Sterling Terrell

recovering economist

Follow The Process

Follow The Process

In doubt about your ability to accomplish something? You need to follow a process.

I wrote about this before in: Grit In Your Job Search, And Everything Else.

The long and short of it is that concrete daily systems work much better than abstract long term goals.

Starting a novel can seem daunting. But most people can write 500 words per day.

Start small – and just keep going!

I don’t think it’s an accident that many books have 10 chapters with an intro and conclusion.

In the chaos of sport, as in life, process provides us a way. It says: Okay, you’ve got to do something very difficult. Don’t focus on that. Instead break it down into pieces. Simply do what you need to do right now. And do it well. And then move on to the next thing. Follow the process and not the prize.

-Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle Is The Way

Writing Permission: Granted

Writing Permission: Granted

This is your official certificate of writing permission.

No really.

If you are looking for it, if you need an excuse to start, here you go.

You have been approved. Congratulations!

That sound you just heard, waffling so faintly in the background, is your certificated being shipped out.

I hope you get famous one day, of course, but most of all I hope you spend your days as a person of letters, and find joy in the process of it all.

Welcome to the bum life.

May we forever be an encouragement to each other.

Writing isn’t about making money, getting famous, getting dates, getting laid, or making friends. In the end, it’s about enriching the lives of those who will read your work, and enriching your own life, as well. It’s about getting up, getting well, and getting over. Getting happy, okay? Getting happy. Some of this book—perhaps too much—has been about how I learned to do it. Much of it has been about how you can do it better. The rest of it—and perhaps the best of it—is a permission slip: you can, you should, and if you’re brave enough to start, you will. Writing is magic, as much the water of life as any other creative art. The water is free. So drink. Drink and be filled up.

-Stephen King, On Writing

Sterling Terrell