Lin Lustig's Blog

This is a question that has been asked at every new writer panel that I have attended. Do we really have to read to be a writer? The quick answer is yes… but not forever.

One of my secret shames as an author is that I am not a reader. I consider myself to be a storyteller because I originally went to school for film where I was interested in behind the camera production work and preproduction development. So when I decided to take my storytelling skills to a different long-form-writing format, I honestly wondered the same thing.

Everyone I had ever heard answer this question says a blanket yes you must, because reading is one of the best ways to understand story flow, pacing, and plotting, but most importantly you begin to understand the real reason to read: Genre.

Genre expectations are one of the most important aspects of writing a book that will sell. If you are making story promises that align with what the reader is expecting, such as in romance where a happily ever after (or happily for now) is required, and then you decide not to give them a happily ever after there’s a very good chance you’re going to piss off your audience.

Although you can pick up primary genre beats in films and other mediums, it won’t be until you have read through a wide variety of styles within your genre that you’ll be able to pick up the nuances, the tropes, the way to subvert those tropes, and trends.

Unfortunately, there is no magic number on how many books you need to read. As with most things involving art, it will be entirely unique to your brain. But overall, I believe you must read to understand writing at least in the beginning.

The second reason you need to read to be a writer is to be able to communicate with other writers. Writerly discussion is a natural course, and one typical topic is why that book? When a book flies off the shelves and it does crazy things in the charts, it’s helpful to read it and break it down with other authors to discover what makes that book special. The easiest way of discussing the “science” behind a bestseller is by reading it. Think of it like a sophisticated book club, one that you will be able to distill usable information from and apply it practically to your own work.

If you are looking to jump on a popular bandwagon, then you’re gonna have to pay attention to where the wagon came from.

Understanding current trends will depend on whether or not your primary focus of writing books is to sell them, is to have readers, or is simply for the joy of it. If you are writing purely for your own joy, it’s not as necessary to keep track of trends and popular tropes, but it is still helpful, and gives you common ground with other authors and readers. But in this case, you do you, and as long as it’s making you happy, then you’re a success.

A third reason why you need to read as a writer, is because craft books are wonderful resources. Although I love watching authors on YouTube sharing mini lessons, when I need to understand a subject more fully, I turn to craft books so I can take my time digesting the problem from an approachable, in depth way (depending on the book, of course).

Reading engages a different part of the brain, plus I’m able to easily take notes. I find that the information sticks better because I’m a slow reader, so every time that I sit down to dedicate myself to a book, my brain must stay entirely focused on that page to track any of the information. This is in part why audio books that I need to pay attention to are not a good fit for me. With audio, I multitask and it’s great if I’m driving or washing dishes, but anything more complicated and my brain starts totally ignoring the story. That said audio books are an amazing way for people to digest a lot of story in a shorter period of time, however I don’t recommend entirely replacing reading the words on the page if possible.

So my three main arguments in favor of reading books: understand reader expectations and baseline craft of your chosen genre, read popular bestsellers to help you discuss and breakdown what works in the current trends, and to read educational books to level up specifics of the craft.

But here are two reasons why you don’t need to be an obsessive reader: story can be found everywhere.

Film is an awesome way to intake story. You get a condensed story line with character arcs and a progression of plot in a digestible hour long episode, or a multi-hour movie . You will be hard pressed to find many full length novels to read in only two hours (novellas and short stories, however, are excellent for this). It is also easier to maintain a beat on pop culture and open up more topics for discussion with other writers and viewers. It may be a different medium that relies on multiple senses in order to fully deliver the emotional impact of its story, but it does not diminish the fact that you are adding more narratives to your mental library of creative ideas. You can also digest story from video games such as Boulders Gate 3 which has an excellent story line that progresses not only for the plot but also the characters. So no, you don’t have to always be a hardcore reader in order to be a writer.

