I was sitting in front of a good friend the other day listening to him tell me about his future novel and that writing a novel is one of his ultimate goals. I really wanted to encourage him to keep going and I was trying to figure out a way to do just that. Listening to him tell his tale with certainty, intensity, and conviction was a performance. I think watching writers be excited and vulnerable simultaneously about an idea, is the ultimate experience and reward especially when the writer lets you share their creative experience using their ideas. (Not to be mistaken with stealing them that’s just wrong.)

Story to me, feels like the true timeless art. There is no art that is judged harder than the art of writing. Music is easy to influence feelings and can be written in as little as 15 minutes. A painting can even influence feelings by a single glance. But a novel? Thousands of words. Try, tens of thousands of words. Thousands of possible mistakes and once published it can be rewritten. The mistakes remain forever on someone’s bookshelf. The question “is it good enough?”

It is these very things that scare first-time writers, but there’s hope. And this hope remains because it has never been about money for true writers. It’s a life, an experience, a legacy. So let’s address some of the most common questions first-time writers need to ask. Starting with the hardest question first.

1. Is my story deep and thought-out enough for the audience to feel for the characters?

2. Does the audience care about the plot? Is it relatable?

3. Are the characters twisted enough that they’re intriguing? What happens to the mentor?

4. What is the redeeming factor towards the end that bring the story full circle? The surprise?

5. Did the through-line of the story become resolved without deviation?

It is these very questions that stop many writers in their scribbles. So, the question remains, how can a young writer make their story better? How can you avoid the mistakes other young writers make?

Now, I personally have not finished a novel yet but that doesn’t mean that I can’t still give good advice from my current journey. The path is difficult, the journey long, and the world is not going give you much encouragement. Something I can promise, however, is that the world may fall in love with your writing. You just don’t know until you finish.

[wpaudio url="http://peteknowlton.com/wp-content/uploads/03%20The%20Approaching%20Night.m4a" text="Philip Wesley - The Approaching Night - Piano solo" dl="1"]

“I’m inspired to write again by knocking over the pedestal my mind had placed the craft upon to realize I can’t do any worse than nothing” – Pete Knowlton

I was sitting in my office, staring at the wall across the room looking at parts of my book that are tacked up on the wall collecting dust. I started to ponder all the hours my mind wouldn’t let me think of anything else and it hit me. I can’t do any worse than nothing. That’s right, nothing is the ultimate failure. That quote, has become my reason to continue to write regularly.

Any writer that is struggling to complete their work, please take that quote and post it somewhere.

Own it.

This film explores the shift in the music, publishing, film and art industry starting in the late 1990′s to present day 2012. This film does a nice job of presenting the events that have changed our world and the bigger picture of what is happening.
I’m writing this to highlight my favorite quotes from the film.  These either struck a chord within me. I’d highly recommend watching the film.

Quotes:

“It use to be, you didn’t become an artist just to become rich, you became an artist because you had an idea or emotion to share, and that’s where we’re heading again” – Seath Godin

“The mystery and the process of making art, music, film … has been dissolved” -Hank Shocklee

“There is actually no difference between a sound coming from a computer or a sound coming from a piano … if they are coming from the same speaker”

“It’s software, any kid can use a cracked version or buy a version of Reason or Ableton Live and in about five minutes do what used to take 6 months or years, 20 years ago” – Moby

“Technology is always first, then the artist comes along … artists didn’t invent oil painting, artists didn’t invent the movie camera, or the electric guitar” – Bill Drummond

“in the past, certain groups in power [white guys] would decide what goes in museums, what goes on the magazine cover, what songs played on the radio” – David Weinberger

“at a panel an advertising exec was complaining that there is a lack of digital talent … I think there is more than ever, it’s that they don’t want to work in small little cubes at the agencies on Madison Avenue.  They want to work on their own terms, with their hardware and software, and they want to work on projects they are passionate about and motivated by ..” – Scott Belsky

“being discovered used to be circumstance .. you knew someone who that knew of someone … now incredible talent can work on their own and represent themselves … build their own brand”

“a lot of our employees [@Shilo a hybrid production/post-production company] come from a skateboarding background … the mentality of just going out and doing something … you don’t need an organized league or team or schedule … you can just go out and do it”

Full Film:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rvlaTg3vPg[/youtube]

Writer Industry Reality:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXGAAvGoXMc[/youtube]

The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman

[5 of 5 stars]

Normally I’d give you a review of the book, but it seems to be easier to give an example with my own life of where it can be applied. Either way the book is a must read! I hope that my analysis of my own love languages will intrigue you.

