Comments on: The T.S. Eliot Guide to Success

By: Talking of Michelangelo and Business Role Models « Vest Advertising

Talking of Michelangelo and Business Role Models « Vest Advertising — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 20:28:03 +0000

[...] Might I suggest for your role model consideration: T.S. Eliot. Mark McGuinness did an excellent article for Lateral Action (which he co-founded and which I found via Copyblogger’s Twitter) on some [...]

By: Roscoe Mathieu

Roscoe Mathieu — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 06:13:26 +0000

A bit late to the party, but I had some things to add. Eliot isn’t the first writer-entrepreneur I’ve heard of. In addition to, obviously, old Bill Shakespeare, you mentioned Gustav Flaubert in “Time Management for Creative People,” and he’s the man that basically made the novel an art form. Did not do too badly for himself, either.

To that list, I’d also like to add Jack London, for a few reasons. First, Jack had two drives: He wanted to get rich, and he wanted to be erudite. He tried getting rich off oysters, off the Alaskan Gold Rush, and a bunch of other failed schemes. He finally decided that he would get rich writing.

And then he worked at it. Good God, did he ever. Supposedly, he averaged 1000 words a day throughout his writing career. It shows. He also took advantage of the technology of the time, specializing in the short story as cheaper printing became available and more magazines (such as The Strand) for the common reader came out. He took advantage of the changing nature of the market, and that’s how he made money while he was penning his two dog books.

He was also one of the first celebrity writers. My desktop is one of his advertisements for California grapes, for which he was paid handsomely.

He made writing his business. In every sense.

By: Internet Marketing: Why Artists And Creatives Have an Unfair Advantage

Internet Marketing: Why Artists And Creatives Have an Unfair Advantage — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 19:30:23 +0000

[...] could be more fun than writing about your favourite artists, writers, films and rock stars? Nice work if you can create it — and I’m glad I [...]

By: Mark

Mark — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 19:42:53 +0000

@ Michael – Thanks! We’re interested in how creativity really happens, so it makes sense to use real-life case studies. Plus it’s a great excuse for me to write about my creative heroes.

What I found interesting is that the Business people were open to the idea and willing to create opportunities for the artists but the artists were very uncompromising.

Sadly, I can easily believe this is true. I find it amazing how many so-called ‘creative people’ have very conventional ideas about what’s acceptable and what isn’t.

Great post on your blog – “Business is Life and Life is Business”. Nicely put.

@ Violet – Glad you liked it, did you see these pieces about creativity and routine? Daily Routines of Famous Creative People and Creative Ritual or Mundane Routine?

By: Links for August 30, 2009 | Eric D. Brown - Technology, Strategy, People, Projects

Sun, 30 Aug 2009 12:11:15 +0000

[...] The T.S. Eliot Guide to Success by Mark McGuinness on Lateral Action [...]

By: o t h e r t i m e » Blog Archive » what am i doing?

o t h e r t i m e » Blog Archive » what am i doing? — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 22:34:50 +0000

[...] I have also been spending a lot of time analyzing how I do my creative work in the midst of my fulltime job and other assorted responsibilities. When thinking about living a dual existence, I often go back to Charles Ives. He’s certainly a hero of mine compositionally but he also gives me an idea of what one can do creatively while living a 9 to 5 (or 9 to 9) life. Another one to add to that list is T.S. Eliot. I’m a fan of his writing but I never really knew anything about the man. There was a post at Lateral Action about Eliot and how he managed to be as successful as he was while being a banker during the day and a poet at night. His wasn’t a lifestyle I would emulate, but he’s an inspirational character to be sure. Check out the article here: The T.S. Eliot Guide to Success. [...]

By: violet

violet — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 19:05:01 +0000

I love your articles, Mark – and this one is another winner! I too write some poetry and thrive on routine… not that it makes me more creative. I especially like the take-away you suggest with each point. Thanks!

By: Michael Grills

Michael Grills — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 16:56:39 +0000

Great Article as usual.

Your profiles add legitimacy to your ideas. This is one of the best blogs on the net.

The never compromise area is a place where I have struggled a long time. Just recently I was told to lower my standards of quality as it was narrowing the margins on our business.

It’s caused me to once again want to push further away from other peoples visions and push my own.

I also recently was asked to be a part of an organization of artists that would try to bridge the gap between business and arts. What I found interesting is that the Business people were open to the idea and willing to create opportunities for the artists but the artists were very uncompromising.

They felt that the business people should enter the art spaces and that bringing art into the business spaces was somehow “wrong.” As mentioned by Adam “selling out”

I sort of did a similar post about myself as I try to make this art/business/life thing work.

http://arthub.ca/343/ignore-everybody/

Still working on my writing but I thought it relevant.

By: Creati[ve]on « Creati[ve]on – Disrupti[ve]on – Collaborati[ve]on

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 12:45:53 +0000

[...] put before sleep [or exhaustion] finally takes over you. I read an interesting article yesterday on T.S Eliot and his drive to get things done – before and after his [...]

By: T.S. Eliot and the Business of Poetry

T.S. Eliot and the Business of Poetry — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 21:15:52 +0000

[...] I’ve just written a piece for Lateral Action, one of my other blogs, about T.S. Eliot’s route to fame, inspired by the excellent Ackroyd biography. The T.S. Eliot Guide to Success [...]