A professional writer who also coaches other writers helps us find ways to dust off our manuscript and finish that masterpiece that's calling our name among those piles of ambitions.

Mattie John Bamman is a writer and editor focusing on food, travel and poetry. Wine, wilderness and words brought him to Portland, Oregon, where he is editor of Eater Portland and writes regularly for Northwest Travel Magazine. Mattie has contributed to eleven books on culinary travel and nine travel guides to Italy and the United States, and he also provides developmental editing services to help others write books. He began interning at McSweeney's Publishing and the literary magazine ZYZZYVA. View Mattie's writing and photography portfolios at www.mattiejohnbamman.com.

This talk was delivered at a TEDx event in the TED conference format, but independently organized by a local community. For more information, visit http://ted.com/tedx

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