I’m reading Cal Newport’s So Good They Can’t Ignore You, and he makes an argument that I can’t stop thinking about. Most people are told to follow their passion. Find the thing you love, then figure out how to get paid for it. Newport says that’s backwards. The craftsman doesn’t start with passion. The craftsman … Continue reading The Craftsman
Twenty-Two
I’ve sold twenty-two copies of my first novel. I’m going to sit with that number for a second, because it means two things at once. First — I wrote a book. A real book. A story I’m genuinely proud of. It has four five-star reviews on Amazon from people who aren’t just being nice. One … Continue reading Twenty-Two
Fifteen Years Later
I ran across something I wrote in 2011 about Donald Miller’s A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. The idea that stuck with me then was simple: a character doesn’t change unless they go through hard times and conflict. Without it, the character stays one-dimensional. I used Braveheart as my example. I’ve always loved that … Continue reading Fifteen Years Later
The Coffee Shop
I sat down at a coffee shop this morning with a hot cup of coffee and no agenda other than space. No meetings. No interruptions. No one asking me for anything. Just a table, a cup, and whatever my brain wanted to work on. By the time I left, I had completed a final edit … Continue reading The Coffee Shop
Tell Good Stories
I saw the new Super Mario Galaxy movie today with my family. It was really well made. The animation was gorgeous, the 3D was good, and the story was well told. But here’s what got me. Nintendo layered thirty years of Easter eggs into a movie that works perfectly for a seven-year-old who’s never picked … Continue reading Tell Good Stories
