A Greek Tragedy in Twenty Words

by | Jun 25, 2018 | Creativity

Have you ever remembered someone you once knew and wondered where that person was? You might have loved or hated this person, might just be a childhood friend … and you just wonder. The Internet exists, so you do a search, see what comes up. Modify the search, try...

How a To-Do List Is Like a Book*

by | Mar 27, 2017 | Creativity

I have been keeping a highly developed to-do list since I was in high school. Yes, long before you could sashay into Target and choose from dozens of decorated calendar notebooks, I had a yellow legal pad with a single day of the week scrawled atop the first seven...

Short Saturday: Grab Those Passing Thoughts

by | Jun 4, 2016 | Creativity

Regular readers here know I pay attention to what’s going on over at Jane Friedman’s blog, and a month or so ago she featured a guest post from writer Nell Boeschenstein called “Why Writers Should Consider the Habits of the Flâneur.” First I had to look up flâneur, so...

Just Get a Job!

by | Jun 2, 2016 | Creativity

I never wanted to burden my writing with the responsibility of paying for my life. I knew better than to ask this of my writing, because over the years, I have watched so many other people murder their creativity by demanding that their art pay the bills. … I’ve...

Where Do You Get Your Story Ideas (Part 10)

by | May 9, 2016 | Creativity

Almost three years ago, we were discussing a national poll that asked, “When thinking creatively, do you think in pictures, words, or sounds?” Fifty percent of the respondents said they think in pictures. My answer at the time (need you ask?) was I “think [creatively]...