“Words and certain languages and certain rhythms belong to certain personalities — the writing takes on the color of the certain personality that I describe.” ~ Anaïs Nin Listen to a rare interview with Anaïs Nin Frank Roberts of KPFK radio interviews Anaïs Nin, following the publication of the first volume of her eponymous diary in 1966. […]
Enhance Your Curiosity, Creativity and Concentration with This Useful Acupressure Point
This potent acupressure point can instantly enhance your creativity, concentration and bring fresh insight to your writing and creative work, while inducing a serene state of calm. It’s an especially useful point for writers and artists, as it’s beneficial for so many aspects of the creative process. While for those who find meditation tricky, using […]
6 Liberating Ways to Let Go—Skin Shedding—An Essay by Louise Moulin
Delighted to welcome essayist, novelist, lyricist, and poetess, Louise Moulin, with her personal essay, Skin Shedding. When we are born we do not know ourselves. We discover what we are made of on the road. We endure ordeals and roll in blissful fields in a spiritual process of culmination and release, of construction and deconstruction, of metamorphosis […]
Julia Cameron on Why We Should Write
“We should write because it is human nature to write. Writing claims our world. It makes it directly and specifically our own. We should write because humans are spiritual beings and writing is a powerful form of prayer and meditation, connecting us both to our own insights and to a higher and deeper level of […]
When Things Go Wrong—15 Tools Inspired By Eastern Wisdom to Find Stillness in a Storm Part I
During life’s inevitable shifts, these tools & teachings help you find calm in chaos, ground & centre you, giving you a little control in how to respond—in even the trickiest of circumstances. Read Part II for 8 more practices, here. “I feel like an inadequate machine, a machine that breaks down at crucial moments, and grinds to a dreadful halt,” wrote poet, novelist and memoirist, May Sarton in […]
[Interlude] Compassion, Vulnerability & My Unexpected Plot Twist
“In order to flower, self-compassion depends on honest, direct contact with our own vulnerability. Compassion fully blossoms when we actively offer care to ourselves,” wrote Tara Brach, psychologist, meditation teacher, speaker and author of True Refuge: Finding Peace & Freedom in Your Own Awakened Heart. Reading these words, an uncomfortable chord struck, for despite my musings on […]
A. L. Kennedy’s 10 Rules for Writing Fiction
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 […]
When Life Takes Over Your Writing—How to Find Clarity & Put the Drama on the Page
“Your art is where the drama belongs, not your life,” wrote artist, and author, Julia Cameron. Yet life by its very nature is frequently laden with drama, difficulties too, and sometimes that may prevent your writing from happening, distract you, or hamper with your flow. It’s hard to create anything if you’ve a thousand other concerns or your heart hangs heavy in your […]