Time to Write

Making yourself memorable

The New York Times (via the Star News service) reports that producer Brain Grazer had an unusual way of ensuring that he would be remembered after going to someone's home:

"...he will often leave behind a small photo of himself in an inexpensive heart-shaped frame after attending a dinner or party, hiding it among his host’s family photographs.

Over the years, he has left these photos at the homes of movie executives, socialites and even one in Fidel Castro's military compound. “When I first started doing it, some people got really angry,” Mr. Grazer recalled. “That made me continue doing it. I get to see how long it takes for them to find it and whether they think it’s funny. It’s interesting to see what they’ll do with it.”

Personally, I would be amused to find this on my mantelpiece, but obviously you don't want to make people angry, especially if you want to do business with them. What could you leave behind after a pitching session or other business meeting that would be memorable but not annoy people?

(If you want to be remembered for being super creative and productive, my free monthly Brainstorm e-bulletin will help! Sign up by sending an email request now to [email protected])

Do you dare to write about normal life? (John Updike said...)

The late John Updike was quoted in Spirit (Southwest Airlines' magazine):

"I've always wanted to honour normal life, full as it is of magic and surprises, 

in literature.I grew up in a small Pennsylvania town, living with one set of parents and one set of grandparents. One of my first impressions of life was, "This is life. Life as it is lived by most people is worthy of artistic attention."

Words of comfort, perhaps, if you had a happy childhood and are writing things that don't feature a lot of explosions or serial murders.

(for a monthly dose of inspiration and tips and techniques on how to be more creative and productive, sign up now for my Brainstorm e-bulletin. Just send an email request to [email protected])

A new format? The video book.

Audio books have been around quite a while, but as mentioned in the Washingtonpostc.om, now HarperCollins has announced the video book. They expect to produce half a dozen in house, and make them available for download on iPods and iPhones, with authors getting a twenty-five percent royalty. The first title is “What Would Google Do?” written by Jeff Jarvis.

The video will be 23 minutes long and will show Jarvis talking about key points in the book. The format is simple: just him shot by a single camera, against a white background. It will sell for $9.99—frankly, it doesn’t sound like it adds much value beyond an audio book, but it will be interesting to see how it works out.

If you want to write a book, check out my book, "Your Writing Coach," which takes you all the way from idea through to publication. You can get it on Amazon or other online and offline book stores.

The essence of creativity (Graham Nash)

The Huffington Post featured a brief interview with songwriter and singer Graham Nash (of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young). The first question was, “After 50 years of making music, what’s the same and what’s different?” I think his answer encapsulates the essence of being creative, whatever your outlet:

“What's the same is that I'm still writing from my heart, and I'm still my best critic. I don't waste time with a bad song. What's different is that I realize that I have a path. All of these songs are part of a very distinct path I'm on. I also use my energy better now. I remember practicing my autograph when I was 13 years old. To think back on that time and realize how far I've traveled... I've been so lucky, I just want to keep creating.”

For tips and techniques on how to be more creative, subscribe to my free monthly Brainstorm e-bulletin. Just send an email request now to [email protected].

What will you regret?

Are you going for your dreams? If not...you may regret it. John Izzo has written a book called "The Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die" (great title, isn't it?). He conducted interviews with 250 people aged between 59 and 106 to ask them about what is, or was, important in their lives. Here are a few key points:

* Most people don't regret their failures--they regret they didn't risk more.

* Most found that failing at something wasn't nearly as terrible as they thought it would be. 

* Many regretted listening too much to what other people advised or felt was the right thing to do. They wished they'd been more true to themselves.

* There's no ideal formula for life balance. Some regretted they'd focused so much on their careers, but others didn't. Don't pay any attention to that magazine quiz about whether your life is balanced or not, just listen to your heart. 

What will you do today that you might regret not doing?

(If you need some help focusing on your own dreams and how to achieve them see my newest book, "Focus: the power of marketing thinking" (Pearson publishing). It is out in the UK and will come out in the US in the summer. In the meantime, you could order it from www.amazon.co.uk)

Can you be shy and innovative?

