“One should never write down or up to people, but out of yourself.” – Christopher Isherwood, Born Aug. 26, 1904. Here is a magical shortcut to becoming a good writer. Learn to dictate. You don’t have to use digital dictation tools, but you could. I do sometimes. What I mean is to simply compose your […]
Sneakiest “Hack” For Writing That Creates Easy Reading Read More »
“To achieve great things, two things are needed; a plan, and not quite enough time.” – Leonard Bernstein, Born Aug. 25, 1918. I believe this so hard. Your plan doesn’t need to be immaculate, or even very detailed. I had a five year plan when I went freelance that had only one sentence per year.
You’re Taking Too Long To Do Everything (And It Will Kill You) Read More »
“Human beings love stories because they safely show us beginnings, middles and ends.” – A. S. Byatt, Born Aug. 24, 1936. The key part of this quote is the word “safely”. What we allow people to do with persuasive communication is a bit of virtual reality. A bit of lucid dreaming. We allow people to
Stories Allow Us Safe Exploration Of Dangerous Futures Read More »
“The minute you make people laugh, you get them to listen.” – Merrie Spaeth, Born Aug. 23, 1943. Aside from sharing an enemy, sharing a laugh is the quickest way I know to create rapport with a stranger. And it doesn’t have to be a belly laugh. It could be anything as simple as a
How to Clown on Fools for Fun and Profit Read More »
“If you don’t write stories you love, you’ll never make it. If you don’t write stories that other people love, you’ll never make it.” – Ray Bradbury, Born Aug. 22, 1920. Your best work is going to occur in that intersection or overlap where the subject you are passionate and enthusiastic about is the same
It’s Not Enough to Simply Love What You Do Read More »
“I decided that I would be one of the biggest new names; and I actually had some little fancy business cards printed up to announce it, ‘Count Basie. Beware, the Count is Here.’” – William James “Count” Basie, Born Aug. 21, 1904. When you’ve got the goods… And you’re here to give the goods to
Warn The World of Your Awesomeness – BEWARE! Read More »
“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.” – H. P. Lovecraft, Born Aug. 20, 1890. There’s a cognitive bias all humans have called “the Ambiguity Effect”. Fancy science says: It describes our tendency to avoid choosing options for which missing
How To Create Fear and Use It To Guide People’s Choices Read More »
“Diamonds are nothing more than chunks of coal that stuck to their jobs.” – Malcolm Forbes, Born Aug. 19, 1917. You know what makes diamonds? Start with carbon. That’s you. You’re mostly carbon. Carbon based life forms, they call us. And then you add two ingredients: pressure and time. In the bowels of the earth,
Conquering Challenging Work Is How You Increase Your Awesomeness Read More »
“If there is some art involved, I’d like it to be that it came through the cracks of daily work.” – Martin Mull, Born Aug. 18, 1943. Routine is important. Consistency is important. You want to be elbow deep in work when the muse shows up with inspiration. Because she won’t wait for you to
Be Busy When the Muse Arrives Or Else She Stops Coming By Read More »
“A wide screen just makes a bad film twice as bad.” – Samuel Goldwyn, Born Aug. 17, 1882. Are you getting too caught up in the details of your project? The little things. Tripping over word selection. Alliterative names. Logo design. Etc. If you are even thinking about that stuff before the core
The Emperor Doesn’t Need New Clothes if He Is Buff and Badass Read More »
