The winds of change are sweeping through the Middle East. That wind dissipates on the shore of The Artist’s Road, however. Our Friday tradition of providing a roundup of our best weekly tweets on creativity, inspiration and writing long predates the reigns of here-today/gone-tomorrow despots named Mubarak or Gadhafi (or Gaddafi or Khadafi or Qaddafi or any other multi-point winner in a game of Scrabble in which the proper noun rule is waived). To all of you protesters gathering outside the Road’s Alexandria, VA, compound, we say “Pound sand! It’s another Creativity Tweets of the Week!”

CREATIVITY

“Nine Ways of Being for Amplified Creativity,” Gregg Fraley, creativity and innovation: I come across a lot of lists on this topic, but Gregg’s has a bit of variety, including #7, “Don’t compare yourself to others.”

“Brian Eno’s Creative Intelligence,”  Orna Ross: The key takeaway from the English musician and record producer (including seven albums by U2) is to never lock yourself into one answer; embrace improvisation.

“there is no script — improvisation and creative living,”  Amanda Hirsch, guest post on ScoutieGirl: I think Brian Eno (above) would like this post.

“Creativity can hinder the corporate climb,”  Knowledge@Wharton: I frequently tweet and post links here on how to foster creativity in the workplace. Maybe I shouldn’t. A new study has this disturbing finding: “Those individuals who expressed more creative ideas were viewed as having less, not more, leadership potential.” Creatives, you have another challenge in front of you.

INSPIRATION

“How Your Tolerance for Risk Impacts Your Potential for Success,”  Srinirao, The Skool of Life: There is of course a difference between calculated risk and placing your mortgage on a roulette table’s #36. But here’s a key point from this post: “Your tolerance for risk will  have a profound impact on how far you can push the limits of what’s possible in your life.”

“How to: Have a Work/Life Balance,”  Melanie Spring, Sisarina: No blog post can really deliver what that headline promises, but this contains some useful suggestions on how to structure your work (the focus is nonprofit executives but the lessons are universal). This issue of balance was on my mind this week — I had to miss a DC TweetUp Melanie organized Wednesday night because of a previous commitment to my kids.

WRITING

“should you be blogging to help your writing career (or is it a big waste of time)?”  Justine Lee Musk, Tribal Writer: A critical question, with a different answer for every writer. Timely for me, because I’m working now to develop a social media strategy for an author who has a memoir coming out in August and is being pressured to start a blog. My bottom line? If you can do it well, then absolutely do it, but own that commitment to quality and value.

“Getting Your Work Out In the World: The Mechanics,”  Charlotte Rains Dixon, WordStrumpet: Five great suggestions on how to be a professional when submitting your work. Her #3, “follow directions,” is gold; I can’t tell you how often I’ve heard agents and editors share anecdotes of, say, the romance novelist who queries an agent whose website says “no romance novels.”

“I will not apologize for being a prose writer first,”  Tamara Kaye Sellman, Writer’s Rainbow: Was Tamara guilty of treachery when she put aside poetry to focus on her prose? Some poets thought so.

“10 Signs of a Typical Writer’s Day,”  Elspeth Antonelli, It’s a Mystery: This humorous post will ring true to any writer, and it also features cold coffee and unforgiving pets.

Did you notice a recurring theme in this week’s list? Some of the blog-post headlines were apparently ghostwritten by capitalization hater e.e. cummings. Glad to see the late poet is getting some work.