"Write now is good."

Grids!

As a writer, I use grids often; they help me keep ideas organized when I'm brainstorming and making outlines. When I found these two extensive grid resources, I knew I had to post them here. Based on what I know about this blog's readership, you all will enjoy and reference these sites:

1. The Grid System bills itself as the "ultimate resource in grid systems". Based on what I've read so far on the site, this assertion may be correct. From article and book links to tools and templates, this exhaustive source hosts a stunning amount of grid-related information.

2. Incompetech features 44 different grids and other lined paper, all available free as PDF downloads — everything from traditional graph paper to cross grids to iso-dots to music notation paper. The above image shows four additional kinds found at Incompetech.

UPDATE: Build a custom grid online at gridr buildrrr (thanks to NOTCOT for this source).

UPDATE 2: Swissmiss has a link to a clearly written tutorial on "The Complex Grid" at WhatType.

UPDATE 3: The Carrer web blog has created a "sketchbook for web designers" of downloadable graphs which simulate a web browser on paper. Great for sketching out Web sites on paper first!

Introducing "Matinée Muse", a creativity boost

Matinée Muse, now in its third week, is a blog that presents two weekly creativity prompts based on movie themes. You can participate in this online community by following three steps:

1. Use the Matinée Muse prompts to inspire your creativity. (You don't have to write about the movie, though you may.)
2. Write a poem or a short story, or create some artwork or take a photograph—related to one of the prompts.
3. After you have created your work, post it to your site, and add that post's link to the comments of the Matinée Muse post.

Other MM members will visit your post and comment on your work. If you haven't participated in an online-prompt community before, introduce yourself by commenting on other's posts; many (if not all) of the bloggers you visit will click through to see your work in return.

Participating in online-prompt communities can have many benefits:

-- If you create every week consistently, you get regular practice in your art form and, thus, get better at it.

-- You build a body of work over time. (A year of doing the weekly prompts = 52 new works! What a vibrant, current portfolio that would be.)

-- Seeing other takes on the same prompt expands and challenges your interpretation of the prompt. I consider this healthy artistic and intellectual brain exercise.

-- If you're suffering from a writing or art-making block, switching creative gears for a moment and approaching a prompt with lightness and fun can keep you creating. Keeping creative energy flowing builds your momentum and staves off long creative dry spells which can deplete artistic energy.

-- Regularly commenting on other bloggers' works creates an online creative community and network.

One extra bonus for movie lovers: MM features movie poster images and links to more information about all films mentioned. One of this week's prompts is based on the classic whose poster is shown above.

Which writers have inspired you? And who has inspired them?

Photo: "rough first draft" by nuanc

Early spring this year, I posted about Opium Magazine's Network of Writers Experiment. If you have not sent them a quotation from a writer who has taught you something valuable about writing, you can still do so ... now, with a twist.

Opium (creator of the East Coast/West Coast Literary Death Match) would like you to send that writer's quotation ... and also requests that you to contact the same writer to ask them for a quote from a writer who taught them something. It works like this:

...if I quote Tobias Wolff, now I will go and ask Tobias Wolff for a quote, something he's learned from a writer. In this way, the network concept will be a) more amazing, if possible, and b) nearly impossible to design in print, but Opium design mastermind David Barringer will take care of that.

Send any quotes here: opiumwritersexperiment@gmail.com. Also, if you don't know how to contact a writer, or would rather not contact them yourself, we can likely help, so don't hesitate to ask.

Deadline is quick: August 4th (this Monday!).

These submissions will go into Opium's next print edition. And, as offered, they'll be happy to help you contact your writer if you'd like.

If you send in a quotation, drop a comment and let us know!

NOTE: I sent them a quotation from a very popular writer, and I'm crafting my email to him now. We'll see if said-famous-inspiring writer sends me a quotation, too. One of life's little adventures, and I'll post an update when I get a response.

Be an AWESOME writer

Last month, I wrote a post about a very insightful and funny YouTube video called "Book Launch 2.0". It features Dennis Cass, an accomplished writer and the author of Head Case, conversing with a phone-friend about the pros and cons of using new and social media to launch books.

For those of you who enjoyed Cass's video also, I've got good news: he has created an online community. Its goal: to make creative people more effective and successful at their creative lives and careers. It is called, appropriately, "Dennis Cass Wants You To Be More Awesome."

DCWYTBMA is a site full of "advice, jokes and tough love for people who want to make a living making culture." Dennis regularly answers members' questions, providing sound advice on a variety of relevant topics. The community is active, full of creatives commenting with additional viewpoints and examples. Plus, he features an "Awesomizer" to help improve creative endeavors; it has made me look at some pop culture mainstays with a fresh perspective.

I strongly believe that participating in writing/creative groups (even online!) can help their participants grow in their work, get unstuck when creative blocks arise, and provide camaraderie and support when the creative road is nothing but potholes and speed traps. (If you have done anything creative ever in your life, then you know the ride can get bumpy...)

While reading Cass's articles and answers, I have laughed out loud many times. Knowledgeable creative-career guidance + original insights + active community + humor = WIN! And if you sign up, I'll see you there.

The spark is just the start...

