Russell Nohelty

Most writers believe success is a leading indicator that shows they’ve arrived.

Lining up the right problems with the right solutions is something that everyone deals with all the time.

I’ve spent most of my career trying to brute-force the universe.

Every time we sit down to write, we step onto a tightrope strung between two towering cliffs.

If you’ve been in authorship for any length of time, you’ve probably heard people talk about “sustainability” in order to prevent burnout.

Most authors feel like they’re building a business, even when they’re standing still.

It’s okay to want attention. It’s okay to be successful. It’s okay to want fandom. It’s okay to want your book to sell a million copies. It’s okay. I genuinely like the books I write.

Mathematically, a point has no dimension. No length, no width, no depth. It doesn’t occupy space. It’s just… an idea. A placeholder. A convenient lie.

A win condition is the ultimate goal that makes all your hard work worth it. It’s not necessarily about hitting specific revenue targets or achieving fame

It’s a quiet kind of miracle when something actually makes it out into the world. You push this fragile, too-big dream through the clogged gears of life, and for some reason, sometimes, it works.

We’re quick to think about changing our mindset (especially as authors), but we rarely think about our bodies.

I’ve spent my recent past working with my body, through somatic therapy, breathwork, and the kind of embodied practices that require getting out of your head and into your skin.

Ever since I was a child, I’ve wanted to kill myself.

My wife and I are both chronically ill (and she helped me build the resources for this chapter, which was a huge help).

Heart is all about making projects that deeply resonate, both with yourself and your audience.

Most productivity advice skips over the most fundamental challenge. Your body is actively working against you. This isn’t metaphorical. It’s biological.

People ask me often how I get over bad reviews and keep going even when people are unimaginably cruel.

Every writer remembers their first great idea - that electric moment when a story sparks to life in your imagination, demanding to be told.

It is almost impossible to make money on a stand-alone book.

Audience is all about finding the people who resonate with your work and are eager to pay for it, or at least tell people about it.

Let’s go back to that email list we talked about earlier. When you have a thousand people on it, it should be more effective than when you have 100 people on it.