Leave Some Rough Edges

While at NYU film school I served as informal joke tester for Mel Brooks. Well, that’s how I describe it. I doubt Mel Brooks would describe it at all, or even remember this important moment in my education. He and Anne Bancroft lived at 1 Fifth Avenue, which at the...

How I Help You

In a recent blog post I talked about taking daydream breaks when working on a tough project. This is how I expand my boundaries. When I work with you, that’s what we do. We start off by just talking. I tickle you with questions . . . and then maybe in the middle of...

Daydream the Book

I have a talent I’ve cultivated over the years that doesn’t exactly fit on a resumé: I’ve always been a good daydreamer. As I child I clocked many hours lying on my bed . . . thinking. At the time it was called “goofing off,” but I knew it was leading somewhere. As an...

Writing. Not Writing.

I might as well start with my biggest secret: most of writing is NOT writing. Most of writing is about intention and focus—inward at first to reach the depth of your material and then outward to think about your reader. In my first editorial job we were allowed to...