Growing up, I thought Sherlock Holmes knew everything. Later, when I read the stories, I was amazed to find out that he had no desire to carry anything in his head that was not needed. He forgot much of what he knew in order to not crowd his thoughts. He let the things he never […]
Archives for July 2016
Killing Your Darlings
Last weekend, I chatted with my mom about a scene from the current novel rewrite I cut. Then a friend (Rick Coste) and I chatted in email about the phrase: Kill your darlings Killing Your Darlings I once knew someone who went through a story and cut all their favorite scenes. Not analyzing so much […]
A Line at a Time
When I lived near Chicago, I was tracked as a vocational student. That meant the school I attended looked at my grades [but never at me, asking what I wanted to do later in life] and determined: This kid is not going to remove tumors from brains, defend someone during the ‘Case of the Century,’ […]
The C-Word
A friend posted this on Twitter a couple days ago: Advice for a better life: Never trust someone who calls vacation “vacay” or calls art “content”. #ProTip #ArtLife — John Picacio (@JohnPicacio) July 20, 2016 I’ve been wanting to write this entry for awhile, so if you like it — thank John. If you hate […]
Perfection Does Not Just Happen
A good friend (my old juggling partner) shared one of his favorite podcasts with me the last time we got together: Two Guys on Your Head. Episodes are short (7 1/2 minutes), quite brilliant, and funny — making catching up a not-so-hard thing to do. They did a longer episode from a talk done at […]
The Drawbacks of a Crowded Head
When I left work for the weekend, a coworker mentioned a remote teammate (in Ireland) and their 3-week vacation. No sooner than it was mentioned, someone nearby said this: I couldn’t do that. All I’d think about the whole time is all the email and other things I’d return to. I dread being away for […]