Creative Writing

7 Ways To Spark Creativity

Gretchen Rubin | Posted 05.26.2012

Read More: Creativity, Finding Happiness, Happiness, Tips on Happiness, Emotional Wellness, Happiness Tips, Creative Writing, Journaling, On Creativity, Tips for Happiness, Creativity and Innovation, Creative, Healthy Living News

I've read a lot of advice about how to spark creativity. Everyone's creativity takes a different form, however, so the advice that works varies from person to person.

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Listening to the Heron

Patricia Crisafulli | Posted 05.16.2012

Read More: Symbolism, Creativity, Birds, Creative Writing, Inspiration, Fifty News, Writing, Symbols, Spirituality, Fifty News

What carries meaning or significance for you? When is an object, event or occurrence more than what it appears on the surface?

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Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz Makes it Official - May 18th Is NY Writers Coalition Day!

Raina Wallens | Posted 05.11.2012

Read More: Nonprofit, Creative Writing, Under Served Communities, Marty Markowitz Brooklyn Borough President, NY Writers Coalition, NY Around Town, New York News

NY Writers Coalition Day is a city-wide celebration full of free creative writing workshops in iconic New York locations.

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Can Drinking Make Men Smarter?

Joseph Nowinski, Ph.D. | Posted 05.07.2012

Read More: Creativity, Creative Writing, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Drinking Smarter, Drinking Creativity, Alcohol Creativity, Alcohol Smarter, Addiction and Recovery, Healthy Living News

I pity the man who is struggling with writing (or any other creative activity) who concludes that drinking is the pathway to creative success and who seeks a solution through drinking.

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Writer's Block Is Bunk

Lev Raphael | Posted 05.01.2012

Read More: Writing Tips, Writing, Writer's Block, Novel Writing, Writing a Novel, Writing Inspiration, Creative Writing, Blocked Writing, Books News

When writers say they have writer's block, a normal, unremarkable part of the writing process becomes debilitating.

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Wild Women in Gym Shoes

Patricia Crisafulli | Posted 04.30.2012

Read More: Creativity, Fitness and Exercise, Dance, Inspiration, Creative Writing, Fifty News, Women, Zumba, Bonding, Dance Class, Fifty News

At midlife, the fight for fitness is a daily battle, my goal no loftier than to keep my butt from becoming the size and shape of my office chair.

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Setting the Record Straight on Creative Writing: What We Really Do in School (And It's Not All Recess)

Stephanie Vanderslice | Posted 05.22.2012

Read More: Mfa Programs, The Hugo House, Writers in the Schools, The Loft, InsideOutside Detroit, 826 National, MFA Creative Writing Programs, Creative Writing, Books News

Too often, detractors of creative writing as an academic field use a small part of what we do to make a sweeping generalization. So how does an MFA program in creative writing work?

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Wrestling With Point of View in Your Writing

Holly Robinson | Posted 04.02.2012

Read More: Third Person Point of View, Protagonist, Writing, Fiction, Character Development, Point of View, Roald Dahl, Sleeping Tigers, Author Omniscient, Creative Writing, Reading, First Person, Books News

Sometimes it takes several drafts before you get the point of view that works for a particular story.

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How She Does It: A Day in the Life of a College Writing Professor

Stephanie Vanderslice | Posted 04.02.2012

Read More: College Professors, Writing Workshops, Education, Higher Education, Book Writing, Creative Writing, College, College News

Your house is pretty messy, though it would pass a health department inspection with no problem, which has become your standard. Colleagues regularly comment on the jumble that is your office.

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Unexpected Grace on the Creative Path

Patricia Crisafulli | Posted 04.01.2012

Read More: Creativity, Inspiration, Creative Writing, Fifty News, Spirituality, Writing, Fifty News

We could all use a little grace now and then. Whether you define it as an unexpected blessing, a stroke of luck, or a spiritual wink from above, grace breathes into ordinary life with encouragement and inspiration.

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The Grave Dangers of Inspiration

Misha Lyuve | Posted 05.18.2012

Read More: Creativity, Creative Process, Creative Thinking, Personal Transformation, Creative Minds, Inspiration, Creative Community, Transformation, Addiction, Creative Writing, Culture News

From ART BEAUTY LIFE blog. In this short essay I would like to warn you of dangers of inspiration. After suffering for over a week without inspirat...

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A Poet Revives His Dream: 'My Soul Is Just As Young As Ever'

Patricia Crisafulli | Posted 05.23.2012

Read More: Creativity, Inspiration, Midlife Reinvention, Writing, Poets, Second Acts, Creative Writing, Fifty News, Poetry, Baby Boomers, Reinvention, Fifty News

"I have not ossified. Maybe a little in my bones at my age, but mentally I'm like William Blake who said, 'My soul is just as young as ever.'"

