A very, very cool new site. What writer doesn’t love great typography?
Stories are equipment for living.
Where Good Ideas Come From
I love this video. Great animation and great narrative on the cultivation and emergence of ideas. Working in an idea business, I found the thinking to be compelling and shed light on a few areas that were dark to my thinking.
Everyone Loves A Great Story
Robert McKee is one of the great teachers of storytelling and script writing. He’s been connected to some of the greatest films in modern movie making. I absolutely adore this book and made it one of my recommendations in my post The 5 Best Copywriting Books: An Unconventional Guide I wrote for Freelance Switch.
Here is McKee’s take on what Story is and is not.
- Story is about eternal, universal forms, not formulas.
- Story is about Archetypes, not stereotypes.
- Story is about thoroughness, not shortcuts.
- Story is about realities, not the mysteries of writing.
- Story is about mastering the art, not second-guessing the marketplace.
- Story is about respect, not disdain, for the audience.
- Story is about originality, not duplication.
Great advice. I appreciate his staying true to classic story forms—the archetypal and universal. His talk of universal Forms is clearly a nod to the Platonic idea of Forms. These timeless Ideas lay the groundwork for what we perceive as reality and are the unconscious reference system that makes it possible for us to perceive beauty, pain, love, etc.
Art is not a pastime but a priesthood.
Jean Cocteau, French poet, novelist, artist and visionary
NaNoWriMo 2010
National Novel Writing Month is upon us yet again.
Which means we all have another chance to write our big novel. Starting November 1st, participants have the collective Karma of thousands of novelists and aspiring novelists who all trudge away at the keyboard in pursuit of the 50,000 word mark.
Yes, that’s 50,000 words in 30 days.
Who is in?
Who says my poems are poems? My poems are not poems. When you know that my poems are not poems, Then we can speak of poetry.
- Ryōkan
Great Unconventional Books On Copywriting
Check out a post I wrote about great unconventional copywriting books over at Freelance Switch.
Here is my list:
- A Poetry Handbook by Mary Oliver
- ZAG by Marty Neumeier
- Story by Robert McKee
- A Lie That Tells The Truth by John Dufresne
- A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink
What are yours?
Listen: Beautiful podcast about Zen & Art featuring John Daido Loori, Roshi.
John Daido Loori was the Abbot at Zen Mountain Monastery and a renowned photographer. His take on creativity is powerful and inspiring.
A New Post on the Merits of Having Your Very Own Manifesto
Very fantastic envato productivity site workawesome.com just published a new post I wrote on why everyone needs a manifesto. Give it a read and then write yourself one.