Oh, hi friends!
What would a stranger say about how you’re spending your day?
So often we’re caught up in our own heads, or the perceptions of people who already know us.
But if you had to pick someone off the street, and tell them, “Today I’m doing…X. Then I’m doing Y. Later I’m going to give Z a try.”
What do you think they’d say?
You are likely doing more than you think.
Try to see yourself through a stranger’s eyes.
Lincoln Michel on why you need to read fiction to write fiction: “An artist needs to learn to think in the medium they are working in. Whatever that is. They need to imagine the possibilities and constraints of their medium.”
Found in Nicole Zhu’s thoughtful biweekly newsletter about the writing process.
I agree with the sentiment here. Years ago, I was thinking about writing a new TV pilot, but realized I…didn’t really watch television? (The pandemic changed that!) So I actually had no idea what was popular, or why.
Going in blind can have its benefits, but so does knowing the rules you can break.
So can you immerse yourself in your chosen medium in a new way?
Don’t consume so much you get overwhelmed. If you want to write films, queue up the Criterion Channel or Ticket to Paradise. If you want to create a course, take a few to see what else is out there.
Imagine the possibilities and constraints of the medium.
Then do what only you can do.
Here’s a Portrait of a Very Full Life
Ms. McLaurin lived for decades on the same block in the District’s Petworth neighborhood. For 24 years, from 1994 until the year she was believed to turn 110, she volunteered 40 hours a week through the United Planning Organization’s Foster Grandparent Program. She was a constant presence at C. Melvin Sharpe Health School, which served students with severe disabilities, and later at Roots Public Charter School for preschoolers, feeding children, reading to them and encouraging them in their schoolwork.
Last weekend I was just thinking about Virginia McLaurin—the spry woman who visited the Obamas in the White House when she was 106—and even Googled her to see if she had celebrated another birthday. She died last week at the age of 113.
Thank you, Virginia, for making us smile.