On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.
Something to keep in mind during challenging times…
On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.
In a recent post on the Writer Unboxed blog, author Rachel Toalson shared the professional benefits of finishing what we start. Here’s an excerpt from that post:
Finishing our projects cultivates our professional skills and contributes to our mastery of the writing discipline. It’s an important part of putting in the work and gaining the expertise we need as writers. It gives us so many (so many!) opportunities to learn from our mistakes and make small shifts in the way we create and write.
That means the next time we sit down to write a book, we’ll do it better—because we have one, two, three, twenty-five under our belt.
We add to our overall body of work when we finish our projects. Who doesn’t desire a large body of work? A number of finished projects, in whatever stage they’re “finished” (even first drafts; we’ll count those), provides proof of our competence and dedication—we saw this many projects through to the end. How remarkable.
I have folders and folders of finished first drafts on my computer—all proving I’m working consistently at my craft and dedicated to building a volume of work. All reminding me, when I lose faith in myself, that I can do this, and I will again.
That’s the heart of it—we can do this, and we will again.
With all these benefits to finishing the projects we start, why do we still find ourselves struggling to write “The End”?
On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.
Here’s a thought-provoking reflection from international speaker and bestselling author Joyce Meyer:
When we seize something, we take hold of it forcibly and suddenly; we take control of it or subdue it; we bring it under our control.
Each day that God gives us is a gift, and if we waste it, we can never get it back and make it useful. We all have the same number of hours in a day, but some people seem to do much more with their time than others, because some don’t seize the day and others do. Wise people do something fruitful with each day.
What do you want to do with your life? Mother Teresa said, “Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.” I encourage you not to procrastinate but to take advantage of the time you have now and begin working toward your goals.
Set long-term goals and short-term goals for yourself. When you have accomplished one goal, take time to celebrate the accomplishment, even if it means simply relaxing for thirty minutes with your favorite beverage. You are capable of great things, but you must begin!
I am not encouraging you to work all the time. A goal for today may be to work on a project you need to finish, but it might also be a full day of rest that you desperately need. Let God guide you, and be purposeful about how you spend your time.
Source: Strength for Each Day by Joyce Meyer
On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.
A long-time fan of bestselling authors and coaches Marc and Angel Chernoff, I look forward to reading their emails and blog posts. Here’s an excerpt from a recent post:
If you study the lives of enough successful creators, it becomes obvious that most world-class performers in all fields — musicians, entrepreneurs, artists, dancers, etc. — had incredible mentors, coaches or role models who made the activity of practice worthwhile and rewarding.
If you can speak with a mentor face to face, that’s incredible — do so! But keep in mind that just observing a mentor works wonders too. When we observe someone we want to learn from, and we have a crystal-clear idea of what we want to create for ourselves, it unlocks a tremendous amount of motivation. Human beings are socially inclined and, when we get the idea that we want to join some elite circle up above us, it really motivates us to achieve greatness. “Look, they did it. I can do it too!” It may sound overly simplistic, but spending time studying people who are great is an essential building block for mastering your craft and cultivating your creativity at the same time.
In his bestselling book Mastery, Robert Greene emphasizes the importance of studying the work of others using Mozart as an example. Here’s an excerpt:
“Throughout his career, Mozart never asserted any particular opinions about music. Instead, he absorbed the styles he heard around himself and incorporated them into his own musical voice. Late in his career he encountered for the first time the music of Johann Sebastian Bach — a kind of music very different from his own, and in some ways more complex. Most artists would grow defensive and dismissive of something that challenged their own principles. Instead, Mozart opened his mind up to new possibilities, studying Bach’s style for nearly a year and absorbing it into his own vocabulary. This gave Mozart’s newest music a fresh and surprising creative quality.”
The bottom line is that studying mentors and other experts can help you diversify your own creative output, cross-pollinate ideas and strategies, and introduce you to new approaches and ways of thinking. Not everything others do will be relevant to you of course, but it will help refine and develop your style and tailor it to your own unique creative goals.
Note: I highly recommend subscribing to Marc & Angel’s website.
On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.
