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Reading, the Best Advice

by Vaughn Ezra Edward

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Before you ever had thoughts of becoming a writer or an author, you were losing yourself in the writings of somebody who came before you. Maybe it was their book, or an article they wrote in a colorful magazine. Or perhaps it was a children’s book when you were a child.

 

Now that you have some inkling or desire to pen your own thoughts, the best thing you can do for yourself is to read. Read as if you’re that child again, feeling pure joy from the creativity of another, while soaking in everything they have to say. Lose yourself in their story, and pay attention to the words they use, as well as the rhythm of their sentences.

 

That old phrase, reading is fundamental, really does go a long way. It isn’t just about learning the basic skills of reading, just to get by in life. Something beautiful happens when you read. Reading is personal, and it takes you to different lands, introducing you to new people, while inspiring growth, passion and excitement.

 

As a child, I read everything. Magazine articles, children’s books, the entire Hardy Boys book collection, and random passages from every book that came my way. In high school and college, I soaked in the autobiographies of musicians from multiple centuries, while simultaneously reading superhero, vampire, YA, and spiritual books from dozens and dozens of authors.

 

If there is one piece of advice which is one pedestal higher than all the rest, it is to read. Read everything. The beautiful books, the crappy ones, and the magazines and journals that either have pictures or don’t. Your mind, word usage, and ability to create will grow in myriad and unexpected ways, making it easier to walk the path and dive into your own writings.

Article 1: Reading, the Best Advice

No More Starving Artists

by Vaughn Ezra Edward

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​What you’re taught from an early age becomes habit and second nature. If you’re like most artists, you were told that being an artist would bring you poverty and hard times. Later in life, you most likely ran across the term “Starving Artist" and were maybe even labeled as such.

More importantly, what you were most likely not taught, was that your thoughts create the pathways of your life. Your thoughts are things, and they become your reality. They reverberate in your mind and outside your body, and they cause you to perform the actions which match those thoughts.

 

Unfortunately, for those who dream big, those who strive to develop talents, many are shot down by key figures (family and friends) in their lives, and by those in the media and even strangers. They are made to believe, from a very young age, that even if they are talented, they will be poor. Because of this, they should be planning for a "real" or “different” job.

 

After hearing this from many people for many years, this planted seed inside of them becomes a reality, an undeniable truth to them. Rightly so, what you firmly believe, you truly live out. What you see in your mind's eye, and what you believe about yourself, in every cell of your body, is what you are going to Will to happen. Some people Will success to happen, and others Will themselves to fail.

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(Example 1) Tell a person he or she is useless or unworthy, a few times a week for many years, and they will develop this attitude and live timidly in the background, while others acquire achievement after achievement.

 

(Example 2) Raise a child to accept success, to think about success and to dream big, and they will do exactly that, going as far as the wind and the sky can take them. Conversely, raise a child to doubt themselves and to see endless struggles, and that will be the extent of their thoughts and actions.

 

The same can be said for artists and musicians who were repeatedly told they would be "Starving Artists".

 

Now is the time. This moment, you can ditch the term, "Starving Artist" and the attitude and feelings which come from that. The moment you’re aware that you’re the one thinking these thoughts and feeling these feelings, you’re able to free yourself from the limiting outcomes.

 

You can have the life you dream about. It’s about adopting a new set of thoughts and adapting to the new environment that sprouts from those new thoughts, while seeing the path ahead as something where failure is not an option.

By being completely aware, and switching your thoughts to something positive and fulfilling, a new path is created. All you have to do is have the courage to walk it. And when those old feelings of scarcity creep in, remember to dream big. For failure is not an option.

 

The label of "Starving Artist" is only a label, and nothing more. It's an old model of thinking, which has never worked. It will never nourish or encourage an artist to go far or take risks and jump when needed.

 

​​​​​​To conquer a dream, your first step is to change your thoughts. This moment, accept that the "Starving Artist" model is not you. You're of a different breed of human, exuding life, knowledge, courage and prowess, with the ability to change and alter your surroundings. Life will open up in myriad ways, once you realize the grandness of you.​

Article 2: No Starving Artists
Article 3: Writing from the Zone

Writing from the Zone

by Vaughn Ezra Edward

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This article was written as an answer to a question from an Author Interview.

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QUESTION:  Would you say composing or writing when feeling sad has brought you richer musical themes?

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ANSWER:  The point of view I come from when I compose isn’t from a sad or happy or angry point. Those feelings may exist, but there is something greater than basic feeling and emotions. This space I talk about, and this energy, is more expansive and more creative than emotions.

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Before I write in my books, or before I do photography, or prior to composing songs, I place myself in a space or zone, where no thoughts exist. I use some kind of technique, a breathing technique, meditation or light visualization to expand my awareness and place me in the space where creativity is born.

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Once in this space of no thought, no mind, creativity flows, often too fast for me to capture it all. It transforms the old pent-up emotions as well.

 

This is how I wrote my YA Fantasy books, which is now a trilogy series. I was in Chicago, sitting on my floor. And after doing a 45-minute meditation, I blanked out. In that split-second moment, the entire story for my books was dropped into my mind. I just sat still, watching the story write itself. All that was left to do was write what I was seeing.

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The same happens when composing music. When my mind becomes quiet, when the thoughts slow down, creativity enters. Any of us can reach this state of no mind, no thought. There are a thousand techniques to help relax the body and the mind.

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And once we’re in this expansive state of awareness, we see that we don’t have to try and write or compose. The writing and composing happens on its own. Creativity is always flowing, always happening. It’s up to us to plug into that space, that Zone, where it is happening.

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