Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Thursday's Children - TEDtalks



Thursday's Children - TEDtalks

Or: Don't Shoot Yourself in Your Louboutins



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Writers share their Inspirations.
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You can't win if you don't play.
You can't win if you don't play.
You can't win if you don't play.

This is my mantra right now.

I just finished the Last Looks revision of a WIP I've been working on for a few years.

Doubts are poltergeisting my thoughts. No one will like it. No one will read it. No one will get it. No one will want it.

It's the first story I've done longer than a poem, longer than a flash fiction, longer than my longest short story.

Which people seem to like.

I've even won a few awards.

But here's the crack on that soufflé. Can I bring my A-game to a longer work. Who knows?

Gawd, I want to gouge my eyes out with an ice pick.

I want to delete the whole thing. I want to print it out and set it on fire. I want to pretend I never wrote it never thought it never even dared dream it could be done by someone like me.

I'm no one.
I'm nothing.
I'm just another minnow flash in a swift stream.

But TED says I'm not. TED keeps telling me that anybody can be somebody. Sometimes, TED reminds me that I need to live the life I'd envy someone else living.

TED inspires me. When I'm down about #firstworldproblems, TED tells me "Look at your life, you disgusting, over-privileged, over-spending, consumer whore." Not in those words, mind you, but I get it. I get it, TED.

There's more to be done. Messages that need spreading. TED inspires me to talk to people. Find out their stories. Learn what they mean when they say things under or over or around their words.

TED inspires my dialogue - with other people, with characters in my stories.
TED tells me what people care about enough to fight for. What dialogues need to happen in the great big story of Humanity.

And if those people can change the world, then by the transitive law of mathematics, I can change my own goddamn life.

Or at least, attempt to.
Many great inventions came out of an attempt to invent something completely different.

But, you can't win if you don't play.
No sirree, you can't win if you don't play.
Don't shoot yourself in your Louboutin's, for chrissake! You can't win if you don't goddamn play. 


Here are the TEDtalks that have motivated me recently:

Have you watched a TEDtalk? Have any TEDtalks inspired you? 




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16 comments:

  1. I have not watched a TED talk. But you're certainly right about needing to take risks to get anywhere. You know something else I've learned? That first book may/may not get you where you want to be. That's okay. Write another goddamn book. And another. However many it takes. You'll get there. But only if you don't give up.

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    1. Thanks, Rhiann. I like the reminder that the first book may/may not get me where I want to be. On top of that, I'd like to add that putting it out there is progress. Sometimes, when lost, a step in *any* freaking direction is a good thing.

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  2. There is a TED talk with JJ Abrams?! AWESOME!! I must immediately watch this. Thanks for pointing that out : ) I bet your MS is a lot better than you're giving yourself credit for and you're absolutely right, you can't win if you don't play the game. I luv that mantra!

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    1. Thanks, Paula. I know, right? He's awesome in that talk. There's a whole bunch of TEDtalks on writing/literature, but some of the ones that have helped me the most are topics I'd picked at random. :)

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  3. Haha. Very funny. No you can't.
    I'm glad I didn't think that during the process of wring my longet commitment to paper -yeah, I write by hand, rough drafts only. But now at 15+ revisions, I''m like, what was I thinking?! Great post. :)

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    1. Hey Karen!
      First book I ever wrote was done by hand on 3-hole punched binder paper. I think I was like... 13 at the time? LOL.
      But! I still do poetry by hand on paper. Lots and lots of paper.....

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  4. I don't know about these TED talks. Based on your funny but tense post, I'm not sure I want to. I like to just write and hope for the best. I'm following the 10K hours theory discussed in Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell which is—in order to be proficient in any skill a person needs 10K hours of practice. So I practice, get feedback from writing classes, contest judges and critique partners and practice some more. So whatever I turn out is good. (Even if it’s not, because I’m learning and racking up more practice hours.)

    But seriously, thanks for sharing. Your post makes me want to read more of your work. 

    http://otherworlddiner.blogspot.com/2013/04/inspired-by-remarkable-unusual-and-true.html

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    1. Ah, I've read TIPPING POINT and BLINK, but I don't know if I've read OUTLIERS - I'll check if I have it.

      Give the TEDtalks a try. They're like Gladwell's books in that the speakers show how lots of different things in the world can be connected.

      I'm a fan of the old school 7-7-7 route to "mastery" which is you learn a craft for seven years, practice it for 7 years, then teach it for 7 years.

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  5. Don't know the TED talks, but I think all writers have been, or are beelining for that fateful moment of "OMG! What have I done? It sucks!"

    Like Rhiann says - write another, and another, and another. Tell the little doubts to shut the hell up! :)

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    1. LOL. Beeline....

      I have some kind of weird compulsion - maybe shared by many writers: I need to fix things. Tweak things. Make things better ALL THE TIME. So I have to draw a hard line between old stuff and new stuff, otherwise I'll obsess about a single word (is it the right one? Did I put it in the right place? Should I change it?) for weeks.

      Good point on moving on and writing another. And another. And another....

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  6. WOW! Another first time novel writer! and working on it for years, to boot! And, wonders if you can make those short stories people like so much carry on that likey-nedd into the novel! YAY!! So awesome!

    Now, to go watch those TEDs!
    Jamie Dement (LadyJai)
    http://writebackwards.we3dements.com

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  7. Awesome post; I need to watch more TED videos, clearly. The two that I've seen really stuck with me and it's nice to know how they've inspired you. :) Thanks for the recommendations.

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    1. I watch them every time I need a recharge. Also, my go-to "cure" for "writer's block."

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  8. I absolutely understand how you feel. Putting work out there is nothing short of terrifying. But you're absolutely right - you can't win if you don't play.

    I love TED talks. Freaking love them. I recently watched several great ones - the ones that stand out the most are Amanda Palmer's and Brittany Gibbons'.

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    1. I saw the Amanda Palmer one, but I'll check out Brittany Gibbons'. Thanks for the recs!

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