October 2008 Archives

Yet again, it's nice to be recognised in the weekly PlotDog Press Woof Top Five writing posts for the week ending October 24th. Each week, posts on writing - either fiction or non-fiction - are nominated and voted upon by blogging peers. Therefore, it's always nice to be selected and be included in such company.

One year on. Blow out the candles, pass the parcel and hang the balloons.

Yup, it has been a whole twelve months since the very first post - British Farce is Back - discussed my reservations with the scriptwriting of 'Death at a Funeral'. Since then, the blog has changed, evolved, adding and removed widgets, played with layout and generally sought continual improvement to reach today.

There are perks and irritations with being a writer. Everyone around me has their own interpretation of what being a writer means. Just as a taxi driver would get annoyed if everyone expected him to be the designated driver on a night out, a writer has some similar irritations. Then there are those aspects of being a writer that border on the obsessive.

Yes, there is much that is wonderful about being a writer. But then there are the niggly things. The tiny annoyances that happen the moment you tell someone that you're a writer.

Ever wonder how outsiders view the productivity of a writer? Ever feel guilty for every second your keys aren’t tapping? Ever work with others who have no understanding of the creative process?

Earlier this year, I was part of a team in charge of revamping the company image. My role was to write a new company value proposition and slogan that would inform all marketing activities. Details of how I went about this and the weeks of anguish can be found in my series on ‘Writing the Value Proposition’.

"Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration."
Thomas Edison

Reading the proofs for the next edition of Nett Magazine this morning, I came across a wonderful quote in an interview with Kelly Baker, founder of Edible Blooms.

"A lot of people say 'Oh, I thought of doing that three years ago. The thing that differentiates an entrepreneur is the fact that you actually go out and do it."

One in five Australians suffer from depression. Today is World Mental Health Awareness Day, or Blue Day, and it is a subject I care very deeply about. If it wasn't for the current understanding and demystifying of depression and the creation of modern treatments, I would probably already be dead.

No marketing post today. No witty scribblings on writing or comic books or the nature of the internet. Today, I hope you'll indulge an extremely personal post for a very good reason.

Many amateur writers, in fact many amateurs in any field, believe in luck and the power of unfair advantage. People continually talk about 'who you know' and 'being in the right place at the right time' to explain why someone else's movie script or business idea or job application is successful over theirs.

Seth Godin writes about the reality of how this luck is created.