Look closely at the most embarrassing details and amplify them.
Saved by steve and
Look closely at the most embarrassing details and amplify them.
"What would it look like if you took X seriously?"
We put so much effort into being perfect. But the irony is that it’s failure that charms, because others so need to hear external evidence of problems with which we are all too lonely: how un-normal our sex lives are; how arduous our careers are proving; how unsatisfactory our family can be; how worried we are pretty much all the time.
Alain De Botton • The School of Life: An Emotional Education
Make your work personal. In doing that, you'll find something that others can connect more deeply with.
This act of “really looking” is deceptive. It requires an almost “unlooking” to see closely, a kind of defocusing. Because: We tend to see in groups, not details. We scan an image or scene for the gist, but miss a richness of particulars.
- Go for the jugular. If something scary comes up, go for it. That’s where the energy is. Otherwise, you’ll spend all your time writing around whatever makes you nervous. It will probably be abstract, bland writing because you’re avoiding the truth.