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Goal-setting for Writers

To get ahead in life, you’ve got to set goals. Everybody says so. Unfortunately, not all goals are created equal. Setting the wrong ones can lead to time wasted, or it can derail our efforts altogether, and end in frustration and regret. Clearly, a goal of “I’m going to be a famous writer” isn’t very helpful. “I want to be a better writer” is only slightly more useful. Better how? And anyway, how can we tell if we’ve hit the mark? So the self-help world gave us SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-based) goals. Much better. Now we’ll actually Read More …

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The Battle of the Binge

Unfortunately this time of year is hell on my productivity. Some of my favorite authors have new books out. It all started with Robert Galbraith’s “Troubled Blood“. I tore through almost a thousand pages in three days. And now there’s Joe Abercrombie’s “The Trouble with Peace“, and several more books sitting on my teetering to-read pile, clamoring for attention. I seem to be a person who doesn’t do things by half measures. When I read, I binge-read. When I get hooked on a TV series, which fortunately happens only about once every five years or so, I binge-watch (I’m looking Read More …

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Attention!

I’m currently reading the excellent “How to Do Nothing – Resisting the Attention Economy” by Jenny Odell. It’s a dense, academic read at times, and I’ve found myself looking up words; something that I don’t do too often. That may be less of a testament to my prodigious vocabulary than to the possibility that I haven’t been challenging myself in my reading enough. In her book, Odell rejects the idea that the attention economy (e.g. social media, TV, and their sine qua non – the advertising industry) is a given. Something we cannot escape and are powerless to confront. That Read More …

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Survivorship Bias

Another author’s talk. Another conference panel. Another interview. Again and again, we’re treated to stories of success. We hear about the query letter that landed an author an agent. About the chance encounter that led to a guest post that went viral and launched a career. About the debut novel that sold at auction. For a high six-figure advance, of course. And, of course, every success story needs its share of adversity overcome. The bigger the success, the bigger usually the adversity. The message is clear: Everybody can succeed if only they apply themselves. If you’re not succeeding, you’re not Read More …

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Don’t Take on the Stress of Others

“Don’t take on the stress of others” is advice (from Mark Sisson) that recently popped up in my inbox. I don’t take it to mean that we’re supposed to be as cold as a dead fish in the face of other people’s distress. If we can in any way help, we should do so, if our help is welcome. Sometimes it isn’t — and that’s all right. All we can do is to be gracious about offering our help as well as accepting a rejection. Empathy and Outrage Empathy is a precursor to any genuine wish to help that’s driven Read More …