PinnedPublished inMaking Marks: Art, Writing, and BeingThe Paradox of Tolerance Playing out in AmericaHow the intolerant have taken over public lifeNov 24, 2024Nov 24, 2024
Published inMaking Marks: Art, Writing, and BeingWhy “We” Are Upset At “Their” Bad ChoicesBehavioral Economics show how belonging can make cheaters and hypocrites of us allNov 29, 2024Nov 29, 2024
Published inMaking Marks: Art, Writing, and BeingCriticism Does NOT Improve PerformanceScolding after a person messes up probably is followed by improvement, but not because they got chewed outNov 28, 2024Nov 28, 2024
Art ≠ ArtifactArt is not the artifact. Art happens in the making of something. Making is in the creative act, not the artifact.Jul 30, 2024Jul 30, 2024
No Feather Dusting!(and not that kind either…)There’s a lesson pounded into the heads of playwrights that authors of stories could benefit from. Playwrights are warned to avoid…Jul 26, 2024Jul 26, 2024
Published inMaking Marks: Art, Writing, and BeingThe Butterfly Effect of ArtYour job, as an artist is to create meaning, create beauty, create transformative experience. You are an agent of culture not a functionary…Jul 23, 2024Jul 23, 2024
Published inMaking Marks: Art, Writing, and BeingCreativity Is a Stance That Anyone Can TakeJul 19, 2024Jul 19, 2024
Published inMaking Marks: Art, Writing, and BeingThe Secret in the Musical ScaleThere are some natural rough spots in any endeavor, almost like it’s a law of nature and follows more or less the pattern of the musical…Mar 5, 2023Mar 5, 2023
Published inMaking Marks: Art, Writing, and BeingWriting, Art, and the Empty-Handed LeapIt took me so many years to learn that when I slam headfirst into the wanna-give-up-cuz-it’s-not-working wall, THAT is the beginning of…Mar 3, 2023Mar 3, 2023
Published inMaking Marks: Art, Writing, and BeingWillpower Is a Morning PowerWhy do so many successful writers and artists have regular morning routine? There’s a psycho-physiological reason for it. Willpower is…Mar 1, 2023Mar 1, 2023
Published inThemed Writing PromptsWriting Prompt from How the Garcia Girls Lost Their AccentsA story sets out on a journey from a particular world and by the end that world has changed. Clear description and telling gestures can…Jul 15, 2022Jul 15, 2022
Published inThemed Writing PromptsWriting Prompt from 1984Here the sentence that starts with the most banal and cliché opening, the weather, only to turn bizarre with the final word. The narrative…Jul 8, 2022Jul 8, 2022
Published inThemed Writing PromptsWriting Prompt Using Pride and PrejudiceWhile many of the books I’ve looked at start with short sentences, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin strikes modern readers as rather long…Jul 8, 2022Jul 8, 2022
Published inThemed Writing PromptsWriting Prompt from Ethan FromeHere’s another great beginning that points to the story on the page being less than 100% reliable. The speaker admits being uncertain about…Jul 1, 2022Jul 1, 2022
Published inThemed Writing PromptsWriting Prompt Using The Catcher in the RyeThis first person ramble starts The Catcher in the Rye by putting you inside the head of an unhappy teenager. That he is unhappy and…Jun 10, 2022Jun 10, 2022
Published inThemed Writing PromptsWriting Prompt Using The Handmaid’s TaleThis story starts with a simple declarative that manages to set off warning bells. The speaker et al are sleeping in an odd place for an…Jun 10, 2022Jun 10, 2022
Published inThemed Writing PromptsWriting Prompt Using David CopperfieldDavid Copperfield by Charles Dickens also opens with the narrator speaking in the first person. Unlike the others, however, this time he…Jun 3, 2022Jun 3, 2022
Published inThemed Writing PromptsWriting Prompt Using Slaughterhouse-5Vonnegut starts Slaughterhouse-Five by telling you that the story will be absolutely true except where it isn’t. Stories come alive in the…May 28, 2022May 28, 2022
Published inThemed Writing PromptsWriting Prompt Using The Color PurpleWhen coaches and authors tell writers to grab the reader right away. Most beginners think that means some arranging some unexpected action…May 21, 2022May 21, 2022
Published inThemed Writing PromptsWriting Prompt Using Moby DickAt a casual glance, it isn’t much of a sentence. Three words. But look how much it does.May 14, 20221May 14, 20221
