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?
Stephen King declares in On Writing, “If you don’t want to work your ass off, you have no business trying to write well… (p. 144).” Most writers I know are willing to work hard, to show up, put in the effort and challenge themselves to make the writing the best it can be. For my … More If You Want Your Writing to Work, You Must Play
What brings one writer to a creative and playful state of mind won’t work for every other writer. When an activity is Process for you, you are engaged and focused, but it’s a soft focus, more diffuse and flexible than the intense focus of Product Time.
… More Are You Really Using the Process Cure for Writer’s Block?
1. Play is fun! We are designed to play; that’s why it’s fun, so we naturally want to engage in it. This should be reason enough. But a lot of us have been scarred (and scared) by the Puritan stigma against play and the false belief that real adults don’t do such frivolous things. So … More Top 10 Reasons to Play
What a strange prejudice we have against play. But play is essential to creativity. If you’re feeling stuck with your writing, play is the prescription. … More The P-word
For want of a nail the shoe was lost, For want of a shoe the horse was lost, For want of a horse the rider was lost, For want of a rider the battle was lost, For want of a battle the kingdom was lost And all for the want of a horseshoe nail. … More Little Things Matter! A Lot!
Bane of Your Resistance 