Weekly Update for February 8th


Snow and freezing rain is making February into a very messy month. I expect this of March, but the weather is getting an early start. February or March, the weather provides ample opportunity to stay home and write.

Nurturing Creativity

How do you encourage creativity in your life? It seems like nearly every time I turn around I see another list about how to keep yourself creative. I sort of think creative people (especially writers) tend to collect these lists. So here is another one of 33 ways to stay creative:

www.theworldsbestever.com/2011/06/06/33-ways-to-stay-creative/

What do I really think of such lists? They are a bit silly. Some of the points on such lists can be good, some are good for just some people, and some are just pure silliness. Number 1 on the above mentioned list is “Make Lists.” Making lists can be a very important attribute for productivity but I don’t think it has anything to do with the creative side of the brain and everything to do with the analytical side of the brain. Then numbers 5 “Be Otherworldly” and 9 “Drink Coffee/Tea” may be effective for some people, but for others are complete silliness. Neither drinking tea or being “Otherworldly” has ever had anything to do with my creativity.

In the end such lists are more for fun, and more to get a person thinking about how they can stop stifling their creative side. Personally, my favourite advice for improvement in creative writing output was “Staple your pants to the chair.” Unfortunately, I can’t find the quote and don’t remember who originally said it.

Artwork with Style

Sometimes I come across an artist who has a particular unique and catching style. I recently stumbled across Kurt Halsey:

http://www.kurthalsey.com/work.html

He has a very distinct style with a particular atmosphere. I think it works well with dreamy children’s books.

Saving Photos from Digital Oblivion

Since digital photography has passed into the mainstream, everyone is collecting hundreds, and often thousands, of photos on their hard drives. Many of them don’t need to see the light of day again, but what of those that do? Will they be lost forever in that old hard drive?

One good suggestion is to create photo books, a non-digital way to preserve your best photo for future generations (or just yourself). The website TotallyRad.com has an article on how to do it:

http://www.gettotallyrad.com/blog/its-time-to-actually-print-our-photos/

The one problem with this idea is that photo books can be pricey. For example, Blurb.com allows you to create wonderful color photo books–with a hefty price to match. But if you can afford it, creating photo books from your digital images is something you and your family will treasure for the rest of your lives.

The Latest from Rundy’s World

As promised last week, my facebook page is now up and ready to go. Check it out and like it:

https://www.facebook.com/RundyPurdy

Expect the occasional link of interest to be posted there, and various tidbits from my writing life.

Coming up next week will be a polishing up of my Amazon Author page. See you then!