Learning from failure is a scary thing. Who wants to fail? I don’t know anyone who does. But learning from failure is an important stepping stone in growth. When thinking about doing anything creative or entrepreneurial, many of us can be faced with worry that causes us to avoid acting at all. In this episode […]
Learning from Failure: Failing, Creativity, and Growth Read More »
Fiction and nonfiction writing are related, but they differ in important ways. By knowing how they differ, we can adapt our writing to fit the need of fiction and nonfiction. I often wonder whether writer’s block is something that afflicts unexperienced writers more than experienced ones. I know I am struck with a case of
Fiction and Nonfiction: Two types of Writing Read More »
Anxiety and creativity are opposites, which is an interesting thing because many people who are highly creative also deal with anxiety. Many writers have rituals they use to get into the mindset of writing, whether this ritual is dressing up in their fanciest clothes or have a cigarette and coffee. On this week’s episode of
Anxiety and Creativity: How to Destroy Lateral Thinking Read More »
My family is not one that engages in personal story. When something happens in my family, we instead inform each other about what has happened. Instead of giving each other the information in a story format, we present it as a short summary of what the person needs to know about the situation. In some
Personal Story and Human Connection Read More »
How to write a novel, You run into this problem all over the internet. Many people are looking for the best way to go about writing a book. Author David Stewart guests on this week’s episode of HTWG. David and I discuss such things as the components needed to make a good story, David’s writing
How to Write a Novel: Story Development w/ David Stewart Read More »
Pay attention. Many of us have heard that command throughout our lives. In art, tuning your attention to specific details is extremely important. If you have ever heard of Zen, you have likely wondered what it is. If you haven’t heard of Zen, I can’t help you and no one can. For the helpable, Zen
Pay Attention: Zen and the Art of Noticing Read More »
Egocentrism is the idea that a person is unable to take another person’s perspective. Though baby and toddlers often come to mind first when this idea comes up, egocentrism is present in everyone. On this week’s episode, I talk about how egocentrism impacts writing. How does it play out? What should a writer do? How
Egocentrism: Creative Writing and Perspective Taking Read More »
Short term memory capacity is limited. When reading, a person uses short term memory to understand, and the writer needs to take this capacity into account. Having deleted an entire episode, I, distracted by what I am reading rather than what I had planned, discuss connecting psychology to the scientific method to synthesis, cognitive science,
Short Term Memory Capacity and Creative Writing Read More »
This is for high school students, and it will be some of the best advice you get in relation to your career. I think it is good advice because besides warning against a pitfall I did not avoid, it also gives you direction for what you should do. This advice is easily summed up in
Should I Go to College: Advice for High School Students Read More »
Benefits of reading are vast, but we live in a culture in which reading seems to be on the decline. The late Ray Bradbury also had some ideas about this. Ray Bradbury has a famous quote: “You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.” This quote
Benefits of Reading: Ray Bradbury and Fahrenheit 451 Read More »
