As a “Mimi” with two grandchildren, I am always on the lookout for fun and creative projects for us to enjoy together. When Rowan and Eden come for a visit, one of the first questions they ask is, “What project can we do today?” Recently, we worked on creating books and the outcome was wonderful. … More Creating Books and Learning with Children by Melissa Henderson
I’m sure you have seen one or two old movies or TV shows where someone takes a blank piece of paper, feeds it into the roller of an old fashioned manual typewriter, and begins to peck out a story with gusto (His Girl Friday and Murder, She Wrote immediately come to mind). Even though most … More It’s Not Just a Blank Piece of Paper
We’ve had some unusual weather here in Southern California. We’ve had days of rain. And not just rain, continuous rain. That was what was the most unusual. I had some writing deadlines, but being cooped up at home wasn’t helping me whatsoever. I needed a different environment where I had no distractions and where I … More Change of Scenery
Out of the 62 animated films from the Walt Disney Company, only 8 are original ideas, and 2 of those were propaganda films made during WWII to help strengthen our relationship with South America. Everything else was based on either a book, mythology, poems, folk tales, or a piece of classical music. So why do … More What Writers Can Learn from Walt Disney
I just returned from a trip to Colorado to visit my niece. One of the highlights of the trip was taking the Royal Gorge Route train ride based in Cañon City. Because this trip had been planned in advance, I decided to make it a writing exercise. I wanted to be intentional about using my … More Are Your Senses Turned On?
Writing a novel with ChatGPT is exhausting. I should know, for I just spent the last few months doing so. But that’s for another blog post. Today, I want to talk about how people are using ChatGPT the wrong way. If you ask ChatGPT to write you a novel, it will likely say something along … More How to Use ChatGPT (the Write Way)
Writing prompts are used by students and writers alike to challenge their creativity and/or to improve writing skills. They can be presented in a variety of ways – phrases, questions, topics – the sky’s the limit. Their purpose is to present you with an idea or thought that you can expand upon, allowing you to … More A Different Kind of Writing Prompt
Writers often need rest in areas other than just sleep in order to maintain their creativity. … More Writers Need Rest to Maintain Their Creativity, Part 1
What do carpet beetles, Plato, and the diary of a politician from the 1600s all have in common? You can find all of them on the website Project Gutenberg for free. If you are unfamiliar with the website, buckle up—we are diving into the public domain! Project Gutenberg is a website that offers over 60,000 … More Use Project Gutenberg for Research
An ivory tower is often defined as a place where a person is cut off from the responsibilities of the world so they can pursue their own interests without interruption. Creative people may sometimes long for a perfect ivory tower where they can spend endless, uninterrupted hours creating. But maybe your ivory tower looks more … More Find Some Ivory Tower Time to Create