Read: 2024-12-26
If you need a kickstart in creativity, confidence and excitement to start a project, read this book (again). I fully read it while lying in the Tubble tonight. And now I want to do ALL THE THINGS!
Some good bits and quotes:
Quotes
There is nothing new under the sun. - Ecclesiastes 1:9
Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But, since no one was listening, everything must be said again. - André Gide (French writer)
If you copy from one author, it’s plagiarism. If you copy from many, it’s research. - Wilson Mizner (writer)
There’s only one rule that I know of: you’ve got to be kind. - Kurt Vonnegut
Advice
Your job is to collect good ideas. The more good ideas you collect, the more you can choose from to be influenced by. Chew on one thinker - writer, artist, activist, role model - you really love. Study everything there is to know about that thinker. Then find three people that thinker loved, and find out everything about them.
Write not what you know, but what you like. Write the kind of story you like best - write the story you want to read. The same principle applies to your life and your career. Whenever you’re at a loss for what move to make next, just ask yourself “What would make a better story?“.
Take time to be bored.
Step away from the computer and use your hands/body.
It’s so important to have a hobby. A hobby is something creative that’s just for you. You don’t try to make money or get famous off it, you just do it because it makes you happy. A hobby is something that gives but doesn’t take.
Don’t throw any of yourself away. Don’t worry about the grand scheme or unified vision for your work. Don’t worry about unity - what unifies your work is the fact that you made it. One day, you’ll look back and it will all make sense.
The more open you are about your passions, the closer people will feel to your work. Artists aren’t magicians. There’s no penalty for revealing your secrets.