Learning from Gladin Joseph

Want to be a good writer? Then learn to pay attention the world around you. What you see. What you hear. How it makes you feel. That's what this week's guest, Gladin Joseph, has learned over his writing journey. What you put on the page is result of what you capture through your experiences--what you allow yourself to take in before you pour words out. Like some of our other guests, Gladin didn't start out with the ambition of becoming a writer. He wasn't an avid reader as a kid, though he did develop an early love of non-fiction books because he was curious to discover how the world around him worked. Over time, Gladin discovered his passion for art and creation, but he didn't consider writing to be among his tools. For him, writing was a necessary evil for work. That changed over time, and as he shares in this episode, writing has become a vital form for his personal artistic expression. While he doesn't consider himself a master of the craft, he is a student, and what he shares in this episode about finding and accepting his voice, unleashing his most authentic self on the page, and learning to listen to the spoken and unspoken is vital for every writer. But perhaps Gladin's most profound and timely thoughts centered around this simple idea: "Everything sounds the same if we're listening only for what we want to hear." During a week where everyone's voice is clamoring to be heard, Gladin's insights on how to listen well are food for the soul. You can connect with Gladin on Instagram, where you can see photos of his beautiful family and incredibly inventive artwork, as well as Twitter. Be sure to give him a follow and encourage him to continue his work in the short story genre.