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Z is for Zither - Excerpt from The Artist's Suitcase · The Daily Writer

• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Daily Rider Podcast, where we bring you tips and inspiration each day to help you build habits for writing success.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: For more resources, including your free Daily Rider Starter Kit, visit DailyRiderLife.com.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: All this past week I've been sharing excerpts from a book that I published a few years ago.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: It's called The Artist Suitcase 26 Essentials for the Creative Journey.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: It's a short, fun read for all kinds of artists, including writers.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: You can grab the book by going to Kent Sanders.net slash suitcase, and tomorrow we'll be back to our regularly scheduled programming.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: So here's today's excerpt from the chapter Z is for Zither.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: Hope you enjoy it.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: Z is for Zither.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: Have you ever seen the 1949 movie The Third Man starring Joseph Cotton and Orson Wells?
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: If not, you definitely should.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: It's fantastic.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: Apparently I like Orson Wells since I referred to him several times in this book.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: The music for The Third Man is certainly unique.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: The movie's director, Carol Reed, was scouting locations for the film and happened upon the music of Anton Karas, a local Zither player.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: He liked it so much he asked him to score the entire movie with Zither music.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: It was quirky, different, and totally awesome.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: Audiences loved it as well.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: The main theme, called the Harry Lyme theme, after the main character, was a hit and went on to sell millions of copies.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: There's a simple lesson here.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: Be yourself, be unique, be different, be who you're created and called to be.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: Don't worry about the critics and naysayers.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: They are motivated by jealousy and the disappointment of their own failed dreams.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: There are two reasons why you should pursue your own path and be yourself instead of conforming to others' expectations.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: Number one, when you're authentic, you honor God.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: God is the one who created you.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: The best way to honor his intentions for your life is to pursue art that gives you fulfillment and springs from your unique set of gifts.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: Number two, when you're authentic, you serve your audience well.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: You do your best work when you're passionate and engaged in your art.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: It's hard to be passionate when you're stuck in a role that doesn't fit you.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: You can't make great art trying to be a square peg and a round hole.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: That's exactly what I felt like when I graduated from college.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: I attended a small Christian school in St.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: Louis and chose preaching as my major.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't feel a strong pull toward preaching, but I felt a call to vocational ministry.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: I grew up in a small rural church and we only had one pastor, so preaching was the only type of ministry I knew.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: During my senior year of college, I had a weekend ministry at a tiny country church in southern Illinois.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: I loved the people, but I struggled to feel excited about preaching.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: I was more excited about music and the arts, but there weren't many church staff openings available.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: This was in the mid-1990s when worship on arts pastors weren't nearly as common.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: I resigned myself to the fact that I would never be a great preacher, but I felt stuck.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: Just before I graduated, one of my college professors visited a church that happened to be looking for a worship leader.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: My fiance and I were excited to hear about it, and I interviewed at the church a few weeks later, just after we were married.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: I got the job and spent eight fantastic years at the church.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: In a sign of God's great timing, my wife also interviewed for a position there and was accepted.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: If you've ever felt stuck in a rut, if you've ever set your passion aside so you could do something more practical, if you've ever resigned yourself to settling for less in life, if you've ever felt like you didn't fit in, if you've ever let others cast you in someone else's mold, it's time to step out on faith, make a change, and become the artist you were created to be.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: It may take some time, you will pay a price, you won't make everyone happy.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: But when you consider the alternative, living a mediocre life of regret and half forgotten dreams, how could you settle for anything less?
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: Don't let your life pass you by.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: Take responsibility for your destiny.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: Be unique, be bold, be different.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: Somewhere out there, a story is waiting that can only be scored with the music of your life and art.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: It's time to break out your zither.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: Go ahead.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: The world is waiting.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: Questions for reflection.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: Number one, do you feel called by God to be an artist?
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: Have you ever struggled with that calling?
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: If so, that means you're normal.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: Number two, have you ever felt pressured to accept a job or fill a role that didn't match your talents or interests?
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: What did you learn from the experience?
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: Number three, do you feel you are living an authentic life?
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: Why or why not?
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: Number four, think about someone in your life who is pursuing a creative path.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: How can you encourage or help them be an authentic artist?
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, my friend, I hope you enjoyed that excerpt from the artist suitcase.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: If you're interested in grabbing a copy of the whole book, you can go to kentsanders.net slash suitcase.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, a big thanks to today's sponsor, Indie Author University, featuring the book marketing mastery course.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: You know, one of the things that I see a lot in the online space, particularly when it comes to people who are helping writers with marketing, publicity, those kinds of things, is that a lot of people are helping writers do those things, but they haven't actually done those things themselves.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not saying that's bad.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just saying that is a dynamic that you encounter a lot in the world of people who are helping authors and writers with the marketing and other kinds of aspects of their business.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: Well, one of the ways to avoid the potential downfalls of working with people who've actually not done those kinds of things themselves before is to learn from somebody who's actually done it.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: And that's why I recommend that you check out the book marketing mastery course developed by my good friend and business coach and mentor, Honore Corter.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: She has sold over four million books over the last uh actually, I don't know how many years.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna say 15 or so years, but I I feel like I'm a little bit off on that number.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: But uh, I need to check with her actually when she started selling books, but I think it's been about around 15 years or so that she's been doing it.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: She's a master at book marketing.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: She also has a great book that just came out called You Must Market Your Book.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: I'm here to plug the course, but you know, I'm also gonna plug the book too, as well as the workbook You Must Market Your Book because they're all really, really great.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: So I really want to encourage you to check out all that stuff, especially the course, because the course goes in depth into book marketing in a way that the books cannot do.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: So the way you can do that is by visiting dailywriterlife.comslash bookmarketing mastery and using the code daily writer, that's all one word, daily writer, to get 10% off the course.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: It's a fantastic course.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: I promise you're gonna love it.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, as always, thanks so much for listening, and I'll see you next time.