Brain… Thriving Creativity 28 Jan 20206 Jul 2020 Our culture promotes a stereotype that creators like writers and entrepreneurs must sacrifice everything—food, sleep, relationships—for the cause. Long hours, sacrifices, and courageous decisions take a toll, and exhausted people…
Books… Write Your Book This Year: How to Write Right Now 8 Feb 20139 Mar 2013 Are you trying to squeeze your dream into your life, or will you fit your life into your dream? If you are waiting for magical writing time to appear on…
Books… Write Your Book This Year: Before You Jump 10 Jan 20139 Mar 2013 Whoosh--slap. Whoosh--slap. Did you learn to jump rope? Remember watching two friends turn a rope, as they called you in? Whoosh--slap. Whoosh--slap. Watching, waiting, feeling the rhythm, gathering courage, fearing…
Books… Write Your Book This Year: Detective Assignment 3 Jan 20139 Mar 2013 Consider that your book has been secretly growing in the silence. Your subconscious is all over it, and you might have more of it on paper than you realize. Check…
Courage… How I Know It’s Your Year! 1 Jan 20131 Jan 2013 Things felt tight last year? Of course! You have been preparing to shed. It made your vision cloudy, too. Aren't you glad it's time to peel back the resistance and…
Incubation… Your Writing is a Horse 20 Apr 201213 Oct 2012 What if your writing were a horse? And what if you didn't have to chase it down and manhandle it? Kafka said if you could only be still--"just learn to…
Courage… Scheduling Improv 21 Jun 2011 Listening to Krista Tippetts' interview with musician Bobby McFerrin, it first surprised me that he ever considered joining a monastic order, and that the main attraction was the silence! He…
Creativity… Least Limiting Resource 13 Jun 2011 Some years ago, I read that plants required 17 nutrients for growth and that growth was limited by whichever resource was most scarce. I'm not qualified to speak to the…
Books… How Do I Know? 6 Jun 2011 A friend asked today, "How do I know if anyone wants to read what I'm going to write?" Great question! Here are my first three thoughts about that: 1) You…
Change the World… Friday Flick: Virtual Choir 3 Jun 2011 We're so glad Eric Whitacre did not make it as a pop star. Here's a TED talk on his composing and creating influences: Mozart and a fan on YouTube. It's…
Academic Writing… My Favorite Kind of Payday 31 May 2011 In my introductory college skills class this quarter, a student told me about repeatedly sabotaging his final Naval promotion because at that level, he'd be required to write reports galore. Writing…
Blogging… Carved in Amethyst 7 Apr 2011 I didn't write today, and I wouldn't be here either except for this blogging commitment I made. But I did create! Last year a favorite necklace broke. Today I did…