Writing
Writing isn’t recording your thoughts; it’s thinking on the page.
from 101 Things I Learned® in Law School by Vibeke Norgaard Martin
Lael Johnson added 1mo ago
“The most powerful person in the world is the storyteller. The storyteller sets the vision, values and agenda of an entire generation that is to come.” - Steve Jobs
Lael Johnson added 2mo ago
“Deliberate practice” is a step above “purposeful practice.” Purposeful practice is about picking one thing to work on based on your own perceived weakness. Deliberate practice is about knowing the full map of a craft, pursuing all ends at once, and following the guidance of an expert.
I’ve been recommended to check out the book Peak, on athletic pe
... See moreLael Johnson added 1mo ago
If you want to start a writing habit, don’t start with essays. Write paragraphs. Shaping and editing essays from a cold start is quite hard. Instead, practice riffing paragraphs over a huge range of ideas. Publish them all somewhere, but don’t blast them.
Lael Johnson added 1mo ago
Grace Lin: She asks, Where do you get your ideas?
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Mo Willems: Well, Leah, that's a very good question and I'm afraid you may not like the answer because ideas are not things you get. People tend to think that ideas are things like diamonds. And then you go out and you get them and you grab them and you bring them back. But that's not what ideas are.from Episode 9: Where do you get your ideas? With Mo Willems — Kids Ask Authors by Grace Lin
Lael Johnson added 1mo ago
- There are a TON of skills you need to get better at to write a good book.
Structure, story-telling, dialogue, description, scene, suspense, explanation, character-building, word choice, energy flow.
If you try to get better at everything at once, you’ll get overwhelmed and not make much progress.
Instead, pick one or two things and focus all of you... See morefrom On Writing Better: 43 Things I Learned from My Insane 2 Years of Study
Lael Johnson added 2mo ago
- Your first audience is always yourself. You write because it’s a good idea, because you’ve wanted to forever, because memory becomes more real when you are able to capture even the smallest piece of a story. You write because maybe there will be a reader or two. Maybe not. You write not to use your piece to get you anywhere, but because you’ve live... See more
from What Good Are Our Memories If We Never Share Them? by Oldster Magazine
Lael Johnson added 1mo ago
A thesaurus is a word treasury.
Lael Johnson added 19d ago
“The advice I like to give anybody who’ll listen to me, is not to wait around for inspiration. Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up and get to work. If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lightning to strike you in the brain, you are not going to do an awful lot of work.
All the best ideas come out of the process
... See moreLael Johnson added 1mo ago