332: GUARD YOUR ATTENTION (w/ Daniel Robinson)

Daniel Robinson is a television writer for ABC’s hit drama How to Get Away With Murder.

He’s self publishing his first novel, First They Ignore You, a deeply personal work of fiction that explores the decade it took for him to establish his career in Hollywood and the lifetime it continues to take for him to battle with his personal demons who mostly manifest as an intense desire to drown anxiety and self-loathing in a sea of fast food. 

Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/danielrobinson

In this episode, Daniel discusses:

-How the skills of a basketball player translate to the creative realm.

-Seeing things being done at a professional level, and what that did for his mindset.

-Embracing failure.

-Writing for a television series with a team versus writing for yourself.

-Being a mercenary with your creative skills.

-How everyone has their own story to tell.

-Putting himself on the page via dialogue between his characters.

-How his editor was able to bring out the best in him.

-Pushing himself to “dig deeper.”

-Calibrating his sensitivity to make it a tool.

-Guarding your attention and dealing with distractions.

Daniel's Final Push will inspire you to be a charged-up, thriving, vital person who is passionate about what you are doing.”
  Quotes:

“I was fortunate in that I was consumed by this almost pathological belief or vision that I could accomplish anything.”

“Storytelling is such a powerful thing.  Once people feel like they’ve told their story, it can lift so much weight off of their soul.”

“Those dopamine feedback loops are so addictive.”

“As an artist, you have to guard your attention.  There are so many distractions nowadays that it’s hard to push those things aside, channel your inner voice and do that work that is so important.

“You have to free yourself from any expectation of what this thing is supposed to be, where it’s supposed to take you, what it’s supposed to do.”

“What the world needs is charged up, thriving, vital people who are passionate about what they are doing.”

Links mentioned:

First They Ignore You by Daniel Robinson

Kick in the Creatives: Using Art to Convey a Message or Story

How to Get Away With Murder

Connect with Daniel:

Book / IMDb

Join the discussion in the Facebook group!