“A certain slightly cruel disregard for the feelings of living people is simply part of the package. I think a writer, if he’s any good, is not an entirely benign entity in the world.” – Michael Cunningham, Born today, Nov. 6, 1952. This is another uncomfortable truth. For one, we need to hurt people – […]
To The Pain, And Why We Must Cause It Read More »
“Acting is not hiding to me; it’s revealing. We give you license to feel. ‘Hey, she’s crying, so it’s okay if I cry, too.’ That’s the most important thing in the world, because when you stop feeling, that’s when you’re dead.” – Loretta Swit, Born Nov. 4, 1937. We call know that we are supposed
Don’t Just Write With Emotion – Project It, Like This.. Read More »
“What is the difference between unethical and ethical advertising? Unethical advertising uses falsehoods to deceive the public; ethical advertising uses truth to deceive the public.” – Vilhjalmur Stefansson, Born, Nov. 3 1879. The first thing that we need to get out of the way to have this discussion today is the mistaken notion that “deception”
“Ethical” Advertising Is Still Deception? (Yes, And That’s Okay.) Read More »
“Listen, if you don’t talk big game, you never get anywhere. If you don’t think big, you don’t get big. Some people call it egotistical, some people call it high hopes, some people call it confidence. It’s all in how you want to dissect it.” – Robert Van Winkle, aka Vanilla Ice, Born Oct. 31,
Winning Big Is Easier If You Rack Up Small Wins First Read More »
“In the country of the blind the one eyed man is king.” – Desiderius Erasmus, Born Oct. 28, 1466. One of the eternal worries of most freelancers is what they call “impostor syndrome”. It’s the deep seated fear that you’re a phony. That you’ll get called out as a fraud. That you’re not worth what
Expertise Is Relative and You Should Aim Your Work Accordingly Read More »
“Do just once what others say you can’t do, and you will never pay attention to their limitations again.” – James Cook, Born Oct. 27, 1728. We often let the voices of others – real or imagined – set the outer borders of what we are capable of. Naysayers. Haters. Well-meaning people concerned for our
“You’ll Never Succeed,” They Said. But When They Saw My Nunchucks… Read More »
“Think and grow rich.” – Napoleon Hill, Born Oct. 26, 1883. This guy? Huge phony. A scammer and a liar. It’s true. If I’m the first guy to tell you, I’m sorry. He’s real popular in bizopp self-help entrepreneur-bro circles. Some people swear by his written wisdom, and some successful people at that! So Hill
The Guru Game, Stripped Bare For Your Enjoyment Read More »
“Art is the elimination of the unnecessary.” – Pablo Picasso, Born Oct. 25, 1881. We can all use a little more of Pablo’s kind of art in our lives and businesses. Are you getting bogged down on a project because of how you imagine it has to be? Look at it. Break it into a
Distill Your Offer Down To Its Essence (By Boiling Away The Unnecessary) Read More »
“I’ve written in every imaginable location; a repurposed closet, the kitchen table, the bleachers while my kids had basketball practice, the front seat of the car when they were at soccer. In airports. On trains. In the break room when I was supposed to be wolfing down dinner. In the back of classrooms when I
Destroy Your Writing Rituals to Set Your Skill Free Read More »
“Television has a real problem. They have no page two.” – Art Buchwald, Born Oct. 20, 1925. What Art was talking about is how TV can only give you the page one stuff. Deeper commentary and lengthier coverage, or less prominent stories get passed over. Or a least, they did. That was the nature of
How We Can Provide “Blood” AND “Meat” to Feed Our Hungry Prospects Read More »