This seems a bit personal to talk about, and it is. This isn’t something that I usually splash on a page. This is a topic that is usually held close and tucked away. Feelings are never easy to talk about. Things like distance, lacking a type of love from the person who should be your closest friend, having quality driven conversation that is mutually exchanged with excitement. it can quickly become an emptiness that makes you wonder will this work? Of course anything with equal effort can ultimately work, but can someone learn where to fill the void?

I finished a book recently called The 5 Languages of Love, a book that I have heard about and had recommended from my parents over the years on many occasions. This book really solidified what I kind of already knew about myself and the languages I speak when it comes to love.

To break it down, I personally have 3 of the 5 love languages. I will list my needed love language and explain them in the order of importance starting with the most important.

1. Physical Touch

When I come home from work, I’m stressed, I’m worn out and I usually don’t feel loved or encouraged by my coworkers. I need support. I may sit down and snuggle under a blanket and put on a movie, or role play with a close friend to make me feel loved in this way, but it’s just not the same. When I can feel a soft warm hand caress my neck, my back, rub my head or hold my hand, my body completely relaxes. To have them do this without asking is the most meaningful. Actually, if I have to ask it feels forced which doesn’t feel like love. This is literally the only time my brain can actually turn off. There is no other state that I can stop thinking and give my body the rest it needs. So you can imagine my life with this missing. Despite if the other two love languages are fulfilled this one is by far the most important for me and my physiological health.

2. Acts of Service

I spend a lot of time working on projects, and these are projects for multiple people and usually not for any pay. besides working full time, I have a book I haven been trying to write, and plenty of websites I have been trying to create or manage. it is not surprising to see my laundry pile up and my waiting till the last sock or pair of underwear is worn to force myself to do it. It is also not surprising to find my writing paperwork unorganized and notes scattered everywhere. it is also not uncommon to find my fridge empty and my bad habit of skipping meals exercised. It’s not that I can’t go to the store, its more the fact that going to the store is rather lonely, it stresses me out, and it seems like a project or chore overtime regardless if I am just buying the same things. I also love having my bed made, and my living space cleaned. I’m personally not so bad at this part, but as for making my bed, it hasn’t always been my forte. The smile I have when my bed has been made for me, if only my lover could see my face. That was a feeling of love. I also am not one to plan trips. If someone else makes the plans I will gladly go and have a blast when i’m there, but for some reason, I have anxiety towards going places and driving to unfamiliar locations especially alone. I Always have and probably always will, so if my loved one drives, it shows love. Any and all of these acts of service show sincere love to me, and these needs have become so poignant that I have considered looking for a personal assistant regardless of cost.

3. Quality Time

I use to think that this was my main love language, and maybe it could be, but acknowledgment regardless is always important. This is really about emotion sharing. How did you feel throughout the day, what was it that you felt, and why did you feel that way? It is these things I love to tell my lover, and the same things I love to hear in return. It tells me that they love me and want me to know their inner thoughts because they feel I need to know to help or to care for them. Without these thoughts, sometimes I feel like i’m shooting in the dark and guessing how my lover is feeling. A recent snag in this love language that I have had to learn is that not everyone needs this time. Some are ok with just being in the same room and in the presence of their significant other. No words exchanged and maybe doing other things is ok. For me, that just isn’t love. I need to see their eyes, and I need to see them smile at me. I need to feel like i’m their favorite project in the sense that they want to know more about me regardless if they have asked a billion questions already. If I don’t feel this, it is hard to maintain the relationship. Consistent communication is huge for me.

