David Epstein: ‘Why creative people can’t stick to one thing’ (video)

This explains a lot!

If you tend to hop around from project to project, or take interest in a variety of topics, or generate a ton of disparate ideas, or write in different genres and voices and styles, and wonder if you’re an oddball, well…

OK, maybe you’re an oddball. But maybe you’re also a creative type who can’t stick to one thing.

That’s not a bad thing, as author David Epstein (whose book Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World ought to be on every writer’s reading list) points out in this 20-minute video. In fact, he writes, “your scattered interests might be your biggest creative advantage.” Take, for example, two British musicians who came of age in the late 1960s: David Bowie and Peter Frampton. As Epstein explains in the video, Frampton found his lane quickly as a guitar prodigy while Bowie was all over the place. Both achieved success, but one’s path was narrower than the other’s.

Take the time to watch. You’ll be glad you did.

Top image: screenshot from the video.

New in ‘Burial Magazine’: ‘Señor Newton’

‘He stacks nine or ten of the cookies pyramid style on his plate, then turns, the tugboat reversing course, and steers toward his table…’

I’m hyped to have a short story out today in the legendary online literary publication Burial Magazine. Please give “Senõr Newton” a read!

Here’s what Burial editor Z.H. Gill (who previously was featured in a Friday Five on this site) has to say about the story:

Z.H. is wise. Listen to Z.H. Read the story.

Thank you.

Image via Pexels.