See ya later!

Well Said Wednesday is taking a snow day.  See you next week!

“That embracing of messiness and understanding its contribution to the creative process is something that writers and creative types, artists, whatever have got to cultivate, have to learn to be comfortable with. Because it goes against a lot of our … instincts and training as … educated people.” — Malcolm Gladwell, author of Blink, Tipping Point and other work.

Well said, Malcolm.

I couldn’t resist talking about messiness and chaos while we here in Chicago are in the middle of a nasty winter blizzard. I only need to look out my front window to see a whole lot of messiness and chaos.

But I do resist the messiness of creation, even as I long for creation. It’s quite the conundrum. I want my words to all flow out perfect from the get-go and move gracefully from page to page of beautiful output. Yeah, right.

So I have to force myself to stay in the chaos and confusion to create something worth creating, and reading. It’s not just you. It’s all of us creative types.  Although I suspect Malcolm may not suffer as much as the rest of us.

Take a listen to Malcolm’s quote and the entire interview it came from on the Big Think website.

Photo © Maya Kruchancova via PhotoXpress.

“You don’t rewrite what I write!” — Warren Beatty as journalist and activist Jack Reed in the 1981 movie Reds.

Well said, Warren (channeling Jack.)

Maybe I’ve been inspired by all the Oscar talk, but I watched Warren Beatty’s epic Reds again over the weekend, lapping up the scenery, the grand sweep of the film and the depiction of the writing lives of Jack Reed, Louise Bryant and Eugene O’Neill. (The movie got multiple nominations, including Beatty’s win for Best Director.) Those are ancillary to the main points, of  course. Jack and Louise were known for much more than their output on the page. He was a communist activist and eyewitness to the Bolshevik Revolution; she was considered an early feminist. But hey, I’m a writer. That’s where I tend to focus.

Jack Reed had an undying passion for his work and his words and there are several scenes where he is shown chewing out those who would have the audacity to edit him. Sometimes rightly (with explosive results, see clip). Sometimes out of stubbornness. But always from a place of utter belief in and passion about the story he needed to tell.

In contrast, Diane Keaton’s character Louise Bryant spends the beginning of the film claiming she writes, and is roundly dismissed by every audience, because her answer (and probably her work) lacks energy and she can’t describe it. Don’t let that happen to you.

If you’re not passionate about a project, why do it? And if you are, but can’t express it, consider polishing your description and delivery at my upcoming workshop Rock Your Elevator Pitch.

The image and several links above link to my Amazon Associates account.
If you buy something from then, I’ll make a few cents.

“I drive for hours on the freeway. I’m not a germaphobe, but I take six showers a day to get a burst of energy. Especially if things are not going well, I get in the shower and get wet, and get into different clothes and try again. The shower and the car are the two big thinking places for me.” – Aaron Sorkin, writer of The Social Network, creator of The West Wing and other films and television shows.

Well said, Aaron.  A little curious, yes, but well said.

This excerpt was taken from an interview in W magazine, and he was talking about the importance of first scenes, particularly his process for creating the first scene in The Social Network, for which he won the Golden Globe for best original screenplay on Sunday.

First scenes are crucial. If you’re a business writer, you probably call them opening paragraphs, but that doesn’t change their importance. They are the entryway to your writing and deserve the all time and attention you can give them.

But here’s the thing.  You don’t have to write them first. In fact, you shouldn’t write them first. Do the best opening you can, and keep writing. Then go back to the opening and see if it has the power and grab it needs, and if it accurately sets up everything that follows. If it doesn’t, you have two options:

1. Rewrite the opening.
2. Read a couple of paragraphs in and see if your opening is actually lurking down there.  That is a lesson I learned way back in  college from the late Dr. Paul Snider and I still use it practically every day. He’d routinely lop off the opening paragraphs of our news stories, draw an arrow to the middle and tell us “This is where your story starts.”

Driving or showering to garner good ideas at this point is entirely up to you.

By the way, if you’re interested in screenwriting, you can download the screenplay of The Social Network from the movie’s site. For free. Thanks, Aaron.

Highway photo  © Olaru Radian-Alexandru / PhotoXpress
Shower head photo © fotografiche.eu / PhotoXpress

“No artist needs a fair weather friend, an employee or customer or partner who waits to do the calculus before deciding if they’re going to be there for them.” — Seth Godin in his blog post “I’ve Got Your Back.”

Well said, Seth.

Writers (and other creatives) need to know and feel who’s got their backs and who is supporting them right from the get go, not just when the project is a success. I loved the post on Seth Godin’s blog yesterday so much that it is today’s Well Said Wednesday quote. Read the whole thing here.  It is only a few sentences long and worth the click.

It’s my business to have the backs of writers who are working on their nonfiction projects and entrepreneurs who have a story to tell.  But it’s also my responsibility to have the backs of writers who are operating outside the conventional structure.

Fall 2010 Journal of Ordinary Thought

That’s why I am on the board of the Neighborhood Writing Alliance. NWA runs free writing workshops for adults in Chicago’s underserved neighborhoods, a unique model that focuses on adults connecting through creative communities in which writing, discussing, and publishing personal narrative leads to civic engagement, neighborhood vitality and social transformation.  NWA writers are published in the quarterly Journal of Ordinary Thought, on the Every Person Is A Philosopher blog and at events throughout Chicago.

I’ve got their backs by giving some of  my time to the Board, some of my blog space to the cause and some of my money to the nonprofit budget every month.

Can you join me? Donate now and your money will go twice as far, as we have a generous matching grant that will double all new or increased donations.

If you know who has your back, here’s your chance to pay it forward.