Is Reading Overrated for New Writers? An Unexpected Effect of Research on Deliberate Practice
Peter Rey's Blog
by Peter Rey
2y ago
Over the past few months, I’ve read some books about talent, and more specifically the age-old debate about whether it is possible to grow it. Some of the books I read are: Grit, by Angela Duckworth, Talent is Overrated, by Geoff Covlin, The Talent Code, by Daniel Coyle. Deliberate practice According to these books, it’s apparent that talent can be grown by resorting to deliberate practice ..read more
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Writing Goals, Outlines and Lightning-bugs
Peter Rey's Blog
by Peter Rey
2y ago
The map isn’t the territory, but it helps you a lot when you have to navigate it ! Outlines are similarly useful when it comes to reach our writing goals When we set ourselves a goal we have a strong tendency to consider it an all or nothing situation. Take for example someone who wants to lose some weigh, say twenty pounds. They look at the way they are now, and then imagine themselves at some point in the future, after they have shed the infamous twenty pounds ..read more
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Story Prompts for Better Inspiration
Peter Rey's Blog
by Peter Rey
2y ago
Given that deliberate practice is the most important way to improve in any activity, I thought a spate of new and quirky prompts could help you just with that — more practice. Hope you find them helpful. Small details A man notices all the spiders in his garden have just seven legs. He then begins to notice many other strange details. Like the way leaves always fall on the ground face down. Or the way bees fly repeatedly around the flowers before landing on them ..read more
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How to Begin a Book — Clarity
Peter Rey's Blog
by Peter Rey
2y ago
In the past, I already wrote a post about how to begin a book. However, today I would like to add some more considerations. In particular, about why writers should be as clear as possible and take pains to make sure their readers can orient themselves from the very start of a book. How to Begin a Book — Lack of clarity I believe this general principle makes a lot of sense for the following reasons: First of all, if you force your readers to go through something like fifty pages before they can at least in part figure out what is going on, you’re turning the pleasure of reading into an ordeal ..read more
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The Myth of Studying Smart — Why Details Matter
Peter Rey's Blog
by Peter Rey
2y ago
Art is in the uniqueness of the performers not in the instruments These days we’re constantly told we should be studying smart and don’t sweat the details. However, I believe some considerations are in order if we are to put this approach into a proficuous perspective. What studying smart is and what is not To start with, no matter what gurus keep saying, research shows that effective study requires both an important amount of time and notable effort ..read more
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Three Simple Tips on How to Have Great Ideas
Peter Rey's Blog
by Peter Rey
2y ago
How to have great ideas? First start having a lot of ideas. Everyday discoveries The first is a trick I sometimes use to come up with new ideas when I feel stuck: I begin writing about an average Joe, or Jane. I put him into the first situation I happen to think, no matter how everyday it may seem. Then I simply let him do whatever he wants. During this exercise you don’t need to come up with flawless prose ..read more
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6 Tips that Will Make You a Better Writer
Peter Rey's Blog
by Peter Rey
2y ago
Tips that Will Make You a Better Writer Principles Do you know that story about how you should always teach a poor man how to fish rather than just providing him with fish? Writing is the same. Rules represent the daily fish, so to speak. Instead, principles represent the teaching. As a result, whenever you can, devote your time to the study of principles. Once you’ve understood them, they’ll stay with you forever, and your writing will improve notably ..read more
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Burnout – The Importance of Rest in What You Do
Peter Rey's Blog
by Peter Rey
2y ago
Burnout – When you still have a dragon inside you, but it’s of the wrong kind I already wrote a post about burnout a few years ago. However, this post adds an aspect about the importance of rest — an aspect I hadn’t considered at the time and that, I believe, can be important. A few weeks ago I went for a long run up in the mountains. The day wasn’t too cold and I felt good ..read more
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Why the Myth of Art for Art’s Sake Is Nonsense
Peter Rey's Blog
by Peter Rey
2y ago
Sure, it can be tempting to believe you as an artist are a completely free agent, one able to produce art — sorry, true art — that is divorced from any didactic, moral, political, or utilitarian function. Yet, this idea of art for art’s sake is nonsense. And it is so for a series of reasons. Jung First of all, although since the dawn of time we’ve been inventing a horde of myths to make sense of the external world, while doing so we have also, and above all, tried to make sense of our shared inner psychological makeup ..read more
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AI Will Make Writers Unnecessary… or Maybe Not?
Peter Rey's Blog
by Peter Rey
2y ago
At first blush, the question whether or not AI will make writers unnecessary seems reasonable, especially considering how quick the progress of AI in general has been over the last few years. However, just consider these facts: in 1997 Deep Blue defeated Garry Kasparov at chess; and today any decent chess programs installed on an average PC can play with such a precision and accuracy they can often beat even a grandmaster. Yet, chess players all over the world keep playing chess one against the other — both online and face to face ..read more
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