“Every single day, I get emails from aspiring writers asking my advice about how to become a writer, and here is the only advice I can give: Don’t make stuff because you want to make money — it will never make you enough money. And don’t make stuff because you want to get famous — …
“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” — Mark Twain Describe for me a moment when you realized something about the deeper purpose of your life.
“The courageous conversation is the one you don’t want to have.” –David Whyte Tell me about a conversation you don’t want to have. What is it you need to say but are afraid to say? Then tell me whether or not you think you’ll ever have this conversation and why.
“Living a self-conscious life, under the pressure of time, I work with the consciousness of death at my shoulder, not constantly, but often enough to leave a mark upon all of my life’s decisions and actions. And it does not matter whether this death comes next week or thirty years from now; this consciousness gives …
“To see what is in front of one’s nose requires a constant struggle.” –George Orwell Tell me about a time you couldn’t see something that was happening in your life—that everyone around you could see—but was a blind spot for you.
“Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself.” –Charlie Chaplin Tell me about a time you were willing to make a fool of yourself—to take a risk where you knew you could fall flat on your face. Tell us the story of the risk and what happened after.
“Good writing is supposed to evoke sensation in the reader – not the fact that it is raining, but the feeling of being rained upon.” –E.L. Doctorow Write a piece that takes place in the rain. Make the rain a crucial component of the story.
“The artist is extremely lucky who is presented with the worst possible ordeal which will not actually kill him. At that point, he’s in business.” –John Berryman What do you think of Berryman’s idea? If you’ve experienced trauma in your life, do you think it’s fueled your creativity? Has it given you important material for …
“It is in the shelter of each other that people live.” (Irish proverb) –thanks to Victoria Zackheim for this quote Tell me about someone whose protection or shelter made a real difference in your life.
“If I have an object and you have an object and we exchange them we both have an object. If I have an idea and you have an idea and we exchange them, we both have two.” –Chinese proverb Tell me about a time a new idea changed your life.
