Creativity Tweets of the Week – 4/1/11

It may be April 1st, but we don’t fool around at The Artist’s Road. Instead we provide you unadulterated wisdom on creativity and writing along with a dash of inspiration in the form of links I tweeted this week. So get ready for a wild ride, or as Jimmy Fallon says in channeling Charlie Sheen, “sit back and enjoy the ride, and buckle up, ’cause it’s going to be a long one, it’s gonna be bumpy and at one point you’re going to want to put your hands up, not legal, but they’re taking a picture, digital photo, $25 dollars when you get off the ride.”

CREATIVITY:

• “15 Best Creativity Tips,” Dan Rockwell, Leadership Freak: Short and sweet, as is his style, he throws in a bonus, 3 types of creativity.
• 

  Sure, a ride at Universal Studios features an attack by the shark from "Jaws," but that beast of the sea ain't got tiger blood.

  “21 Ways You’re Killing Your Creativity Without Even Realising,” Dan Goodwin, A Big Creative Yes: The post is about a year old but the advice is timeless. This week I’ve committed a lot of these flaws, but in particular #9, “You don’t ever celebrate your achievements.”

• “8 Ways to Boost Your Creativity,” Dr. Jennifer Howard: I don’t think I have tried #4 before, “Look at what you’re working on upside down,” although when I was a reporter an editor insisted I learn how to read upside down, the better to gain inside inf0rmation when interviewing someone at his or her desk.

INSPIRATION

• “3 Reasons People Are Pissing On Your Parade, And What You Can Do About It,” Linda Formichelli, The Renegade Writer: While Linda’s post focuses on writers, its message of dream-killers in your life will connect with any creative.
• “5 Helpful Tips: How to Find Joy in Your Life,” Aline Hanle, Modern Life: Simplicity and authenticity are two themes of this inspiring post.

WRITING:

• “Inspiring a Writer Manqué from Brockton,” JW Rogers, guest post on Fear of Writing: I’m grateful to my friends Milli and J at Fear of Writing for introducing me to this writer. Check out this inspiring JW Rogers memoir essay, “A search for a true Voice” at DRMSTREAM.
• 

  Okay, I'll admit this recreation of a scene from The Fast and The Furious is, duh, winning.

  “Writers, Read,” by Erika Robuck, Muse: Erica is a book junkie, for which I’m sure many authors are grateful. Here she starts an interesting conversation on what genre of books are more helpful for writers, books on the craft or books in the genre they’re writing.

• “The courage to call yourself a writer,” Aisha Saeed: Aisha focuses not just on self-identifying as a writer (which is important and can be difficult) but the challenge of proclaiming that to others.
• “Traditional vs. Self-Publishing: How Much Does the Debate Matter?” Jami Gold: This is a long-debated topic, and Jami has a lot of interesting commenters offering their opinions.

It’s only been five months since I began Creativity Tweets of the Week, but the globe is now captivated, counting the days until the latest issue posts Friday morning. It has even inspired an 8th grader named Rebecca Black to create a tribute song called “Friday.” As Rebecca sings, the arrival of Creativity Tweets of the Week is “fun, fun, fun, fun.”

Creativity Tweets of the Week — 03/04/11

Do you have tiger blood and Adonis DNA? Then you, like Charlie Sheen, can handle the Creativity Tweets of the Week. The links below on creativity and writing are only for F-18s that deploy their ordnance on fools and trolls. The inspirational links can only be handled by total bitchin’ rock stars from Mars. If your brain fires in a way that is, I don’t know, maybe not from this terrestrial realm, then you are ready for my roundup of the best links I tweeted this week. If you can’t handle it, then get out of my face with your corduroys.

CREATIVITY

• “What is Creativity, and Why Should I Care?” Tanner, Creative Something: The answer? “Creating is the true essence of life.”
• 

  If you don't have tiger blood, jaguar blood will do. I bravely took this photo at the Buenos Aires Zoo.

  “101 Ways to Kick-Start Your Creativity,” Becki Sams, the writer’s blog: Hopefully all of us can find at least one that works. I must always be creative, because I certainly practice #11, “Drink ridiculous amounts of coffee.”

• “Why Does Art Cost So Much? (Part Four — Time is Money)” Amy Buchheit, Fantastic Voyage: Any creative in any pursuit can identify with Amy’s categorization of all that goes into creative output.

INSPIRATION

• “Burnout is Beautiful,” Melissa Gorzelanczyk, guest post at Zen Habits: Full confession time. As much as I loved my last job running a nonprofit, after four years I burned out. This post reminded me I should forgive myself for burning out, and celebrate how it led me to my new path, pursuing an art-committed life.
• “Taking Care of Yourself Means Balance,” Rob Ruscher, Sisarina: I like #2, “socialize with live people,” and Sisarina is known here in the D.C. area for organizing #DCtweetup gatherings.
• “I’m Getting Published!!!!” Julie Anne Lindsey, Musings from the Slush Pile: What is more inspiring than a writer who has finally escaped the “slush pile” and landed that coveted author contract?

WRITING

• “What I learned in 15 Minutes a Day…” Judy Clement Wall, Fear of Writing: Can you write at least 15 minutes a day for an entire month? Judy discovers it’s harder than she thinks.
  

  Please. If you have llama blood, kindly move on.

• “How to Prep to Write a Novel,” Charlotte Rains Dixon: Just like you should stretch before exercise, you need proper prep before jumping into your writing.
• “Is Marketing Non-Stop and All-Consuming for all Authors?” Jody Hedlund: A comparison of marketing burdens for traditional-published and self-published authors. Some good thoughts in the comments section.
  

A final word of advice from Charlie Sheen, self-described “high priest Vatican assassin warlock” and star of unforgettable films such as Hot Shots! and Hot Shots! Part Deux: “Stay away from the crack, which I think is pretty good advice, unless you can manage it socially.”