My Favourite Tip: David Williamson - The price of success in the arts

David had it pretty good. He was working in a great university. His students loved him. His peers loved him. He had plenty of friends who loved him. And then he became a successful playwright. Life couldn’t get any better! Except reaching the dizzying heights David reached in the theatre world didn’t come cheap. For most of his life, he was like anyone else. You might have the occasional tiff with a co-worker or acquaintance, but generally, you’re well-liked by the people you care about. And all of a sudden, hordes of strangers started to hate David Williamson.  Already a self-conscious man, the idea of people making a living by tearing apart his every thought was almost debilitating for David.  He shares how he learned to train his focus onto the audience, rather than the critics, and reflects on the help he received from his wife, who would conduct audience surveys in the women’s bathrooms after his shows.  Pick up a copy of David’s book, Home Truths Or connect with him at his website You can find the full interview here: Playwright David Williamson on negativity, perfectionism and the myth of writer’s block *** Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin Twitter Instagram    If you’re looking for more tips to improve the way you work, I write a fortnightly newsletter that contains three cool things I have discovered that help me work better, which range from interesting research findings through to gadgets I am loving. You can sign up for that at http://howiwork.co Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes. Get in touch at [email protected] CREDITS Produced by Inventium Host: Amantha Imber Sound Engineer: Martin Imber