“It was never the right time or it was always the right time, depending on how you looked at it.”
— Ann Patchett, Bel Canto
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Posts Tagged ‘creativity’
Let’s Go With Always
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, creativity, think positive, Thoughts, Writers, writing on November 12, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Writing Time
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, creativity, Thoughts, Writers, writing on November 8, 2025| 1 Comment »
“The right time is any time that one is still so lucky as to have.”
— Henry James
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(I’ll Try to) Use Wisely
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, creativity, Thoughts, Writers on November 3, 2025| Leave a Comment »
“The gifts you possess can lift you up or pull you down; it all depends on how you use them.”
— Arthur C. Brooks
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Nothing, and Everything
Posted in Other, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, #WhereDoIdeasComeFrom, creativity, inspiration, Thoughts on November 2, 2025| Leave a Comment »
My office is filled with random yet interesting items. Maybe a color caught my eye, or a puzzle, or a map (or a bit of pottery, a magic wand, a decoder ring, a set of travel watercolors, or or or). All things that spark my creativity or capture an experience I want to remember.
For example: Mr Man and I had a special dinner a while back.
Appetizer: mussels steamed with a great deal of garlic and a perfectly reasonable amount of white wine.
Flavor: excellent.
Bonus: an unexpected gift, the tiniest pearl I have ever seen.
Taking a picture of it was a challenge, it’s that small.
I keep it in memory of that night. It’s worth nothing, and everything.
“But the pearls were accidents, and the finding of one was luck, a little pat on the back by God or the gods both.”
– John Steinbeck
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Me, Thinking
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, creativity, haiku, just thinking, poem, Thoughts, Writers, writing on October 29, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Sometimes a story seed comes to me, and while it doesn’t always grow into a full-fledged story, it’s often expressed in the form of its own small poem. Like this.
Can We Make a Deal?
My alien mind
In this animal body
Which wins, in the end?
And since today is National Cat Day in the US, let’s make that animal a kitty.
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A Creativity Hack
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, creativity, Thoughts, Writers, writing on October 27, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Looking for an unexpected way to find interesting and creative story ideas? Creativity expert Keith Sawyer has a suggestion.
The Creativity Hack No One Told You About: Read the Obits
Here’s how you can use the obituaries to enhance your creative cognition.
First, start by reading them slowly, without searching for a big idea. Let the details wash over you — the places lived, the professions practiced, the odd hobbies pursued. Notice what sticks.
It’s not just about learning new facts, of course — it’s about asking questions.
There’s more to this idea than just skimming the paper. Want to know more about how to enhance your creative cognition? This article can help.
“…research shows that distant analogies often lead to creative breakthroughs, often in unexpected ways. What you’re doing is filling up your brain with a range of very different cognitive material.”
As you read the obits (or watch TV, or stroll through the neighborhood, there are lots of options), start by asking questions. Get a sense of the who, what and where, then look for the why and see where it leads.
To your next story, I hope!
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A Nice Reminder
Posted in Other, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, art, creativity, inspiration, Thoughts, Writers on October 22, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Here’s an illustrated short by Rich Wells, capturing an epiphany he had outside a tire shop.
“I thought l’d take the words from my notebook and make something visual.
A reminder to myself that all this everyday stuff – admin, errands, school runs, park trips, waiting in lines, meal times –
it’s all a gift”
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Lessons in Suspense
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, cliffhangers, creativity, inspiration, Thoughts, Writers, writing on October 18, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Today, Mr Man is out in the woods being woodsy, and his cell connection is weak at best. He called with a story about an adventure, full of drama and excitement, near misses and impossible tasks.
Ninety seconds into the tale, the call cut out. Oh no, I thought, he just set up the problem, how will he triumph? What happened next? I waited by the phone in anticipation.
Another call, another 90 seconds, another cut line, another moment of drama as he hung, metaphorically speaking, between victory and defeat. It happened again, then again.
I started answering his callbacks with “And then what happened?”
After many episodes I got the whole story, and it was a good one. Let’s just say that most of us would have found ourselves stranded in the bush waiting to become a bear’s dinner, but through creativity, deductive thinking and mechanical know how, he found a way!
And I enjoyed an excellent reminder of the power of suspense in story.
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Still Going! Hope You Are Too
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, #QuittingIsForQuitters, creativity, persistence, Thoughts, Writers, writing on October 17, 2025| 2 Comments »
The only guaranteed way to succeed is simple: don’t quit.
— Arnold Schwarzenegger
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Do It with Style
Posted in Other, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, creativity, inspiration, Thoughts on October 9, 2025| Leave a Comment »
“Every minute of every hour of every day you are making the world, just as you are making yourself, and you might as well do it with generosity and kindness and style.”
— Rebecca Solnit
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