Tag: advice

Book Passage of the Week (11/20/2016) – from The 50th Law

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From The 50th Law, by Robert Greene and 50 Cent:

You do not wait for things to get better—you seize this chance to prove yourself. Mentally framing a negative event as a blessing in disguise makes it easier for you to move forward. It is a kind of mental alchemy, transforming shit into sugar.

 

No matter how much money or resources you have accumulated, someone will try to take them from you, or unexpected changes in the world will push you backward. These are not adverse circumstances but merely life as it is.

 

What you must do instead is accept the fact that all events occur for a reason, and that it is within your capacity to see this reason as positive. Marcus Aurelius compared this to a fire that consumes everything in its path—all circumstances become consumed in your mental heat and converted into opportunities. A man or woman who believes this cannot be hurt by anything or anyone.

If you buy the book (and I recommend it, because it’s great), then go for the paperback. Not only is it easier to make notes, but did you see the Kindle price? $14.99? Do they secretly want people NOT to buy the ebook?

Avoid Writer’s Forums

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Take it from someone who’s been there: avoid writer’s forums.

Unless you know exactly who you are as a writer. In that case, you still need to exercise due diligence when taking critiques from people. Most people, and again I speak from experience, have no idea what the hell they’re talking about. They either fill you up with cliched writing “rules” or they change your style to fit theirs, neither of which is going to help you.

There’s a third type too. The oh-so-clever type. From http://www.vampwriter.com/critique.htm:

Look over my website or look me up on Wiki. I have the chops.

Great big choppity-chops.

Twenty-five years of chops, editing New York Times bestselling writers.

Those are big damn chops.

Note how vague that is: New York Times bestselling writers. That could mean just about anything, from top to the bottom of the list. A good way to mislead new writers into thinking you’re an expert, in lieu of saying anything with substance.

Now, I didn’t use her service myself, and in her defense, the people who have used it swear by it. But…I have to say, the way you present yourself on this page — lines in lieu of paragraphs, pseudo-snark, your overall condescending attitude — makes me not want to take your advice “Vamp Writer”, even if it were offered freely.

But what does it matter? There are plenty of writers out there desperate enough to not only accept your horribly condescending attitude but warp their voices to fit what’s deemed acceptable by you and a group of relative strangers on an internet forum.

My advice? Trust in your own voice, and if you do take critiques, please keep the salt handy.

Easier

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You know, Hitler wanted to be an artist. At eighteen he took his inheritance, seven hundred kronen, and moved to Vienna to live and study. He applied to the Academy of Fine Arts and later to the School of Architecture. Ever see one of his paintings? Neither have I. Resistance beat him. Call it overstatement but I’ll say it anyway: it was easier for Hitler to start World War II than it was for him to face a blank square of canvas.

The War of Art is a great book, damn near invaluable, not only for artists (of all stripes), but really, anyone who wants to do something with their lives other than eat, work and reproduce, work some more and die.

Think like this: what’s easier to do? Is it easier to…start an argument on Facebook than work on your query letter? Get caught up on others’ silly problems than do your revisions? I’m paraphrasing what Steven Pressfield says in the book, so I’ll end this little commercial with a link: The War of Art

He writes a blog series, Writing Wednesdays. It’s good stuff, much more worthwhile than say, sharing a silly Buzzfeed/Thought Catalog list or the daily outrage the online tabloids manufacture to drive pageviews.