# The Creative Mind

It’s the secret. The oxymoronic mindset it takes to achieve in any pursuit in which the rewards are many and the opportunities few.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned about this world is that who you are and who people want you to be aren’t the same thing.

That’s the problem with unsolicited advice. Most of the time, the advice-giver knows nothing about you or your situation.

Our fields can be harsh, and the struggle is real, but that doesn’t have to be all we are.

Some call it gamesmanship, some call it cheating, some call it plain old knowing the rules. But if you don’t know the rules, you can’t bend them to your advantage.

Knowing that even A-list authors have “my dog ate my homework” moments can be reassuring, and ironically that reassurance can help the rest of us unleash our creativity.

If you cannot effectively or efficiently communicate, every part of the creative process will take twice as long and be ten times as frustrating as it needs to.

You have not chosen an industry for the fully sane. The suit-and-tie-and-nylons-wearing-9-to-5-cubicle-dwelling-let's-go-to-happy-hour-and-have-some-laughs-on-a-Friday-night-but-be-home-by-10pm crowd is not your lifestyle choice. This is a job best handled by the slightly unbalanced.

"One of the key challenges of ADHD is task initiation. If I could do task initiation, if I could start the thing, it wouldn’t be a challenge, hence the advice to just 'initiate the task' is not helpful."

The armor I’d built around me was pristine and impenetrable. It was also horribly lonely, and for a long time it helped me survive, but it had outlived its usefulness.

Settle down and focus on the task at hand, which is, as it always should be: Writing the best story you can. Everything to come is not your problem. Not yet, anyway, and not unless you’re lucky.

Don’t worry about being good enough. You are good enough. Just do that thing. Then do it again even better next time.

“'Just try not to die' is my standard advice for anyone helming a first feature. I nearly did, and I wouldn't recommend it."

If we reflect back on what we’ve done in the past and how we’ve overcome it, facing the same challenge in the future will be just that much easier.

The danger of the shame I felt is that it caused a paralysis that hindered me from forward motion in every aspect of my life, not just writing.