Presented below is a thought from me on writing, a quote from someone else on writing, an excerpt from that writer, and a discipline/habit to implement…
We will be focusing on winning & learning today.
A Thought
“There’s absolutely no way you can lose when you embrace every setback as an opportunity to learn and propel yourself even further.”
– Austin Alford
A Quote
“Sometimes you win, and sometimes you learn.”
– John Maxwell (Author of Developing the Leader Within You & many more)
An Excerpt
A small excerpt for today. One sentence in fact. Let it settle in.
John Maxwell, Developing the Leader Within You
“Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker.”
A Discipline/Habit to Implement
How can we writers learn from our mistakes or losses? Well, let me tell you a practical step you can take this week to level up your learning game.
First things first, you gotta have a place to jot down those blunders and the valuable lessons you’ve learned from them. Whether it’s on your phone, in a journal, or even on a napkin, just make sure you’ve got a spot to document your epiphanies.
Back in 2018, I embarked on a wild adventure of shooting my very first short film. At the tender age of 19, I was bursting with excitement to bring one of my scripts to life on the big screen.
As the co-director and co-writer with Simeon Neese, it was a massive undertaking for us, and to make matters even more challenging, our director of photography was also doubling as the editor. With a total budget of $550, you won’t believe what we spent it on – food! Yep, we thought it would be a nice gesture to provide everyone with meals and drinks throughout the four days of shooting.
But here’s the plot twist – after the shooting was done, the post-production turned into a nightmare. Editing turned out to be the most mind-numbing task ever, and our DP couldn’t handle the workload for free, so he quit halfway through. As a result, the film remained incomplete, and I was left feeling like a failure. However, I refused to let those negative thoughts consume me. Instead, I decided to focus on the silver lining and jot down all the valuable lessons I learned throughout the entire process – from pre-production to filming and post-production.
Fast forward just one year later, and another one of my scripts was brought to life and premiered in front of a whopping 200 people! How did I achieve this? Well, I simply took all those learnings I had written down and put them into action. It goes to show that mistakes and losses can be the stepping stones to success if we’re willing to learn and grow from them!
It’s time to unleash your inner writer and embark on a journey of growth and improvement. Let those mistakes be the fuel that ignites your creativity and propels you towards success. You’ve got this!
Put Pen to Paper this week and have fun!
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