Nicholas Bate

On Writing 134

1. “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
   — Maya Angelou

2. “You can always edit a bad page. You can’t edit a blank page.”
   — Jodi Picoult

3. “Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.”
   — Louis L’Amour

4. “The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.”
   — Terry Pratchett

5. “A writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.”
   — Thomas Mann

6. “Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.”
   — Anton Chekhov

7. “The scariest moment is always just before you start.”
   — Stephen King

Go write.

Monday

Is simply a test.

Pass it by being resilient, focused and surprisingly cheerful.

The Greatest Productivity Tips, 141

Work in dedicated units. Start with 30 mins, then 45, 60 eventually 90.

Have a timer. Keep your head down. Hide. No distractions are allowed. No peeps elsewhere. Only the topic in hand. 

Be amazed how much you get done with focus, with pace and distraction zero.

2025? It’s Still Young.

Go on: get back to that list of goals.

Re-write; re-fresh; re-boot!

Just How Good is Paul McCartney?

Well, at his last concert of 2024 in London, UK he DIDN’T have time for:

‘Yesterday’, ‘Eleanor Rigby’, ‘I Saw Her Standing There’, ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’, ‘The Night Before’, ‘Paperback Writer’, ‘Michelle’, ‘We Can Work it Out’, ‘Penny Lane’, ‘When I’m Sixty-Four’, ‘Hello, Goodbye’, ‘She’s Leaving Home’, ‘A Day in the Life’, ‘The Fool on the Hill’, ‘Back in the USSR’, ‘Birthday’, ‘Why Don’t We Do it in the Road?’, ‘The Long and Winding Road’.

I’m indebted to Michael Hann who created that list in his Spectator article.

Read More; Scroll Less

You’d prefer it in easy chunks? Maybe 45 minutes? Varied? Time travel? A whodunnit? A historical adventure?

You’re in luck. You need Love, Life & Legacy, a collection of three short stories.

Ahhhh…you seek something darker? A different time? Conspiracy? A hero set to save the world? The origins of Covid-19. That’ll be Bram, A Spy Story.

Actually you’d prefer the full saga, the hero’s quest! Three arching novels which take you from the south of the UK to a magical Scottish island and then to Europe.  A tale of love, self-realisation and destiny. The Molly Trilogy which starts here. 

All available via kindle, machine or app. Happy reading. De-stress, expand the mind and scroll differently.

101, Immersion

What are the Secrets of Success? Sometimes you realise that if you just woke up, were intelligent, noticed the moments and were bold, had real grit, stopped thinking about escape hatches, and were resilient, perhaps things would become refreshingly different.After all, the totally tangible truths are simply priceless and remind you that whetever it takes in a Brave New World, there is no conspiracy maybe just simply one doppio espresso too many. After all, you say you want a revolution.  So be a superhero, take some time to pause and consider and realise that life is good. And become truly wealthy by using the life tips. What if you were fearless and knew that you could solve any problem that you had? Reinvent. Be outrageous. Be professional. After all, AreYouSerious as genius often starts with quick wins, certainly avoiding nonsense, taking time to reflect, seeking answers and knowing what is to be done. Set your compass, do it and boost your productivity and hence wellness and hence creativity. Think Beatles, think blue Jeans, less PowerPoint. Write and be different. Grab your freedom and travel. Less marketing, more relaxing. Make that Parallel Universe happen: be more intelligent and let the good news happen with the essentials.

Do What You Want in 2025

The book. The Guide. The Instruction Book.

Instant. Kindle. Read it. 

Catch-up Wednesday

1. 25 Mini Standards.
2. The Writing Primer.
3. Bram, A Spy Story: a story of coming of age, of Queen and country and the origins of Covid-19. “Once you start reading this book, it’s difficult to put down. Initially, you are immersed in the delights of Oxford academia, only to then be exposed to the starkness and brutality of Moscow during the Cold War. Bram, a brilliant Oxford chemist, turns spy whose mission is to save the world from a highly dangerous and ubiquitous threat. This book is characterised by most of the attributes of a good spy story with action, heroic exploits by a larger-than-life protagonist and a strong plot. Well worth a read.”
   
4. How to Start your Very Own Business.
5. Instant Productivity.
6. Seven choices.
7. 22 Essentials.
8. How to Create your Home Office.
9. plus The Start Up Myths
10. Stay STRONG
11. Crazy Bold Experiments
12. Just say NO to PPT
13. The Marketing Primer.
14. Being the Best version of you, the book, back in stock.
15. Redundancy
16. Hunter-Gatherer 21C
17. Tackling Stress.
18. Manage that career
19. Be Bold 101
20. You still haven’t read Being The Best?! 
21. Things They Don’t Teach at Business School
22. the secrets of success
23. Life Tips 101
24. Zen & Art of Cubicle Freedom
25. Carnage At Kodak
26. The Very Best Drugs You Need
27. Billions of Light Years Away In Another Galaxy
28. 22 Routes To Your Non Fiction Book
29. Lists For The Life You Love
30. How To Lessen E-Mail Pain
31. Professionalism 101
32. 21 Ways to Improve your Zoom Conference Call.
33. Productivity Primer
34. 101, redux
35. The Basic Basics

On Writing, 133

1. Write for quantity.
2. Then edit for quality.
3. Write to the stopwatch with zero distractions.
4. Accept no excuses: fingers to keyboard same time, same place; rain or shine.
5. Do the day-job brilliantly so you become invaluable and you can negotiate more time for writing.
6. Write for love of word, sentence and story. Not for fame.
7. When not writing nor doing the day job, read the classics.