There is a brief interview on the Harvard Business Review site with Stephen C. Lundin, whose new book is "CATS: the nine lives of innovation." He talks about how it's not only the people who are zany and hyper who are creative:

"...it is easy to get the impression that an introverted, comfort-seeking, and conservative person doesn't have a contribution to make. The truth is far different. We all have the capacity to innovate. It comes free with our membership in the human race. We bring an advantage no one else has with our uniqueness. We have a capacity to innovate, and we need to develop that capacity into a capability so we can contribute to the innovation of our business and of our life."

OK, so what do we do?

"What I call "understanding normal" -- that is, knowing why we are the way we are -- is a key first step. But going beyond that to harness the power of provocation in innovation is where the fun really starts. We can provoke ourselves to be more innovative (and less "normal") through scenarios, objects, observations and discussion with others. We can escape our own norms just by learning to better use our imagination. Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it's the key to innovation."

And he makes one more key point:

"Finally, putting failure in its proper place of contribution to innovation is critical. Fail early and fail often!"

For tips and techniques on how to be more creative and productive (whether or not you are introverted and comfort-seeking...which, come to think of it, is pretty much how I am...sign up for my free monthly Brainstorm e-bulletin. Just send an email request to [email protected].

What is it like to be a ....?

If you need to get an idea of what people in particular jobs actually do (e.g., for minor characters in your novel or screenplay), one useful resource is the guardian jobs site (www.guardianjobs.co.uk -- go to videos, and then “What it’s like to work as…”). The videos are under five minutes long, on average, so you won’t get in-depth information but it might be enough to get you started in your research. Presumably they will keep adding material over time (they are aggregating it rather than producing it). Here is a fun one--a recruiting dvd for the Army School of Bagpipe Music. If you can't see the video below, the link is 

www.jobs.guardian.co.uk/videos/200790/421472/1/

The importance of openings (no, no, I mean in writing)

With everybody screaming for attention in an era of shrinking attention spans, the opening of your script, short story or novel becomes ever more important. Top novelist Barbara Taylor Bradford emphasized this in a recent interview. She said:

 “An opening chapter is crucial in every respect—especially for a first-time author…Literary agents and publishers are overwhelmed with piles of manuscripts to go through…Your book may have an eye-catching cover design. But if the reader browses your opening chapter and isn’t hooked, they aren’t going to shell out money for this work, no matter how outstanding the middle and end may be.”

 Of course titles are equally important—when browsing at a bookshop or even on Amazon, the reader gives each title a split-second of attention. 

This extends beyond books into anything for which you want to create curiosity. A new exhibition of art by youngish artists is called “Younger than Jesus” (they have to be under 33). Does it really make sense? Not especially. But does it grab your attention more than if it were called “Youngish Artists”? Definitely.

Need inspiration and tips on how to be more creative and productive? Sign up now for my free monthly Brainstorm e-bulletin--just send an email request to [email protected].

What's the secret of self-publishing success?

One of the more amazing self-publishing success stories is “The Shack,” written by Brad Cummings. Lisa Canning told the story on the “Entrepreneur The Arts” blog. Here are a few of the key facts and strategies:

 “‘The Shack’ sold more than four million copies-one of the biggest hits of the year. But what many don’t know is that the publisher sold about a million copies of the best seller out of his garage in California. After submitting the manuscript to 20 different major publishers, both mainstream and Christian, and getting 20 rejection letters, Brad Cummings, along with his partner Wayne Jacobsen, who has had several works published by mainstream publishers, decided to print the book themselves.

 Without any advertising, very limited marketing, but with a whole lot of faith, Cummings and Jacobsen went to a small printer nearby, printed 10,000 copies and were in business, launching Windblown Media. Their marketing? A podcast, TheGodJourney.com, which they hosted weekly and talked about God and things that mattered to them. About three years ago, they started talking about this book they were working on and their audience, about 8,000 strong, showed a great interest in the project. Cummings and Jacobsen had 1,000 pre-orders before they even finished the book and they sold out the 10,000 first print-run in less than three months. “

 They didn’t spend money on marketing, it was all word of mouth. The article concludes: “The Shack’s message is definitely inspiring, but the story of its success should also be encouraging to anyone who has a great story to tell and cannot get a mainstream publisher to publish it. Have faith. And do it yourself!”

