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Resistance Isn't Futile. It just wants you to think resisting it, is.

Byizoldast

I’m reading Steven Pressfield’s excellent book, “The War of Art.” If you have any desire to pursue your art, run towards this book with open arms. So far, it’s amazing, validating, and oh so frustrating. Pressfield points out all the hidden places we run to keep ourselves from working on our art/craft. I’ve winced more…

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Derek Sivers' "If not hell yeah, then no." – My lesson on saying no

Byizoldast

I recently read Derek Siver’s excellent, short book, “Anything You Want.” One of the chapters is titled, “If not hell yeah, then no.” It means that unless you are excited to do something, don’t do it. Say no. Then, you leave yourself open to cool new opportunities that you will be thrilled to accept. I…

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On Touchstones – We need them in storytelling and in life

Byizoldast

Everything in my life has been coming back to relevance. As I develop this new phase of my life, I am trimming away anything that doesn’t serve me. I have modified my patterns of behavior, thought modes, and emotional triggers. My motto is: If it doesn’t serve me, it goes. That perspective makes things easier,…

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The Importance of a Target Audience – how I learned the lesson

Byizoldast

Yesterday, I learned a lesson about the importance of working with the people who will best respond to your efforts. I have read a great deal about identifying your avatar and then producing and marketing to that avatar. The avatar can be defined as the ideal receiver of your product. It could be the ideal…

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"Never Tell Me The Odds" – Pushing out of our comfort zones

Byizoldast

Well, of course, I would quote one of my favorite characters from one of my favorite movies. That’s Han Solo from the Empire Strikes Back. When I was thirteen years old and seeing it for the first time, that line solidified something in me. It started my love affair with pushing my boundaries. I’ve jumped…

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"And Then What Happened?" – What makes for compelling stories

Byizoldast

I won’t “James Michener” you and talk about how at the beginning of language, people were sitting around bonfires telling stories. Let’s all agree that they did. The oral tradition goes back as far as we do, certainly, and probably further back to the Neanderthals, Early Modern Humans. We tell stories for a variety of…

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We Are With You – On supportive creative communities

Byizoldast

Yesterday, I facilitated my “Present Out Loud” workshop at Balticon (the Maryland Regional Science Fiction/Fantasy convention). The workshop is on how to present/read your work at bookstore events, interviews, audio narrations, and workshops. We worked on breath technique, voicing, characterization, and how to differentiate your narrator from your characters and their dialogue. But mostly, we…