The second reason why you don’t have to be a reader is because if you are resistant to reading, then you might always be. Forcing yourself to do something that is either unenjoyable, difficult, or doesn’t fit into the realities of your life, has the tendency to breed resentment. So if you’re not a reader, don’t stress. Take a period of time and force yourself for the sake of your education and betterment, but much like taking a college course, know that it is temporary. You can (and I recommend you do) go through periods of absorption to refill your creativity with books and other media, but as long as you are constantly adding to your list of story elements that help you build the stories you want to tell, then you are on the right path.

So don’t give up, get some of the hard work out of the way, and get back to writing.

And, as always, stay awesome!

I wanted to share with you some of the oddball tips that I have used myself in order to keep the flow and stop wasting my time.

Time of course is one of the most finite resources that we have and I’m hoping what I have done for myself can help you reclaim as much of your time as possible.

Number one: find the things that trigger flow state consistently. For me the act of drawing will trigger flow state, or doing a puzzle, or oftentimes it’s gaming or crafting.

The flow state is that space between what is difficult and what is capable for you, finding that balance is what becomes a dopamine triggering addiction in the brain. Thus why you can look up from your project and it’s been 5 hours and suddenly you really have to pee.

Once you know what some of your basic flow state triggers are, start setting up a routine that you do every time you prepare one of these activities. Maybe it’s something like light a candle, maybe it is a certain song you listen to, maybe it is simply setting a timer, or preparing your cup of tea—some kind of ritual that gets you ready for that particular mind space and then sit down and continue work like normal.

 Repeat this and you can start to manipulate it to your own benefit. People who have a day job will find that this is what the act of putting on the work clothes really triggers in the brain. It creates this costume that brings on the mask of “I am in worker mode” and what we are trying to do is create the mask of “I am in creative flow mode” so o

Next, you’re going to want to remove any possible distractions from that state. I am talking about the phone—bye! Silence it put it on the other side of the room do whatever you can in order to keep it from being this habitual grab and check every 5 minutes.

 I also really like setting a timer for this because flow state can be very all-encompassing and by having a 25 minute timer prepped (which is also known as the pomodoro technique) I know that I am going to have something that pulls me out just in case I need to actually check for something or I need to respond to an e-mail or whatever the case may be. I highly recommend having a healthy snack and water on hand more specifically the water over the snack. The water is going to be one of the hidden weapons in your arsenal in order to maximize creativity. Our brain is 70% water and it literally shrinks if we are dehydrated and a shrunken brain is not going to be able to produce as well as something that is fleshy and ready to attack the day with all those really nice electrical currents zinging about bringing you the best creative ideas.

 I’m also a big fan of “prepping the bat cave.” This is an idea that I have stolen from Nerd Fitness where the concept is; you are going to arrange your environment to create the most useful and productive landscape for you to function in. In nerd fitness they use this as an example for dietary and health, like putting your sweets on the very top shelf so it just creates a barrier to entry. You have to get out the ladder, you have to walk all the way up, you gotta bring them down, you got to decide things, you gotta put them back, and so you might just be too lazy to do that and grab an apple instead.

In this case, it’s have all your supplies out a dedicated space where you can do your work. Not everybody is capable of having that as a go to, thus it comes back to the ritual of being able to set up that start button so all you have to do is push it.

Next I’m going to recommend you give yourself rewards. I was once listening to an author speak about how she rewards herself for every 1000 words with a gummy bear. She would have them lined up on her desk every 1000 words she got to eat a gummy bear, now for reference when I do dictation (which is a new skill for me) I do about 1000 words in 30 minutes so you could see how those little perks would come in handy.

 I know other authors that will buy themselves blind box figurines and when they reach certain milestones, such as 10K, they get to open up and see which one they got. Little things like that are always a delight, but if purchasing rewards is not something that you’re particularly interested in, you can always have health rewards like spa things, or you get to watch that next half hour of the anime that you’re really obsessed with.

