Collaboration… Composing Language 11 Apr 20119 Apr 2011 Every time I see my composer son, he raves about and demonstrates some new tool in his repertoire: something about counterpoint, some chord he picked up from another composer, some…
Blogging… The Sport of Writing 9 Apr 2011 Some sports are played against the clock. Their time-centered rules vary greatly, but they include judicious use of the time available. Basketball rushes through its quarters with shot clocks to…
Books… Friday Flick: Do Schools Kill Creativity? 8 Apr 20119 Apr 2011 Sir Ken Robinson, author of Out of Our Minds: Learning to Be Creative, and The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything, spoke at TED a few years ago about…
Courage… Friday Flick: “If I Should Have a Daughter” 25 Mar 201125 Mar 2011 Between sharing two of her own polished pieces, poet Sarah Kay shares her own creative emergence and that of her students. She suggests listing ten things you know to be true.…
Change the World… Friday Flick: Decide to Launch 25 Feb 201125 Feb 2011 In my childhood, I saw Neil Armstrong walk on the moon. In my young adulthood, I heard the Challenger explosion by radio. Now I'm raising a rocket scientist. I will…
Blogging… Why Post Daily? 24 Jan 201121 Jan 2011 If you journal only sporadically, or monthly, or weekly, you're tempted to be significant or profound--or silent. I'd been at that for years when I heard a Sunday School teacher…
Change the World… “Divers Patter, Dabblers Explode” 22 Jan 201125 Jan 2011 I love this sign at a preserve: "Divers Patter, Dabblers Explode." These are ducks. The sign explains that Dabblers, such as wigeons, teals, pintails, shovelers, and mallards, have large wings…
Books… “The Power of Receiving” 10 Jan 201116 Mar 2011 "Doesn’t it make sense that if you want something—whether to meet the love of your life, get a great job or increase your financial stability—you need to know how to…
Business Communications… Writing pain is not forever 30 Dec 20101 Jan 2011 Rocket scientist Joe Williams has this to say about high school writing: "Frankly, I hated it. I found it so formulaic and forced and stifling that I hated it with…
Change the World… Hope in the mail 30 Jun 201029 Dec 2010 Do you keep some "hope in the mail"? (Wish I knew which writer said that first.) Waiting for a literary agent to sell a book reminds me of my infertility…
Courage… The Law of Emergence 1 Jun 201029 Dec 2010 Where is your writing coming from? From studying the market and hoping to catch a trend before it’s gone? From emulating another? From listening to outside advice about what to…
