Writing and Videos

There’s a moment in the song “The Story,” written by Phil Hanseroth and sung by Brandi Carlile, when the beat stops momentarily. Out of the quiet, Carlile suddenly scream-sings the line “All of these lines across my face.”

Coming about two-thirds of the way through, it’s the emotional high point of the song. A stirring jolt that grips the attention in the way that great music can.

In the song, Carlile is singing about how our scars tell our stories. How our imperfections make us who we are:

All of these lines across my face,
Tell you the story of who I am
So many stories of where I’ve been
And how I got to who I am

What’s your number?

Steven King’s number was 30. Writer Robert Pirsig’s was 121. Theodore Geisel’s (better known as Dr. Seuss) was 27, and Madeline L’Engle’s was 26.

These are the number of times these authors’ books were rejected before they were finally published.

James Patterson's first novel, The Thomas Berryman Number was rejected by 31 publishers before it was accepted by the 32nd. The novel went on to win the Edgar Allen Poe Award for best first novel, and Patterson has sold hundreds of millions of books. What if he had stopped after 30 tries?

One of my favorite sketches on the show Portlandia is called “Did You Read It.” In the sketch Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein meet up at a coffee shop and get in a battle to see who has read more widely.

It starts innocently enough: Carrie: ”Hey did you guys read that thing in the New Yorker last month about how golf is an analogy for marriage?” Fred: “I did. I did read that. Did you read the thing in McSweeney’s that was comparing CD tracks and album tracks? Did you read that?” Carrie: “Ya. Did you read…”

The back and forth continues, and pretty soon they reach a fever pitch trying to outdo each other. They become locked in a battle of performative well-readness.

Joshua Waitzkin, author of the beautiful book The Art of Learning, is a man with a singular list of accomplishments.

Waitzkin started playing chess at six years old almost by accident, and was immediately recognized as a prodigy. At seven he was the top ranked player at his age in the country. He went on to win numerous championships, and became a celebrity after becoming the subject of the feature film, Searching for Bobby Fischer.

In a rare twist, Waitzkin then trained professionally in martial arts in his twenties, becoming the world champion in Tai Chi push hands—a rare accomplishment for an American. He followed this by becoming a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and opening a gym in New York City with the great Marcelo Garcia.

The late Kobe Bryant exerts a massive influence on young basketball players today through video footage of his talks and interviews.

Bryant’s focus on mental toughness, continuous improvement, and a relentless work ethic has inspired countless young athletes to dedicate themselves to practice and preparation.

But when asked, Bryant talked openly about how he modeled his own game on the great players who came before him, like Michael Jordan.

Serena Williams is a living legend to countless professional tennis players today. But Williams drew inspiration from her predecessors Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova.

Most people in the film industry who have heard of Maui-born film director Destin Yori Daniel Cretton want to find a way to work with him. Most who’ve worked with Cretton want to work with him again. Why? It’s of course because of his immense talent and craft at filmmaking.

It’s also because of how he treats people.

When you are in the middle of a creative project, pay attention to what sort of rest and recreation is good for helping you finish a piece of writing, a painting, a music track, a design.

Maybe it’s sitting on a park bench, walking on a gravel road with your dog, or hiking a ridge. Maybe it’s driving to a nearby city to sit in a cafe for an afternoon and taking the long way, or biking on the back roads. It could be just doing the dishes, or knitting. Maybe it’s mowing the lawn or tending your garden.

Sometimes you just need to go where the action is. To put yourself “in the vicinity” of a hot artistic scene.

Bob Dylan moved to Greenwich Village in the early 1960s to be near the folk revival, and to seek out his hero Woody Guthrie.

Madonna moved to New York City in the late seventies and performed in clubs, eventually becoming a worldwide pop sensation.

Jackson Pollack, Patti Smith, Andy Warhol—not one of these artists was born in New York City. Each made the decision to move there.

Between 1610 and 1612, sunspots were independently discovered by at least four different astronomers in England, Frisia, Italy, and Germany. None knew of the others’ research.

Oxygen was discovered in 1773 by Carl Wilhelm Scheele. One year later, and without knowledge of Scheele’s discovery, Joseph Priestley also discovered oxygen.

As a creator, you can win the creator’s daily struggle and increase your creative output by building a Creative Deep Work Routine.

What is a Creative Deep Work Routine?

The concept of Deep Work comes from Cal Newport, in his book Deep Work. Newport defines deep work as:

“Professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capacities to their limit. These efforts create new value, improve your skill, and are hard to replicate.”