You don’t get to be a good screenwriter unless you do 20, 30 drafts: fact. I know this because I have written many drafts and given them to Richard Curtis, only for him to gently take me for a cup of tea and say: “Now, Lenworth, let’s have a look at exactly how crap this is.”
If you’re going to invent the car, then you’ve got to invent the traffic jam.
Do you accept the love people have for you? Do you celebrate your successes and see yourself in your divinity? Do you accept all the gifts the universe wishes to provide for you? Because you see, Dear Ones, you are always in charge and the universe has much it wishes to offer you, but you must be willing to receive. Are you still stuck in worthiness issues that keep you small and uncomfortable? Open your heart, open your life expression to all the gifts that are your birthright! Remember, you must accept the invitation to become a dance partner with the universe. ~Archangel Gabriel
On hitting 50 (blog posts, that is)
Inspired by Shannon's example, I decided to forge ahead and write M-F blog posts for 10 weeks. And rather remarkably, to me, I hit that goal without missing a day or calling for a do-over. Last Friday I posted my 50th entry.
Remembering Harvey Pekar on his birthday
Hat tip to Southern Folklife Collection’s Facebook feed
See also these Orange Crate Art posts:
(originally posted 2012-10-08, updated for micro.blog)
Ten years ago, people kept their mobile phone in their pockets. Now, they hold them permanently in their hand like a small angry animal, gazing crossly into our faces, in apparent need of constant placation.
Remembering to remember (practice)
The previous post talked about prospective memory (PM) research. Today's post is about learning to work with your prospective memory so you don't forget to remember what you want to do. (God, do we writers love playing with phrases like "don't forget to remember." Annoying.)
PM requires you to plan ahead so that the retrieval cue will be spontaneously triggered. If you don't plan ahead, then your brain must spend precious cycles monitoring the environment for the retrieval cue. The human cognitive system can't keep up a prolonged task like that, so you have to keep a few things in mind (heh -- this stuff just writes itself) when establishing the PM task.
The following tips are explained in more detail below, but be prepared: you're going to hear stuff you've heard a zillion times before. Also annoying, I'm sure. If there's a theme tying these separate tips together, it's also the oldest theme in the book: mindfulness.
- Remove the delay in delayed intentions: do it or lose it
- Use good external cues
- Anticipate the triggering cues: use implementation intentions
- Beware of busy and demanding conditions
- Address the special problems of habitual PM tasks
What role will our hands play in the future? Will we still write by hand?
Thomas Cooper Gotch (English, 1854–1931), The Lantern Parade, c. 1918. Oil on canvas, 61 x 76.2 cm. Private collection.