It doesn’t have to take a disaster to write a good poem. If you cultivate mindful openness, humility, and surrender, you can sustain your creativity under any circumstance.

Try to catch yourself before you go into your usual reactions—and if you’re having trouble with that, try writing about it. Cry over the page. It can take whatever you have to give.

It’s a new year, and there are lots of new events and services in the works. Around here, our motto for 2012 is, “Just start it!” That goes for you, too, and your writing or creative endeavors. No more thinking–GO! With that in mind, we’ve…

Being creative means living richly and bravely, of feeling and experiencing and allowing instead of suppressing. Sure, maybe propelled by the energy of fear alone, you can force yourself to finish that report or project, but then, you are creating from the energy of constriction and resistance and suffering, whereas true creative energy is characterized by ease and joy.

“Annoyed” can be an interesting emotion to explore in writing. It is not a reflection of shallowness or immaturity, but perhaps an indication of significant needs and motivations. Notice what bothers your characters. Do they do something about it, or do they simply stay annoyed and put up with the bothersome situation? How does each option influence the story’s plot and the character’s responses to conflict?