As I assemble this week’s top links on creativity and writing I promoted this week on Twitter, more than a million Americans — many of them here where I live in Washington, D.C. — are facing a forced, unpaid vacation in the form of a U.S. government shutdown. The good news is they will join locked-out NFL players in having plenty of time to read all of the posts in this week’s Creativity Tweets of the Week.
CREATIVITY:
- “the psychology of creativity: limiting ourselves with myths and attitudes,” Douglas Eby, Talent Development Resources: Douglas is featured regularly in my roundups, and here he tackles false memes such as the starving artist and the sucks-at-marketing artist.
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Like this banyan tree I saw in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the reach of The Artist's Road is wide and strong, providing shelter and comfort. “Haunted by Unfinished Projects? Fight Back,” Kate Arms-Roberts, A Writer Writing: Don’t all of us as creatives suffer from this? Kate’s post played a role this week in inspiring me to wrap up a creative project I’ve been sitting for a month; I’ve set a deadline of next Friday to complete it. Thank you, Kate.
- “the secret of claiming yourself as a creative (or artist, writer…),” Marianne Mullen, awaken creativity: Here’s a good takeaway – stop defining yourself by others’ standards.
- “What’s the Pattern?” Michele and Robert Root-Bernstein, Psychology Today: Don’t we all love a great opening line? Here’s this one: “What do babies, birders and a set of fictional folks faced with a do-or-die puzzle have in common?” Um, an obsession with objects displaying color contrasts? Turns out I was close.
WRITING:
- “Advice from a Real Life Editor Who Might Hire You,” Linda Yvette Chavez, guest post on Ollin Morales’ Courage 2 Create: This is a fun post from Linda, editor of the female-focused comedy website Comediva. If I were a different gender I’d take her advice and pitch her something funnier than what I write here, for sure.
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Like these redwoods I admired outside of San Francisco, California, The Artist's Road endures while reaching for the sky. “A Round of Words in 80 Days: A Writing Journey,” Danielle Meitiv, Brave Blue Words: I’ll admit, it made me a bit jealous to learn how much Danielle hopes to produce in the next few weeks. It also made me a little tired. Can I take a nap now?
- “Care and Feeding of the Discouraged Writer,” Cheryl Reifsnyder, Cheryl’s Musings: This is one of those posts that applies to any creative. One takeaway — look for affirmation from people in your trust circle.
- “I Don’t Know; I Know: the future of publishing for authors,” Bob Mayer, WRITE IT FORWARD: Short answer is it’s anyone’s guess, although Bob has some good guesses. I liked this question he posed — why the rift between indie-published and trade-published authors?
Governments may shut down. They may collapse. But The Artist’s Road will always be there for you, each and every week, providing reliable, uncorrupted links and posts on creativity. Of course, those posts will always be coupled with remarkable humility.
The Artist's Road 
Oh oh – now the pressure is on! I love ROW80 it gives me a chance to see if my ideas of what I SHOULD be doing are at all realistic.
I love the first link – the psychology of creativity. I know there are myths from my early years that hold me back. Your blog is one my favorite places to come for a creative reality check!
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Thanks for the kind words, Danielle!
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Thanks for mentioning my blog. The future is pretty wide open in publishing right now for those who take advantage of it. All the best!
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Thanks for you post, Bob. I am headed to a conference at the end of the month and I am interested to hear what folks are talking about there, and how different it is from what they were saying a year ago. It is a fascinating time to be in this business.
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It certainly does present a potential author with possibilities!
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That ROW80 looks interesting. I am always looking for challenges to keep me accountable.
I function best with a deadline and have to create deadlines if I don’t have them. But, and this is key, I need other people to know that I have made the committments or I find it too easy to say, “I chose that deadline, I can change it.”
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Thank you for the share Patrick! Just a little note: It’s Yvette, not Evette. Thanks!
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Ah, well maybe I was spelling it phonetically? 🙂 Fixed it, thanks for the catch.
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Thanks, Patrick! You are very awesome. And just so you know, feel free to pitch your funny ideas my way! We have male writers submit often, and as long as it speaks to a female audience in some way, I’m always happy to read it. Thanks again for this round-up! I’m excited to take a read of the other links you’ve included here.
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Glad to have made your discovery, Linda, and I may take you up on that pitch offer at some point!
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What a generous, lovable fellow you are! Thank you so much! This blog is sooooo inspiring!
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Rosanna, you are too kind!
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