I always thought that an artist’s was the hardest life of all. Its rigor—not always apparent to an outside observer—is that an artist has to navigate forward into the unknown guided only by an internal sense of direction, keep up a set of standards which are imposed entirely from within, meanwhile maintaining faith that the task he has set himself to is worth struggling constantly to achieve. This is all contrary to the notion of bohemian disorder.” Lucian Freud (via Austin Kleon) If you’ve...

On the US Coast Guard’s website, there’s a whole page dedicated to why and when to wear your life jacket. tl;dr: always wear a life jacket if you are on or around water. read this article online I think our writing is exactly like that life-jacket: something not to be ignored and neglected because when we need it, we NEED it. How does a life jacket help? By providing buoyancy if you unexpectedly find yourself in the water. By providing buoyancy if you purposely jump into the water to save...

“Any rejections to celebrate, this month?” I was at my first ever in-real-life writers’ group, and the organizer started the meeting by handing a microphone around the room, and asking people to celebrate what they’d achieved in their writing life, since they last met. Celebrate rejections? What kind of group is this?!, I thought, sure I was in the wrong place. It was the one of many ways I’ve had my expectations upended, on this writing journey. The longer I’ve stayed in the writing...