Tag / There Are No Rules

by Michael

Pick Reading Carefully

I read a piece over at No Rules, a favorite spot of mine by the insightful and productive writer, Jane Friedman.  She hosted Todd Henry who wrote about how we might go about choosing our inputs, choosing what we read.

While our minds are unparalleled in their capacity to experience and assimilate information, they also have a limited bandwidth for doing so. As a matter of survival, they tend to weed out information that is deemed irrelevant to our immediate needs.

However, our minds are also capable of taking random bits of input and forging brilliant connections that are not apparent on the surface. This is essentially how the creative process works—it’s the connection of multiple preexisting patterns into new solutions.

If you’re interested in reading the full piece, click here.  Any insights on how you go about choosing reading or how to make connections across diverse readings?

by Michael

Five Questions For Writers

Jane Friedman is a gift for writers.  Her blog, There Are No Rules (which you can visit by clicking here) is full of resources, tips, summaries, and posts about writing, editing, publishing, marketing, and promotions.

In a recent post at Writer Unboxed, Jane offers writers five questions to ask when we wonder whether we have talent.  There are different questions, better questions, according to Jane.  Here is an excerpt with question 4:

4. What do you do after you fail?

Everyone fails. That’s not the important part. What’s important is what you do next. Are you learning? Are you growing? Is your experience making your heart bigger? Or is it shrinking you down, making you small? Beware of cynicism and bitterness, because if these emotions stick around too long, they will poison your efforts.

If you’re a writer or you know someone who is, pass these thoughts on.  If you’re interested to read more, see the full post here.