It’s not uncommon to hear readers say they prefer protagonists who are “strong and capable” to protagonists that are “weak and indecisive.” Which is completely understandable. After all, who wants to slog through 300 pages of a character sitting on a log complaining about their lot in life? But if you were to ask them…
Category: Creativity
It takes a rare form of courage to choose to pursue your creative calling. Especially if you’re surrounded by voices telling you that you should focus your energies on the things that guarantee future stability, such as retirement, investments, and careers in high-paying companies. Those are all good things, but if the past few months…
“There once was a boy named Philly the Kid, and history’s full of the things that he did.” These are the first two lines of a poem I wrote for my first creative writing class in college. At the time, I didn’t have much experience with poetry beyond the poems I’d memorized in grade school….
It’s easy to hold myself to a standard that isn’t always reasonable and so I’ve learned to pace myself and ask for help when I need it, because the last thing I want is for my passion to become a burden.
When things aren’t coming together in the manner or the timing we’d hoped, remember that the One who started this work in our lives will also complete it in His perfect time.
As writers, we can’t shy away from the hard things. They’re part of the human experience and, as hard is it is to admit sometimes, some of the most beautiful things in life spring from some of the meanest and dirtiest experiences of life.
Is there a fear holding you back professionally, physically, or psychologically? What’s one thing you can do today to take a step toward it and so that you can eventually move past it?
Just before my class graduated from college, one of my writing professors told us the minute we stop learning is the minute we stop growing and the moment when we begin falling behind. While this can be said about any aspect of our lives, I’ve certainly seen the truth of it in the publishing world….
A friend recently reached out to me asking if I had any suggestion for a Christmas gift for an aspiring young writer. Something that would be meaningful, that would encourage her to pursue her passion, and something that could easily be placed under the tree. My mind instantly wanted to suggest things like books or…
I was talking to a talented colleague recently about a project he and I were both working on and our conversation eventually turned to his one-time thoughts of writing. “I thought about starting a blog about graphic design years ago,” he told me. “I got everything set up and even wrote a post or two….