Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘inspiration’

Inspirational TED Talks for Writers

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on February 21, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Invention, my dear friends, is 93% perspiration, 6% electricity, 4% evaporation, and 2% butterscotch ripple.
—Willy Wonka, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory

Perhaps your weekend will be spent climbing Everest or solving cold fusion, but if you plan to spend at least some time facing down a blank page in an effort to write, the following TED talks may be of some use. This collection comes to us via Aerogramme Writers’ Studio and includes a variety of topics and speakers:

  1. Chimamanda Adichie: The Danger of a Single Story
  2. Isabel Allende: Tales of Passion
  3. Andrew Stanton: The Clues to a Great Story
  4. Lisa Bu: How Books Can Open Your Mind
  5. Amy Tan: Where Does Creativity Hide?
  6. Billy Collins: Everyday Moments, Caught in Time
  7. Elif Shafak: The Politics of Fiction
  8. Joe Sabia: The Technology of Storytelling
  9. Elizabeth Gilbert: Your Elusive Creative Genius
  10.  Tracy Chevalier: Finding the Story Inside the Painting
  11. Jarred McGinnis: Writing is the Only Magic I Still Believe In
  12. Julian Friedmann: The Mystery of Storytelling
  13. John Green: The Paper Town Academy

I featured #9 in a previous post but there are a dozen other talks too. A baker’s dozen. … Hmm, baking… Perhaps I’ll make something tasty to go along with the above educational material. Because, cookies. Butterscotch ripple cookies, even:)

Read Full Post »

Beauty

Posted in Likes, tagged , , , , , , on February 18, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Oh look, it’s snowing again, and I realize that I’m on the edge of what I’m calling Snow-Related Stockholm Syndrome. When I start to enjoy the fact that I’m buried under feet of the white stuff, it’s time for a change of scenery. Today, I give you Zion National Park.

Read Full Post »

Happy Valentine’s Day

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , on February 14, 2014| Leave a Comment »

My Valentine’s Day wish for us all:

heart

 

Thank you, Michael Faraday🙂

Read Full Post »

Fifty Problems

Posted in Likes, tagged , , , , , , , on February 10, 2014| Leave a Comment »

This is the coolest thing: a designer decided to tackle fifty problems in fifty days. I think it’s terrific when creative people find ways to use their talents to fix problems, particularly when they focus on challenges most of us have been living with for years. It’s easy to get used to doing things one way even when that way is not optimal, and once acclimated it can be hard to even see the issue, much less fix it.

http://50problems50days.com

This is what happens when creative people look at the world with fresh eyes, and decide that they can, and should, do something to make it better. Constructive creativity for the win.

What “fifty problems” would you choose?

Read Full Post »

Free Download: “The 2014 Campbellian Pre-Reading Anthology” at Stupefying Stories

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 4, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Another year, another free Campbellian download!

Stupefying Stories has just made available M. David Blake’s “The 2014 Campbellian Pre-Reading Anthology.” This collection contains more than 860,000 words of fiction by authors eligible for this John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer award. Fabulous fiction, and all free free free!

Limited time offer, get yours today!

Read Full Post »

Try, Try Again

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on January 29, 2014| 1 Comment »

Some of you will have seen this poem, but I fielded a question about it recently and wanted to revisit what is a sometimes painful yet ultimately encouraging truth:

Ever tried.
Ever failed.
No matter.
Try again.
Fail again.
Fail better.
—Samuel Beckett

Not “stop trying.” Not “don’t fail.” Fail better. It’s a sentiment close to the heart of many writers:)

Read Full Post »

It Really Is Monday

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , on January 13, 2014| Leave a Comment »

“…perfection is not necessary to make a real and lasting difference in other people’s lives.”
— JK Rowling

Thank goodness, that’s all I have to say. Because some days the best you can hope for is some small measure of progress. Why, Monday, why?

Time for another cup of tea, methinks:)

Read Full Post »

Pass It On

Posted in Likes, tagged , , , , , , , , , on January 8, 2014| 2 Comments »

We are at the very beginning of time for the human race. It is not unreasonable that we grapple with problems. But there are tens of thousands of years in the future. Our responsibility is to do what we can, learn what we can, improve the solutions, and pass them on.

— Richard P. Feynman

Read Full Post »

Right and True

Posted in Likes, tagged , , , , , on January 1, 2014| Leave a Comment »

The following is from Neil Gaiman’s Journal: My New Year Wish in 2011, and is, as far as I’m concerned, about as good a guide for the coming year as I can imagine:

…for this year, my wish for each of us is small and very simple.

And it’s this.

I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes.

Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re Doing Something.
…
Whatever it is you’re scared of doing, Do it.

Make mistakes, and pat yourself on the back when you do. Then get up and try again.

In related news, I just spent the past hour ice skating. I don’t skate:)

Read Full Post »

Holidays

Posted in Holidays, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , on December 28, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Apologies for my lack of presence here; like many of you, I’m up to my ears in holiday fun. Eggnog, presents, family, Swedish smörgåsbord delights, and the ensuing fallout has me busy, busy, busy! I’ll be around the site off and on for the next week and back in force after the New Year. In the meantime, let me leave you with this terrific quote:

Imagine that you are dying. If you had a terminal disease would you ­finish this book? Why not? The thing that annoys this 10-weeks-to-live self is the thing that is wrong with the book. So change it. Stop arguing with yourself. Change it. See? Easy. And no one had to die.
― Anne Enright

It’s applicable to writing, of course, but substitute “do [fill in the blank with your own white whale]” for “finish this book” and it may also be useful for those looking ahead to the new year, and related resolutions:)

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »