In writing, habit seems to be a stronger force than either willpower or inspiration. Consequently there must be some little quality of fierceness until the habit pattern of a certain number of words is established. There is no possibility, in me at least, of saying, “I’ll do it if I feel like it.” One never feels like awaking day after day. In fact, given the smallest excuse, one will not work at all. The rest is nonsense. Perhaps there are people who can work that way, but I cannot. I must get my words down every day whether they are any good or not.
M. Popova, “How Steinbeck Used the Diary as a Tool of Discipline, a Hedge Aginst Self-Doubt, and a Pacemaker for the Heartbeat of Creative Work,” The Marginalian, https://www.themarginalian.org/2015/03/02/john-steinbeck-working-days/, (accessed 9 February 2024).
— John Steinbeck, American writer
Habit is stronger than willpower or inspiration
by
Tags:
Featured Content
The effort is better than rest
“Writing music is seventy-five per cent an intellectual activity. This effort is often more pleasant for me than having a rest.” Conversation with Ravel, recalled by Robert de Fragny, Echo liberté, 7 November 1950. Cited in: Nichols, Roger (1987) Ravel Remembered. London: Faber & Faber., p. 61.
Big BusinessTitle: Big Business (silent film soundtrack) Composer: Greg Smith Performer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: Piano Product medium:MP3 recording (18:16) RELATED PRODUCTS: – PDF score BACKGROUND: Film: Directors: James W. Horne & Leo McCarey Starring: Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy Year of release: 1929 Synopsis: Two salesmen are trying to sell Christmas trees in california. The customers, […]
StyleLife experience“Knowledge about life is one thing; effective occupation of a place in life, with its dynamic currents passing through your being, is another.” – William James, American philosopher and psychologist W. James, Essays in Pragmatism, United Kingdom, Free Press, 1970, p. 113.
Piper’s TaleTitle: Piper’s Tale Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: Piano duet Level: Piano I – 2 (five finger position – pentatonic scale [black keys]) Product medium: PDF score and MP3 accompaniment track SAMPLE: (Audio sample of accompaniment track only)
Jazz apprenticeships“Why are jazz apprenticeships so vital in the first place? For one thing the music essentially models a community, with every ensemble thriving on communication, a code of ethics and an implicit grasp of roles. Jazz is also still a young music, with about a century of precedent, imperfectly captured on record and poorly served […]
Knowledge represents inner strength“Knowledge is not a passion from without the mind, but an active exertion of the inward strength, vigor and power of the mind, displaying itself from within.” – Ralph Cudworth, Treatise Concerning Eternal and Immutable Morality (1731)
Music as a means of common meditation“There is also in this music an extraordinary sense of control over the passage of time; a moment will be held still as if suspended, and then released, with a rush. Einstein has told us that time is relative, flexible and elastic; I have noticed these qualities whenever I have tried to play to the […]
Uniqueness“The more you like yourself, the less you are like anyone else, which makes you unique.” — Walt Disney L. Howes, “20 Lessons from Walt Disney on Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Chasing Your Dreams”, Forbes, 17 July 2012, https://www.forbes.com/sites/lewishowes/2012/07/17/20-business-quotes-and-lessons-from-walt-disney/?sh=4b3af9d44ba9, accessed 13 January 2022.
Technology and the future of musicThe future direction of music demands that musicians today lose themselves in technology and learn from their mistakes. In the past, musicians tended to view technology as a nuisance—something someone else did so they could be left alone to create. But technology and music are merging rapidly—forcing musicians to view software as part of their […]