ONE OF THE MOST MEMORABLE AH-HA MOMENTS during my MFA in Creative Writing program occurred after a professor assigned us the task of writing a nonfiction story with alternating sentence lengths. We were to rotate very short sentences, from two to six words in length, with very long sentences, at least thirty words. The longer the better. This wasn’t an easy assignment to accomplish. And I thought the alternating of sentence lengths would seem strange and obviously contrived, which it was. However, and surprisingly, when the class got together to read what we had written to each other, the opposite was[...]

AS THE END OF THE YEAR APPROACHES, I like to spend time reflecting on what happened during the year. Typically, I review my goals for the year and assess how I did in relationship to my intentions; I read past blog posts to help remember what happened and refresh my memory about where I was emotionally; and I think about how I've changed (or not). This year, I'm trying a new and simpler approach, borrowed from the headlines. Let me explain. Every year, at the end of the year, the headlines are full of "best of" and "most read" titles that are[...]

AS I WATCHED THE SUN SET over the Pacific Ocean on this 21st day of December, I thought about what the shortest day of the year means to me: renewal, turning of the seasons, change. Speaking of change, I had just finished reading yet another article on the new artificial intelligence apps that write and create pictures based on human prompts. I've fooled around a little bit with ChatGPT, and I have to admit I've been very impressed (as well as a bit creeped out) by the very human-feeling responses that it gives to questions and prompts. In fact, I've copied[...]

Guest Post by Ainsley Lawrence YOU'VE GOT MULTIPLE PROJECTS, a full personal life, and hardly any energy or enthusiasm to tackle either. Sound familiar? When you have so much going on in your life but feel like you have nothing to give, you may be stretching yourself too thin. And when you stretch yourself too thin, the creative process halts and your holistic health suffers. If you think it's more than writer’s block or a temporary lack of passion for your writing, it could very well be creative burnout. Here’s how to recognize it.   1. Caffeine is Keeping You Going Imagine this: you wake[...]

Guest Post by María José Bianchi I STARTED JOURNALING when I needed my truth the most. It was a time in my life when I felt stuck, lost, and miserable, but I didn’t know why. At the time, I supposed my unhappiness had something to do with my career. Five years had passed since I finished college, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right. On the outside, it seemed like I had it all figured out: I was working as a freelancer and making enough money to travel abroad. I set my own rates and hours and worked from[...]