7 Things That Made Me Stop And Think This Week.
Creative Sparks: #14
“Music is essentially 12 notes between any octaves. It’s the same story told over and over. All that the artist can offer the world is how they see those twelve notes.”
*Sam Elliot — A Star Is Born.*
Each time I think my words aren’t worthy to be heard or my story isn’t worth sharing, think of these words.
How is it millions of songs, hundreds of genres of music and many more musical instruments have come out of these octaves of notes?
1. Don’t Make It So Damned Hard By Chris Brecheen
Getting better at your craft is to practice every day
Chris Brecheen of the fabled site Writing About Writing urges us to expand our definition of writing practice.
It’s not just about plugging away at your main project everyday. Also consider smaller writing moments as practice too.
- Crafting thoughtful posts on social media
- Answering a question on Quora
- Replying emails with flair
- Writing photo captions
Yes, if you’re committed to a creative project, you’re still committed to complete it, but if you’re looking to keep your writing muscles in shape — don’t overlook these opportunities.
In a similar vein, also read this piece by Emily Warna:
2. S.P. Jacob distills the dance of human relationships and showing empathy in this beautiful paragraph:
“Son, do you know the secret to a good handshake?, his father asked him one day.
You always match the intensity, Mark, he had told him with a severe face. Most people think it’s about showing strength, but if they come at you with a limp wrist sand you show off how much time you spend at the gym, you could yank their arm out.”
3. In Praise of Mediocrity, New York Times
“We have forgotten about the importance of doing something solely because we enjoy it”
This story hit home for me.
For example, I enjoy street photography and practice actively. But I am aiming to be the next Magnum collective or get my work published?
Not necessarily.
Yet at times, there’s an insidious voice in my head going “if you’re not striving for excellence, what’s the point of doing it?”
Answer: Because you enjoy it.
And that should be the end of the story.
4. What Makes The Good Place So Good? by The New York Times
A TV show based on philosophy? Yes.
The TV show The Good Place is enthralling. And this article is an excellent breakdown into why a sitcom that references ethical philosophy and frozen yogurt in the same sentences somehow captivated audiences.
If you haven’t watched it, I encourage you to. It is a masterpiece of scriptwriting, storytelling and a premise that makes you wonder about the nature of ethics and life.
Sign me up for that next ethics and philosophy class.
5. The late writer David Foster Wallace on the role of art in dark times
“Look, man, we’d probably most of us agree that these are dark times, and stupid ones, but do we need fiction that does nothing but dramatize how dark and stupid everything is? In dark times, the definition of good art would seem to be art that locates and applies CPR to those elements of what’s human and magical that still live and glow despite the times’ darkness. Really good fiction could have as dark a worldview as it wished, but it’d find a way both to depict this world and to illuminate the possibilities for being alive and human in it.”
6. Introverts and Cats by Eva H.
Articles on introversion are a dime-a-dozen, but this one was smart, funny and thoughtful.
Also, who doesn’t love cat photos?
7. Austin Kleon’s case for why you should read with a pencil.
Marginalia: a moment-by-moment record of what a book actually feels like to the actively reading brain.
“The first step towards becoming a writer is becoming a reader, but the next step is becoming a reader with a pencil. When you underline and circle and jot down your questions and argue in the margins, you’re existing in this interesting middle ground between reader and writer:”
I didn’t know there was an actual term for writing and annotating in a book.
Each week, I compile 7 articles, videos or other thoughts from books and write out my thoughts on them. Want to get them as they’re released? Follow the publication! You can have a look at the previous editions here.
