Saturday, August 23, 2014

Empty August


August feels like molasses. Everyone seems to be on vacation and I feel like no serious decisions or work will get done until after Labor Day. Still, I muddle along with a few projects, patiently waiting for calls to be returned and emails to be replied.

This week, the theme of failure has strangely been popping up on my screen a lot. I'm not quite sure why, since things have been going pretty well over here on Planet Pauline. Failure is probably 80% of the life of any writer, and I love any new insight about it. By nature I tend to be a bit of a battering ram until I get an end result, but maybe there is a way to be a more gentle battering ram.

1. First, Jennifer Armstrong wrote a lovely blog post about what daily life is like when you are writing a book.

2. The New York Times ran a column about how failure is writing's constant companion.

3. Time had a piece about how failure is key to success for women.

4. And then there is this video from Marie Forleo, about how failure is just a stop on the way to success.