Category: Recommended Practices / Three Habits

Kid-tested, Writer-approved, Surprising Gifts to Boost Imagination

December 8, 2017

“One can never have enough socks,” said Dumbledore. “Another Christmas has come and gone and I didn’t get a single pair. People will insist on giving me books.” – J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone Of course books are outstanding gifts, but like Albus Dumbledore, I do think other gift options are underutilized. … More Kid-tested, Writer-approved, Surprising Gifts to Boost Imagination

Would You Rather have Writer’s Block or Insomnia?

July 14, 2017

Insomnia: the frustrating and painful condition of wanting and needing to change your state of consciousness and being unable to do so. Writer’s Block: the frustrating and painful condition of wanting and needing to change your state of consciousness and being unable to do so. In both insomnia and writer’s block, you can’t make the … More Would You Rather have Writer’s Block or Insomnia?

Practical Writers Need Impractical Play

January 13, 2017

I love paradox. The most important insights I’ve found came wrapped in paradox. For example, play is by definition doing something that has no practical purpose. Yet play provides essential, practical rewards. Shigeru Miyamoto, inventor of Super Mario Bros., Donkey Kong and The Legend of Zelda, told The New Yorker, “Anything that is impractical can … More Practical Writers Need Impractical Play

Deep Work, Deep Play: Writers Need Both

October 20, 2016

For writers, extended time without distractions and competing priorities is a pleasurable necessity; without it we cannot enter the writer’s trance, aka creative flow. We want and need what Cal Newport defines as Deep Work: “Professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capabilities to their limit.” In Deep Work: … More Deep Work, Deep Play: Writers Need Both

Does Coloring Help or Hinder Your Writing and Reading?

February 4, 2016

Kerri Miller, MPR host, encouraged Americans to put away coloring books and pick up real books instead in a post on The Thread. If coloring books were the cause of Americans reading only 4 books a year on average, I’d agree. But I highly doubt the trade-off is between real books and coloring books. I … More Does Coloring Help or Hinder Your Writing and Reading?

How to Cure Creative Constipation, aka Writer’s Block

September 17, 2015

The metaphor of constipation for writer’s block has been around for a long time… Back in 1992, Clarissa Pinkola Estés talked about creative constipation in her audio recording The Creative Fire (Sounds True). She defined creativity as psychic excrement that we all naturally produce and need to express daily. Otherwise psychic toxins build up, and voilà, … More How to Cure Creative Constipation, aka Writer’s Block

Nothing Beats Writer’s Block Like Doing Nothing

July 24, 2015

Writer’s block consists of exerting an excruciating amount of energy to accomplish nothing. I suggest you skip the painful part, and do nothing right from the start. Writers need plenty of time to do nothing and do it well. Brenda Ueland intuited the value of time to do nothing back in 1938 when she wrote … More Nothing Beats Writer’s Block Like Doing Nothing

Cut and Paste Your Way Through Writing Resistance: It’s Not What You’re Thinking

July 2, 2015

Can’t get the words on the page? Try putting pictures there first. Sometimes you need to back away, not just from the keyboard, but from words themselves. Cut pictures, not words,and paste them into a new creation.  Collage-making puts me in a different state of consciousness, one where my perspective is more fluid and creative … More Cut and Paste Your Way Through Writing Resistance: It’s Not What You’re Thinking