The 2 love languages I didn’t mention were words of affirmation and the act of giving gifts. Now these languages can always show love, they aren’t my primary language, and wont make me feel loved if the other 3 aren’t being met. After a while “I love you” can feel hollow, and “you are a hard worker” loses its value. it is well known that everyone speaks best in their primary love languages they need the most, but not so well in the love languages they don’t, but that isn’t always the case. Some are good at all of them, but this is usually because they have lived enough life to learn these things the hard way.

You will benefit from reading this book, I promise!

Barnes & Noble: Buy Book Here

The new year has made me think about all the imaginary walls i have created to not achieve my goals, but is it really that simple?

 “You are who you hang out with.”

[wpaudio url="http://peteknowlton.com/wp-content/uploads/02%20Sunrise%20On%20Cloud%20Place_%20For%20the%20Continental%20Divide%20National%20Scenic%20Trail.m4a" text="Laura Sullivan - Sunrise On Cloud Place" dl="1"]

I have not been spending time with creative people therefore I cannot feel creative. It really is that simple.

Today i was working, doing the usual, helping people make the right buying decisions, but then.. THEN a customer asked me a question. This question was different. It caught me off guard. it looked like this.

 “You don’t look like you belong here, how did you end up here?

Now to hear that with no context makes me wonder who they are and where they got that idea, but when you’re a creative you can sense these things. The creative world can sense their own, and can feel it with a warming sensation that says, I can say things to you that normal people won’t understand. I can start a conversation with you that won’t end here.

A combination of passion, adrenaline, and a twist of the possibility of future influence. It is these three things that thrive within a creative.

 “Well, work brought me down this way.” i said while moving a tag back into place.

“Thats not what i meant. Why are you here?” she questioned again.

I paused, letting the truth surface. At this point i assumed she just knew.

 “because i didn’t think i could make a career out of writing. And when i get home i’m just burnt out. If i try to write, It’s far from my best work” I replied

“All it takes is 30 minutes. Just take 30 minutes each day and sit down with your thoughts, and start writing. Despite all the distractions, you can continue to achieve your dreams. I may be a stranger and happen to be a fellow writer, but don’t let the world steal your soul. And it sounds like to me, writing is your soul. And i have one more tip. If you truly are a writer, don’t talk about writing, just do it. If someone asks what you do, don’t list writing as one of your hobbies until you have crossed the threshold of completing a project. The less you talk about it, the less it will feel like work, and instead you will thrive in your creations.”

We continued talking for a while, and it became all too clear to me that I am letting my dreams slip away by surrounding myself with what i now call “De-motivators”

These people are the ones, that forget to pay their bills, run out of gas, get into a business bind, and always ask you to rescue them. They play and talk about video games constantly, watch movies and TV shows obsessively, and complain about their jobs (or don’t even have one), and don’t do a damn thing to change their current situation. They then expect you to bail them out. If you don’t? Well now your heartless..

An Anti De-Motivator’s Rules:

1.) If you demand my time, i will never give it to you.

2.) if you buy my time, i may give it to you.

3.) if you waste my time, i will ignore you.

4.) if you expect me to put your projects before my own, YOU’RE CRAZY!

5.) if you plan to take advantage of me, just stop wasting time on the plan because thats as far as you will get. It’s always the same and it’s always transparent.

6.) If you want to spend time with me when it doesn’t relate to a job or to gain something, I will always give it to you.

7.) If you argue with me and don’t even listen to what leaves my mouth, this will be our last conversation. I promise you!

8.) If you act irrationally and erratically, i will avoid all interactions with you. My life will never need more stress. you can keep your bundle of hardships to yourself!

I read through a few of my friends blogs this last week, and the feeling seems to be the same. Sabrina in particular. We all have ended up in a place we hadn’t planned and deviated far from the original expectation of ourselves. It is clear what we want, but the path to get there is immersed in fog.

I have to say, I think New Years is my favorite holiday. It’s like cleaning dirty laundry, purging bad habits, and be-ridding unnecessary friendships.

