Main Points • Take Off Your Pants is a wonderful book about the benefits/how-to of outlining over pantsing (discovery writing). It’s definitely worth the read. • Outlining has the potential to help write faster and better over pansting. • Start with a character who has a flaw. That flaw is at the heart of the story. • The plot is taking the character from emotional point A to emotional point B, facing the flaw along the way. • Every major…
Main Points • “Art is never finished, only abandoned.” • Evolution isn’t about survival of the fittest. It’s about survival of the good-enough. • Good-enough means finding the right bar to leap over depending on your goals: it’ll vary for hobby writing, making a living writing, self-publishing, traditional publishing, etc. • Most artists’ first work isn’t as good as their later work. Being good-enough means making progress over time. Introduction When is a book done? When is it finished? When…
Main Points • The shotgun approach is querying many agents/publishers at the same time, trying to get out as many queries at once. It’s impersonal, and less likely to get hits. • The guided missile approach is querying specific agents/publishers, using customized/personalized queries that show you’ve researched them. It requires much more time, but should get more hits and may be the best approach overall. Introduction Querying can be a huge pain. It’s annoying, difficult, and there’s so much to…
Main Points • Seek out criticism to build toughness and enable desensitizing. • Shift perspectives: become your own manager when taking criticism (using tokens can help). • Multi-track: do several submissions at once, and produce so much content you don’t feel so personal about each one. • Learn what criticism is helpful. Use large groups of people to review your work to see they agree on, on average. Introduction Writing, or any other artistic endeavor, is difficult. It can be…
Main Points • Audiobooks are great for consuming information but don’t teach as much as actual reading. • Reading books gives better insight into the actual writing process. Introduction I have a confession to make. I rarely read anymore. I know that’s ironic with me wanting to be an author and everything. I just find it hard to lie there doing nothing but focus on words. Reading pretty much requires 100% attention. You might get away with listening to music,…
Main Points • Fixed mindsets believe talent is innate and cannot be created, view challenges as insurmountable, make excuses, and run away from problems. • Growth mindsets believe talent can be grown and improve, view problems as challenges to be aid growth, dive into issues, and face problems head on. • Growth mindsets can replace fixed mindsets over time. • Watch TED talks. Introduction I read/listen to a lot of inspirational books, podcasts, and articles. I’d recommend that for everyone,…