VS Grenier ~ Award-Winning Author, Speaker & Podcaster

It's said that a problem or premise can be viewed from two distinctive points of view -- the observer viewpoint and the merged viewpoint. Today's creativity method focuses on the second viewpoint. The merged viewpoint occurs when you become the object of the observation. You become the subject of your observation, and you observe from the point of view of your subject. This is referred to as projective identification. Projective identification can be purely fantasy: What's it like to be a potato about to become French fries? How does it feel like to be a gum stuck in a shoe? Imagine what it's like to be an ink cartridge. Or it can be empathetic: Seeing the situation through a laborer's eyes Getting inside the skin of an AIDS victim Being in the shoes of a chronically depressed person For your creative activity today, write 2 short texts (100-200 words) using projective identification for the following: Fantasy: What's it like to be a pict

Journaling Topics -- They're All Around You! Do you ever sit down with your journal and find yourself fresh out of ideas to write about? Virtually anything can be a journaling topic. If you are finding it hard to think of something to write about, here are some ideas that might get those creative juices flowing for you. Pithy sayings A never-ending source of ideas to write about are the wise words of others. You can find these statements anywhere. If you read the Bible or other inspirational literature every day, choose a statement, paragraph, or thought from your day's reading, and expound on it. What does it mean to you? How could you apply it in your own life? What changes might be required? What improvements might you see in your own situation if you applied the wisdom in the pithy saying to your own choices?   Nature Are you near a window? A view to the outdoors can provide a myriad of writing possibilities. Even if all you can see is the sky, look for words

If you've ever struggled in coming up with creative ideas, welcome to the club. For most writers, discovering new writing projects involves conscious pursuit of their thought trails. But where do we start on our quest for inspiration? Here are a few places you can find new ideas for writing. 1. The world around you. Just like a photographer, you must start looking at life through your own personal lens. You will get a tremendous amount of writing material if you start filtering your own experiences. Soon you will start noticing ideas everywhere around you. Very often the muse will come at strange times and from unusual sources, so be prepared. The world is full of surprises that can materialize in your next book or article. 2. Writers' associations and networks. If you are a professional writer, you probably belong to an association or writer's group. Generating new ideas will feel much easier after meeting other members or attending writing workshops and conferences. Y

Brenda Ueland, author of If You Want to Write, said, "Listening is a magnetic and strange thing, a creative force. When people really listen to each other in a quiet, fascinated attention, the creative fountain inside each of us begins to spring and cast up new thoughts and unexpected wisdom." The most meaningful works -- books, paintings, sculptures, songs, crafts, a garden, anything -- are created by those who have learned the art of listening: listening to their hearts and to the hearts of others. It is when we listen that the most extraordinary seeds grow and become tangible. They become a motivating book, an awe-inspiring painting, a formidable sculpture, a most melodious song, a bouquet of breathtaking blooms. It is when we listen that we create tangible expressions of our compassion, understanding, love. It is when we listen that stories, poems or books begin percolating inside us. And it is when we listen that the unexpected wisdom and insights joyously leap in

In my book, What Do You See When You Look at Me?, I use bright and colorful real life photos of both wild and domestic animals. With each picture, I invite my young readers to look carefully at the animal and describe what they see. Underneath each photo is a one-sentence caption of what I see. For example, the first photo is of a flamingo, not the whole bird, just the head and neck. I see a pink, curvy neck yet I also see the letter S. I hope to teach children to look at more than just a flamingo or elephant but to see the detail in each animal. I also hope that they can look closely at the animal and look for emotion such as the smile on the elephant's face, the tear in the horse's eye or even the big yawn of the tiger that is either tired or bored. If I were to talk to parents or teachers about my book and how I would like for them to use my book with children, I would tell them that aside from looking at fun pictures and learning to read the simple text, I would hope t

Ah, anticipation...the breath before the kiss...accidental touches that stir the embers...the boundaries yet to be crossed...the art of sexual tension.   Just like in real life, flirting needs to be a part of every romance novel.   The give and take, lean in, lean away, to kiss or not to kiss, the glance, the biting of the lip, the inner debate between yes and no...all of that is integral in fueling desire.   Think about how you first know you’re attracted to someone.   It’s usually a physical reaction that you can’t quite put into words, right?   Sure, it’s easy to say someone is attractive, but I’ve met quite a few attractive people that I don’t feel sexual toward.   Desire is a purely physical and emotional response to someone else.   Conveying that in written word is best done through non-verbal cues or physical responses.   As the saying goes, show don’t tell.   In the beginning, I’ll often have my characters acting nonchalant with their dialogue while conveying desire

Inspiration for writing Gabriela and The Widow by Jack Remick In one way or another, fiction is autobiographical but the story doesn’t have to be, as they blare out on TV, “based on a true story.” It’s the other way around—the novel, the fiction becomes part of the author’s autobiography. The novel is an expression of being. The author puts a writer into every story and that writer is the narrator. For Gabriela and the Widow, the autobiographical stimulus, call it the impulse to write, came when I visited my mother to celebrate her 92 nd birthday. For the last few years, my mother’s caregiver has been Gabriela. I watched as Gabriela fed her, dressed her, bathed her, combed her hair and put her to bed. But for Gabriela, this wasn’t just a job. She had a connection to my mother that was true, real, and honest. She didn’t change her behavior for my visits. She didn’t coo and perform, so I knew that what I saw was the real Gabriela and the real Mother. And there was somet