I didn’t feel like typing today

I'm reading The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron lately and have agreed to write what she calls the "Morning Pages". She says that three pages are the minimum but I don't feel like doing that much. The goal is to turn the fawcett of creativity early on in the day in the hopes of it …

Creating vs Not Destroying

Maybe you're not supposed to create the next big thing. Perhaps it already exists. Yes, it's true that you won't be recognized, but glory can turn on you or go bad overnight. What's wrong with promoting the thing and its maker instead of yourself? After all, isn't creativity really just assembling already existing pieces? You …

Creative Writing Exercise “7x7x7”

I found this great list of ideas for creative writing prompts. The first one on the list is called 7x7x7. Here are the rules: Find the 7th book from your bookshelf (or digital library). Open it up to page 7. Look at the 7th sentence on the page. Begin a paragraph that begins with that …

The Power of a Song

While visiting my grandmother in the nursing home a few months back, my wife sat down at a piano in a waiting area and asked what to play. I said she should play the Forrest Gump theme song, but I had seriously underestimated its power. I’m a softie so it was, of course, emotional overload. …

Cite Unseen: 3 Bits for a Better Bibliography

If you create content, whether you're a journalist, educator, pastor, writer, etc., than you know that coming up with original content can be difficult. Writer's block is a common obstacle, especially when there are deadlines, and copying someone else's material from a website is way too easy in the dry times.I started teaching as a …

Wishing Will

Will has a wish. He has many wishes in fact, but none intact – a string of ideas with no kite. Will is wishy-washy. One wish wipes away the last in an unfortunate misuse of memory. Will has wishes, but no will. If men live up to their names, than Will should have been named Wish. …

How to Sell a Boa Constrictor on Craigslist

Disclaimer: this was a creative writing excercise I did a while back. I do not have a boa constrictor for sale, but I did post this on Craigslist for a day just to see if anyone would respond. I got around 10 emails with interested people. --- What started out as a present for a …

3 Things to Make Your 2018 Wishes Come True

I remember as a kid always being interested in asking questions just so I could answer it myself. My favorite was asking others "If you had three wishes, what would you ask for?" "More (or unlimited) wishes!" was the typical response from the majority of those I asked.  I could have written a fairly large …