It has been said that to read is to inhale and to write is to exhale. I would expand that to say that experience is inhalation and creation is exhalation. Reading is just one way of experiencing the world. It allows you to live experiences not your own, but it’s also important to gather your own lived experiences. If you’ve read my work for any length of time, you’re aware of how I exhale (i.e. create), but today I’d like to talk about what I inhale. What you take in has a great deal to do with what you produce, and I’ve found that a balance of the following seven…
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Being Haunted by That One Story
What if I told you I’ve been working on the same story for twelve years? I’ve outlined and attempted to start this story multiple times, but it always fails. And whenever I try to explain the concept to someone, it’s too vague to describe. It lives in the back of my mind while I work on other projects, always searching for inspiration. I’ve collected images on Pinterest, made countless playlists, and drawn or designed its characters again and again. Pages of thoughts litter my inspiration notebook, going back generations of notebooks in my desk drawer. I feel like Charles Muntz tracking the bird in the movie Up, when he tells…
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Wisdom From My Aunt, on Canvas
This amateur painting I made hangs above my desk, reminding me of the wisdom my aunt uses to get through the highs and lows of creating. Read the full story here.
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It Hasn’t Been Written
Writer, I’m about to give you some of the best news ever. If you paid attention to the title, I already have: It hasn’t been written. “What hasn’t been written?” you ask. Just pause for a second and feel for that glow of hope. That. That story which is on your heart. The one you’ve been searching for in every book you’ve ever read and haven’t quite managed to find. The one that feels so familiar that you could swear you’ve read it somewhere or maybe had it read to you as a child, if you could just remember where. That one perfect story, or the one that’s perfect to…
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A Place to Disappear
An exploration of the elusive thing I have sought all my life.