Julia Pawelec

David Foster Wallace had a similar piece of advice for writers: “ the reader cannot read your mind .” You don’t get to live in the margins and clarify confusion or expand on your implicit intentions.

“Stories are our primary tools of learning and teaching, the repositories of our lore and legends. They bring order into our confusing world. Think about how many times a day you use stories to pass along data, insights, memories or common-sense advice.”

– Edward Miller, founder of Edward Elementary, illustrator and product designer

Urban photographers should spend a day in the countryside, and landscape photographers should explore city centres. The contrast alone will sharpen your eye.

The more specific we are, the more visible we become. This is the literal definition of attractive - you’re attracting. You’re sending out a signal strong enough for the right people to notice and move toward.

I don’t often carry my notebook, so if I feel the itch creeping up my sweater, I would write on a napkin, a receipt, a newspaper. Even a book. Sometimes deciphering a poem is journaling. Sometimes writing two lines is enough. Sometimes you need half a book to speak.

To research is to follow a scent. Sometimes you know what you’re looking for. Sometimes you don’t. Sometimes it starts with a single word you can’t shake, a quote you read in passing, or a flicker of an idea that has no shape yet, just feeling.