“Movie directors, or should I say people who create things, are very greedy and they can never be satisfied… That’s why they can keep on working. I’ve been able to work for so long because I think next time, I’ll make something good.” – Akira Kurosawa, Born Mar. 23, 1910. Today, let’s talk about defeat. […]
The Fear of Failure Feeds Your Forge – FEEL it, then USE it… Read More »
“Things have to be believable, not in a literal, photographic sense, but in an emotional sense – capturing the essence of the situation.” – Michael Foreman, Born Mar. 21, 1938. Emotional authenticity is key. What people frequently call “hype” is when the writer’s enthusiasm is inauthentic. It feels forced and faked, and therefore what you’re
Conjuring Emotion in Your Reader is Easy – Just EXPLAIN Them Read More »
“Reinforcement is being right.” – B. F. Skinner, Born Mar. 20, 1904. Read this. It’ll change your life. Your business and money-making life, anyway. And that usually changes your home life. Having money and fame will do that. So first, gather an audience. Build it up around what you sell, or find existing ones and
Repetition Creates Belief. Repetition Creates Belief. And Reinforcement Cements It In. Read More »
“A strong emotion, especially if experienced for the first time, leaves a vivid memory of the scene where it occurred.” – Algernon Blackwood, Born Mar. 14, 1869. You ever see that movie “Inception” where that team of mental mercenaries implants an idea into someone’s memory, so that they mistake it for their own? I can
How to “Inception” Your Ideas Into Other People’s Brains – With Only a Pencil and Paper… Read More »
“THE ONLY WAY YOU CAN CONTROL PEOPLE IS TO LIE TO THEM. You can write that down in your book in great big letters. The only way you can control anybody is to lie to them.” – Lafayette Ronald Hubbard, Born Mar. 13, 1911. Get out the Preparation H because every time his topic comes
Don’t Lie to Yourself – Deception is What Fuels All Persuasion Read More »
“Nobody reads a mystery to get to the middle. They read it to get to the end. If it’s a letdown, they won’t buy anymore. The first page sells that book. The last page sells your next book.” – Mickey Spillane, Born Mar. 9, 1918. Spillane never wrote “literature” like the kind professors value. Unless
The Profitable Cliffhanger – How to Serialize Your Selling Read More »
“In journalism just one fact that is false prejudices the entire work. In contrast, in fiction one single fact that is true gives legitimacy to the entire work. That’s the only difference, and it lies in the commitment of the writer. A novelist can do anything he wants so long as he makes people believe
To Persuade, Concern Yourself with Emotional Truth Rather Than Cold, Hard Fact Read More »
“Most successful pundits are selected for being opinionated, because it’s interesting, and the penalties for incorrect predictions are negligible. You can make predictions, and a year later people won’t remember them.” – Daniel Kahneman, Born Mar. 5, 1934. Gurus need to make a lot of predictions. That’s really why people follow us at all. People
“The most successful men in the end are those whose success is the result of steady accretion.” – Alexander Graham Bell, Born Mar. 3, 1847. This is important. Like LEGO bricks. Like Voltron. Your stuff needs to combine and stack and scale. Too many chase the next client or the next job or the next
Brick by Brick, You Must Build Your Own Destiny, According to the Designs You’ve Dreamed Read More »
“Gifts make slaves.” – Levi Strauss, Born Feb. 26, 1829. Cialdini stated this in a less harsh way. He calls it the Law of Reciprocity. When you receive a distinct item of value from someone else, you are compelled to grant them something in return. We feel that we owe them. That we are indebted
How to Mentally Enslave People With One Stupid Trick – It’s Irresistible! Lol, Sorta. Read More »
