Being a writer is like having homework every night for the rest of your life. –Lawrence Kasdan
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The Cure for Creative Blocks? Leave Your Desk.
“It turns out that being exposed to cultures that function differently from our own – from language to social customs to public transport – awakens the brain, alerting it to a much broader range of possibilities for being, living, and making…
…Another useful byproduct of travel is solitude. At our desks, we are never alone. Even if you work from home in complete isolation, an ever-growing stream of communications are constantly chattering away. Email, Facebook, Twitter, etc compete for our attention and focus, scattering our minds and fragmenting our productivity. And even if we have the willpower to turn these channels off, their “closeness” can still impede our thinking…”
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“In the past century, the way we have handled aloneness has changed dramatically. “Alone” did not always mean an absence of others. The word was coined in medieval times, and originally signified a completeness in one’s singular being. In religious terminology, “solitude” typically meant the experience of oneness with God. Yet all current meanings of “alone” imply a lack of something. Invariably, solitude meets with social questioning, if not censure. Even worse, people associate going it alone with antisocial pursuits and unnecessary risk taking. Perhaps most striking, solitude conjures up pangs of loneliness.”
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Lessons from Rachael Ray’s Path to Personal Branding Success.
1. Market intelligence. Are you constantly taking the market’s temperature, listening to your market, monitoring your competition, and analyzing not only who is taking business away from you, but coming up with counter-punches to regain lost business?
2. Discipline. If producers from Today called you right now, in the middle of a blizzard, would you drive 148 miles to be at the studio at 5:30 AM?
3. Commitment. Would you be able to balance a commitment to what brought you success with an open mind towards new opportunities?
4. Personality. Do you have an approach to clients and prospects that sets you apart from the obvious experts in your field?
5. Passion. Do you allow yourself to be defined by your passions and beliefs, and strive to incorporate them in your everyday decisions?
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Twitter Writing Lessons from Rosemary Clement-Moore.
“As much as I love Twitter (and I do) I know it can be a bit banal. But I work at those stupid posts. And it occurred to me, a lot of things I do to squeeze my formidable wit into 140 characters can be carried over to tighter, efficient prose.”
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Marvel is seeking interns for the fall 2010 semester! Apply here and e-mail internships@marvel.com with any questions.
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Kelley Armstrong has early copies of Waking the Witch, and she wants to give them away. Now that is a great book.