The Must Have Social Media – Part 6

Where would life be without Facebook and Twitter soon to add Google+ to the mix? And to think it started with Myspace, at least thats where it really got started with my generation. For my brother and sister it was AOL chat rooms. Forums were being used first when the internet first got started. A community that was established for a specific fandom or series of topics like tech support, or Microsoft products etc. There was a time where in web design, a forum was a must have item to grab client/customer feedback and/or to help customers or encourage participation. Now, this method of social interaction still exists, but it doesn’t accomplish any large success by advertising to these groups. The world has moved to Facebook and Twitter.

These two entities stand alone, but have become the most powerful source to wield within your networking and advertising plan for you company. Facebook and Twitter are the quickest way to get your information out and into the world. If you’re starting a business, or trying to advertise your product, and you still have the bah-hum-bug perspective towards things like Twitter and Facebook — good luck being successful. You might as well sell the business idea now. Your behind the times.

Social media is very important when it comes to advertising and the representation of a brand within a community. The power of that little like and re-share button or the sending of a tweet with a link attached is significant. What we have learned is that people like to stay up to date with recent news from people and companies they know and like, but they don’t like to read everything. They skim. Links have more interest then blatant statements. This is because as a society we are visual. Have you ever skimmed content for pictures or a video? I thought so…

Don’t miss out on such an easy free opportunity to advertise. If you need help learning there are a lot of people out there to give you a lesson on Twitter and Facebook. Get out there and spread the word about your business or idea!

Knowing your audience matters! – It will save you money – Part 5

If I’m selling a product like vacuum cleaners, who is my audience? Is it productive to try and sell them to my friends who may or may not even own a house? Would it help to advertise my genuine new revolutionary vacuum design on TV maybe during the commercials between kids shows?

Pay attention to your market. You need to establish who your product audience is before you begin to open the flood gates of money towards any advertising tactic.

Things to keep in mind:

1. Who is the product for? What age group?
2. Where is the product used?
3. What is the best way to get the product into the hands of my ideal customer?

If we dissect each one of these statements above, the first is the most important. A child is not going to buy a vacuum or care to tell his mother he saw it on TV between cartoons so this is an obvious example of where money could be wasted in advertising this product. If the product is used in the home, it may make since to go door to door to try and sell it and demo it. It would not make sense to buy a booth at a car show to try and sell this product. As funny as that may seem, I saw this being done last week. Often times people become so desperate for business, they try and sell it where ever they can get the opportunity to advertise it even if it costs them money.

Don’t be so quick to spend money to advertise your product or service. You WILL need to spend money to get the word out there, but be precise and strategic in the methods you are using to accomplish a goal to achieve more business.

List of low cost ways to advertise:

1. Business cards
2. Magnets
3. T-Shirts in bulk
4. Affiliate advertising on sites that deal with your audience
5. Facebook
6. Twitter
7. Local Groups
8. Community Posters
9. Sending awareness through email – keep the email simple – not spam material
10. Decal for your car with your business name and website.

Soon to come in the following weeks:

• The must have social media
• Why it is important to higher a Design Team 

Why a Logo is so difficult – Part 4

A logo is not just some image that you throw on things, it is not an image you just peruse google images for. Logos are complex even if they seem simple. A logo must do several things all at once. It must first represent your company’s feel. And by “feel” I am referring to the kind of emotions your customers will associate to your Logo.

When they see your logo or your product, or the way they talk about your service – all of these things bridge from a core value and experience. Logo’s have an elegance to them by saying so much, while displaying very little. A Logo represents a particular experience.

“Well then what about logo’s that are as simple as the nike swoosh? or a logo that is just basic text?”

These logo’s have their place, and there are two types of logo development. One type is the kind that is grown over time. Where the company morphs the experience that then represents the logo. The second type is the inverse of the first. The logo is designed to integrate with the companies starting core values, and is then used to help drive the representation of the brand. The second type is far more important these days then in previous when the market wasn’t as saturated as it is today.

This is why a Logo is so difficult.