 As for my last tip this is the one that I also find the most difficult and I am the worst at: working out. I have found that when you have worked out your body you gotten rid of all the wiggles, all the tension, and all the need to fidget it allows you to relax and focus. This is also a literal effect of releasing dopamine and that post workout high.

There are my tips for finding the flow and stop wasting your time : figure out what states already trigger flow you want. Build a routine to then trigger your focus. Some of those triggers can be like scented candles, music, timers, tea. Cut distractions. Stay hydrated with water. Prep your bat cave. Give yourself rewards, and if you want to go the extra mile you’ll actually work out, but that’s a do as I say don’t do as I do situation because I’m actually terrible at that. I hope you found these helpful.

 If you have your own go-tos to stay focused, let me know!

As always, stay awesome. See ya!

The beginner’s mind is a term that I learned when I was teaching yoga. The concept is that you come back to look at a process as though you know nothing about it. I have found as I work my way through a career as a writer and an artist that even after all these years, I need to go back to the start and see what I missed.

The inspiration to go back to the start came to me accidentally. I just finished a recent manuscript and oftentimes when I have such a massive outpouring of creativity I need to pause and reabsorb creativity around me. The best way I do this is with learning something new.

In classic art terms, I hear constant reminders of revisiting the fundamentals. Afterall, those are the basic skills that become the building blocks of everything you draw in the future, but in this case, I’m still at the beginning regardless. As for writing, it often means going back to understand character arcs or plotting (or a million other nuanced story skills).

I’m about to jump in to the third book in my pirate series, but I wanted to approach it from a different angle. The best way to find a new angle is to learn from someone new. I found some resources such as Brandon Sanderson’s lecture series on YouTube to fuel my curiosity. His particular view of writing includes all the elements I already “know” but in a way I never thought about them before.

This is why YouTube is magical. You can go and learn from any number of artists and writers who have graciously shared their hard earned lessons with you. Their experiences are different and they’ll present the information in their own unique way—ways that might click in your brain.

I was speaking with my mentor, Jen Graybeal, who is an amazing coach for authors and creatives, and we were discussing how going back to the beginning has a incredible impact because you are a different person now than you were then. We continue to change, learn, and adapt and because of that, what we know now creates a new lens to see the “old” information through.

It also inspires new neurons to connect and play off each other. Reviewing what we think we know is kind of like this key that unlocks new ideas by exposing our assumptions and highlighting what we’ve previously glossed over because it didn’t apply at the time.

This is like how in yoga you want the beginner’s mind when you start overlooking basic poses. Warrior 2 is a very common pose but after a while you can sink into habits without considering if that is the best expression of the pose you can achieve. The beginner’s mind tells you to reexamine what your muscles are doing, how your foot is placed, where your toes are pointed, if your knee is caving in or out—it teaches us to self-correct.

So as I’m going through Sanderson’s lecture series, I’m reminded to step back and look at my story from the ground up. Do I have my big story question clearly presented? What are those signposts of progress he speaks about that I am giving to my readers?

As for art, I still consider myself a beginner. Being self-taught meant I needed to go and learn the fundamentals even after years of drawing on my own. And let me tell you, that is a humbling process.

I want to encourage you to go and look at the beginning steps of your creative endeavor from someone else’s perspective and see if you don’t come away with a new nugget of usable information that you “knew” but you didn’t know.

If you experiment with the beginner’s mind in part of your creative journey, let me know. I would love to see what new inspiration you have taken from working backwards in order to propel yourself forwards.

Until next time, stay awesome. See ya.

My friend Radina—a woman far smarter and who finds far more joy in obscure research than I—informed me Valentines is a much older holiday than I realized, complete with Romans sharing love cards and pairing off of women with men by lottery. But you know what’s better than an auction romance? Falling in love with the one person you can never, ever, get away from: you.

So here’s what I’ve done to make the most of my relationship with myself, my art, and my words, and hopefully something here will help you learn to do the same.

