Category Archives: Inspiration

The Fringe Benefits of Failure

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

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.

Best known for writing the Harry Potter fantasy series, J.K. Rowling has experienced a “rags to riches” life in which she progressed from living on state benefits to multi-millionaire status. She is the United Kingdom’s best-selling living author, with sales in excess of £238M.

In her inspiring and entertaining commencement address to the class of 2008 at Harvard University, J.K. Rowling offered powerful advice to dreamers and overachievers, including one hard-won lesson that she deems “worth more than any qualification I have ever learned.”


Movie Review: The Greatest Showman

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

Inspired by the life of P.T. Barnum, The Greatest Showman celebrates the birth of show business with an empowering storyline, eleven original songs by the Academy-Award-winning lyricists of LaLa Land, and spectacular choreography.

Hugh Jackman dominates practically all the scenes as he assumes the role of the larger-than-life visionary, who rose from humble beginnings to create a worldwide sensation. A long-time fan of Jackman, I found him irresistible as he sang and danced in his red impresario’s coat and top hat. Definitely a contender in the award season ahead.

I was also impressed by the supporting cast.

Michelle Williams delivers an excellent performance as Barnum’s behind-the-scenes wife, Charity. Possessing a strong, clear voice, she comes across as supportive and adventurous, choosing to leave behind a privileged background to follow Barnum on his entrepreneurial journey.

Zac Efron embraces the role of playwright and society boy Phillip Carlyle. An unlikely collaborator, Carlyle is a quick study, stepping in whenever Barnum leaves to pursue other artistic paths. His budding romance with an African-American trapeze artist (Zendaya) provides many tender, bittersweet moments. Their standout performance takes place in the empty circus tent when Zendaya flies on the trapeze as Efron tries to meet her partway, all to the haunting lyrics of “Rewrite the Stars.”

I was moved by the courage of all the “human oddities” that Barnum recruited for his “Museum of Curiosities.” My favorite–Lettie Lutz the “Bearded Lady”–played by Tony-nominee Keala Settle. Cringing from shame, Lettie reluctantly agrees to participate in the show and then uses her powerhouse voice to transform into a fearless Diva.

While the “real” story has darker undertones, director Michael Gracey has chosen to downplay those elements, focusing on the importance of diversity, encapsulated by P.T. Barnum’s philosophy: “Everyone is special, and nobody is like anyone else.”

A class act for the whole family to enjoy.


This Year is Yours

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

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.

At the beginning of each new year, I reread the following poem for inspiration:

God built and launched this year for you;
Upon the bridge you stand;
It’s your ship, aye, your own ship,
And you are in command.

Just what the twelve months’ trip will do
Rests wholly, solely, friend, with you.

Your logbook kept from day to day
My friend, what will it show?
Have you on your appointed way
Made progress, yes or no?

The log will tell, like guiding star,
The sort of captain that you are.

For weal or woe this year is yours;
Your ship is on life’s sea
Your acts, as captain, must decide
Whichever it shall be;

So now in starting on your trip,
Ask God to help you sail your ship.

By Alfred Lord Tennyson


Life Advice from Unexpected Sources

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

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.

I’ve always enjoyed this short period between Christmas and New Year’s. With most of the holiday madness out of the way, it’s a good time to reflect upon the past twelve months and start making plans for 2018. A self-help junkie, I like to reread my favorite books, but I’m also open to advice from unexpected sources.



Advice that resonates with me…

The Flash, Merida, Patrick Star, The Fairy Godmother, Chef G

Which advice speaks to you?


Just Let It Be

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

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.

December can be stressful. Searching for that perfect gift…preparing that perfect meal…creating that perfect Christmas Day. All that perfection takes away from the spirit of the season. Whenever I feel stressed or overwhelmed, I take time to read and reflect upon the following Zen parable:

Buddha was walking from one town to another town with a few of his followers. While they were traveling, they happened to pass a lake. They stopped there and Buddha told one of his disciples, “I am thirsty. Please get me some water from that lake.”

The disciple walked up to the lake. When he reached it, he noticed that some people were washing clothes in the water and, right at that moment, a bullock cart started crossing the lake right at the edge of it. As a result, the water became very muddy, very turbid. The disciple thought, “How can I give this muddy water to Buddha to drink?” So, he came back and told the Buddha, “The water is very muddy. I don’t think it is fit to drink.”

The Buddha said, “Let us take a little rest here by the tree.” After about half an hour, Buddha asked the same disciple to go back to the lake and get him some water to drink. The disciple obediently went back to the lake. This time he found that the lake had clear water in it. The mud had settled down and the water above it looked drinkable. So he collected some water in a pot and brought it to the Buddha.

