A Curse Lifted
Odd in the month of spooky spirits, the Shawn Mendes Curse was finally lifted.
Monthly Overview
I love October: leaves are changing, the air is cooler, everything is somehow spiced with pumpkin, and modern science has created pharmaceuticals to help me survive my allergies.
It’s also a media moment when the streamers and studios bless us with weird, wild content about ghouls, spooks, and murder! It all adds up to a very whelming newsletter this month!
Section #1: Creativity Content
Takeaway: What is ‘the life of a showgirl’?
Section #2: Book Coaching News
Takeaway: Go forth and be gay!
Section #3: Personal Writing Updates
Takeaway: Bye, curse!
Section #1: Creativity Content
“You use a glass mirror to see your face: you use works of art to see your soul.” - George Bernard Shaw
Taylor Swift Stuff!
Y’all know I have very rosy thoughts about Taylor Swift. (Just one example.) But this month, I was MAD.
She promised us an album of “twelve bangers” and partnered with two of the greatest bop scientists of all time, Max Martin and Shellback, and then released an album of…bland pop.
WHY?! WHY WOULD YOU RECRUIT THE WORLD’S GREATEST QUARTERBACKS, PROMISE A SUPER BOWL, AND THEN GIVE US A DIVISION 3 PLAYOFF LOSS?!
[Pardon the sports analogy, but I think one straight man reads this #inclusive]
Anyway, after a few days of listening, I settled on “This is fine.” And I also did a reflection and realized that one person’s “banger” is another person’s skip.
So much of our discourse around art now tries to push a cultural objectivity on it. Everyone has opinions and everyone has a platform to share their thoughts. This quickly evolves into a world where discourse verticals open up and drift into an eventual conversation where something is “perfect” or “the worst thing on the planet”.
But we all have our subjective experience of art. And, you know what? You may hate something now but love it it in six months. Even individual persons don’t have a consistent experience of the same music, TV, or paintings. I hated The Scarlet Letter when I was sixteen and thought it was one of the most beautiful things I’d ever read at twenty.
It happens.
So, enjoy what you enjoy when you enjoy it. Art is the way we communicate our subjective, insane experiences of the ordinary, so your perspective probably won’t satisfy or represent everyone. But listen, watch, and take in what you love. And create and share what helps you express your uniqueness.
Somebody somewhere will love it and understand it. And that’s the whole point.
Creativity Recommendation
It’s Halloween and I still stan this as one of the funniest, spookiest, and most wonderfullest short stories ever. Check it out!
Resources
Guys, my creative website is down! I am rebooting my creativity stuff—more updates to come!
Section #2: Book Coaching News
Coming Out Day!
National Coming Out Day was October 11th. I always like to do a little celebration because it took me forever to come out. My first book takes some of my own experiences and fictionalizes it. (Everyone thinks it’s autobiography, but it’s not. Honestly, wish I had an SRC in my life.)
I also am doing market research for my next book and came across More Happy than Not, a book by Adam Silvera. It has a really fun twist on the traditional coming out story. I highly recommend checking it out if YA LGBTQ+ is your thing!
It follows really closely to what I added in the previous section, but the takeaway this month for writers is to write what’s close and matters to you. When I sent my first book to agents, I was told it was a tired topic, didn’t fit the market, and no one cared about coming out stories anymore. It’s currently my most successful book with the most ratings and most beautiful reviews.
No one really knows what sells.
General Updates
Check out my book coaching offerings to see my writer support packages. Any questions, you can always reach out to creativitywithtedd@gmail.com.
Section #3: Author Updates
The Curse Is Gone!
For the 3 of you who follow my personal blog, you know that the last half decade has involved me trying to see Shawn Mendes live and being thwarted (THWARTED!) at every turn. You can read the full post here, but a quick recap:
I had a work event, so I couldn’t attend Shawn’s tour in 2019.
Shawn kept delaying a digital event during COVID.
We tried to see the Shawn movie in theaters, but the livestream broke.
But WE DID IT! Below are pics from us at the Chicago show. Shawn sounded and looked great. Even though it was fifty degrees, he still brought out his arms #blessed
The lesson in all this (because there has to be something), is that you shouldn’t give up. When work delays you, technology fails, or Shawn Mendes decides a shower is more important than a global livestream—keep on truckin’.
Other news:
Round Up
I feel like this month’s newsletter had a very consistent theme: Keep enjoying and doing what you love, because it’s awesome. Whether it’s a “bad” Taylor album, a story people say is tired, or the assiduous pursuit of seeing Shawn Mendes live.
Also, with both Taylor or Shawn taking slots in this month’s newsletter, who was going to get the monthly video?!! I know you are on the edge of your seat!!!
And the winner is…
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SHAWN!
Tedd, love the message of your newsletter and the Shawn song. I'm glad you finally got to see him in person.