Archives: Learning

This week’s most popular post on the blog was my Pick of the Web featuring Lucy V. Hay and Daniel Martin Eckhart‘s cross-talking posts on what it takes to succeed as a writer. You can read it here.

Today’s Sunday video for your viewing (and educational) pleasure it this fantastic piece by Turnstyle News on Lance Weiler‘s Pandemic 1.0 project that’s been running all week. Watch this video ((you can also see it on Vimeo here)) and learn how transmedia should be done. Spectacular; and makes me even more gutted that I wasn’t at Sundance this year to be able to participate.

Last night I was invited to K’s uncle’s Rotary Club meeting to give an after dinner speech about Cystic Fibrosis and transplant/organ donation ((most of you will be familiar with my own transplant story from my SmileThroughIt journal)).

I have to confess I’ve been so swept up in work the last couple of weeks I hadn’t actually taken any time to prepare what I was going to say. It’s not difficult to tell my story off-the-cuff, but I usually like to have a rough game plan.

What I love about being unprepared, though, is what crops up from the proverbial blue when I’m winging it.

Last night I found myself saying this:

We all learn very early on that life’s not fair.

It’s not fair that anyone should have to go through what I’ve been through; it’s not fair for a 28-year-old to have been to as many friends’ funerals as I have; it’s not fair that a friend of mine has waited 2 years longer than I did for a transplant that still hasn’t come and is on the verge of giving up altogether.

By signing the Organ Donor Register you may not feel like you’ve done very much, but you will have taken a very, very small but very, very important step towards making life that little bit fairer for the people who are waiting [for transplants] and the families who love them, support them and don’t want to lose them when there’s a simple solution.

There’s an old army adage known as the 6 P’s that tells us “Proper Preparation Prevents P*** Poor Performance”. Yet sometimes – just sometimes – lack of preparation can lead to inspiration, to creativity and to an outcome you’d not considered.

I spoke at the Rotary Club of Harrow because I wanted to help spread the word about how life-transforming organ donation and transplantation can be. I walked away with several pledges to sign up and nearly £300 in donations for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust. Sometimes lack of preparation pays off.

(Now, if you haven’t already, go here and sign the Organ Donor Register!)

There are two great articles I want to highlight today, from two Twitter/LSWF buddies of mine.

Daniel Martin Eckhart writes on his blog about what it takes to make it as a screenwriter, his biggest insight (and no doubt point of debate) being:

The two most essential elements for a screenwriters are discipline and stamina. Talent is a distant third.

Daniel Martin Eckhart, Write, write, write.

Lucy V Hay, of Bang2Write fame, then goes a little further in her post, which references Daniel’s, talking about the paradox of the lucky/unlucky writer:

You’ll get no argument from when if you’re of the belief it’s TOTALLY about hard work, first and foremost; I think it’s important to recognise our own success as a writer will come as a direct result of that. However, I also think it’s important to realise it *could* have worked out very differently, despite our best efforts.

Lucy V Hay, write here, write now

What do you think? What makes a writer successful? Luck, timing, talent, hard work? All of the above?

I heard someone yesterday say that the most important thing in starting a project is making the decision to do it. I beg to differ.

We frequently make decisions and resolve to start things that we don’t see through, just see my pair posts about Mondays (Don’t Start on Monday and Why I’m Right). How many times have you heard someone is starting their diet, stopping smoking, beginning a new health kick, but they’re always doing it “next week” or “on Monday”?

Committing to starting a project is the most important step. Once you’ve committed – be it public or private ((although we all know that doing it publicly makes you far more accountable, even if it’s only to your friends)) – you’ve taken the first step towards making it happen.

Don’t sit back and relax in the knowledge that you’ve decided to do something so therefore it will happen; unless you fully commit, it simply won’t.

I posted on Friday that you shouldn’t start anything on a Monday because it’s generally a mess of doing things other than those on your To Do’s.

Case in point: today I knew I had all morning taken up with a schools project I’m working on at the moment, then a meeting in MK at 3pm and one immediately afterwards.  I knew I had a couple of hours in the middle, so I’d scheduled some time to make some calls and catch up on the weekend email.

It’s now 8.45pm and I’ve not only haven’t I made any of the calls, answered (or even read in detail) any email and, which is even more of a crime ((in my mind, anyway, INCEPTION-style)), is the fact that I’m only just getting around to my Monday blog post.

So, in an odd sort of way, what I’ve achieved today is prove myself 100% right. Sometimes it’s no fun being right.

When we take on new things – from launching a new project to starting a new health kick – we almost universally choose to kick off “on Monday”.

Monday is convenient because it’s the start of the week and we imagine we’ll be as fresh as a daisy and raring to go.

Ask around, though, and general wisdom will suggest people hate Mondays ((try Googling ‘Monday’ and see how many of the results are positive)). Why choose to start something fresh and exciting on such an energy-draining day?

If you genuinely want to start something new, start it today. Or Wednesday. Or Tuesday. Or any day of the week that will allow you to start with a bang. Don’t put it off ’til Monday.

Filmmaker and author of the seminal indie film bible THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX OFFICE, Jon Reiss, yesterday finished up his five part series of guest posts on his blog from Julie Eckersley about the success of the indie documentary THE SECRET, which has earned over $300million worldwide since its release in 2006.

The series is well worth taking the time to read and serves to back up, instill and reinforce all the lessons that Jon is constantly trying to drive into us through his TOTBO courses and book.

1. Start strong.
2. Tap into people’s passion.
3. Understand the power of your title.
4. Plan your marketing campaign from Day 1.
5. Align yourself with the key influencers in the area.
6. Alternative release and some very good news.
7. Shoot a promo first.
8. Cultivate your audience.
9. GIVE, GIVE, GIVE.
10. Define your brand.

Julie Eckersley, jonreiss.com/blog

Recently re-reading Robert Rodriguez‘s REBEL WITHOUT A CREW, the story of the making of EL MARIACHI and a filmmaking career, I came across this quote:

Low-budget movies put a wall in front of you and only creativity will allow you to figure out how to get around that wall. The less money and/or resources you have, the more you are forced to be creative.

And what is a movie anyway? A completely creative endeavour. Anything you can do to get away from the things that aren’t important, the better chance you have of being truly creative.

Robert Rodriguez, Rebel Without A Crew

Love him or hate him, we could all learn a little about creativity from Rodriguez.

Creativity isn’t about the money, the resources or the box office draw; it’s about telling the stories you want to tell in any way you can tell them, even if it’s not what you originally envisioned for them.

Exercise your creative muscles and get your project made, however you can. Finding your own way around that wall will harness the true power of your own creativity. And who knows, it may just unlock the doors to the studios.

Or cheque, for us Englanders.

This post from Seth Godin ((one of the few people on earth always worth listening to)) sums up very neatly some of the ideas and concepts about ourselves and our potential I’m working on at the moment.

A check in your wallet does you very little good. It represents opportunity, sure, but not action.  Most of us are carrying around a check, an opportunity to make an impact, to do the work we’re capapble of, to ship the art that would make a difference.

Seth Godin, sethsblog.com

My most productive time of day is very early in the morning. I’m used to being up at 6.30am to take K to the station for her commute to London and I know I work best in those 2-3 hours immediately I get up.

I have another burst of focus around the 5-6pm mark, where I tend to push myself into completing things before calling it a night.

Finding these productivity peaks not only helps you be more productive, but is much less likely to allow you to become distracted by other things. Just remember to close down Twitter and Facebook while you’re trying to make the most of your peaks.

When is your productivity peak?