 I would add that this kind of effort has the greatest chance of success when it relates in some way to something that people feel very strongly about (like religion) and when it’s positive—the kind of thing people want to share. 

For a free monthly dose of inspiration and tips and techniques for being more creative and productive, sign up for my free monthly Brainstorm e-bulletin--just send an email request now to [email protected] .

New hope for the multi-talented

Ben Hourahine, futures editor of ad agency Leo Burnett, recently made “nine predictions for the radical new world.” Here’s one more of of his observations:

 “Creativity now has so many media canvases it is increasingly not bound to any traditional format. Damien Hirst already has painting, poetry, sculpture, interior design, taxidermy and jewellery-making in his portfolio. While his list of formats is endless, Hirst’s output exists as one body of work.”

 I’m not a fan of Damien Hirst in any of those categories, but it’s interesting that maybe the forces that used to work against the idea of participating creatively in many arenas rather than one might be weakened by the ability to lead people who know you in one context to your other activities. 

For inspiration and tips on creativity and productivity, sign up for my free monthly Brainstorm e-bulletin--just send an email request now to [email protected].

Designing the future

It's another "feed your head" post today, a video of David Kelley of IDEO giving a 17-minute talk with fascinating video examples of some of the coolest stuff his company has been working on. His theme is that design is becoming more people-oriented. You'll see some innovative ideas for Prada, the ultimate cubicle that even Dilbert would love, a new device called Spyfish (I want one, and I don't even have a boat), and hear about how innovation is transforming lives in Kenya. (If you don't see the video below, the link is http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/122. ) Aside from just marveling at these things, it might prompt you to think about how you could re-design parts of your environment to support your creativity better.

Activity between your ears (Ken Nordine and word jazz)

In the previous post, I mentioned Ken Nordine’s Word Jazz. I was happy to find that he’s still around (he’s 89 on April 13, 2009) and there’s a site on which you can listen to some excerpts of his work via a podcast (it’s at www.wordjazz.com). Some of the files seem to be missing and I don’t think the site is active, but here’s one to listen to now if you want to create some jazzy activity between your ears:

www.tuxjunction.net/media/mybaby.mp3

Art to listen to

Audio collage is an art form you don’t hear about much these days, other than in the context of sampling and re-mixes. It was something I was exposed to when I was a kid (anybody else remember Ken Nordine’s “Word Jazz?”) One artist who works in it these days is Jon Nelson, using the name “Escape Mechanism.”

You can read an interview with him here (from the Twin Cities Decider—you’ll also be able to listen to two of his musical tracks there. He also has a podcast that you can get via the iTunes store (for free)—it’s called Some Assembly Required and it features the work of other artists as well. It’s pretty weird, but if you want to get your ears around something different, go have a listen.

Bond, Batman, and the future of writing

Ben Hourahine, Futures Editor at ad agency Leo Burnett, made nine predictions for the radical new world at imedia connection. Several of them have implications for the writing world, but especially this one: “New realism - Economic conditions will profoundly affect our cultural context moving forward. The speculative and emotive era, which went hand in hand with rising affluence, is being replaced by a much more grounded social and creative phase. The Wire has burst the bubblegum aesthetic on TV and in Hollywood, deeper human narratives have already recast Batman and Bond as more realistic cultural icons. As our creative content becomes more tangible and honest in reflection, we will be forced to be more realistic about everything over the coming years. This applies both to our economic confidence and our cultural outlook. The human story will be one of value reflection and reassessment, as both our priorities and purchases are examined in light of what is truly meaningful to us. As the language of hopes and dreams is replaced by one of pragmatism and prudence, new value systems will emerge. We will be more open to expressions that are confident, secure, uplifting, connected, honest and progressive.”

 Economic turmoil can either bring people together or drive them further apart. I hope he’s right about the direction in which we will go and the impact it’ll have on what people want to read, see and experience.

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