VS Grenier ~ Award-Winning Author, Speaker & Podcaster

What daily practice can help you grow in creativity, both in the arts and in problem solving? Keep a creative journal, and you will amaze yourself with your own innovations. Remember that there is no one right way to keep a journal. Creative journaling is about trying things until you find your own favorite methods of expressing yourself. First, let yourself off the hook when it comes to having every page picture perfect. Either use a looseleaf and discard the mistakes, or invest in some erasable pens. Better yet, learn to see an occasional mess as an inevitable sign of your own humanness, and nothing to be ashamed of. Mistakes are simply stepping stones in your growth and understanding. Besides, your journal is for you and no one else, unless you decide to make it public. Who cares about an occasional flub? So don't let perfectionism stop you in your tracks. Now that that's been said, let's consider what it means to be creative in your journal. POETRY: A journal

If you’re trying to become a better writer, you should know that there is not quick-fix or magic formula that will suddenly transform you into a good writer in three simple steps. Becoming a better writer is obviously a long-term undertaking, but many writers consider that they have a gift that simply has to be unlocked by the same magic key that published, top writers possess. The simple truth about improving your writing is that you have to practice your craft continually and consistently. Experiment with your writing, do some planning, revision, then revisit what you have been doing. Challenge yourself by establishing deadlines and competitions. Push yourself, find out about your limits and your writing will soon reward you. Try writing something that another writer inspired you, then write a few lines completely your own. However, you won’t improve your writing style by writing in a vacuum. You must also make efforts to improve by reading the works of other writers, be it fi

Editors and readers alike will usually ignore the voiceless writers who write stale, uninteresting articles. What everybody is looking for is a fresh voice that will get readers' attention. Basically, your voice means your style, the manner in which you're writing and you feel most comfortable writing. No one will be really able to define what a writer's voice is, but everybody knows it when they see it. Finding your writing voice can be a difficult and complex process. Believe it or not, even the famous writers took years to find their voice. Writing courses and workshops can help writers find their voice. However, there things you can do starting right now to find your writing voice. Here are some tips on how you can add your own voice to your written work: 1. Be original. Many new writers follow in the footsteps of the established writers they admire. This may often result in plain lack of creativity for the writer. So try to break any patterns you ha

Below is an article (more of a mini writing workshop actually) that could help you jumpstart those creative juices.   And if you want 3 writing *sparks* delivered to you every day for 31 days, check out WriteSparks!(tm) Daily at http://writesparks.com/wsdaily.html for info on how to get started -- it's free! Thunder When the Universe Burps: A Creative Writer-cise Nature is a wonderful inspiration for any writer. In this mini writing workshop, we'll wax some poetic prose. First, pick a number from 1 to 7: 1. earthquake 2. sunrise 3. volcanic eruption 4. lightning 5. rainbow 6. thunder 7. hurricane Next, create 2 lists for the natural phenomenon you chose. Brainstorm for 5-10 minutes for each list. For List 1, brainstorm for action words associated with the natural phenomenon you picked. For instance, what do you see, hear and feel happening when it thunders? e.g., List 1 (action words): explode, clap, boom, crack, shatter, burst, break, detonate, bust, sha

Sorry guys, no interview this Friday with an SFC Team member. We're all really busy working on getting the April relaunch of Stories for Children Magazine. So instead, here is great writing activity from my weekly motivator Shery Ma Belle Arrieta-Russ. Whether you write fiction or nonfiction, it's important to write with clarity, not with vagueness. By communicating yourself in concrete, specific images, you help your readers understand you (and your poem/story).   Today's activity has two parts. You may or may not do the second part, if you'd rather concentrate on the first part. Don't skip the first part, though, because the second activity relies on what you'll be able to concoct in the first.   So crack your knuckles, pull out your keyboard (or sharpen your pencils) and let's begin.   First, pick a number from 1 to 5:   1. cave 2. garden 3. backyard 4. kitchen 5. teacup   Next, you guessed it, pick another number from 1 to 5:   1. joy