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Sparks of creativity! BOOM a brilliant idea! It can be exhilarating to come up with a fresh idea. But how are you going to execute it? How are you going to tend to that idea and watch it grow? In Hocus Pocus, Kurt Vonnegut writes, “Everybody wants to build and nobody wants to do maintenance.” … Continue reading The merits of maintenance →

The New York Times recently profiled book editor Judith Gurewich. In addition to being the publisher of Other Press, Gurewich is a Lacanian analyst. Perhaps because she was trained in an aural tradition—listening to patients, asking questions—Gurewich employs a unique method for editing books: she has authors read their manuscripts aloud. “When my stomach intervenes, … Continue reading Are you writing with your head or your gut? →

So, you're embarking on a new writing project. You have a sense of the setting, character, and themes. You might even know what your characters get up to (plot) and how quickly the story will roll along (pace). While it's good to know what your story is, it's also helpful to know what it is not, or … Continue reading This/Not That →

In their classic book, Art & Fear, David Bayles and Ted Orland advise the reader to Make objects that talk—and then listen to them. Your work needs to speak for itself—it needs to feel alive and it needs to communicate to the reader or viewer without your intervention. Advice from others (yes, even me) can only … Continue reading Learn from your art →

As an editor, it's my job to poke the writer when I feel they're not getting to the point or when they're holding back on details. Oftentimes I'm poking a sore spot that the writer doesn't want to address: a trauma that occurred, or a difficult theory they need to work out. We then determine … Continue reading There’s a lot you’re not saying →

I post about creativity every weekday on my Instagram page. These posts focus on practical writing tips, but are grounded in how we make space for writing, how we need to give ourselves permission to create and to fail in the process. Above all, I believe that making art needs to feel possible, which is … Continue reading Keep it light and keep it moving →

In his essay on nature and creativity, The Tree, John Fowles speaks to the tendency to ascribe meaning to the world by classifying it. The belief is that we can't know something until we can see it, describe it, name it, and determine its use—as a resource, as a species linked to or distinguished from … Continue reading Creativity is private →

The dancer and choreographer Agnes de Mille said: Living is a form of not being sure, not knowing what next or how. The moment you know how, you begin to die a little. The artist never entirely knows. We guess. We may be wrong, but we take leap after leap in the dark. Leaping in … Continue reading Guesswork is artwork →

Carolyn O'Hara breaks down the components of great storytelling in this 2014 article from the Harvard Business Review. In summary: Start with a message Mine your own experiences Don’t make yourself the hero Highlight a struggle Keep it simple Practice makes perfect Definitely check out her "Principles to Remember" (what to do and what to … Continue reading 6 Essential Lessons for All Storytellers →

Hands up if you add too many items to your to-do list each day. You might feel frustrated that you're "not accomplishing anything." The real issue is that you're not prioritizing tasks. I've experimented with numerous approaches to the to-do list over the years, and finally settled on a simple format that works. Create two … Continue reading The only to-do list you need →