading “The Biggest Obstacles to Creative Work”Recurring Arguments
The other day, I had a conversation with a person who told me that he tends to have less arguments in his head these days. Yet, throughout the entire conversation he attempted to argue with me. I wondered how accurate his self-assessment was.