Inspiration from M. Csiksgentmihalyi~

Some years ago I participated in Dr. Martin Seligman’s first international Authentic Happiness program and it included conversations in real time with positive psychology pioneers. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi spoke engagingly about creativity and I was inspired to read his book FLOW: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. Today I’m sharing a quote from his book CREATIVITY: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention. “Creative individuals are remarkable for their ability to adapt to almost any situation and to make do with whatever is at hand to reach their goals.” Aha! Sounds like resiliency! P.S. In order to pronounce his name with …

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That crazy writer…

When you are writing a book, you must learn to listen very closely for what editor Tom Jenks calls the heartbeat of the story. Sometimes you may confuse your own heartbeat with the narrative heartbeat. If you allow your emotional highs and lows to push you around–they may also end up pushing around your prose. Your anxiety, exhaustion, or mania may show up on the page. It’s not that you shouldn’t use your own experience to connect with characters–you should. Your fears and the fears of your protagonist are the same when it comes to their deepest nature. Your shared …

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