Category: Creativity

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Talent Is Everything – Or Is It?

When it comes to brains or athlethicism or creativity, we all admire the prodigy. The precocious. The talented. Talent is what it’s all about. Now, it’s obvious that some people have talent. A shitload of it. Even when they were children, they excelled at their chosen activity. Some of them became obsessed with it. They practiced for hours. They immersed themselves fully. And they had the right parents or teachers or coaches, and their talent, combined with relentless practice and a good portion of serendipity, took them to the pinnacle of their careers. And then there are those who started Read More …

LK LohanLeave a comment

Dreaming up Stories

Sometimes, relief comes from the strangest places. A few months ago I had a dream. The ending to a story played out in heart-thumping excitement. Like a movie in my head. As soon as I woke up, I did my best to recall the dream, revel in it, before it disappeared. And then I wrote it all down, just for good measure. It’s sitting in a file now, patiently waiting for me to get back to it. A couple of weeks later, I dreamed the beginning of that story. Again, I enjoyed the afterglow of a good dream. And then, Read More …

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Writing Is for Control Freaks

Writing Fantasy is the perfect pastime for us control freaks. We get to play god in our own universe. We control every aspect of the environment. Fauna. Flora. Physics. Magic. Everything. We control every single character. Their abilities, their behavior, their thoughts, their emotions. We also control the beings (human or otherwise) they come in touch with, and we determine the story events. We put our characters through hell (or not), we hurt them, we redeem them, we send them their soulmate – or their worst nightmare. We can even write our own worst enemies into our stories and ridicule Read More …

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The Double-Edged Sword of a Creative Recharge

The month of October has been dedicated to a creative recharge. I needed a break from writing. I needed a break from being productive and disciplined. So what’s a person to do? A person whose TV’s gathered dust for a number of years? It’s obvious, isn’t it? I popped in the first DVD and didn’t stop until I’d finished watching all eight seasons of “Game of Thrones“. (Yes. I know that DVDs aren’t a thing anymore. Yes. I know that I was a few years late to the party. And, yes, I totally dug the ending). What did I notice? Read More …

LK Lohan

Using Media Deliberately Instead of Reactively

I’m too old to be reactive in my use of media. As my birthdays stack up, the rational understanding that this lifetime is limited is being replaced by visceral certainty. With that realization comes a certain existential dread, but also an urgency to work on what matters, and an increasing unwillingness to live my life reactively. A live of reactivity precludes a life of reflection and creativity. The always-on lifestyle takes reactivity to the extreme. When each notification requires a quick check-in, when you’re compelled to refresh your various social media feeds every time you’re bored or distracted or facing Read More …