#1: Tell yourself a story. There’s incredible power in story, and especially in the ones we tell ourselves over and over. My story is that I’m a woman who crafted the life everyone wants: one where I can’t work traditionally full time (legalities of living in another country!), one where I spend my time learning to write books and create beautiful art, and finally one where I can pursue one of my first ever bucket list items: learn a second language.

But, much like making three wishes and not thinking through the loopholes, I probably should have specified that I’d still like to earn money, that creating is most fulfilling when other people can find and enjoy it (I fail social media), and that French was never ever a language I was interested in learning in the slightest. Stories, however, are only good if they have odds to overcome and the main character struggles to get there, so when you tell yourself your story, don’t forget to romanticize the challenges so that you, this wonderful being, rise to the occasion and become the champion.

Seriously, though, write yourself a little version of your story on a sticky note and put your happy ever after in bold so you know exactly where you’re heading and, more importantly, so you can remind yourself that you’ll get there if you just keep moving forward.

#2 Learning to love your creative endeavors is an exquisite type of torture. Many artists and writers are perfectionists, which stands in our way of true greatness. I’ve been watching some inspirational YouTube artists such as TheStarFishFace (a webcomic creator) who speaks of the only thing that matters in any artistic endeavor: consistency.

I’ve decided to let go of my pride on any single project and instead love showing up. Some days it’s a struggle to make it to the keyboard, some days I only do one sketch, but most days I find the rhythm and love the process. My skills and worth are not decided by what I just did, but by what I’ll do next. So whether I love the thing I made, or hate it, both are okay because it’s the next thing that will show what I learned and how far I’ve come.

#3 This is more practical and annoying, but: Eat. Sleep. Rest. There is no greater gift you can give to yourself and your specific craft this Valentines than the gift of care. Eat a meal that is nourishing for you—I know you might be thinking of some greasy pizza bomb, or maybe a chocolate bomb as a treat and a gift, but is it? Take a beat (or a beet, har har) and check in with what your body really needs to feel best (and I recommend checking out How Not to Die by Dr. Michael Gregor, and don’t worry, it’s not doom and gloom. I’m planning a eating for nutrition post, so more on this later).

We all know we need sleep, and there are a ton of tips on how to make your bedroom into a bat cave ready for ultimate insomnia fighting heroism. If you want, I can make a post about sleep recommendations if you’d like, but for now, just catch some deep Z’s.

Rest is the hardest of the three for me (yes, even harder than making myself eat raw broccoli). I was deeply mired in hustle culture, working as an indie author who had to wear all the hats and do it all to attempt selling books like “the pros.” I didn’t take days off even when I had covid, and I only went on weekends away to work at a secluded cabin in the woods instead of at home. Now, living in a new country, the infusion of a different work ethic has settled me down, and it’s made a difference (once I recovered from crazy burn out, that is, which btw, took two years).

By taking weekends and evenings off (and even a proper lunch break!), I feel like I’ve opened a door to let in new influences to my creativity. I watch tutorials and try new skills, I experiment more with how to design my story and subvert different tropes, and, most of all, by opening that door I’m learning to let my shame go. It’s okay that I’m not constantly writing, it’s okay that I’m not built to mentally handle social media outlets like facebook, and I’m still worthy, even if I’m not being productive. These lessons are difficult to let sink in, but I can feel the difference by slowing down and paying a little more attention to the state of my mind.

Trust me when say that the effort is worth it. As someone who has chronic stomach problems, has suffered through insomnia, and was raised to be the perfect never-stopping worker bee, my life is way better now than when I thought those states of being were simply reality that couldn’t be changed.

To sum up: Tell yourself the story of the life you want to live, love being consistent and showing up even more than what you’re making in the moment, and do what everyone always obnoxiously insists because you already know you need it: eat, sleep, and take time to rest.

Now go have a wonderful Valentines dedicated to loving your art, your writing, and most of all, yourself.

