Better late than never, right? So here’s my Valentine’s Day gift to you, my latest round-up of great links on creativity, inspiration, art, and writing — the Creativity Tweets of the Week! (I’m sorry, the flower store was done sold out, holiday rush, you know.) Below enjoy 18 great resources, some of the links I sent out this week via Twitter.

CREATIVITY

• “15 Foundations for Facilitating Creativity at Work,” Michelle James, The Fertile Unknown: Learn from the incomparable Michelle how to foster creativity in your workplace. I like #4, “Fail gracefully.” I’ve got plenty of experience with the first part, still working on the second part.
• “Is Creativity the Number 1 Skill for 21st Century?” Mark Batey, Phd, Psychology Today:  My short answer, as someone who blogs under the handle @on_creativity? YES! (And I suspect Michelle, above, agrees.) Enjoy Dr. Batey’s far more scientific verdict on the subject.
• “Fertilize Confusion to Thrive During Creative & Life Challenges,” Jeffrey Davis, Psychology Today: I love to tweet Jeffrey’s insightful posts. The takeaway of this post is “confusion can be converted into creative innovation and personal break-through.” You can also hear Jeffrey interviewed on this subject by creative coach Tara Sophia Mohr on February 23rd.
• “Getting in the Mood to Create,” Lisa Riley, The Art of Mind: One key takeaway — break up your isolation by spending time around other creatives. I need to do this more. (On that note, if any DC-area writers are reading this, I’m looking to form or join a writer’s group, contact me if interested!)
• “How Can You Manage Creativity?” Dr. Chris E. Stout, HR Resource: As with Michelle’s tips above, strategies to bring out the creativity in your employees.
• “Adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Score High in Creativity,” U. of Michigan, via R&D blog: I found this fascinating because my teenage daughter has ADD, and is a fantastic visual artist and budding creative writer. I would think the H in ADHD would make sitting still long enough to produce creative works challenging, however.

INSPIRATION

• “5 Tips for Squashing Self-Doubt Demons,” Tawna Fenske, Don’t Pet Me I’m Writing: The first point is critical — recognize toxic thoughts — but I probably could have done without the simile of crushing a sheep’s testicle. 🙂
• “8 Essential Steps for Starting Your Freelance Biz,” Lexi Rodrigo, Freelance Folder: She had me at #1: “Know yourself.”
  

ART

• “Why Does Art Cost So Much? Part Three — The Price of Presentation,” Amy Buchheit, Fantastic Voyage: All three parts of this series are important for artists and lovers of art, and it’s written by one of the fascinating creatives I interviewed on my U.S. cross-country road trip. Go Amy!
• “Fish Stew and the Self-Taught Artist,” Keith Bond, Fine Art Views:  A great post about how teachers can offer guidance and wisdom, they can also direct students down their own personal creative paths. Ultimately, we’re all self-taught artists.
  

WRITING

• “11 Tips to Help Make Writing Easier,” Becki Sams, The Writer’s Blog: Along with having perhaps the most descriptive blog name in the blogosphere, Becki offers writers lots of tips. See also “How to Use Your Blog to Market Your Writing.”

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  “The Answer to Your Burning Question: ‘How Do I Make a Living as a Writer?‘ Carol Tice, guest blog on Courage to Create: Warning: You’re not going to find every answer you need here, but if it were possible to do that, Carol wouldn’t have anything to write about on her blog, titled, appropriately, “Make a Living Writing.” Lots of good lessons in this post, though, namely how you must overcome your fear. (I know that fear well now as a newly launched full-time freelancer, even though I’ve been writing professionally for more than twenty years.)

• “Cheap Therapy,” Milli Thornton, Fear of Writing: Talk aloud with your muse (and I’d add, let family members know you’re not going crazy).
• “8 Signs Your Writing is Stuck in a Rut — and Why,” K. M. Weiland, Wordplay: As a daily reporter this wasn’t an issue for me; I had to file something, even if it was the equivalent of the gum on the bottom of my shoe, and move on. But as a creative writer I get this problem, and welcome solutions.
• “Charles Dickens — Three Principles of Writing,” Jamie Grove, How Not to Write: Learn from the author of “A Tale of Two Cities,” who decries idiots believing that writing is as easy as making pancakes.
• “Becoming A Writer,” Orna Ross: She gives it to you straight — why are you so obsessed with getting an agent and getting published when you haven’t even done a few laps actually writing?
• “Patience,” Vahini Naidoo, Let the Words Flow: I put this directly below Orna’s link on purpose, as it’s a perfect complement.
• “Yearly Wrap-Ups (of AWP Washington 2011),” Caleb J. Ross, AWP blog: Were you unable to attend this national conference for writers and writing instructors but wish you had? Did you attend and realize that you couldn’t come close to experiencing everything it had to offer, like I did? Caleb’s collection of blog posts by AWP attendees is for you.

One tip I learned at AWP is that if you’re querying a publication pitching an article, make it a list article, i.e., “9 Ways to Dress Your Dog.” Five of today’s links follow that pattern, which I think works when encouraging click-throughs and retweets as well. Perhaps I should have named this blog post “18 Ways to Kick-Start Your Creativity.” Oh well, live and learn.