Personal

If you are like me, you get jealousy when you see others getting the success that you want. But I saw a tweet this morning that made me a find a path through it: Authors, if you’re like me, jealousy worms its way into your soul when you see

One thing I’ve noticed over the past few years is I’m getting slower when running. And despite knowing this fact, I can’t change it. Trying to push myself to go faster is like lead weight in my veins. My legs feel heavy, solid, and at their limit.

Hello. It’s been a while. I’m supposed to be doing a newsletter right now. It’s half-finished and sort of long, but while I was journalling this morning, I realized I just wanted to send out a short, quick note. After I finished teaching last month, I planned

I've spent a lot of time the past few days fixing the website. It all started a few weeks ago when I decided to try a new email provider. The one I used for me@davidgane.com had never felt the most solid (I'm sure some emails weren't even making

People who try writing their first novel often complain how hard it is. Just because you write regularly, doesn’t make it any easier to write fiction. Watch this video of a freestyle mountain bike rider learning a new trick. He’s a pro at what he does, but he

Although I’ve been thinking about today’s main post for a while, it wasn’t until I watched this video from Ludwig, I decided to finally post it. I’ve mentioned Ludwig in the past and I’m always impressed how his brain thinks about his business. His newest

Photo by Nadine Shaabana / UnsplashAt the end of March (all depending on when we finish the next Counios & Gane book), I’m doing a year-long challenge: to write a new project each month of the year. This idea first was sparked by Pieter Levels and his decision to launch

Photo by Robert Ruggiero / UnsplashRight now, I am working with Angie on Book 4 of our Shepherd & Wolfe series. Since early last year, I’ve been wanting to do some writing of my own, to work on my voice and try some different ideas, tones, and genres. I do

Photo by David M. Chambers / UnsplashWhen you are in a canoe, the only way you're going to get anywhere is through paddling. But how do you paddle? If you want to go somewhere, you’re always course-correcting. Did you want to head for that pine tree? Then you may have

As I clean out my previously read articles, I find myself being reacquainted with old ideas that caught my attention. The opening of this week’s newsletter from Ann Friedman reminded me of the article Six Ways to Think Long Term from The Long Now Foundation. (Yes, I’m further

Photo by Manki Kim / UnsplashEarly on, while writing our first novel, the parents of our teenage hero had to sit him down and have a serious heart-to-heart. This was a scene Angie was working on, so she had them do it over a cup of tea. Four books later and

I’ve gone back and made corrections on this blog after I’ve posted. I do it all the time. I realize the phrasing is wrong or incorrect or a sentence or a paragraph doesn’t make any sense. This might be a result of the lower stakes. But I’

One of the most immediate returns on the new website is that the stakes are lower. I am not as terrified to post a small, short note on here, but I haven't figured out why. Perhaps it's the ease of use. I only need to type this on my phone

The site has a new look and that’s because of considerable changes behind the scenes. Ever since I set up my site back in the summer, I’ve been using a service called Ghost. I loved it. It has a beautiful interface that’s nearly simple to use, and

Photo by Matthew Ball / UnsplashToday, we've been married for twenty years. I'm always grateful that you tolerate me and support the writing. Your constant encouragement and ability to kick my ass and call my bullshit when I avoid the work means the world. You're a part of every step along

Lately, I haven't been doing the work I want to be doing. Part of it is the business of the holidays, and getting caught up on tasks now that I'm not teaching, but there are deeper issues. I've been feeling a little lost, so I went back to a values

Recently, I've imposed a limit on myself while writing these blog posts; 250 words or less. This was to help me focus my writing and not tackly to big of an idea at once, but now there may be a benefit for you, the reader, as well. On a recent

David from the future: David's Daily Marginalia (also called David's Daily Journal) is now defunct. See the 20/ New Directions newsletter for more information. Daily Marginalia has become the most freeing experience. A public/private place to post. Public because anyone can see it, but private because very few people

David from the future: David's Daily Journal is now defunct. See the 20/ New Directions newsletter for more information.. As writers, we're encouraged to develop author platforms, where we build our audience through a collection of social media and outreach. That was the original intention of this website and my

Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.I've often mistakenly this statement belonged to Victor Frankl. I am not the only one. Many people have misattributed it because of Steven

This is a note-taking system designed by Niklas Luhmann, a sociology professor who used it to write an astonishing 58 books and hundreds of articles over 30 years. The concept behind it is to use index cards or slips of paper to capture individual ideas, one for each slip of

David from the future: David's Daily Journal is now defunct. See the 20/ New Directions newsletter for more information. As I develop this practice of daily notes and links, I continue to play with the name and form of it. In the past, I have gone back and changed titles,