A. L. Kennedy’s 10 Rules for Writing Fiction These writing tips were gleaned from an interview A. L. Kennedy gave to the Guardian. Writer and performer, Alison Louise “A. L.” Kennedy is the author of 17 books: 6 literary novels, 1 science fiction novel, 7 short story collections, and 3 works of non-fiction. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and […]
George Saunders’ Short Animated Documentary on the Art of Storytelling
“A good story is one that says, at many different levels, ‘we’re both human beings, we’re in this crazy situation called life, that we don’t really understand. Can we put our heads together and confer about it a little bit at a very high, non-bullshitty level?’ Then, all kinds of magic can happen.” ~ George Saunders […]
7-Step Process to Align Body, Mind and Soul for Optimum Creativity
Allow your creative conduit to open with ease by using a few ancient healing practices to quieten your inner critic, ground and centre you, refresh your thinking, spark inspiration and refine your focus. Spending a few moments aligning your being before you begin brings clarity to your creativity, so you can create unfettered by distractions or doubt but with gentleness, calm equilibrium, and aplomb. It’s also a perfect practice to do during […]
Natalie Goldberg on Stepping Out Your Own Way & How Writing Frees Us
“Simply step out of the way and record your thoughts as they roll through you. Writing Practice spends the heart and mind, helps to keep us flexible so that rigid distinctions between apples and milk, tigers and celery disappear. Every minute we change. It is a great opportunity. At any point, we can step out […]
15 Ocean-Inspired Storytelling Tools & Tips
Every writer has days where they feel a little deflated, distracted or depleted of wonder — especially when working on a project as grand as a novel. With short fiction too, it’s natural for this ebb and flow. Although each of us must find our own process, if your writing runs a little dry or you’re feeling uninspired, try these […]
Joseph Conrad on Fiction, Art and the Power of the Written Word
Fiction — if it at all aspires to be art — appeals to temperament. And in truth it must be, like painting, like music, like all art, the appeal of one temperament to all the other innumerable temperaments whose subtle and resistless power endows passing events with their true meaning, and creates the moral, the […]
7 Ways to Embrace Vulnerability and Write Truth
When you create with openness, with a willingness to trust and be vulnerable for your art, your writing is all the more authentic and true because it is uncensored, drawn from the deepest part of yourself — pure feeling articulated on the page — but it can be hard to share our truths, to write without censor, especially when the […]
Free-Writing: The Secret of All Successful Writers
Elizabeth Gilbert on Finding Your Elusive Creative Genius
In this talk ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ author, Elizabeth Gilbert, contemplates the impossible things that are expected from artists, authors and geniuses — she shares the interesting idea that, instead of the rare person being a genius, all of us have a genius. It’s amusing, inspiring, insightful, personal and moving talk. “Gilbert is irreverent, hilarious, zestful, courageous, intelligent, and […]