Until next time,

Lin

Art is an incredibly individual process, as I think we are all aware, however once you’ve been doing art for a while you have a tendency to come up with your own series of individual tips and tricks that make your art go a little faster and a little smoother.

I compiled these tips in order to remind myself that I have a process for my art and that if it is useful to me, it might be useful to you. So although these may seem like unnecessary art tips nothing is unnecessary if it works.

Number one: learn how to see. This sounds ridiculous, however, I was working on this digital painting which was my first attempt at ever doing something photorealistic and realized the trick for me was to stop seeing what I assumed I was seeing, and actually look at each individual speck of color on its own. I did this by zooming quite far in until I could no longer see the metaphorical forest for the trees and was able to zero in on just one strip of color. What was actually happening in here? What shade of orange was that? How close was that to the edge? Where were these little specks coming in? I wasn’t trying to look at it as though it were ice, I was trying to look at it as though it was just abstract colors. Then when I zoomed out it looked like I had miraculously made a piece of ice. It was kind of bonkers.

My second art tip is to find a routine. Just like being an author, you have to get into this kind of repetition where you arrive regardless of if the muse is there. Showing up is probably the most important thing besides just figuring out how to see what you’re seeing. If you’re not there, the art can’t happen. If you’re there, bad art can happen and that is better than no art. Occasionally great art happens, too of course. It’s the same as in the writing world: you show up, you put some words on a page it, and hope for the best. It doesn’t matter if the words are crappy because the exist and you can work with that. It doesn’t have to be anything crazier than that. Pick a time that works for you whether it’s first thing in the morning, last thing at night, or over lunch and just make sure you make time to doodle, draw, write, whatever your creative heart desires.

As for my third tip: eat good food. This one sounds a little weird, but I have chronic stomach issues and have found that the better I treat my diet the better my creativity can be. And I think this extends far beyond just someone with chronic issues. We overlook the power of health when it comes to doing things that don’t seem to require a tremendous amount of bodily effort.

We all know we need to take care of our wrists and avoid carpal tunnel, but we miss the fact that what we’re putting in our body is then going to fuel our brain. Take beets for example.  I’ve been reading Dr. Michael Gregor’s books and he talks about beets and how they increase the oxygen that your brain can use. I didn’t understand how (science isn’t my forte) but I searched online and found free divers will use beet juice order to get an extra 30 seconds out of their dives. These are people that will hold their breath for 7 minutes or more—not even kidding.

Think about what all that oxygen can do for your brain when you are in the middle of your creative endeavor. For me personally, I’ll get so in the zone that I actually forget to breathe, so having that extra oxygen keeping my brain functioning on top of making sure that it’s got the fuel it needs is probably a little important.

Tip four: play. Don’t take your art, your book, or yourself too seriously. This world has enough serious crap happening in it, and you can be the most dedicated, epic artist or writer out there, and you still you don’t want to be mired in this concept of being too studious and too professional. Once you let go of your perceived expectations on what you think people need of you, or what you think people want to see/will get you the most likes/will get you the most views, then you’ll free up brain bandwidth to then use for your projects. What matters is that you are doing art that brings you joy, that is expressing something that you need to express, that is helping you explore your own emotions, your own mind, and that you are able to then share that with whatever piece of the world you want to share it with—whether it is sharing it only with your loved one, or sharing it on the Internet to probably a void but that’s OK because you made something. I may or may not be speaking just to myself right now. Moving on.

Tip #5 your environment matters. Artists and creators are an incredible breed of humans. We can create in any situation, and we often have and do, but when you are a regular “career creator” it is important to make sure that the space you are creating in encourages your creativity. I spent the last two years creating at a small folding table and my creativity suffered. I don’t think it’s specifically the folding table, but we were living in a very unsettled, temporary way. We didn’t know how long we were staying, we didn’t know how to utilize the space, we didn’t know which of our things we needed, etc, but we’ve recently moved and rediscovered a foundation. I’ve been able to set up a proper desk and put up a little art on the walls and even have little fun trinkets that inspire me—such as chibi Disney villains and my jade plant. These are the things that are so influential to my state of mind that they translate directly into my level of creativity.

