There is a lot of pressure for authors to be prolific creators for the purpose of marketing. They feel the need to blog all the time or churn out new content in order to earn attention. A much more efficient approach, however, is to be a content curator and not just a creator. This way…
The Learning Log
Compartmentalize the Creative Process
I seem to fall into a trap as a writer again and again. I sit down and try to cram multiple modes of creativity into one sitting. I sit and stare at a blank page trying to come up with ideas for what to write. Then, I jot down a quick outline or skip that…
After Nine Years of Blogging, Here is the One Thing That Works Best
Today is my ninth blogging anniversary. On March 12, 2009 I published my first blog post using Blogger.com. You can find an archive of that post here. In it I listed a collection of topics I planned to “blog” about. I threw out almost all of those ideas once I found out what really worked….
How C. S. Lewis Got the Idea for The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
The Lion all began with a picture of a Faun carrying an umbrella and parcels in a snowy wood. This picture had been in my mind since I was about sixteen. Then one day, when I was about forty, I said to myself: ‘Let’s try to make a story about it.’ C. S. Lewis, “It All Began…
Marcus Aurelius and Memento Mori
For thou must consider the things of the world, not as a loose independent number, consisting merely of necessary events; but as a discreet connection of things orderly and harmoniously disposed. Marcus Aurelius, Meditations I find great comfort in reading the Stoic Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations. I didn’t realize how much I have been bothered by…