In her latest book, Dear Writer, New York Times bestselling author Maggie Smith breaks down creativity into ten essential elements. Here’s an uplifting excerpt:
Writers are here to risk, to find new territory. We have to be very careful not to censor ourselves when we draft, not to impose order on the piece too early. So what if you’ve always written poems in meter? So what if all your stories are in first person? So what if you’ve never written a lyric essay? Or if you’ve only written essays? No one is born excelling at anything. Most babies aren’t even particularly good at the basics: eating and sleeping.
Don’t worry too much about the form as you get the raw material down; that would be like making a container at the same time as trying to fill it.
I’ve been thinking about how our work—and our lives—can stretch and change shape to accommodate more than we might think. About how writing and living both require imagination. We can’t change the past, but the rest is up for grabs. We get to make it up. We get to decide today, tomorrow, and on and on what we will try, do, and be.
On the page and off, we get to surprise ourselves.
Source: Dear Writer, pp. 76-77.
On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.
In her recent release, Secrets of Adulthood, bestselling author Gretchen Rubin shares witty and thought-provoking reflections. Here’s one of my favorites:
It’s easy to assume that accomplishing a difficult task would be easier at a different moment: “Before I had kids.” “Next summer.” “Ten years ago.”
In 1512, after competing the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo wrote to his father:
“I have finished the chapel I was painting: the pope is very happy with it, but other things haven’t turned out as well as I hoped. I blame the times which are so unfavorable to our art.”
Michelangelo was then living in the middle of the High Renaissance, a period that’s considered a pinnacle in the history of Western art.
When we’re doing something hard, it feels like the times are hard.
Source: Secrets of Adulthood, p. 88
On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.
Here’s a thought-provoking reflection from international speaker and bestselling author Joyce Meyer:
Have you ever tried to suggest to someone who is seriously stressed out that they learn how to delegate some of their responsibilities to other people? If so, have you ever heard them answer, “If I don’t do it, it won’t get done”? I have heard those words, and I have also felt that way personally.
It is fairly easy to keep picking up responsibilities as we go through life, but sometimes we have a false sense of responsibility, and the end result is stress that can cause many problems. A lack of joy is only one of a long list of stress-related struggles. If you are feeling controlled and overwhelmed by your schedule, remember that you are the one who makes it, and only you can change it.
Some people keep the “it’s all up to me” attitude because it makes them feel important and needed. But our sense of worth and value should never come from what we do; it comes from who we are in Christ.
Ask yourself if you need to let some things go so you can enjoy your life. It is true that depending on other people is often disappointing, because they don’t always do what you depend on them to do, but there are many wonderful, faithful people who can be trusted and won’t let you down. If your first attempts at delegation do not work, keep trying until you find something that works for you.
Source: Strength for Each Day by Joyce Meyer
On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.
In her latest book, Dear Writer: Pep Talks & Practical Advice for the Creative Life, New York Times bestselling author Maggie Smith breaks down creativity into ten essential elements. Here’s an uplifting excerpt:
Taking care of yourself is taking care of your creativity. Taking care of yourself as a whole human being is taking care of the writer in you.
But if you still have that “you should be writing every day” voice in your ear, do it! Write every day if you can. If you’re someone who benefits from ritual—same time, same place, same beverage, same music—then lean into that! But if you can’t work in such a regular way, for whatever reason—whether you’re feeling depleted or uninspired, or life’s rhythms and demands aren’t conducive to it right now—I’m inviting you to try this instead: Commit to doing at least one thing in service of your writing every day.
This one thing can be a small thing. You might scrawl some notes in a notebook or revise an existing piece. You might chip away at a book proposal. You might research journals or presses, query an agent, or submit work. You might request books at your local library for a project or do some background reading. Yes, reading counts. Thinking counts. And since I find that I do some of my best thinking in the shower, yes, showering counts too.
Or you might give yourself space—to think, to dream, to take a long noticing walk, to make connections, to pay attention.
Source: Dear Writer by Maggie Smith, pp. 7-8
I’m happy to welcome author Marilyn Levinson. Today, Marilyn shares her new release, Rufus and the Dark Side of Magic.