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How To Avoid A Lifetime Of Regrets

Patricia Crisafulli | Posted 05.07.2012

Read More: Creativity, Imagination, Inspiration, Creative Writing, Writing, Goals, Fifty, Reinvention, Avoiding Regrets, Second Acts, Second Careers, Fifty News

Like a character in a short story, I have carefully created this older self so that she seems very real to me. Her image now is my North Star toward which I navigate my life, especially in my creative pursuits.

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What Is Creative Writing Anyway?

Stephanie Vanderslice | Posted 04.28.2012

Read More: What Is Creative Writing, Creative Writing, Books News

We thought we'd share more of what we do in creative writing programs and why we think they're not the bane of contemporary literature but, rather, good for writers, higher education, and culture.

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Writing Prompts From Famous Authors

Posted 04.03.2012

Read More: What to Write, Video, Figment, Writers, Writing, Writing Prompts, Ideas for Writing, Writing Inspiration, Creative Writing, Writing Advice, Books News

Our friends at the online literary community Figment, have launched Figment Daily Themes, a free email service designed to help subscribers get into t...

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Lesson From Rwanda: Making The Creative Life A Priority

Patricia Crisafulli | Posted 03.25.2012

Read More: Rwanda, Creativity, Artist, Art, Inspiration, Creative Writing, Fifty News, Writing, Fifty News

The "stuff" that we consider the mark of a good life is a burden that impedes us from fully experiencing the creative one.

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Can Creative Writing Be Taught? Therapy For The Disaffected Masses

Anis Shivani | Posted 03.11.2012

Read More: Mfa Programs, Creative Writing Mfas, Writing Workshops, Writing Instruction, MFA in Writing, Mfa Creative Writing, Creative Writing, Writing Techniques, Books News

Creative writing is a subset of therapy, with the same essential modalities -- except, like everything else in our culture, it comes in a stripped, dumbed down version that partakes little of the rigors of psychotherapy.

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Finding Purpose, Embracing Creativity

Patricia Crisafulli | Posted 03.11.2012

Read More: Creativity, Purpose, Creative Writing, Inspiration, Fifty News, Writing, Fifty News

When creativity is rooted in purpose, the experience becomes so much richer and more satisfying, regardless of the outcome.

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Fiction Writing for Beginners

Jennifer Langione | Posted 03.06.2012

Read More: Short Stories, Creative Writing, College, Fiction, College News

You'll often find that taking chances with your writing will bring your story to new and interesting places that you never anticipated. Don't be afraid to fail the first, second or third time -- writing is all about delayed gratification!

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Two Hats For Today's Writers (and 10 Awful Truths)

Christopher Meeks | Posted 02.17.2012

Read More: Steven Piersanti, Social Media, Book Publishing, Christopher Meeks, Book Marketing, Writing, Tim O'Brien, John Locke, Book Sales, Creative Writing, Darcie Chan, Redroom, Raymond Carver, Books News

Today's writer needs to wear two hats: those of the artist and of the marketer.

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Alchemy of the Word

Susan Kim | Posted 12.13.2011

Read More: Holiday Gifts, Writing, Creative Writing, Books on Writing, Writing Anthologies, Holiday Gift Ideas, Books News

If you're still looking for a gift -- a quirky title for a friend or relative who is equally so -- may I make a suggestion? It's an anthology called Alchemy of the Word: Writers Talk About Writing.

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The Gravity Of Success

Christopher Meeks | Posted 01.21.2012

Read More: Steve Jobs, Literature, Eminem, Christopher Meeks, TED Conference, Creative Writing, Poetry, Redroom, Simon Sinek, Books News

Last month, I started poetry in my Introduction to Literature class. Poetry always begins with around twenty faces out of twenty-five masked with dread, wariness or doubt. "I don't like poetry," a few might say. I hold my ground and reply, "That's like exclaiming you don't like oxygen."

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Prisoners Finding Their Voices Through Poetry and Prose: The 2011 PEN Writing Benefit Reading

Anthony Papa | Posted 01.09.2012

Read More: Prison Reform, Literature, Philanthropy, Prisons, Creative Writing, Rehabilitation, Poetry, Writing, Impact News

People often ask me where I got my start as a writer and where I learned my craft. When I tell them that I honed my writing skills in prison from a maverick writer, they do a double take.

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Why Apprentice Writers Shouldn't Be Marketers

Lisa Dale Norton | Posted 01.07.2012

Read More: Authors, Book Promotion, Book Publishing, Book Marketing, Creativity, Memoir, Creative Writing, Authorchat, Self Publishing, Self Publishing Advice, Author Marketing, Books News

Should apprentice writers who are just learning the craft really be expected to manage their own PR campaigns?

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7 People Writing A Novel In A Month

Madeleine Crum | Posted 01.02.2012

Read More: The Night Circus, Nanowrimo, Creative Writing, National Novel Writing Month, YA Books, Writing Tips, Books News

Yesterday marked the launch of this year's National Novel Writing Month, a community-driven movement using forums and in-person meet-ups to help autho...

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