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Big things start small because we can’t understand a complicated task unless we break it down into bite-size chunks. Our minds can process only one item at a time. We have to start small.
I read something similar in an interview where Jeff Bezos was discussing his experiences during Amazon’s growth phase. He said, “The biggest oak starts from an acorn, and if you want to do anything new, you’ve got to be willing to let that acorn grow into a little sapling and then finally into a small tree, and maybe one day it will be a big business…
When we don’t have sex for a long time, anything remotely sexy feels exciting. When we are hungry, every food looks tasty.
When you are multitasking, you are dividing your attention between two or more interests, but you cannot choose one. Fascinating videos and stories confuse you about what makes you feel super excited. You can jump to more exciting stuff in an instant, thanks to the AI-powered auto-suggestions tailored to keep you glued to the social media.
If you are not a writer on a mission, it is okay to indulge your visual appetite with entertaining videos. But if…
The movies and novels play a crucial part in our lives. Most of us spend a lot of time watching movies and reading. Is it a mindless pursuit of entertainment, or is it an unmet human need that attracts us?
Most of the good movies are not compilations of amazing shots and special effects. These movies try to touch our souls with their emotional appeal. They are a great source of inspiration and parasocial needs. …
If you are a writer, you think — all the time.
‘Will a big publication accept my story?’ you think. If you are a decent writer — the plagiarist is an indecent one — and you submit a story to Illumination, you can safely assume that it will be published. This is the spirit of writing on Medium.
Why are the editors of huge publications so finicky? Because they accept the best and reject the rest. Illumination is the only publication that publishes your work as it is. It allows new writers to learn by making mistakes.
Is your writing ability closely tied to your reading ability? Can your MRI scan prove that? I’ll try to prove my point in two minutes.
But first, why read anyway?
Knowing is a human need — like breathing or eating. If you are not feeling good, you do not always need to swallow a pill; sometimes, you need to read — or watch — something.
Sir Roger Scruton said, “Consolation from imaginary things is not imaginary consolation.”
National Health Service of UK started Reading Well, a Books on Prescription program to prescribe fiction and self-help works for some conditions.
Consider…
If you follow this method, you’d be as gutless as you ever were. But your writing would show that you have the guts to tell a great story.
“Fake it until you make it,” as they say about making money. But can this apply to writing and telling stories? Is it easy to fake you have incredible guts to tell a story?
In fact, everybody is already trying to do that. The world is full of writers trying to fake emotions in their stories — like they fake orgasms. Faking honesty will not work.
Another trick would be to have…
‘F*ck decency,’ I thought. I may win a No-Bell Prize someday, but at this time, I am just a struggling writer. One of those extras who say one line in a Tom Cruise movie (that is edited out in the final cut of the film. And you come to know about it in the theatre where you have taken ten of your friends to tell them that this was the break you were looking for).
Once upon a time — or four days ago — I woke up, grabbed my cup of coffee, sat in my favorite kitchen chair, and…
The viral stories move you. When you are reading them, you are intensely engaged. It happens because the writer creates a connection with you on an emotional level.
What if I told you that there is an AI — Artificial Intelligence — that can tell you your story’s emotional value — as a number? Green is positive emotions and red is negative emotions?
Companies are using this type of AI to monitor and understand reviews and customer feedback. They don’t need to read thousands of reviews on their site or Facebook. …
Do you feel anything about the topic of your next story? If nobody is going to connect emotionally with what you are going to say — you don’t need to write it.
Write things you feel.
But first, check if your feelings are intense enough. If you value your obsessions, you’ll find it easy to write more engaging material.
Franz Kafka believed you should write about your intense obsessions:
“Don’t bend; don’t water it down; don’t try to make it logical; don’t edit your own soul according to the fashion. Rather, follow your most intense obsessions mercilessly.” ~ Franz Kafka
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Living life in awe of it all. Hoping to make sense. A Thinker, Writer & Storyteller. Working on my tech startup.