Here are a few things a logo must do:

1. Represent your company’s core value through subliminal detail
2. leave an impression that lasts in the mind for more then 3 minutes after viewing it
3. Have something quirky about it that makes the mind take notice.
4. Use easy to read fonts that are inline with the aim of your audience
5. If an item is used in the logo only use one that represent all themes of your products in a single image.
6. A logo should be able to stand by itself and say what your company does. (if not directly, in variations of the logo. For example: Google, Google +, Google Analytics, Amazon, Amazon Fresh etc.)

Never go with the first logo idea you come up with. Make at least 6. Test it on your market, and your friends. A logo can make or break your entire brand and determine if your successful. Choose one with care. Sleep on your ideas.

Soon to follow in the coming weeks:

• Knowing your audience is a BIG deal! – It will save you money
• The must have social media

Is the text too small? ‘how about this’ - Part 3

If every time a customer goes to your site and they have to enlarge the text, you have a major problem. How often do you think they will keep coming back if it takes extra work to read your content? Bottom line, they won’t. People get annoyed by very minor details. This is the very reason Apple focuses so much on the detail and simplicity. Detail makes the product — more so then the product itself.

“Subliminal detail creates a message representing your brand.”

Text represents your brand, it also represents your company voice. Make it as clear and concise as possible, and less is more. Use less words to say more and your customer won’t feel so overwhelmed by clutter or text that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Small text doesn’t get read most of the time. don’t believe me?

How about a Terms of Service? Ever checked the box “I Agree” without reading it?

If the font was made bigger and the terms, shortened, people would read them. Why are neither of these two things done? Bottom line, most companies don’t want you to read it. They want you to just agree to it and think its all just for legal reasons. This is a different topic to be discussed entirely, but case and point, small text and lots of it doesn’t get read and is passed over.

So how can you improve your site? Make the text a decent readable size and stay consistent with font type sets. This will help you keep customers. The ease of use towards your site will encourage them to naturally want to come back and buy products or use your service again.

Soon to follow in the coming weeks:

• Why a Logo is so difficult
• Knowing your audience is a BIG deal! – It will save you money

I have been thinking and pondering thoughts for a few weeks about why i choose to write a book, why i accepted the challenge, and how it all started. All of this thinking has significantly helped me to realize that story “is” process. Story is daily living, and the things that happen to us throughout every minute of our lives.

We can coast through it — taking in others creations, or we can add to it and feel triumph of many different kinds.

Everyone writes for different reasons. I recall growing up being told that writing was the result of people wanting to be heard. I thought about what that meant. Sure it’s true that the ultimate end goal is that you want to share something with the world, whether it is your raw thoughts, or your daydreams. Maybe it is some of your life lessons you have learned, or possibly quotes you have run across that have touched you deeply. No matter the writing, there is always a voice and a prospective on the other end that wants to be heard, but then i started to think about this more critically.

I don’t think that everyone writes to be heard, no, it can be much simpler then that. Writing can nurture and comfort the voice by getting thoughts to the page — somewhere words can rest and not bother the busy mind of the individual that scribbled them frantically. Writers write to be free. They place their thoughts on a page to feel and to learn from themselves.

I can’t recall all the hours of thinking i have spent formulating working designs and creations of creative greatness in idea construction, but i can tell you that my desire to write a book bridged from a few core driving forces. The first involving the concept and curiosity of character.

Growing up i remember behaving badly, and having my mom look at me wide eyed and ask me if i was struggling to cope. I also remember her asking me if i knew what i was doing, and why i was doing it. She even went as far to say that she should get the video camera out and record me so I could see how crazy and unnecessary I was acting. I remember feeling so embarrassed and screaming “Nooooo.” but the truth hit me and within seconds I fell silent and crossed my arms looking away.

Thinking back, the statement of recording my behavior made me curious and blatantly aware. I became curious what my character would look like when viewed by my own eyes. My judgment judging my own actions. I think this curiosity has stemmed into a story. A book with characters that represent different pieces of my own insecurities, and strengths that aren’t always present at the right times. Ultimately, I wanted (and still do,) to see how my character would react in a fictional exaggerated world to test my own disposition.

The second reason I have concluded that I have set out to write a book, is simply to prove to myself that I can do it, and enjoy the process while I accomplish the end goal.