Photo: "Sparks" by House Photography

I'm always on the lookout for other writers' and creatives' takes on how to make ideas reality. In "Saving the Spark: Developing Creative Ideas", graphic designer and writer Mark Boulton explains his practical views on this. He begins:

Ideas. They’re at the heart of every creative process. However, almost no really good ideas are flashes of inspiration. They may start that way—a single glimmer of something special—but in order to work, they need to be honed. Like a really good cheese, they need to mature. Indeed, the “flash of inspiration” idea—the Eureka moment—is only part of a longer process that, if ignored, will see most ideas simply fizzle out.

So, how do you “have” ideas? Sit about and wait for them to pop into your head? If only most of us had the luxury to do so. No, for most of us, ideas have to be squeezed out of us every day. To stand up to this challenge, you need to arm yourself with some good tools...

Read on to discover those tools.

If you're creating projects (and solving problems along the way) with a group, definitely read how Boulton describes getting the most out of brainstorming sessions.

Found at A List Apart.

Journal as map, compass and guide

Photo: Morocco Journal 2007 - pg. 45-46 by retro traveler

This post by Steve Osborne at TheWritersBag reminds me why keeping a journal is so worthwhile. An excerpt:

...Journaling is not an act of record-keeping for me, although that is a side benefit. I do it because it is an exercise in self-reflection, and the tech-free process of writing by hand – much slower and more deliberate than entering text on a keyboard – is the perfect preparation for climbing inside myself.

Not only does it force me to think before I lay words indelibly down on paper, it also frees me from the distractions that come with the territory of digital writing tools like computers and PDAs. I don’t have to turn on my paper notebook and wait for it to boot up. It never freezes or crashes...

I hadn't thought of journaling as an antidote to being over-connected in the Digital Age, but Osborne makes a solid case. Whether you are a writer, creative, or knowledge worker, I recommend reading his complete post; in it, you may find your own path to clarity, organization and insight.

On a side note: I searched for "journal" on Flickr Creative Commons, and 36,397 journal-related images appeared. Amongst these are the odd Wall Street Journal photo, but most are well-loved journals full of travels, musings, sketches, found objects — personal records of the maps of our lives in progress. Very enjoyable to look over.

Another pen review makes its mark

My recent pen review post has gotten a lot of traffic.

Here is an additional evaluation to enjoy: "Moleskine review of the Pelikan M200" by Stephanie (a.k.a. Biffybeans).

Looking for a pen?

Photo: "Tools of the Trade" t-shirt by Ole Ivar Rudi at Threadless

I've been looking for just the right pen to write in a new notebook I bought. During my research, I found some worthwhile links (listed in order of how I found them):

° Fountain Pen Network is a forum for fountain pen discussions. Join the lively threads already in progress, or ask a question to start a new one.

° The Pen Addict — This blog's fitting title gives just a glimpse of its content. This blogger photographs his writing samples with each pen he tries, and features additional informative photography throughout. An interesting read, as this person really loves pens!

° "Pen review - Uniball 207" from Moleskinerie — The review is from 2006, but the comments extend through June 2008 and offer a wealth of additional viewpoints and information.

° "A Southpaw's Experiment with Fountain Pens" from D*I*Y Planner — Are you left-handed? You will enjoy this post tailored specifically to your unique writing needs.

° "The Best Free Pens of CES 2008" from WIRED.com — If you've ever been to a trade show, check out this post. One of those freebie promotional pens may actually provide you with a taste of pen-writing nirvana (or not).

° "To Put a Fine Point on It: Which Pens are Best?" from Slate — This article from 2004 is thorough, thoughtful and well written.

Any other great pens out there, Blog Readers?

Using Twitter to develop editing skills

Many tech tools available online can help writers and editors hone their skills. Twitter is an accidental one. Originally designed as a social network, this microblogging platform helps writers practice precise expression because it restricts wordy output to 140 characters or less per "tweet" (a Twitter message, and this includes spaces and punctuation).

Craig Stoltz at Web 2.0h. . .really? A skeptic's guide to emerging web technologies has written a resourceful post titled "How Twitter Finally Taught Me to be an Editor". Even though he states:

Fact is, it’s tough to convey any substance in 140 characters. You have to carefully weigh every word, letter and space. Even punctuation.

Stoltz does precisely that. Each insightful paragraph is written in 140 characters (or a bit less).

Want to see how it's done by a Tweeting Master? Follow Craig on Twitter here.

Thanks to Shashi Bellamkonda, who highlighted this post via one of his Twitter messages.

Related posts:

— "One full plate: My media diet"
— "Politweets: Political expression, in 140 characters or less"
— "Is 140 the new 5-7-5? Writing, haiku and Twitter"

Writing tool: "A Periodic Table of Visualization Methods"

 

This well-designed periodic table of visualization methods features a wealth of information in a single screen. Mouse over each box to reveal a pop-up visual of each visualization method.

It covers six types of visualization:

- data (e.g., pie charts and histograms)
- information (e.g., timelines and flowcharts)
- concept (e.g., concept maps and dilemma diagrams)
- strategy (e.g., strategy maps and life-cycle diagrams)
- metaphor (e.g., story templates and tree diagrams)
- compound (e.g., cartoons and knowledge maps)

If you use mindmapping to brainstorm ideas or any sort of sketching/drawing to develop characters, check out these additional ways to generate and focus ideas.

Note: When you click through to the actual chart, be sure to scroll both across and down to see all six visualization types. The light-blue strategy section is below the chart's main part.

Via a tweet from education guru Angela Maiers (blog/Twitter).