Writing
Two Great New Year’s Resolutions
Happy New Year Everyone! I tend to be skeptical of New Year’s resolutions, which are often grandiose and built more around impulse than planning. But here are two good ones for 2023: 1) Reduce the time you currently spend on housework, chores, and errands by 25%, investing that time instead in “mission work” (creative /…
Read MoreHow to Cope With Clueless Questions, Crass Comments, and Crazy Conjectures
Note: I’m re-upping this one from 2013, as it seems a useful follow-up to the Robert Caro post. Also see this piece on Advice for Academic Couples (excerpted from my book The 7 Secrets of the Prolific.) – Best, Hillary Oh, the things people say to writers! “What do you do?” “What do you write?”…
Read MoreBiographer Robert Caro on How It’s All About Perspective
Most books (and many theses and other projects) take years to produce, and that’s a simple fact. And yet, the “When will you be done?” question can bedevil new writers in particular. (Even worse when it’s phrased disrespectfully, as in: “What? Are you still working on that thing?”) That’s why this anecdote from Caro’s autobiography…
Read MoreA Big Part of Time Management is Learning How to Decline Unwanted Invitations…
…which writer Harold Pinter knew how to do LIKE A BOSS.
Read MoreNope, “Perfectionism in Moderation” Isn’t a Good Thing
Writer Lindsay Ellis recently tweeted about imposter syndrome (where you think you aren’t up to the task, have everyone fooled, and are destined to be revealed as a horrible fraud). Unfortunately, she gets it wrong. She writes: “Because the thought patterns that lead to imposter syndrome need not always be a net negative – on…
Read MoreThe Conversation You Have With Your Work
Creative / scholarly work is actually a conversation between yourself (your ideas, emotions, perceptions) and your materials and influences. Or, as glass artist Davide Penso recently put it in an interview in Glass Art Magazine: “I didn’t and don’t presume to work in glass, but to support it and assign it the task of molding…
Read MoreInspiration from Michael Jordan and Garry Kasparov to Start Your Work/School Year
I hope everyone had a fantastic summer! Let’s get the work/school year going with a great quote from Michael Jordan: I quoted chess champ / democracy activist Garry Kasparov saying something similar in my book The 7 Secrets of the Prolific: “Years ago, I was fortunate to hear one of…
Read MoreYou’ve Got Time…
Our society tend to fetishize early success, but lest we forget… Toni Morrison: 40 Mark Twain: 41 Marcel Proust: 43 Henry Miller: 44 JRR Tolkien: 45 Raymond Chandler: 51 Richard Adams: 52 Annie Proulx: 57 Laura Ingalls Wilder: 65 Frank McCourt: 66 Harriett Doerr: 74 Harry Bernstein: 96 No, you’re not too old to publish…
Read MoreWhy an Anime Girl (or Raccoon!) Might Be Your Next Productivity Buddy
Back in Cambridge, MA, where I used to live, a group of writers used to meet regularly to get some work done. After a quick hello – no chit chat, latte ordering, or other delays – they all sat down and started working. It was so quiet you could hear the proverbial pin drop, and…
Read MoreProductivity Secrets of a “Supergenius”
A friend was discussing her fears around her writing, and, in particular, of taking on bigger projects than she could handle, when she came up with a great comparison: “I feel like Wile E. Coyote when he goes off the edge of a cliff. Then he looks down and realizes he’s gone too far, but…
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