How to be interesting

Everyone knows the industry isn't just about your book, that's not what's important. What's important is something much more special. You. Just think how many books get flung in and out of agency doors on a daily basis, they can seem repetitive to creatives (of course this isn't always the case). You need to be unique. And remember...

"People seldom notice old clothes if you wear a big smile"
– Lee Mildon

So, to the point. Here are some tips on how to be interesting:

1. Every week, read a magazine you’ve never read before.
Interesting people are interested in all sorts of things. That means they explore all kinds of worlds; they go places they wouldn’t expect to like and work out what’s good and interesting there. An easy way to do this is with magazines. Specialist magazines let you explore the solar system of human activities from your armchair. Try it; it’s fantastic.

2. Take at least one picture everyday
Post it to flickr. You should carry a camera with you. A phonecam will do. The act of carrying a camera and always keeping an eye out for a picture to take changes the way you look at the world. It makes you notice more things. It keeps you tuned in.

3. Once a week sit in a coffee-shop or cafe for an hour and listen to other people’s conversations.
Take notes. Blog about it. (Carefully). Take little dips in other people’s lives. Listen to their speech patterns and their concerns. Try and get them down on paper. (Don’t let them see. Try not to get beaten up.) Don’t force it; don’t hop from table to table in search of better eavesdropping, just bask in the conversations that come your way.

4. Read.
Great places to start:
Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud
The Mezzanine by Nicholson Baker
The Visual Display of Quantitative Information by Edward Tufte

Libricide by Rebecca Knuth

All these books are good for their own reasons, but they’re also good examples of people who are really interested in stuff that others think of as banal and who explain it in a way that makes you share their passion. That’s good.

5. You decide
Well, if you want to be interesting, you need to make this one up. Come up with ideas and write them down on a train ticket, or gig flyer, or better still share your advice and experience as a comment here. We are all learning.


Russell Davis, interesting.

Tips 1–4 basically by Russell Davies, full list found here.
Also, visit here for Russell Davies web page. So. Dreamy.