Blurb
Fifth grader Rufus is unhappy when he has to attend a Samhain celebration with his mother, Grandma, and Aunt Ruth instead of going Trick or Treat with his friends. He’s thrilled when, later that night, his Uncle Hector shows up outside his window and offers to take him for a ride in the sky. Rufus’s family have told him that his uncle is evil and he should have nothing to do with Hector, but Rufus is enthralled by his uncle’s fabulous realm that includes a small zoo and a stable of horses. He’s less interested in learning about his uncle’s businesses that he, as his uncle’s heir apparent, will inherit one day. Then Uncle Hector tells Rufus he has to do something for him, something Rufus finds impossible to do. Uncle Hector wields his magical powers to force Rufus’s hand, but Rufus’s little sister finds out and encourages him to ask for help. It’s Grandma who decides what they must do, and it’s not something Uncle Hector ever thought would happen
Excerpt
Mrs. Brewster poked her head in the room to say it was time to come outside and watch the fireworks. We traipsed through the kitchen and out onto the Brewsters’ patio that faced their enormous backyard. Many adults were already in their seats, but Mr. Brewster, who wasn’t a witch, led us to the very first row. Then he went to talk to the men who would be setting off the fireworks.
The display was spectacular. We oohed and aahed as multi-colored bursts of light exploded in every conceivable shape. Ten minutes into the show, a band of yellow light more dazzling than any we’d seen so far spanned the sky. It arced over the Brewsters’ backyard and turned into a rainbow so brilliant I found myself blinking.
Silence fell. The fireworks died away. No one moved. All eyes were glued on the figure gliding through the air who came to stand atop the rainbow.
There could be no doubt he was a witch. He was dressed in black like us, except for his voluminous cape, which was bright red, the color of blood. He spread the cape wide, holding an end in each outstretched hand and bowed. A communal gasp—half-shock, half-disapproval—rose from the adults behind me. We stared, transfixed, as a young male witch fluttered about before coming to stand beside him.
“Greetings, my fellow sorcerers,” the older witch intoned. “We have come to wish you Good Samhain.”
His keen gaze sliced through the crowd seeking something, someone. A current coursed through me when his eyes met mine. He nodded, and I found myself nodding back.
Suddenly his right leg buckled and he stumbled. The young witch reached out to support him. Angry, the older witch brushed him away. His young companion vanished as awkwardly as he’d arrived.
Alone now, the older witch gave us a mocking smile as he and the rainbow faded from sight.
I was left thrilled, mystified, and frightened. Who was this powerful witch, and what did he want with me?
Author Bio and Links
A former Spanish teacher, Marilyn Levinson writes mysteries, novels of suspense, and books for kids. Marilyn’s middle grade novel, Rufus and Magic Run Amok, was an International Reading Association-Children’s Book Council “Children’s Choice.” A new edition, the first book in a series of four, came out in 2023. Rufus and the Witch’s Drudge, the second book in the Rufus series, was released in 2024. Her YA horror, The Devil’s Pawn, came out in a new edition in January, 2024. Soon to be published are new editions of And Don’t Bring Jeremy, which received six state nominees, and Getting Back to Normal.
Website | Facebook | Goodreads | Twitter | BookBub | Pinterest | Instagram | Amazon Buy Link
Giveaway
Marilyn Levinson will be awarding a paperback copy of the book to a randomly drawn winner. Find out more here.
Follow Marilyn on the rest of her Goddess Fish tour here.
On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.
In her recent release, Secrets of Adulthood, bestselling author Gretchen Rubin shares witty and thought-provoking reflections. Here’s one of my favorites:
Experience is a great teacher, but make sure that you’re not learning the wrong lesson.
In Aesop’s famous fable, the Hare challenged the Tortoise to a race. The Tortoise agreed, they set the course, and at the signal, they both started off. The Hare bounded ahead, but because he was so sure of winning, he stopped to take a nap. Meanwhile, the Tortoise plodded on. The Hare woke with a start just as the Tortoise was crossing the finish line.
The traditional moral of the fable is “Slow and steady wins the race.” But wouldn’t a more fitting moral be “Those with great gifts can be defeated by their own arrogance and idleness”? Or “Overconfidence fosters carelessness”? Or, as Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach wrote, “Since its famous victory over the hare, the tortoise thinks it’s a sprinter”—in other words, it’s easy to attribute a victory to our own abilities, when in fact we won due to circumstances or someone else’s mistakes.
Wisdom comes from discerning the truest lesson from an experience.
Source: Secrets of Adulthood, pp. 125-126
Joanne Guidoccio 