I remember sitting in my room laying on my bed while still living at home, and spending hours zoning out to audiobooks, letting my mind drift into the description of the well spun tale. Often times i drifted so far, i missed parts of the story and when i would listen to the book again, i would wonder how i missed entire chapters. Was it because i fell asleep? Or maybe because i started listening a chapter too far past where i stopped? No, I simply suffered from a creative mind that when given a little, could create worlds and let me hide within their beauty and wonder.

Back at that age, I struggled to find what came naturally, I knew I had a knack for writing, but I wasn’t a novelist. There was no way i was good enough at describing and developing plot.

“Those people who write books and these tales are born with a gift to write novels. The words of the story come naturally to them and they end up on paper and somehow become famous.”

These are the very things i kept thinking and telling myself. And you will find that many people think this way and will until they die, but these things simply aren’t true!

Anyone — ANYONE — can write a novel.

You have to stat writing with what you know. Write something that maters to you. Get your personality down on paper. Give that creative entity a name and a place to go. Punctuation can come later. Spelling can come later. If you have story, that is all that maters. Get it all down on paper — the dialogue that becomes real because you feel the words as you write it. The magic that excited your body as your came up with its design and methods in which it is used in your story. These things have a power that propels good story. Not money, not fame, not love, and never do it to prove to others that you can.

“Do it because curiosity and creativity needs somewhere to go.”

The third reason I started writing has everything to do with Joy. I wanted to write a story that i enjoyed to read. A story that tugged on my heartstrings and my emotions. I wanted to have a series of twists involving characters that i cared deeply about. These intense feelings helped me, early on, to take the time to develop the world that is now starting to live on its own.

I started by creating a map, with unique names and places, then i started to create a magic language and give it a firm foundation and meaning. The next thing i started to toy with was the prologue, and where the story needed to begin and why. The fifth piece then became the struggle to create plot and characters that held depth and intrigue. The challenge after that rose back to the foundation of what was the through line of the story that propelled my main character and why should the audience care. Once i figured out these things, all that remains is how to manage the proper pacing of world information and tension (this part is by far the most challenging for me, but i have found when i go back and read what i wrote the day before, it is not as bad as i thought it was while writing it. Tip? Keep trudging forward regardless. Build a habit to write).

With the holiday season, it is hard for me to find time to write, but i am trying to at least blog to help my writing and to relax my brain. The story is slowly moving forward, I promise! =]

*is thankful for all my future readers that have faith in me to finish it.*

What does a broken link cost you? More then you realize… – Part 2

If a site holds lots of interest, every link will be clicked. There is a huge user base that likes to just peruse around an entire site clicking every link as they go. Lots of time to kill? Possibly. But that still doesn’t detach the importance of making sure every link on your site is functioning correctly. For every broken link especially on a site where something is being sold; a product or service. A broken link means a loss in business. It’ actually worse then site downtime for maintenance.

Why is this?

Well if you imagine that someone is coming to your site and see’s that it’s down for maintenance, they understand that the site is down for everyone not just for them, and they will check back later, maybe even make a note of it in their phone or on a sticky note attached to their monitor to remind them to return. No harm done. But lets say they are on your site trying to buy products, or a service, and they go to checkout and something doesn’t work or doesn’t make any sense. You just lost a customer.

“Oh but thats just one customer, and they will come back later, they could always just email me and tell me the issue and we can put their order through.”

Unfortunately thats not how this pans out. generally what happens is your customer still wants the products now, and unless your site has an exclusive offering, they will go somewhere else to buy it the same day – they won’t wait for you, and they wont return to your site. They also don’t care about your sites personal health or the health of your business. The customer just wants an amazing experience, and if you can’t give it, they won’t take the time to tell you.

It’s the slow bleed that isn’t always noticeable. This is why it’s so important to constantly wander through your site and check links and functionality. It’s also important to check all these things after any update is done to a browser, or to external influences to the web surfing experience.

Recently, one of my sites main home page slider stopped working in safari after the latest update. It still works in firefox. Details like this need to be kept in check, or just start waving to customers as they pass by.

Soon to follow in the coming weeks:

• Is the text too small?
• Why a Logo is so difficult