It is one of my greatest fears. I have abandoned my creativity before; this blog is my chronicle of returning to an art-committed life and working to stay there. That is also a central theme of the travel memoir I am in the process of polishing to final. But it is so easy to drift away […]
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Own Your Identity as an Artist
April 23, 2013 
81 Comments
I savor the comments readers leave on this blog. But often they are apologetic in tone, along the lines of “I’m not really a writer,” or “I aspire to be a writer.” In the technical sense of the word “writer,” at least as I see it, these statements are a lie. They “wrote” a comment, […]
Read moreHow Technology is Advancing the Arts
March 21, 2013 11 Comments
Every artist on some level understands that the actions of an artist are dictated by technology. Before Gutenberg invented the printing press, writers were far more limited in page count with wound codexes. The sound amplification technology provided by a piano allowed compositions intended for far larger audiences than a harpsichord. We focus on Kindles […]
Read moreThe Importance of Creativity in Education
February 19, 2013 45 Comments
For the last decade I have repeatedly emphasized a correlation between the encouragement of creativity in childhood and professional, personal and economic success later in life. I have done so here on this blog, and previously as a think tank senior fellow and artist’s rights advocate. I have not been alone in this belief. I […]
Read moreHow Do You Define an Artist?
December 14, 2012 14 Comments
Here in Washington, D.C., we are all swept up in amazement and wonder with the Redskins’ rookie quarterback, Robert Griffin III. He is as flawless off the field as he is on. It becomes difficult after a while for writers to find new ways to describe how amazing he is, but in yesterday’s Washington Post, […]
Read moreIs Kickstarter the Answer for Aspiring Authors?
December 1, 2012 20 Comments
Few unpublished novelists or memoirists are able to convince a publisher to consider their work until it is complete. But it can be daunting to spend months or years bringing a book to completion with no assurance it will ever be published. Established authors can at times secure advances based on book proposals and a […]
Read moreResisting the 3 Steps to Embracing Your Muse
September 19, 2012 23 Comments
What do you do when you have all of the answers on how to maximize your personal creativity–and you’re an inspiration for others in this regard–and yet you don’t fully practice that advice in your own life? It’s an age-old problem. We know what we should eat in moderation (bacon) and yet, there we are, […]
Read moreCreativity Tweets of the Week – 9/14/12
September 14, 2012 10 Comments
It dawned on me that I should collect some of the best links on writing and creativity I tweet during the week and compile them in a single, easy-to-use guide. I thought I’d call it “Creativity Tweets of the Week.” Oh yeah, I used to do this pretty regularly, didn’t I? Here at the Artist’s […]
Read moreGuest Post: Honoring Your Muse
May 21, 2012 27 Comments
Today I’m honored to provide a guest post by Lisa Hayes, a singer/songwriter extraordinaire. I’ll confess to a love of passionate and lively Americana roots music, and I love Lisa’s music. I’d describe Lisa as three parts Susan Tedeschi (before her music became a bit, at times, sappy) and two parts Grace Potter (before she […]
Read moreWho Has Your Creativity Sold Out?
April 27, 2012 71 Comments
Is your creativity selling out someone in your life? Joan Didion famously wrote that “writers are always selling somebody out.” Songwriters, painters, novelists and other creatives channel their life experiences when producing their art. Take my post on Tuesday, in which I passed along advice I heard at a recent writer’s conference about building a […]
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