The Buddha looked at the water, and then he looked up at the disciple and said, “You let the water be, and the mud settled down on its own. You got clear water. It didn’t require any effort.”

Moral: Your mind is also like that. When it is disturbed, just let it be. Give it a little time. It will settle down on its own. You don’t have to put in any effort to calm it down. You can judge and make the best decisions of your life when you stay calm.

Source: Moral Stories


On Success and Failure

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

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.

Whenever I need a strong dose of reality, I listen to the following TED Talk by Elizabeth Gilbert. The best-selling author of Eat, Pray, Love (Over 11 million copies were sold), Elizabeth was catapulted into instant success. But there is life after success, and sometimes it takes the form of failure. In this entertaining Talk, Elizabeth shares her brushes with success and failure.


A Writer’s Prayer

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

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.

Two years ago, I participated in a series of Artist’s Way workshops facilitated by Lisa Browning of One Thousand Trees. During one of those sessions, I encountered an interesting task: Create an artist’s prayer. While reflecting and researching, I discovered the following Writer’s Prayer written by Sandy Tritt:

Open my mind, Lord. Grant me the talent to write with clarity and style, so my words go down rich and smooth, like fine wine, and leave my reader thirsty for more.

Open my heart, Lord. Grant me the sensitivity to understand my characters–their hopes, their wants, their dreams–and help me to confer that empathy to my reader.

Open my soul, Lord, so I may be a channel to wisdom and creativity from beyond my Self. Stoke my imagination with vivid imagery and vibrant perception.

But most of all, Lord, help me to know the Truth, so my fiction is more honest than actuality and reaches the depths of my reader’s soul.

Wrap these gifts with opportunity, perseverance, and the strength to resist those who insist it can’t be done.

Amen


In the Final Stretch

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

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.

Tomorrow is the last day of the NaNoWriMo challenge. While some of us have achieved (and maybe even surpassed 50K words), others are in the final stretch, working hard to reach that final goal. Wherever you are on the NaNoWriMo journey, take some time to have a three-minute laughter vacation.


More #NaNoWriMo Success Stories

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

Last week, I shared four spectacular NaNoWriMo successes on the Sisterhood of Suspense blog. With only three days left in the challenge, I thought I would boost everyone’s morale with these additional success stories. I was inspired and motivated by the advice and takeaways from their NaNoWriMo journeys.

Alan Averill wrote the first chapter of The Beautiful Land several months before NaNoWriMo and then put aside the manuscript. When he learned that his friends were planning to participate in NaNoWriMo, he decided to join them. He wrote 60 percent of the novel and finished the rest in January. He credits the experience with helping him create a fast-paced book: “One of the great things about NaNo is that you don’t have time to think about what you’re doing. You’re basically a Writer Shark, and if you don’t keep swimming forward at all times, you’re going to die.”

In 2008, Marissa Meyer (author of Cinder) heard about a contest in which the Seattle-based writer who clocked in the most words during November would win a walk-on role in an upcoming episode of Star Trek. A chronic overachiever, Marissa took on the challenge and ended up writing three novels: Cinder (70,000), Scarlet (50,000), and Cress (30,000). Unfortunately, she didn’t place first but finished three novels that she polished over a two-year period. While much of the original material was scrapped, Marissa has no regrets: “I may not produce anything of quality during NaNoWriMo, but I always come away with a great road map.” She had offers of representation from three agents, and when the series went to auction, Macmillan’s Feiwel & Friends placed the winning bid.

Carrie Ryan started writing The Forest of Hands and Teeth during NaNo 2006. During that month, Carrie wrote between 20,000 and 30,000 words and then kept on writing afterward, finishing the first draft in April 2007. Later in 2007, Carrie sold the rights. The first of a trilogy, the book became a New York Times best-seller, and the film rights have been optioned by Seven Star Pictures. Carrie’s advice: “If you want to sell a book, you have to write a book. And if NaNo is what it takes to motivate you, then jump in with both feet. If you fail, the key is not to give up—the key is to keep writing.”

Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen wrote the first draft of The Compound during NaNo 2005. It then took six months to edit and polish the manuscript. The book sold to Feiwel and Friends in July 2006 and then went through another fourteen months of editorial revisions before final publication in late 2007. A long journey, filled with ups and downs, but definitely worth the wait. Seven more Young Adult books followed. Stephanie’s take-away: “This book is a symbol of how never giving up helped me realize a dream.”

ONWARD ♦ AVANTI ♦ EN AVANT ♦ WEITER ♦ ADELANTE