Oh No, My Balls Hit the Floor! (5 Ways to Get Your Writing Project Re-Started)

How to Get Your Writing Project Restarted

Juggling the Balls of Desire This is the writer’s life: we carefully construct plans and schedules; we arrange and sacrifice. Everything from, “If I give up TV, I can write for two hours more each night,” to life-altering decisions like deciding to major in creative writing in college or putting off having children. This probably […] Read more »

6 Steps to Get Your Book Ready to Publish

collage by Melanie Lamaga, The Metaphysical Circus

How Do You Know When It’s Go Time? Before you submit your manuscript to agents and publishers, you would be wise to make sure it is well crafted, polished and clean. This will greatly up your chances of finding what you seek. However, if you go indie, there is no gatekeeper other than yourself. The […] Read more »

3 Easy Steps to Reignite Your Creative Fire

3 Simple Steps to Reignite Your Creative Fire

Fighting the January “Back to Work Blues” I took some time off between Christmas and New Year, vacationing with family (fun!), and then friends came into town (more fun!), and the next thing I know, it’s Monday, Jan 7, 2013 at 1:10 PM. The holidays have worn out their welcome, and I have no more […] Read more »

Creative Thanks Giving, Reclaim Your Holiday

illustration of article by Melanie Lamaga Creative ThanksGiving, Reclaim Your Holiday

How is Creativity Like a Turkey? Thanksgiving, gratitude comes from feeling of abundance– that you have enough and some to spare. But American culture has always been about striving to improve ourselves, which too often devolves into a bottomless desire for more, more, more. It makes me wonder if Thanksgiving is really about gratitude, or […] Read more »

Traveling with Joy

 Boost Creativity and Productivity through Bliss Last week I wrote about the book Get High Now (without drugs) and, somewhat coincidentally, this week I find myself blissed out to an extent I haven’t felt in quite a while, and as a result, my creativity is humming. I know it’s probably foolish to analyze this. The […] Read more »

Bitchy Boss, Rebellious Employee (or both)?

Learning to Love (and Leave) Deadlines Many creatives and entrepreneurs, especially in the early part of their careers, are working for themselves, in every sense. They are working without the benefit of anyone else’s expectations; they are working without the benefit of pay; they are working for their future or for love for the craft. […] Read more »

Labor Day and The Pursuit of Happiness

Ahh, Labor Day, the day where we do as little as possible. Grilling food, drinking beer, playing frisbee, hanging out… Is that all we strive for the other 250-260 working days per year? As the decades pass, do we comfort ourselves with the vision of retirement, when presumably every day will be like Labor Day? […] Read more »

Step Right Up and Write Some Crap!

Image credit: xochicalco / 123RF Stock Photo

How to Get the First Draft Done. Hemingway famously said “The first draft of anything is shit.” So what do think when you hear about people writing novels in a couple of months or even weeks? Hmm. Well, to be fair, maybe they’ve been thinking about it a really long time… or maybe they are […] Read more »

Create Your Creative Space

Where Sexy Genius Meets Muse If you’re a writer or an artist, you probably have an office, studio or a favorite spot where you sit down and make magic. But if you don’t (or if your space is less than inspiring) it’s time to make some changes. Macho or girly, practical or romantic, hippie or […] Read more »

Commit to a Creative Hour of Power

A Simple Strategy for Getting Your Dream Project Done Many people have jobs and families and all the minutia of life to take care of before they can get around to working on their art or business idea. I don’t know about you, but most times if something isn’t in the top three of my […] Read more »