Dan Becker

Add friend
Sign in to Goodreads to learn more about Dan.

https://www.goodreads.com/danbecker

Karen Memory
Rate this book
Clear rating

progress: 
 
  (27%)
6 hours, 40 min ago

 
The Work of Art: ...
Rate this book
Clear rating

progress: 
 
  (page 20 of 432)
Mar 07, 2026 04:54PM

 
The Blue Machine:...
Rate this book
Clear rating

progress: 
 
  (page 199 of 446)
Mar 14, 2026 08:48PM

 
See all 5 books that Dan is reading…
Loading...
Edward Slingerland
“Our excessive focus in the modern world on the power of conscious thought and the benefits of willpower and self-control causes us to overlook the pervasive importance of what might be called “body thinking”: tacit, fast, and semiautomatic behavior that flows from the unconscious with little or no conscious interference. The result is that we too often devote ourselves to pushing harder or moving faster in areas of our life where effort and striving are, in fact, profoundly counterproductive. This is because the problem of choking or freezing up extends far beyond sports or artistic performance.”
Edward Slingerland, Trying Not to Try: Ancient China, Modern Science, and the Power of Spontaneity

Steven Erikson
“You see again and again the flaws.’ ‘The failing of my hand, yes. The language of the eyes is ever perfect. Rendering it upon stone is where weakness is found.’ ‘These, Ulshun Pral, show few weaknesses.’ ‘Even so…”
Steven Erikson, Reaper's Gale

William Kenower
“But as writers, much of the pleasure of writing is finding our balance. Once we have found our confidence in one type of story, it is not unusual to cast our creative eye toward stories we have never told before and for which we have yet to receive evidence that there are readers as interested in those stories as we are. And so the wobble returns. I know so many writers who have written so many books, and nearly all of them seek a fresh discovery of their confidence with each new story they tell. Sit these authors down privately, and they will share their insecurities with you. Yet it is only a game, really, one that is more interesting when it’s challenging. The insecurity, the wobble, merely reminds us of how interesting it is to find what we know already exists. Discovery never gets dull.”
William Kenower, Fearless Writing: How to Create Boldly and Write with Confidence

William Kenower
“Yet even once I left that job and lived for a while without the need for that work, I did not feel free—at least not all the time. So I began looking at those moments I did feel free. I felt free while I was writing;”
William Kenower, Fearless Writing: How to Create Boldly and Write with Confidence

Elizabeth Gilbert
“In conclusion, then, art is absolutely meaningless. It is, however, also deeply meaningful. That’s a paradox, of course, but we’re all adults here, and I think we can handle it. I think we can all hold two mutually contradictory ideas at the same time without our heads exploding. So let’s give this one a try. The paradox that you need to comfortably inhabit, if you wish to live a contented creative life, goes something like this: “My creative expression must be the most important thing in the world to me (if I am to live artistically), and it also must not matter at all (if I am to live sanely).” Sometimes you will need to leap from one end of this paradoxical spectrum to the other in a matter of minutes, and then back again. As I write this book, for instance, I approach each sentence as if the future of humanity depends upon my getting that sentence just right. I care, because I want it to be lovely. Therefore, anything less than a full commitment to that sentence is lazy and dishonorable. But as I edit my sentence—sometimes immediately after writing it—I have to be willing to throw it to the dogs and never look back. (Unless, of course, I decide that I need that sentence again after all, in which case I must dig up its bones, bring it back to life, and once again regard it as sacred.) It matters./It doesn’t matter. Build space in your head for this paradox. Build as much space for it as you can. Build even more space. You will need it. And then go deep within that space—as far in as you can possibly go—and make absolutely whatever you want to make.”
Elizabeth Gilbert, Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear

158180 Berkun reading group — 138 members — last activity May 06, 2015 12:11PM
Join author Berkun in reading his books, or works by other authors, with discussions and live Q&As. ...more
year in books
Thomas ...
693 books | 34 friends

Ayushmaan
4,331 books | 937 friends

Divya
3,897 books | 99 friends

Melissa...
1,937 books | 65 friends

Deb
Deb
647 books | 16 friends

Nick Gi...
216 books | 16 friends

Veronica
678 books | 27 friends

Amy Com...
755 books | 111 friends

More friends…



Polls voted on by Dan

Lists liked by Dan