Introducing Excelsior Journeys: The Road to Creativity
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Strangers, here's a clip of an interview I did with George Soroy on his podcast Excelsior Journeys The Road to Creativity. You can find the whole interview wherever you listen to podcasts. Just search Excelsior Journeys. While you're there, give him a quick subscribe. Enjoy!

But it is hard work. People don't, you know, it was like, Oh, I'm going to start a podcast. I'm like, good luck. Yeah. It's not easy. It's not, you know, because one of the things that I like to ask people, if they're looking to start up a podcast saying that, you know, like, Oh, what kind of microphone do I need? Or it's just like, well, hold on. You know, first of all, what kind of podcast do you want to, do you want to do? And the subject that you have in mind, do you feel like you can carry it out for at least 50 episodes?

Right. And if you can, fantastic. You know, and but at the same time, anyone who wants to go through with it, I strongly say, yes, do it. It's a wonderful format. Yeah. And I love I love doing it. I think it's you know, what's so funny. Back in like 2004, I bought a brand new Dell and I was so excited. And it came with a little microphone. It's like plastic.

you know pin sort of microphone yep and i thought what if i just recorded things once a week just like my thoughts what am i thinking what's going on in my life what you know what interesting things have i come across and then i just put it out on the internet and people can listen to it and then i thought that's ridiculous who would listen to that

When Serial came out, I was like, oh my god, I invented the podcast. I can do anything with it. Yeah. Oh, that's awesome. Yeah.

Yeah. Thanks again to ADHD. Excellent idea. No follow through. Yeah. The more I realized that different things that I just did not say to my doctor when I originally wanted to get myself tested for ADHD and they were just saying like, no, you don't have it because it would have, it would have come a lot earlier, but you do have anxiety, depression, self doubt and fatigue. And that's the, that's the little computer virus that you got going on inside your head. And how many people,

have been misdiagnosed with anxiety because, but it's actually ADHD, which gives you anxiety because you're sitting there with 70 bazillion thoughts in your head that you can't manage. And then, you know, add on the depression because you're beating yourself up for not pursuing any of those things. I have several chapters of a book that,

needs to get done it's part three of a trilogy and my publisher is waiting for it i'm just constantly beating myself up because it's not getting done so yeah i know that song and dance very well and you know it's funny again listening to your intro of me you know in my mind i am not nearly as accomplished as you know x other person whoever the hell is in my head

And I have all these unfinished projects and I invented the podcast before it came out. And I wrote the play that goes wrong 10 years before the play that goes wrong. And I literally named it the play that goes horribly wrong, but somebody else actually did it. I think, you know, imagine how much more I could have accomplished or how much farther along I could be, whatever that means, if I had known. But, you know, the truth of the matter is I am where I am and I have a wonderful family and,

I am where I'm supposed to be. So, you know, ADHD is a blessing and a curse. Yeah. I try my best to not think of anything with regret, but at the same time, it can be difficult. It can be very difficult to do that. But if you can go past it and see, and just all of a sudden, you know, finish up a project that wound up taking a lot less time than you thought it would and

And all of a sudden it's just like, oh, well, what else could I do? And then follow that up with pushing it further. And then all of a sudden it's just like, well, let's see what else I can do. How about this? What about this? And those ideas, they can just pile one on top of the other and you just might have something really special there. It's also good to remember, or for me anyway, when I realized that part of my creative process is

especially with writing, not with the podcast because I don't have time to work this way, but with my fiction, I write it in my head.

This is what I've realized because I'll say things like it lived in my head for 10 years and then it came out in one day. And what I realize is I've been writing it for 10 years. And the reason it came out in one day is because it's already written up here. And that's okay. That's just my process. And the sooner you can embrace your weird idiosyncratic, not quote unquote normal self,

Way of doing things. I think the sooner you can let go of expectation and then just do it the way you do it, which is fine. You know, I think for me, I need to get through my own issue of, well, it's the story is already told.

So why should I get it out on paper? It's only been told in your head. Don't you want to get this out? You got some really cool scenes that you've come up with here. Don't you want to share those? And as one of my creative partners said to me about a screenplay that's in my head, he said, just imagine watching the movie that you like, watch it in your head. Watch the movie that you want it to be.

And then there it is. And then you can write it down. It's like, oh, that's a great way to approach it. I would say definitely take that approach, but also just add in the confidence in yourself to be comfortable with telling it. Yes. And be confident in your ability to write crap. Yes.

Just because you have to write crap. And that's the thing too, is you have to write. If you're a writer, you have to write every single day. You will hear every accomplished writer say that. And you'll go poo poo. I don't need to do it every day. You need to do it every single day. You need to do it every day. I'm living proof of that because I do not write every single day. Yeah. And I consistently beat myself up for not doing that. So wouldn't it just be easier to just write a little bit every day? Right. Even if it's, I don't know what to write. This is trash. I hate this. Yeah.

Write it. Write it down. You're going to the writing gym. Exactly. Exactly. Hey, thanks so much for listening. I hope you enjoyed this clip. Strange will be back on Thursday as usual. And you can listen early and add free on Patreon at Grab Bag Collab for just eight bucks a month.