– Save written praise you once received. There will be days where you will need to hear it again.
– Read your old work. No matter how bad you might think it is, you will stumble on a few parts that you don’t remember. Those parts are important, because you will be surprised that you once wrote something so good.
– Use that surprise as a reminder of your talent, and work on regaining it.
– Never be ashamed to admit defeat or admit that you were wrong.
– A lecturer of mine once said, “No matter how shit it is, there’s someone out there who’s going to like it.” Now I realize that this is actually good advice, because you should write what you think is good. And if someone says it’s not good, ask why. There are ideas that can only work in certain forms. An idea for a short story might only work as a novel, an idea for a novel might only work as a play, and an idea for a play might only work as something else.
– If asked, and only if asked, what you think, say you don’t like it and WHY. Tell them what you feel doesn’t work, and maybe even suggest how you would make it better. Don’t just say that “you enjoyed it”, because that just sounds like hollow praise. You can’t fix what isn’t broken.
– Write things down. Make lists. Doodle.
– Put in the work and write. No matter how bad it might be, write. You can’t edit what isn’t there.
– “Imagination is its own form of courage.” I believe that creativity is a challenge. Be creative, challenge yourself, and challenge others.
– Stand up and be confident. If you don’t think your work is any good then why should I?
– If there’s something you want to do or go see, then do it. Don’t wait around for friends, because you might end up missing out and regretting not being able to do or see something.
– You have no obligation to act on my opinions or anyone else’s.
LITTLE TALKS 