The Art of Writing

 “The art of writing is the art of discovering what you believe."

That insightful perspective was articulated by the great author Gustav Flaubert.  And it captures my experience well.

I often get new ideas in conversation. But I never fully understand and own those ideas until I write about them, either for myself, or in a blog, or a book. Writing, at its best, is a form of thinking. It clarifies our thoughts. And it leads to new thoughts. It even expands us, when it's done right.

People long kept diaries and journals, reflecting on their day. But few do so today. The daily journal or diary is a great avenue to enhanced self knowledge. So is writing letters to friends and family. Even social media can be used for this purpose, however seldom it actually is. There's no reason, in principle, that a tweet can't serve a spiritual end.

Most of us have had an interesting experience. Maybe you've come away from a lively conversation, having learned something not just from what you heard the other person say, but from what you heard yourself saying in that conversation. Talking, at its best, can be a form of thinking. Socrates showed us this long ago. Yet most people talk just to communicate, question, or to grouse. Talking through a puzzle or problem can be an effective first step in solving it. But writing about something can at times be even more effective. Putting down on paper, or on a screen, what we're thinking allows us both to create a new line of thought, and then to examine it, as if from a short distance, and gain even more perspective.

Here's another common experience, one many of us had when we were in school: Called upon to write on a topic during an exam, we suddenly realized to our shock and amazement how vague and incomplete our ideas were. We felt a twinge of panic. Sometimes the mind went blank, completely offline. What a difference it could have made to write on the exam topics in advance, in preparation for the test itself!

I don't speak from notes when I'm in front of people. But I prepare with notes. That clarifies my thinking and even helps me remember what I want to say. The simple act of making a "To-Do List" before bed can implant the items on the list firmly enough in my memory that, the next day, I don't even need the list. It's already served its purpose.

When we write, we discover, we deepen our understanding, and we remember better. In setting goals, it can be very beneficial to write them out, and chart out the intermediate and more immediate steps that it will take to reach the goal. It stimulates new thought. And it generates motivation. 

So: Write to discover! And: Write to become!

It's almost never wrong to write. You heard it here.

How To Handle Rejection

A book that's taken me eight years to finish, going through 24 versions, and six different titles,  has finally become, perhaps, my favorite nonfiction book I've ever had the joy and honor to conceive and write. And, so far, it's been rejected by potential publishers, in one version or another, 45 times.

My record before this was 36 rejections, for my first book, one that I wrote when I was twenty-one years old. The 37th editor who saw that manuscript said yes, and so I was a published author at age twenty-two, because I didn't give up. 

After that early stutter-start as an author, though, I've hardly ever tasted the disappointment of no. Instead, I came to enjoy a rare three-decade streak of unusual publishing success, producing twenty nonfiction books that launched me first into a great academic career, and then into a wild adventure as a public philosopher. 

The new book that no one wants to publish is all about the wisdom of the great practical philosophers on how to respond to change, and especially, how to deal with difficulty. And with it, I've suddenly experienced a very big change. I've never had such difficulty with any project. But the nice irony is that I've been able to use the advice of the book throughout the process of dealing with publishers, and I've learned how well all the wisdom of the ages works. I've attained a level of inner resilience and sustained confidence through it all to make Seneca or Marcus Aurelius proud.

Remember the old adage: When life hands you lemons, make lemonade. Everyone says it, but no one says how to do it. The philosophers have great advice on this. So, the new book is called Plato's Lemonade Stand: Stirring Change into Something Great. Editors at the major publishers have said that it's elegantly written, and that it contains important ideas. They've praised my past work, my present "platform" and the impact my books have, both in this country and around the world. They just worry that the new book would not be "big enough" for them, which in publisher-speak apparently means that it would not grab enough media attention and sell enough copies for all of us to retire and buy Kardashian-style Bentleys.

Only two editors, after various nice comments, added a clear concern. 

One said, "It's a little too prescriptive."

The other said, "It's not prescriptive enough."

Here's what I do. I don't let a spate of difficulty or rejection derail me. And you shouldn't either. The gatekeepers of any industry or enterprise are typically most comfortable with what they already know. And they may not know you, or understand what you're doing with your new idea, product, or process. But that doesn't determine the value of what you're doing, or how you should do it.

Creativity sometimes has a long road to walk. Dust off your shoes and keep walking.

Have your ideas been rejected? Have you been shot down? Well, remember that the Beatles were rejected and told, early on, that guitar music was "on the way out." The Dixie Chicks were advised to give up. They'd never make it in music. J.K. Rowling was informed over and over that there would be no market for her books about a kid named Harry Potter. And just yesterday, I read a book about one of my favorite movies ever - The Princess Bride - and how every major studio turned it down for 13 years, until my old friend Norman Lear paid to have it filmed by his friend Rob Reiner, who persisted despite all the difficulties. And the movie barely sold tickets when it came out, a seeming rejection at the box office as well, before it went on to become a classic.

Just do like all these creative people did. Keep doing what you you think is best.

That's what I do.