Jimmy uses story-based improv games to help writers quiet the overthinking, follow their instincts, and find out where a story wants to go when you stop steering so hard.
Creativity
The Secret to Mastering Your Writing: Relax
At the YMCA on Sunday mornings, I stand in the front row of Peter’s tai chi class, following his movements as he demonstrates the form with effortless grace. “Sink the qi. Let the movement flow from here,” he says, patting his belly. “Keep it loose.” When we relax, he explains, we free up power. We …
Where’s the Love? What to Do When Your Loved Ones Are Not Your Biggest Fans
I was telling my friend about my latest blog, excited about how it came together, proud of the ideas I’d wrestled into words. He listened, and then said matter-of-factly, “I’m not going to read your blog.” Not as a criticism. Just as a statement of fact. Like I should already know this. Like it was …
Choose Your Boulder and Get Rolling: On Sisyphus, the Writing Life, and Being an Absurd Hero
My husband and I were watching the TV show The Pitt when the main character made a passing reference to Sisyphus. A few days later, I came across a literary publication called Sisyphus. Two mentions in one week were enough to get me thinking about boulders. You probably know the myth: Sisyphus, punished by the gods for …
We Are Our Times: What Writers Bring to This Moment
Last week in Chicago, my hometown, Black Hawk helicopters circled overhead as federal agents conducted raids in apartment buildings, breaking down doors in the middle of the night and detaining residents—including U.S. citizens—for hours. Neighbors began patrolling school drop-offs and pick-ups, protecting children and mothers from ICE agents. In Logan Square, where my son lives, …
Left Brain / Right Brain: Give Them Both the Love They Need
I’ve been working on a new novel, and I have to pause here, already, because just typing those few words is challenging.
I barely like to admit it, because once I say those words a barrage of qualifiers come crashing in. Can I say I’ve been working hard on a new novel? No. Never hard enough.
Failure is Always an Option
Yesterday I went to an event and heard Marcus Lemonis speak. Marcus is the entrepreneur and investor who stars in the TV show The Profit.
Marcus never even took the stage in front of the 4,000 people gathered at the Sears Center, except during one short segment when he interacted with six women he’d called up. Instead, we heard his voice before we saw him.
The Most Common Mistake Memoir Writers Make
In the sixties, there was a TV show called Dragnet with a detective named Joe Friday who insisted on gathering “just the facts.”
If you’re old enough to remember that show, you’ve been around long enough to have lived an interesting life. Even if you’re younger, you’ve most likely faced some challenge worth writing about.
So let’s say you want to write a memoir. Where do you start?
You Are The Unreliable Narrator
It was a brand new, emerald green Schwinn 10-speed bike. I was thirteen years old, and I’d never owned something so beautiful. The paint sparkled magically in the sunlight and when I rode that bike through the neighborhood, I sparkled too. I rolled easily through a landscape peppered with unhappy parents, mean girls, first crushes, and bad skin with my hands up, nothing to hold on to and, in those moments at least, nothing holding me back.
3 Ways to Add a Little Woo-Woo to Your Writing
If you know me at all, you know that I like a good dose of woo-woo in my world.
I believe in following my intuition, prioritizing my spiritual practices, and recognizing divine messages. This is the lens through which I find inspiration and make decisions. It’s also, to me, a way of having fun.
I’ll admit, it’s an odd form of fun that can show up in strange ways.
