Weekend Bonus: The Tools I Use

I often share the tools I use to get my one hour of writing a day in the can. Here's one I've found I can't live without;

I've experimented with a few timers in the past (and time trackers like Toggl), and this is the best one I've found so far. 

PROS: You set up an Interval (I like to do two 25 minute intervals with a 5 minute break), hit Go, and the rest is pretty self-explanatory. An alarm goes off when the interval is over, then gives you 5 minutes to surf the web or do one armed push-ups, then you're back in the saddle again. Boom. You nailed it. 

CONS: I wish you could set up different intervals for different projects. Plus, I wish you could set your own custom alarm. That way, I can blast the Game of Thrones soundtrack every 25 minutes to pump me up (and thoroughly annoy those around me). 

Got any tools you're using right now you love? Lay them on me. 

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The Unabashedly Real and Creative Podcast

I had the pleasure of being on 'The Unabashedly Real and Creative Podcast' hosted by Jared Kessler. 

There's some stuff of value in here, I think. Take a listen and let me know your thoughts - but at the end of the day 'Do the Work' remains the mantra. And don't forget to subscribe, or the Gods of the Blank Page shall descend down upon you. 

The Power of #FindTheHour: How to Get Started

Download the sheet. It's magic. 

Join me in reclaiming our existence. 

I re-committed last year to write one hour a day, every day. I was going to see how long I could keep the streak alive, inspired by Jerry Seinfeld, and as I started to gain momentum I thought I'd share some of what I've learned. 

My advice is very simple: find the one thing you love to do, and do it an hour a day. Sounds so simple, doesn't it? You'd be surprised at the enemies, real and imagined, standing in your way.

But here's 5 ways you can get started:

1. Decide What Do You Want to Do - Maybe it's playing music with your kids, or gardening more, or writing, interior design, drawing. Don't worry about outcomes, just pick the one thing that floats your boat. I don't want to minimize how hard this can be, but noone else can figure that out but you. 
2. Pick a Day to Start - I want you to look at your calendar and commit. Maybe this is today, maybe it's next Monday. Then I want you to outline how the perfect week looks to you - and where the hour fits in. Then plan it out. On most days, my hour is 7:30AM - 8:30AM, but sometimes when I know my better half is working late, I move this to the evening. But it has to be planned in advance, or the resistance will win. Guaranteed. PROTIP: Let the people closest to you know what you're doing. Say you would appreciate their support. Better yet, invite them in.  
3. Download this Sheet - See the picture above. This is my streak. Jerry Seinfeld was once asked how he created so much, and he said he NEVER broke the streak. He wrote jokes every day. No exceptions. This has done pretty well by him. 
4. The magic of 'Yes, and...' versus 'Yes, but...' This is an old improv trick. Open yourself to the universe, and instead of saying 'Yes, but...' (which implies resistance to all things good) you can say 'Yes, and..." to build on ideas and provide bigger solutions. And it also implies less internal judgment (I'm still working on this one). Internal judgment might be your biggest roadblock. 
5. Go. You don't need permission to make it happen. Just start. Pick up the pencil or the guitar and create something. Don't judge, just do. Put the 'Yes, and...' into action. Write a poem to yourself. 

A lot of people have talked about the power of INTENTION. That's all this is, I'm no mastermind. But since I've been dialing in on #FindTheHour a lot of great things have happened. Awards, films coming together, a novel that is wrapping up, a lot of pieces that would not otherwise exist. And that is what this is all about, existence.

Go.

If you need anything, let me know. I don't have many of the answers and you probably have some great ideas too. Share them. I want to #FindTheHour along with you. Who knows what kind of cool shit could happen?

Next Post: Killing the Beast that is Resistance. 

LOG-IN ENTRY:

Streak Count of writing ONE HOUR A DAY: 52 days.
#FindTheHour

Music to write by: New LCD Soundsystem, yo! 

Stay frosty. 

#POV. 

The Failing of Words

The man at work. 

The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function. - F. Scott Fitzgerald

With the shootings that occurred in Florida last week that left 17 people dead, the inevitable always happens: people sound the alarms and fortify their positions. Trenches are dug a little deeper and we frame things in terms that are black and white.

If you're PRO-GUN CONTROL, you must be against the SECOND AMENDMENT. 

If you love guns, you must not care about the children.

But Fitzgerald had it right: true intelligence is the ability to hold contradictory ideas at the same time. The ability to see grays and nuance.  The skill of sharpening the spear while at the same time showing compassion. 

That's what art is about, great art. And good writing. The purpose isn't to provoke people into a place that is unyielding as much as it is to inspire us around new ways of thinking. 

