On Creativity

My husband just finished one of the busiest semesters of his post-secondary education thus far, and as I helped him review his notes and articles for one of his finals, he came across a video from TED a professor had shown the class during a lecture.

He invited me to watch it, and I was glad I did.

I'm going to extend the same invitation to you - it's very entertaining - Sir Ken is an engaging speaker, but it also has an important message.


Though the context of the videos is based on the education system, I want you to focus on the points he makes about creativity.

Because as writers, creativity is like the flour of our story recipe.  It's not the only ingredient, but probably exists in the greatest quantity, playing a role alongside other important writing ingredients, such as research, grammar, spelling, plotting, characterization, editing and voice (this list is not exhausitive - there are as many different types and elements of stories as there are cookie recipes!).

So check them out, and let me know what you think!  Note - they are slightly long (15-20 mins or so):

Ken Robinson Says Schools Kill Creativity

Sir Ken Robinson: Bring On The Learning Revolution

Move Over Sitcoms, Here Come Webisodes!

I meant to make this post a couple of weeks ago, so I'm going to take a moment to bring it to your attention. Back in December I happened upon a blog promoting a sight called Big World Network. The basic gist is that instead of watching episodes of your favorite TV sitcom or dramas, you can now read or hear chapters of high quality fiction. AKA, books are being presented in the same type of format as a television series. And they're calling them webisodes.

The author I read about in that post is Taryn Taylor, and her book, The Secret, is being released an episode at a time, once a week, on BigWorldNetwork.com. I was curious, and clicked to check it out. I started the series about five episodes in, so I was able to read up to the point where she released the sixth part. And like any great TV show, now I'm hooked. What a fabulous idea! I checked out some of the other authors with books being released on the site, and was quite impressed by the high calibre of writing. There seem to be stories and series from a variety of genres and interests.

I must say, this new little trend may quickly become an addiction.