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Some habits for 2018

Some thoughts and plans for the year ahead and how I’m hoping to focus on habits, not goals.

Some habits for 2018

All the time and often

Why do we use technology all the time if we feel so negatively about what it is and does to us?

All the time and often
creativity

CreativeMornings Sheffield

CreativeMornings [https://creativemornings.com/] is a monthly event that tales place in cities all over the world. Creative folk get up early and gather at a lovely venue to drink coffee, eat too much pastry and hear a talk by someone marvellous. CreativeMornings comes to Sheffield Sheffield, my home city,

Édouard Louis

Fact or fiction: autobiographical novels with Édouard Louis

This episode of the Guardian Books podcast featuring Édouard Louis [https://soundcloud.com/guardianbookspodcast/fact-or-fiction-autobiographical-novels-with-edouard-louis-books-podcast] had me absolutely hooked. I hadn’t heard anything about Édouard Louis before, but two things struck me about his interview. First, the eloquence and clarity with which he talks about his childhood and the

children

The Very Persistent Gappers of Frip by George Saunders

George Saunders is one of those authors I’ve heard other people rave about for years but never read myself. After rewatching his brilliant advice on storytelling [http://iainbroome.com/blog/george-saunders-on-the-mystery-of-storytelling], I decided to give him a go. Drawn in by the amazing cover and title, I chose a

austin kleon

Art is theft

This is a gorgeous short film by Daniel Cordero [https://vimeo.com/197324296]. It outlines the idea that creativity comes from the artists and art that inspire us – that we ‘steal’ it to make something new. > Creation is not inspired by one man, woman or one thing. We are

business

The $100 Startup

I’m trying to make sure I read more in 2017. One way of doing that is to share some short thoughts about the books I get through here on the site. Let’s get cracking. The $100 Startup [http://amzn.to/2iyou0I] is both a book and the kind

literature

Virginia Woolf on why writing isn't a craft

This is the only surviving recording of Virginia Woolf [http://www.openculture.com/2016/08/in-the-only-surviving-recording-of-her-voice-virginia-woolf-explains-why-writing-isnt-a-craft-1937.html] . She’s reciting the opening of an essay on how to read literature, but there’s some incredible stuff on writing too. It’s a fascinating insight. I quite liked this pointed section:

How to build a fictional world

This is a great TED-Ed video by Kate Messner [http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-to-build-a-fictional-world-kate-messner]. And this is the important bit: > “Just like real life, fictional worlds operate consistently within a spectrum of physical and societal rules. That’s what makes these worlds believable, comprehensible and worth exploring.” It

comedy

How Ricky Gervais learned to write

There are two things I like about this clip of Ricky Gervais talking about the writing advice he received at school [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTJyDe7a2bo]. First, the larking about at the start and suggestion that no one writer’s process is any more interesting or important than