Rob Parnell's Writing Academy Blog

When I was young I thought the whole point of growing up was to become wise. To become clever and make smarter decisions. I thought that's what life was all about.  After all, we spend anything from ten to twenty years at the beginning of our lives learning stuff - presumably to help us become good adults, better human beings. But one thing that struck me as odd, at school, was that people in the outside world generally didn't seem to get any wiser as they got older.  Quite the opposite.  The older people got, I noted, the more rigid, inflexible and closed they seemed to become. To say this confused me is an understatement. I remember promising myself I wouldn't get that way.  I wouldn't be one of those people who was sure about everything and had a definitive opinion on all things and couldn't see that nothing could be that concrete. You know people like this. They have a lifetime of experiences that have led them to certai...

  Ever have those days when you’re muzzy and unmotivated?  You know how it is. Sometimes you're aware you should write, but you don't feel like it. And even if you did, you're plagued by not knowing what to write about. Or maybe you have an important scene or an article to write and you can't find the necessary impetus to get you started. Worse, you just can't be bothered to write at all - it's too hard to even contemplate. What do you do when this happens to you? If you write for a living, this can be especially troubling.   After all, if you're not writing, you're not working. So, you feel bad because you know that not writing equals no money coming in, now or in the future... What's the solution? First of all you need to get your head around what I call 'The Big Secret.' And the big secret is that career writers don't need a reason to write. They don't need inspiration or a good idea. They don't even need ...