The Weird Strategy Dr. Seuss Used to Create His Greatest Work

In 1954, Pulitzer Prize-winning author John Hersey investigated a lag measure that parents around the country were increasingly worried about. “Parents,” Hersey writes, “[are] in dismay that their children can not read.” For 2 years, Hersey read children’s books, met with experts, and attended schools to observe how reading was taught. “It became o... See more

Create Something Small

"The secret of creative work is to make a lot and publish a little.

Don't underestimate the power of giving yourself permission to create junk. Most of what you create will be mediocre or bad.

But that's okay. You only have to show people the good stuff. Make 100 things, discard 90, and share the 10 best. Create, create, create. Edit, edit, edit

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I once saw an interview with a prolific author who had turned out hundreds of books over the course of his career—and could write a single one in a matter of days. His secret? He had developed a computerized template for outlining his plot, and simply changed the premise, locations, characters, and other details for each new story. In essence, he h

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“Every morning I would start with 120 paper clips in one jar and I would keep dialing the phone until I had moved them all to the second jar,” he told me.

Let's put it this way: if you are a novelist, I think you start out with a 20 word idea, and you work at it and you wind up with a 200,000 word novel. We, picture-book people, or at least I, start out with 200,000 words and I reduce it to 20

Eric Carle