First Things First

As writers, we often talk about not having enough time or having so many moving parts in our lives that it's difficult to fit the writing time in that we want.

Here are some suggestions or ways to organize and get more accomplished in the time you have.

Personal Productivity

Pixar's Guide to Storytelling

I think one of the best movies ever made has got to be Toy Story 3. Please note, I did not say "one of the best animated movies."

The writers at Pixar really gained Oscar notoriety with that one, and what delighted millions in theaters would have made Joseph Campbell (The Hero With 1,000 Faces) proud.

In the wake of such success, how generous of them to share their approach to storytelling . . . in a way that only Pixar can. Enjoy! 

Story Rules

The Power of Small Sustainable Change

One of the best ways to improve and enrich your writing is to improve and enrich your life (IMO).

Here's a way to do that in the next 30 days: Try Something New.

Good luck!

Are You a Writer Unbound?

If not, maybe you would like to be. This is becoming one of my favorite blogs for writers. Here's a post on writing a synopsis. But don't stop with this post. Look around. There are some great articles.

Creativity takes no excuses

When you REALLY want to write or be creative in any way . . . nothing will stop you.

Creativity takes no excuses

Do You Have Something To Write With?

I work really, really hard to conquer one of my greatest pet peeves . . . writers without pens. I can't tell you how many meetings, seminars, workshops, as well as a host of other situations I've been in with writers who show up--knowing they are attending an event that will probably require that notes be taken--and they give me the big-eyed-oops look. "Do you have a pen I can borrow?" Before I can stop it, my mind shouts, "Hell no!" But my better self prevails, and I lend one of the many pens I tend to have with me.

Now will this ever happen to me? Has it happened to me? Of course. Shame on me! But I know folks who are just chronically unprepared. If you're a writer, I believe you should be prepared to write . . . at all times. You never know when inspiration will knock you upside the head and then vanish. Let's be ready.

This article asks us to consider our favorite portable writing device.
 Do You Have Something to Write With?

Visualizing Your Plot

If you're a plotter like me, you spend time before each creative writing project writing down story details, imagining what could be, and deciding what will be. Most of the time I do this in a simplified outline fomat. However, something I saw today made me want to try a different approach.

What if you drew your plot? Illustrated it instead of using words and bullet points. Trying new things--especially those that are radically/dramatically different from your normal routine--create new pathways in the brain and expand your creative thinking capacity.

What do you think of this:  Visual Thinking ?

For Daydream Believers

http://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/go-ahead-daydream-for-creativity.html

Is the truth stranger than your fiction?

http://chronicle.com/article/The-New-Weird/132121/?sid=cr&utm_source=cr&utm_medium=en

10 Easy Steps to Becoming a Writer

http://chronicle.com/article/10-Easy-Steps-to-Becoming-a/131948/?sid=cr&utm_source=cr&utm_medium=en

Writer's Block Emergency Kit

http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/writers-bootcamp-disaster-preparedness/39917?sid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en

When Being a Stranger to Your Own Writing is a Good Thing

http://chronicle.com/article/Not-My-Type/131011/?sid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

Literary Boroughs #3: Omaha, NE

Literary Boroughs #3: Omaha, NE