Eric Maisel is practically a one-man industry. Well, he invented an industry–that of creativity coaching. In his own creativity coaching practice, he’s worked with MacArthur fellows, best-selling authors, Academy Award winners, painters, musicians, all kinds of creators. And not only that, he’s written books–tons of ’em, several of which I have read and enjoyed. So […]
A couple weeks ago I was greatly taken by a lecture I heard about the writing life, given by Helena Kriel at the Spalding MFA spring residency. The talk was, essentially, about how everything in the world feeds into our writing lives and our writing–if we are but present to the world. Further, when we […]
I am a terribly fickle person. Most often, this fickleness applies to activities. Like cooking, for instance. I'll go on a kick where I'm interested in cooking. I buy cookbooks, I look up recipes, I watch the Food Network, I actually cook meals and occasionally even bake things. Then it all falls apart. My interest […]
And the winner is: Julie Schwartz! Congratulations, Julie, I've sent your contact info to Karen and she'll be in touch with you soon. (By the way I used this random name selector to choose.) Please join me in welcoming my special guest post contributor, Karen Caterson, today. Readers of this blog know that Karen and […]
What the veggies from my raised beds will soon look like May is one of my favorite months ever, and here in Portland it is starting out as a glorious month! As new life bursts forth all around us, so, too does our creativity. It is time to welcome the return of good weather in […]
It's Sunday afternoon, and it's hot here in Portland. My nephew is visiting on his way from an internship in Washington D.C., back to law school in California. And he, my husband, and my son, are all at my daughter's learning how to make beer on this glorious afternoon. And where am I? Writing this […]
Today we have a guest post from mystery writer J.D. Frost. Regular readers of this blog will recognize J.D. as a loyal reader and commenter. J.D. is currently working on at least two, and despite my constant entreatries, he does not at the moment have a website or blog I can point you to read. […]
It has come to my attention recently that I am a plotter, not a pantser. In case you're not familiar with these terms, here's a rundown: A plotter is someone who, well, plots. He figures out the story ahead of time, outlining plot, designing characters, making copious notes. A pantser flies by the seat of […]
I was going to write about plotting versus pantsing this morning, but then the idea for this post grabbed hold of me and wouldn't let go. So here we are….(and look for the other post later this week). Let me be clear at the outset. I'm not wealthy, at least as far as finances go. […]
True confession: I haven't been writing. Okay, that's not exactly true. I've been writing blog posts, guest posts, interviews and comments on my client's work. I've been writing in my journal every morning. But I haven't been writing writing. I haven't been working on my WIP. Until this week. In my case, I had a […]
