Category Archives: Leadership

Collaborating with Other Authors

How do multiple writers work together to produce a work superior to their individual abilities?  With a great deal of struggling. Despite the idea that synergy, or combining abilities of people in groups, to produce better ideas than individuals most … Continue reading

Posted in Creativity, Drama and movies, Group psychology, Novels, Writer's resource, Writing trends | Tagged , | Leave a comment

In My Head

As a child I made up stories in my head, mostly about people’s pets. The majority of them were entirely descriptions such as fur color, number of spots, eye color and size. When I bemoaned the fact that these just … Continue reading

Posted in Creativity, Group psychology, Ideas for writing, Literary devices, Literature, Self-awareness, Style and voice, Teaching writing skills | Leave a comment

Favoring rebellious heroes

As much as people are willing to mimic the behavior of others in order to fit in, they often secretly wish for the strength to show dissent. We admire the person who has the guts to do what we dare … Continue reading

Posted in exclusion, Group psychology, Inclusion | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Critiquing myself

I grew up as a bookworm, constantly reading. My parents sometimes claimed that I spent my entire childhood with my nose in a book. But I didn’t learn how to read until I was five, so books had to have … Continue reading

Posted in Literature, Self-awareness, Trends in books, Writer's resource | Leave a comment

The First Steps of an Endless Journey

At times I become frustrated with aspiring young authors. They may ask questions such as ”I have this cool idea about a boy that can fly; how do I write the story?” Or they beg for even more help. “I … Continue reading

Posted in Literature, Self-awareness, Story structure, Teaching writing skills, Writer's resource, Writing trends | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Obnoxious characters

Creating villains is much like creating protagonists. They are people with depth and a history. A villain follows discernible motives just like the hero does. Only at some point in their life, villains take an ethical shortcut to get ahead. … Continue reading

Posted in Characters, Group psychology, Literary devices, Literature, Mental health, Trends in books | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The need for criticism

W. Somerset Maugham said, “People ask you for criticism, but they only want praise.” These were the words of his character, an artist in the novel Of Human Bondage, so it may not be Maugham’s real view. Or, was it? … Continue reading

Posted in Creativity, Literature, Self-awareness, Writer's resource | Leave a comment

Lessons in Chemistry

Chemistry–a subject in school that requires labs where students mix substances to observe what happens. However, the students spend much more time scribbling down equations on paper to calculate the result of reactions they never observe. Chemicals are often predictable. … Continue reading

Posted in Literature, Manipulation, Writer's resource | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The human factor in science fiction

Hardcore science fictions readers may mourn the loss of science fiction writers whose keen insights led them to glimpses of the future. Jules Verne created novels in which characters sailed under oceans throughout the world and traveled to the moon. … Continue reading

Posted in Group psychology, Literature, Technology in education | Leave a comment

A healthy suspicion

While researching how successful people were in transferring leadership skills from one type of business to another (like the route of going from acting to politics that a number have traveled), I came across an article entitled “7 Reasons Leaders … Continue reading

Posted in Education trends, Leadership | Tagged , | Leave a comment