So let’s do a quick recap: you’re going to want to learn to see what it is you’re seeing and not what you’re at assuming that you see. You want to find a routine that helps you show up and get ready for the art whether the muse is there or not. You want to eat good food so that your brain is in a good place, so then your body is in a good place, so then your creativity can absolutely blossom (and special hint: that blossoming is probably going to happen from eating a lot more plants. Sorry). You want to make sure that you’re playing and having a good time with whatever it is you’re doing even if you’re on deadlines or working for a difficult client. And finally, your environment matters. Making things pretty and shiny around you might be exactly what you need to make things pretty and shiny on the page.

So go out there, find the version of these that works for you, and let me know if you have your own version of these tips. Most importantly: Keep creating.

Stay awesome and I’ll meet you back here again soon. See ya.

My store is temporarily closed because I’M MOVING TO EUROPE! Please be patient while I get settled in my new home. I’ll be going on sabbatical for about three months as I adapt to life abroad. Thank you for not giving up on me!

Lin

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Burnout—More Than A Creative Problem.

After a post I made on Instagram, I realized how many of my followers struggle with the same thing I do: burnout. If you're new to the condition, it's the wrung-out feeling of overwork. Creativity becomes elusive, exhaustion takes over, and stress stress stress. 

Burnout doesn’t only affect your mental state, it digs into the body and hollows it out. Stress has long been studied for its physical effects and burnout plays in the same pen. The lethargy and lack of interest make it harder to take care of oneself in a way similar to depression—causing things like disturbing sleep, not eating/eating too much, difficulty concentrating, and physical pain often as stomach upset and headaches. Even the Mayo Clinic has warnings on burnout:

Consequences of job burnout

Ignored or unaddressed job burnout can have significant consequences, including:

Excessive stressFatigueInsomniaSadness, anger or irritabilityAlcohol or substance misuseHeart diseaseHigh blood pressureType 2 diabetesVulnerability to illnesses

Read the whole article here

Creative entrepreneurs are at high risk for burnout in part because we are our own bosses with high expectations, deadlines, and no one else to pick up the slack. We drive our business and feel like a single day off will harm our sales, put us behind schedule, and even damage our brand. There is constant pressure to “hustle” and focus on productivity as the only measure of daily success. 

So, what do we do? First, take a @#*$ing break. Not everyone can take a week off but try even a weekend. Unplug, get out of the house, find a walk through the trees, and for the love of cookies, get some sleep. Talk to your friends and others you trust. If you’re worried about productivity, then work burnout recovery in as a goal. Track your activities and mood score, see if you can pinpoint the best methods to help you reset, whether that be from meditation, a puzzle, or rage yoga. Not that I do any of that…

If you’re dreading work, take an evening and sit quietly by yourself (I prefer in the dark so there are no visual distractions to remind me of the work I’ve not done) and listen to your body. Feel the tension in your muscles, the thoughts that come up time and again, the sense of worry. Honor those signs that burnout is either close or already upon you. Most of all, don’t ignore it. Don’t push it off any longer than absolutely necessary. Sometimes, yes, we must push to meet a deadline, but then stop. Breathe. Rest. 

Remember, creatives aren’t the only ones who face this. Any job with high expectations,  too much pressure both at work and at home, and a lack of support and control can all lead to the same match burning up to your fingers. If you’re a millennial, we’re becoming known as the burnout generation and it’s not hard to see why. Definitely read the Buzzfeed article here.

You’ve already taken a first important step towards healing and keeping burnout from stealing your zest for life: awareness. You know it’s there, you know what it is and how to recognize it. Most importantly, however, you must learn that your worth has nothing to do with what you produce. 

You are incredible. Treat yourself as I will: with love, understanding, and as a freaking cheerleader for your wellbeing. 

Much Love,

Lin