Elements of Story

There is so much here.  I will need to read and reread this post, but also read his book "Wonderworks"

8 Traits to Foster Your Creativity from Ogilvie and Mather

Inspiring blog post from Farnham Street.
The full title of the book is

Eternal Pursuit of Unhappiness Being Very Good Is No Good,You Have to Be Very, Very, Very, Very, Very Good

It costs $270 on Amazon 

Click through to see the 8 traits.  

 

 

 

 

More On Risk from "brainstorm"

Risk:
To productively obsess, you must be easy with taking the risks that accompany difficult projects.  What are those risks? That choosing this obsession was a mistake. That you won't succeed. That you'll disappoint yourself (again) or that the world will disappoint you (again). Unless you're in the habit of taking such rusks automatically, so that risk-taking is not even an issue for you, you will have to train yourself to conscouly announce that you are about to risk.  You must put the idea of risk on the table and then fiercely embrace it.
...
The state of avoidance. We are not really obsessing about our idea, only about our doubts and worries.  We aren't thinking, "How does gravity work?" We;re thinking, "How can somebody with an IQ of only 135 solve such a problem?" We aren't thinking, "HHow can I use that folk melody in the third movement of my symphony?" We're thinking, "Who in her right mind would compose a symphony nowadays?" We haven't embraced the risk inherent in interesting projects, and we're secretly hoping for guarantees...