Lessons from the book The Situation and the Story — I told a true story live this week. I was a storyteller at a Moth GrandSLAM, and it was a great moment for me. Fun was had by all. Moth StorySLAM events, if you’re not familiar, have an element of randomness. Would-be storytellers throw their name in a hat and…

In my Story Stories article this week, I discuss my upcoming appearance in a Moth GrandSLAM. It’s live storytelling. No notes. Just you, your story, and an audience. It’s a hoot, and you should check it out. The stress of public speaking has dominated the past month. I’ve gotten other…

How creative limitations can lead to creative productivity — This past week I focused most of my available energy on preparing to tell a true story to a live audience. I’m one of the speakers at a Moth GrandSLAM and you can’t just show up. …

This week was the third in a row overwhelmed with busyness. Lots to do, little to show for it. I rant at length in the most recent Story Stories piece, How to Fall in Love with Writing Over and Over Again. But one thing I can show is my latest…

Staying a “writer” makes staying married look like a walk in the park — I’ve had one of those weeks where busyness took the place of my creative productivity, and it became a struggle to feel like a writer. …

The Week in Creativity: Apr 16, 2023 I started this week three newsletters in the hole. I was late on Look Busy, The Nemirovsky Method and Story Design Essential Truth. On Monday, I was frustrated. Like, why bother if I couldn’t keep up? I decided to take it one day at a time, and return to fundamentals…

Respect your audience by respecting the physics of cause and effect — When I was a kid, I had an uncle¹ who used to play tricks on us at family parties. He wouldn’t play tricks on everyone at the party, just the kids who, being little, were little threat to him. For instance, he’d use his greater strength to crush my hand…

Last week, I thought I was done with my novel. Even if I had been done, I knew there was lots of “stuff” to do to take it to the next step in the process. Specifically, I needed to package it up to send it off to beta readers. The…

When you wake up thinking about a story, you’d best pay attention — I went to a reading by the novelist Karen Dionne back in 2017 for the release of her book, The Marsh King’s Daughter. She’d written four (I think) novels previously with limited sales, but had stayed with her calling. …