The more I read and experience and observe creative people, the more I notice how we get in our own way and limit our creativity by imposing rules about the conditions we require in order to create. We might be convinced we can only create using specific tools or in a certain setting or […]
The devil’s propensity for details pokes specifically at perfectionists. The details of any project are the perfectionist’s easy target. Let’s dot each i and cross each t and for heaven’s sake let’s make sure the apostrophes line up just so. Can you relate to this vision of hell? I’ve written about perfection before, and recently […]
To encourage writers participating in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) I started writing The Daily Writer Notes, sending out an encouraging little email each morning. The series sure kept me writing at least a little something every single day! I enjoyed writing these so much that I’ve decided to keep on writing them every day […]
As a writer, how often do you stop to reread your work and then agonize over what you just wrote because it’s not perfect? How much time to you spend mulling exactly where to start a scene, debating the perfect first line for the fifth chapter, toying with the perfect verb for a key sentence, […]
Family and friends must understand that your writing time is important. It’s beyond important: it’s sacrosanct. It’s not interruptible. But it’s not fair to ask family and friends to allow you the time you need to write — to take your writing seriously and to support your creative efforts — unless you yourself take it […]
Any big writing project, or even a modest writing project (is any writing project modest? I don’t think so!) requires you to sit down and actually write. Finding the time to write is a matter of priority setting and a matter of logistics. Once you’ve cleaned up your calendar and eliminated any “extra” responsibilities, look […]
You may be wondering about all the NaNoWriMo or National Novel Writing Month fuss. Wondering why anyone would even want to try to write a novel in a month or 50,000 words of anything in thirty days. At that pace, the quality will be subpar and the burnout risk is above average. Let’s be bluntly […]
Just came across a quick but high performance interview piece with creativity expert Julia Cameron, author of The Artist’s Way . She explains “how she does it” and offers an overview of her techniques for unlocking creativity and tips for overcoming some common blocks or obstacles. Check out this Success Magazine article for highlights including […]
If you haven’t read the old 80’s era creativity book, A Whack on the Side of the Head: How to Unlock your Mind For Innovation by Silicon Valley creativity guru Roger von Oech, you should. As von Oech describes it, the book explains how you can engage in mental sex – meaning “sex of our […]
A few weeks ago I suggested making small changes to your daily life to help your brain practice thinking in new ways. You can open your mind to new thought patterns by purposely setting yourself up to adapt to change. How did you do? (Here’s the list of suggested mind expanding changes.) Did it put […]