I am so grateful for Benjamin Hardy’s article about his new culture wall, which Gaping Void created for him. Number 14 in his list of pictures is by far my favorite. It summarizes exactly my philosophy when it comes to making it as an artist and an author: “It’s better to be prolific than perfect.” — Joe…
Archives for July 2018
Find a Great Homepage and Copy It
Steal like an artist. Find a website with a great homepage and copy it. I don’t mean copy it exactly and I’m not even talking about the design. Find a headline and a call-to-action and then turn it into a template for your own work. For example, Bryan Harris’s homepage for Videofruit gets a 10%…
Two Reasons to Want to be a Writer (according to Orson Scott Card)
In the postcript of the audiobook version of Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card shared the two reasons anyone decides to become a writer. You read something amazing and say, “Oh, wow, I want to be able to write like that.” You read something awful and say, “If that got published, then I can write.” The…
What Made Bridge to Terabithia a Success?
I just finished reading Bridge to Terabithia. Someone had left a copy of it in our Little Free Library and it was on my list of children’s books to read and research as a writer. I got the audiobook version on Overdrive and listened to the book while doing chores around the house. At the…
Louis Martin: How to Raise a Saint
Today is the feast day of Sts. Louis and Zelie Martin, the parents of St. Therese of Lisieux, who is well known for her autobiography, A Story of a Soul. Like Louis, I am a father of only daughters so I payed very close attention to Therese’s description of her “Papa” in her autobiography. There…
