Bird By Bird
Anne Lamott
Summary
Great practical advice about the process of writing
Rating: 5/5
Notes
Publication is not all it’s cracked up to be, but writing is
Good writing is about telling the truth
When you write, only focus on two or three feet ahead of you, not the end goal
‘Bird by bird buddy. Just take it bird by bird’
The only way to get anything written is to write really, really shitty first drafts
All good writing begins w/ terrible first efforts
First draft = get it down. Second draft = fix it up, 3rd draft = fine tune it
Awareness is learning to keep yourself company
Nothing is more important than a likeable narrator
Let characters dictate the direction of the plot
Think about writing as of you’re telling a dream: it must be vivid and continuous
Writing a short story - ABDCE: action, background, development, climax, ending
You have to believe in what you are saying, or nothing will drive your work
Write about the things most important to you
Listen to your inner voice. Trust it
- Listen to your broccoli and your broccoli will tell you how to eat it
Call around. People love to tell you about everything they know
Ask for feedback from trusted confidants
If you don’t know how to write a story, pretend it’s a letter
When you cannot get any work done, live as if you were dying
Sometimes write only for someone you love
Write to expose the unexposed. Talk about the little monster inside of you
If you’re not enough before the gold medal, you’ll never be enough with it
Write from a place of insight, simplicity and real caring about the truth
Write straight into the emotional centre of things, towards vulnerability
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Make Something Wonderful
Steve Jobs
Summary
The life of Steve Jobs in his own words
Rating: 5/5
Notes
Make something wonderful and put it out there
‘You appear, have a chance to blaze in the sky, then you disappear’
When you’re a stranger in a place, you notice thing you don’t otherwise (Jobs after India trip)
Whenever you start with nothing, always shoot for the moon. You have nothing to lose.
You never achieve what you want without falling on your face a few times
Never be afraid to fail. You never achieve what you want without falling flat on your face a few times
We are never taught to listen to our intuitions, to develop and nurture them. But if you do pay attention to these subtle insights, you can make them come true
Creativity equals connecting previously unrelated experiences and insights others don’t see
Believe that some of what you follow with your heart will come back and make your life richer. And it will. And you will gain even firmer trust on your instincts and intuitions
Make your avocation your vocation. Make what you love your work.
The journey is the reward. The reward isn’t in the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, it’s in crossing the rainbow
To find A+ talent, if experienced, look at their track record and results
The world we know is a human creation and we can push it forward
The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do (read whole ad ‘here’s to the crazy ones)
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act but a habit - Aristotle
Hire people better than you are
You can’t plan to meet the people who will change your life
It’s impossible to connect the dots looking forward, but they make sense looking backwards so you have to trust the dots will somehow connect in your future
Everything around you that you call life was made up by people no smarter than you
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