Home of The Creative Nonfiction Podcast

By Brendan O’Meara

A few years ago my niece was home from school. She was sick and watched the movie Frozen on a constant loop. You probably did this as a kid too. You re-watched things you loved because you loved them. Unapologetically.

At some point you think that it’s no longer good enough to watch a few things deeply and you want to watch as many movies as possible or read as many books as possible.

But what if you tabled the idea of reading fifty books a year and instead read the same book twenty times? Or, pick your favorite book and read it once a year every year. I do this with The Great Gatsby. I read it every year in December, Ol’ Sport.

In any case, sometimes we think there’s no time to re-read books or re-watch movies because we could be consuming something new. No matter how many lifetimes you’re granted, you won’t be able to read or watch it all.

So should you come across something you love, study it. Immerse in it. See that book’s family tree: What authors did the author read that informed it?

It doesn’t matter what it is, but reclaiming that child-like zeal for a piece of art might be the key to greater enjoyment instead of trying to stay on an ever-quickening treadmill.

By Brendan O’Meara

After taking Alexandra DiPalma’s great podcasting course on Creative Live and having her on CNF, one of her fundamental questions for any novice podcaster is: How will you define success?

Is it downloads?

Is it listeners?

Is it reach?

Is it money? (A bad one, admittedly, but that’s a metric for some people).

Point being if we define our success in realistic terms, approachable terms, then maybe some of the bitterness and resentment won’t glom on. Maybe you’ll have fun again.

But if you have some nebulous idea of what success is, or an atomically unrealistic metric, then you will grow bitter and angry.

Define what it would mean to feel successful and fulfilled. And go after it. If you hit that mark. Celebrate, then recalibrate, reengage, and get after it again.

By Brendan O’Meara

That’s a quote from Goethe. I found it in Annie Dillard’s The Writing Life.

It speaks so strongly getting a lot of work done, if you think about it.

Tortoise and hare.

Don’t rush. Plug along. Drip by drip. Don’t stop.

Go faster by slowing down.

By Brendan O’Meara

Maybe we’ve all been fooled that we even need social media, but if you do think you need it—and I think I’m one of those people—I’d love to share a new practice that I think is working…for me…and maybe it’ll work for you.

I’m allotting thirty minutes before noon and thirty minutes after noon for any and all social media.

This way there is purpose. In that time I schedule the tweets, post quote cards and audiograms to Facebook and Instagram, and maybe scroll a little bit to see what my writer pals are up to.

Then I shut it down until later in the day.

After reading Jenny Odell’s How to Do Nothing, it’s made me think about the use of social media. Putting parameters on it gives me a better sense of control when you know those for-profit social networks are algorithmically designed to control you.

Like Seth Godin says, if the product is free, you are the product.

Set a timer. Thirty minutes. Go.