Your weekly treat has arrived early this week, as I’m reserving Friday for another post. Below find a highlight of links I tweeted on creativity and writing this week. Let me also invite any folks in the DC area who blog or are considering doing so to join me in a six-week workshop on blog writing I’ll be conducting at The Writer’s Center in Bethesda, Maryland. The course runs six weeks starting the evening of Tuesday, April 17th; more information to come!

CREATIVITY

• “Got Creative Block? Get out of your office and go for a walk,” Bernie DeGroat, U. of Michigan News Service: You can follow this link to read the science behind the headline’s command. Or you can just follow it. I’ll be here when you get back.

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  “The Power of Metaphors,” Michael Michalko, Psychology Today: They’re not just for writers anymore.

• “Vision + Mastery for No-Goals Creatives This Year,” Jeffrey Davis, Psychology Today: It’s okay if you’re not a New Year’s resolutions type of creative. But do you have clearly defined goals? Do you have a path to reaching them?
• “Are You Creative? A Quiz,” Jill Badonsky, guest post on Strangling my Muse: I’ll give you a hint: Jill thinks you are.

WRITING

• “10 Content Ideas that Generate Comments and Shares,” Gini Dietrich, SpinSucks: I’m resistant to posts that advise you on what to write about in your blog, but these are worthy of note. In my blogging workshop I’ll provide one suggestion: What are you passionate about?

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  “Sue William Silverman,” interviewed by Derek Alger at PIF Magazine: A confession: Sue is one of my Vermont College of Fine Arts muses. It’s an interesting interview even without that connection, particularly her discussion of her transition from fiction to nonfiction.

• “5 Questions with Terre Britton, Author, Painter and Lots More,” John Magnet Bell, Start Your Novel: An engaging interview with a talented creative. Interestingly enough, John raises the “Oxford comma” in the Q&A, a grammatical device he eschews in his headline.
• “3 Numbers that Matter to Your Platform,” Jane Friedman: Advice on what matters in your writer platform that will potentially leave you feeling a bit inadequate, especially when Jane reveals her Klout reach. (Perhaps I’m projecting here.)
• “What’s the Problem With Free?” Kristen Lamb’s Blog: A lot, it turns out, if you believe your writing has value. A lengthy but forthright post, with 100 provocative comments and counting.

If you haven’t already done so, share your two cents on potential gender differences between male and female writers on my previous post. We’ve got a great conversation going!