At times like these, we all think words, and the world, has failed us. Which is true. While at the same time proving once again that these efforts are needed now more than ever.  

If you feel obliged to help people smarter than I am carry on the conversation, then perhaps donate to everytown.org. 

The Perfection Paradox

Maybe you've heard of the Distribution Paradox. Most people think that when Wal*Mart calls to place an order for a product they are selling, this is a good thing. And it can be. 

The challenge is, this order often forces you to scale - maybe faster than you really want to or can really afford. You might have to buy new equipment or hire new people, or....

Expenses immediately mount. And many a company has flamed out and not been able to deliver under the pressure. 

Perfection can be like that too. The demands of getting 100% on your next creative project can add pressures that cave it completely. Rewriting, reworking, tinkering, can be both boon and bane. We have to know when to let it go - because that's what the pros do (who are still in business): they deliver. 

Perfection is a myth and a moving target, anyway. The goal is progress.  

Want to raise high the roofbeams and read the first 3 chapters of my novel 'Devil's Candy'? Of course you do. 

Trimming the Sails

Kerouac Knew How to Have Fun. 

The challenge we all have is time. We create more time when we find the courage to say 'No' to things. It's hard. Feelings get hurt. FOMO is real. 

But if we keep track of where we want to be, it's easier to qualify what we're willing to do: does it get us closer to our goal? Does it inspire us?

If the answer to what you should be doing next doesn't move you, you probably already know which direction you should head off in. 

Want to get down and dirty with the first 3 chapters of my novel 'Devil's Candy'? Of course you do. 

Defining What the Goal Is

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ee cummings got it done. 

Knowing what we want in life can be tricky. It pins us to an outcome we suddenly become accountable for. 

I know that this this year I'm working towards a book launch. The Resistance (my self-doubt) says 'Great, that's all the world needs, another book.' I listen to The Resistance more than I should. 

I've started. I've written the query letter, which I'll post here on Thursday. I've created the spreadsheet of agents and people I want to send this to. And, I've started sending:

• Levine | Greenberg | Rostan Literary Agency
• Katherine Fausset at Curtis Brown. 

The first three chapters of the book are in their hands. They'll take the blowtorch to it I'm sure, or most likely I won't hear back from them at all. But every NO in whatever form is that much closer to a YES. That's the only way to look at it. 

Want to read the first 3 chapters of my novel 'Devil's Candy'? Of course you do. 

Thoughts Become Things

There's a certain truth to dreams. We visualize outcomes, and they can happen if the work is done. If the time is spent. If talk becomes action. 

It's understood: putting the chips down on something imagined isn't logical or even wise. The empirical brain says 'no - the risks are too high'. The empirical brain says 'stop'. 

Maybe these are the voices of parents, or grandparents, or school. Maybe this a voice born from economic necessity - after all most of us need to make a living. Rent is always due. 

But the Blue Sky Brain, that's what we must answer to in the end. For there are few songs and poems written about people who are practical. Who always wait for when the time is right.  

The tools I'm planning to use: 

• Google to search for book agents and the like. The Interwebs is my savior. 
• A Fleet of Graphgear 500 mechanical pencils. 
• The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published.
• Paper-Oh Quadro A4 Pad for scheming (I'll share the plans as they are developed)
• Squarespace
• Mailchimp
• Social (Insta, Facebook, LinkedIn)
• Toggl for keeping track of #FindtheHour

This is just a start. They're loose pieces right now. But I'll be piecing them together, one bird at a time. 

It's Day 1 All Over Again

After a month of false starts, illness, and a myriad of excuses, I'm back in the saddle. 

Today is Day 1. My goal: getting my book published.

I'll be sharing my journey here. I'll be pushing the edges. 

The first thing I did was buy this. 

Follow me - maybe we can put the pieces together. 

When the Fit hits the Shan

One word: how?

We all have great plans. I had these crazy visions of hitting 2018 hard right out of the gates and blowing it up these first two weeks. 

Then reality struck. And as we all know, reality can be a bitch. I got crazy sick and barely found the energy to get my paying job done. I walked around with my fly open, too spaced to notice. I coughed and coughed and....

What happens when life intervenes, and your momentum is broken?

You start again. One small step.

If you can't #findthehour, find 10 minutes. Lots of dreaming can happen in that much time. 

What do you want to point to in 2018? You tell me your's, I'll tell you mine. 

