Good ideas aren’t necessarily hard to find. It’s the process, as Dean Young says of writing, involved with finding them that’s difficult. It might be work one might not want to do. It’s a process that’s both creative and analytical; at least, it is once one becomes accustomed to the process of coming up with good ideas. What, though, is that process? It probably varies from person to person but, perhaps, some generalizations can be made.
Write Right Rides a Worm
Happy birthday, Frank Herbert!
How to Keep the Heebie-Jeebies at Bay
heebie-jeebies [coined by American cartoonist Billy DeBeck]: jitters, willies
When I’m about to give a speech or a presentation or am about to attempt some new feat, I experience the jitters, the willies, the heebie-jeebies.* Such emotions aren’t new, and I’ve learned to face them. Sometimes, the facing requires defensive maneuvers; other times, it requires offensive.
Write Right: Dialect in Dialogue
A few weeks ago, a reader asked for my thoughts on using dialect in dialogue. He wanted to know if it were a wise choice. My answer almost was immediate: “Don’t do it.”
This Is How You Learn to Write or Draw
The only way to learn how to write and draw is by writing and drawing…to persist in the face of continual rejection requires a deep love of the work itself, and learning that lesson kept me from ever taking Calvin and Hobbes for granted when the strip took off years later. – Bill Watterson
I knew next to nothing when I took my first drawing class in undergraduate. I remember receiving the syllabus and being dizzied by the list of art supplies required. I saw the assignments and wondered what the terms meant.
You Will Find You are Strong
The Ents are going to wake up and find that they are strong. – Gandalf
When you’re weary and merely going through the motions of the work you are called to do, you don’t feel strong. You feel weak. You think everybody must know how weak you feel and are.