Category Archives: Creativity

Teaching and assessing creativity

The Writing Sampler

I recall a time when I could amble through a mall and be approached by marketing interviewers. If I fit the criteria, I could spend twenty minutes of time providing my opinion in exchange for a few dollars or coupons … Continue reading

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Dealing with Painful Critiques

Educators often do not recognize their most creative students. I witnessed examples of this behavior as teachers described which poems they preferred in an anthology written by students. The cheerful rhyming poems were often considered better than those dealing with … Continue reading

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Why Not AI?

I write under a curse that requires me to experiment and revise as I create. Despite considering ideas, creating outlines to guide me and re-reading my initial work to improve it, the quality of my writing is not consistent. Unfortunately, … Continue reading

Posted in Characters, Creativity, Ideas for writing, Novels, Story structure, Teaching writing skills, Trends in books, Writing trends | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Writing and the Stock Market

All ideas have been done before. It’s basically impossible not to reuse one. If it hasn’t been done before, the idea will make almost no sense to anyone. That defeats the purpose of using it. Conformists want ideas that are … Continue reading

Posted in Creativity, Generation X, Ideas for writing, Literature, Millennials, Style and voice, Trends in books, Zoomers | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Writing for Therapy

The idea of writing as a therapy is not new. Being able to bare these struggles of the soul on a page could make a person feel better—or worse. My desire to write creates more stress than relief, so I … Continue reading

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A Matter of Ego

No one really writes a novel without considering the plot beforehand. Nor do they outline the events so tightly that they know each step the protagonist will take and never vary from this initial plan. So why do we argue … Continue reading

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Why Don’t They Like My Writing?

Beta reviewers or the local literary critique group may not be fond of what an author has written. However, they often don’t know how to explain what they dislike. The problem could be based on style. Perhaps, the language sounds … Continue reading

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Climbing over the Block

What is writer’s block? For me it is not a dearth of ideas, but a multitude of mediocre ones. If I push through this initial uninspired feeling and write, eventually a creative thought or two should appear. Sometimes I stretch … Continue reading

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Selling Familiar Names

I looked up at the librarian with a pleading glance, trying to get her attention. I had failed, again, in my attempt to check out books at a self-serve kiosk. My difficulty was holding my card at precisely the correct … Continue reading

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From Music to Words

My first experience with music as an inspiration for writing occurred in the summer between high school and college. I lay in bed at night listening to the radio and trying to go to sleep when a pop song with … Continue reading

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