# The Creative Mind

When I open the pages, I am no longer me. It is the opposite of social media. And it takes practice to read, and to write as though you have read.

We don’t need to pursue things we once wanted just because we once wanted them. We don’t need to hang out with assholes just because we randomly met them.

How are you going to make something that’s going to change the world when you’re too busy to experience the world you’re trying to change?

These barriers are often of our own making, created by way of excuses to get out of doing the dirty work.

And you know what happens when you take the time to play? You happen. Your very best self.

WME had just sent out my novel on wide submission. I’d had a call with the book-to-film department that morning about potential adaptations . . . It really did seem like it was my moment—I was closer than I’d ever been to breaking through.

I suddenly found myself getting more feedback than I could handle. Seven voices all telling me different things. Seven voices full of conviction, where I had none. I tried to please everyone. Spoiler alert: I failed.

After I finished a draft, I emerged from my cocoon of grief, wiped the ice chips off my body, and wasn’t prone to crying in the middle of the street anymore. I left it all on the page.

Every creative knows that feeling. We also know it's just part of the business. An occupational hazard. You pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and move on. But for some, that one little bee sting feels more like a thousand angry hornets.