This is brilliant! The genius of Apple and Pixar shares three great stories from his life (no big deal he says!) on challenge, fate, excellence, and what really matters.  Just think of this guy’s life as a novel…and you are learning much about writing as you go!  Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish!

(This is an updated Video) Based on the works of Al Zuckerman in “Writing The Blockbuster Novel,” we look at how Mayden has high stakes for all the main characters.

This is a MUST watch (but beware, 20 minutes), for anyone wanting to understand how the MUSE works with writers. It is brilliant, and just how it works for me. Enjoy!

This video talks–or rather stories–about writing for the MC. Is it so different than writing a novel? Good ideas here!

An exceptional storyteller just doing what he wanted to do, and then sharing it… what story are you telling today?

Lately, the Internet has been wild with this “25 things others don’t know about you” tag game.  I’ll pass, but give you the one really important thing to know.  It comes with (surprise, surprise) a story.

When I was a young writer–think 13, 14, 15–I had an idea.  What if I took ten life topics like love, money, fate, and family, and wrote an article about them once a year, every year, until I died?  How would I change?  How would my writing grow?  I suppose even then I knew I would forever be in evolution, or at least hope to be.

I say hope to be because there was another idea I had when I was young, and this one kept me up at night.  It started to haunt me one night at a school sports event and has yet to let up, even to this day.  Read the rest of this entry

This guy wrote what might be the best book in the world–The Alchemist–at least for great story with all kinds of omens and signs and journeys and all that…and this is his sage advice on how to climb mountains (i.e. be who you are on the long rough road). Just touch the edge of the page and it will turn…Enjoy!

Author’s success in her jeans:

Tells teens power is in their purses

By RUTH MOON For The Sun

Author Ann Brashares asked teens to recognize their power and use it wisely in an appearance Wednesday in Downers Grove. About 100 teen girls and their moms met the woman behind the popular “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” movie and book series at the event, sponsored by Anderson’s Bookshop, at the Tivoli Theatre in Downers Grove. Brashares, author of the four-book “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” series, including the newly released “Three Willows: The Sisterhood Grows,” spoke about her life, read a portion from her book and answered questions from the audience.  Read more about her advice about teens, power, writing, and doing what you love…

The video I just posted with Charlie Rose interviewing author Malcom Gladwell, author of “Tipping Point,” “Blink,” and “Outliers” is so rich!  You want to know what it takes to be an exceptional writer? It’s all there, matching my sentiments on the process.  Here are some key thoughts:

Summarizing Billy Joy,  computer genius: “I have found the thing that has captured my imagination and I have the faith that will take me somewhere meaningful.”  That’s it! If your writing captures your own imagination, it will take you somewhere meaningful! Read the rest of this entry

Want to be an exceptional writer? Charlie Rose gets the goods from Malcolm Gladwell, author of Outliers. 30 minutes, but very worth applying every morsel to the writing process. I’ll comment in detail in another post.