The 3 Words for 2018

Every year I pick three words for the way I want to live. This year, those words are:

• DEEPEN: I am the master of being distracted. Of doing too much. Of skimming along the surface of thousands of things. If it's shiny, chances are my gaze is upon it. So this year I want to focus on a few key things, and go deep with them. This includes relationships as well as projects, with family as well as dreams. Depth is what leads to quality. And quality is where it's at. 
• SHARPEN: I want my intent to be razor sharp this year. To cut through detritus. To be better and to level up. I want to sharpen my game so that I can provide more value this year. I seriously want to 10x this shit. You in?
• SHARE: As much as I am distracted by shiny objects, I'm also a hermit inside my own head. I want to embrace people more. Share more. Live in a place with more vulnerability, because that's where the action is. Not be afraid to lose. This begins, I think, with extending a hand and saying 'hello'. Let's try it together. 

Part of the above might be solved by one simple task: putting away the phone. If you see me on my phone, you have my permission to slap me. Or at least pinch me. Or at least say, hey, I'm right here, in front of you. This is doubly true of family and friends. Make it count. 

Deepen, sharpen, share. I like the sound of that. What are your intents in 2018? 

#POV

That Bird Has Already Flown - Advice on Breaking into the Biz

Part of my challenge is living in the past. Thinking about things I should have done a bit differently. To wit, there are at least two key moments in my life that I messed up (there's many more, but who's counting? Hint: I am).

Both were meetings that were set up for me by family in Hollywood. One was with Amblin Entertainment (Spielberg's company) and the other was with Disney. Pretty big meetings with pretty important people. 

To give some context around this, this was in the nineties and I was in my twenties. I had arrived in LA about a year before, and was making more money than I thought possible working as an assistant propmaster on some very big commercials. I was traveling around the country, had fallen into a very nice gig, and was dumb enough to think that money was burning a hole in my pocket. Dumb enough to think life was good. 

So when I took these meetings, I didn't have the right mindset. I wasn't leaning in and I wasn't nearly as eager as I should have been. I had a 'take it or leave it' attitude. 

Which is the kiss of death. Instead of being scrappy and living with a 'by any means necessary' attitude, instead of saying outright 'I'll do whatever it takes to get this gig', I played it cool. Too cool for school. 

Gratitude is an interesting animal. If it's at the front of how you carry yourself, it will kick open doors. If it's forgotten, it will eat away your opportunity. And though I was polite and professional, I didn't truly understand the moment. Gratitude and excitement should have won the day. Instead, it took a  backseat to my own hubris. The Disney job? It wasn't offered to me and wasn't a good fit anyway.

The Amblin job? I could have had that one. I would have had to take a HUGE paycut and start at the bottom rung again. I would've had to show some crazy incredible levels of enthusiasm. But it was there for the taking. Right there. 

And who knows where that would have taken me. 

But that bird has already flown. Regret is an assassin. So the lesson is learned:

If you're starting out, you'll have to be scrappy. And eager. And excited. You may have to work for no money and even longer days. It might look ugly and you might think you're above all that. And it might be true. You might be above all that. 

But I wasn't.  I confused self-importance with reality. So do the work, play the looooong game, do whatever it takes,. Look yourself squarely and honestly in the eye. All the other stuff doesn't matter. Not the money, certainly not the title. Not any of that other crap at the outset. 

What matters is the opportunity. Go for it. 

Thoughts? What's your advice to your younger self? 

The Wisdom of Cheshire Cats

“One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree. 

‘Which road do I take?’ she asked. 

‘Where do you want to go?’ was his response. 

‘I don’t know,’ Alice answered. 

‘Then,’ said the cat, ‘it doesn’t matter.”

— Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

Cats are smart people. Most are not easily rattled, understand the day's objectives, and generally approach things in a relatively empirical fashion. They spend much of their day dreaming. 

There is no one who can answer any questions for us. Cats understand that. They know that where they are is where they choose to be. 

But if we don't know where we want to be, that presents a challenge. If we're not decisive about our destination, it matters very little where we go. Or how hard we work. Or how many pieces to the puzzle we think we've found. 

If you're not clear on that, then maybe that's where you should start your #findthehour. 

Scheme. 

Plan. 

Dream. 

Until you see what you want right in front of you. 

#findthehour

Want to read the first couple chapters of my book? Email me here. 

The CEO Mindset

All good CEO’s are accountable.They live by Teddy Roosevelt’s mantra ‘the buck stops here’. 

It’s a scary thought, not being able to blame anyone else. Being forced to look reality right in the eye and make an honest assessment about yourself and your performance. When there is no-one else but our true selves standing in the spotlight. 

#FindtheHour is about finding that accountability. Creating the space where we can think about who we want to be and where we want to go. It could be the most important hour we’ll spend today, formulating plans around our dreams. Looking ourselves in the mirror and asking ‘Why?’

Want to #FindtheHour? Start here.