Although the ritual of always working in the same place can provide fertile ground for your routine, when you need to shake-up your inspiration, add a little pep to your process and creative offerings too, shutting yourself away like an author in his garret or artist in her studio isn’t always the ideal thing for your creativity. Where we […]
8 Ways to Reignite Your Passion for Writing and Write [Even If You Don’t Feel Like It]
In a brilliant interview in The Paris Review, E. B. White said, “A writer who waits for ideal conditions under which to work will die without putting a word on paper.” To allow the seeds of inspiration grow into tiny shoots and push through the soil, like the magnificent miracles they are, you need to metaphorically water them […]
Food for Thought: What to Eat Before a Creative Project
Sometimes you just can’t get into your creative flow no matter how strongly you wish it. If you’ve tried all the writing or artistic tricks in your toolkit yet still find yourself staring at a blank page or empty canvas, perhaps you should look to your diet. To create anything your brain needs a steady flow of […]
7 Powerful Yoga Asanas for Writers and Artists
Yoga does far more than stretch and tone the body. For writers and artists there are many benefits to having a regular practice. From on-the-spot relief from creative block and easing pains and tension, to reducing writing doubt and finding new inspiration, the following yoga asanas each hold special qualities that benefit writers and artists. Whatever the medium of your […]
The Tao of Creativity: Taoist Techniques to Help Your Writing and Art
Taoism at its core is about living life with harmony and ease, and with as much joy in the process as possible. Most people have heard of Tai Chi and Chi Kung but there are numerous techniques within the Taoist system that can help both you and your creativity to flourish. The following extended offering […]
7 Reasons to Meditate if You Write or Make Art
A consistent meditation practice infuses and informs everything life, offering you a creative freedom quite unmatched by any other practice. Through stilling your mind and relocating your centre, in as little as five minutes a day, meditation offers a plethora of benefits to both your life and creativity. Even the greatest authors and artists can experience […]
8 Ways to Guarantee a Productive Writing Day
“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives,” as Annie Dillard so aptly once said. Yet with our days now busier than ever, and demands placed upon us as equally extensive, being able to squeeze as much writing from the limited time we have becomes all the more paramount. Everyone […]
Henry Miller on Perspective, Acceptance, and the Beauty of Making Art
“When you put your mind to such a simple, innocent thing, for example, as making a watercolour, you lose some of the anguish which derives from being a member of a world gone mad. Whether you paint flowers, stars, horses or angels you acquire respect and admiration for all the elements which go to make […]
The Neuroscience of Imagination
Albert Einstein said of the theory of relativity, “I thought of it while riding my bicycle.” Anyone who exercises regularly knows that your thinking process changes when you are walking, jogging, biking, swimming, riding the elliptical trainer, etc. New ideas tend to bubble up and crystallize when you are inside the aerobic zone. You are […]
Anaïs Nin on How We Write to Heighten Our Own Awareness of Life
“We write to heighten our own awareness of life. We write to lure and enchant and console others. We write to serenade our lovers. We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospection. We write, like Proust, to render all of it eternal, and to persuade ourselves that it is eternal. We write […]