David Whyte knows there are three crucial relationships, or marriages, in our lives: the marriage or partnership with a significant other, the commitment we have to our work, and the vows, spoken or unspoken, we make to an inner, constantly developing self. In The Three Marriages, the bestselling author, poet, and speaker argues that it is not possible to sacrifice one relationship for the others without causing deep psychological damage. Too often, he says, we fracture our lives and split our energies foolishly, so that one or more of these marriages is sacrificed and may wither and die, in the process impoverishing them all. Whyte looks to a different way of seeing and connecting these relationships and prompts us to examine each marriage with a fierce but affectionate eye as he shows us the importance of cherishing all three equally. Drawing from his own struggles to achieve this goal as well as exploring the lives of some of the world's great writers and activists—from Dante to Joan of Arc, from Austen to Dickinson—Whyte reveals that our core commitments are irrevocably connected. Only by understanding the simultaneously robust and delicate nature of the three marriages and the stages of their maturation, he maintains, can we create a real portrait of what makes us tick and a real sense of finding a place in the world. In prose that's at once lyrical and inviting, Whyte investigates captivating ideas for bringing a deeper satisfaction to our lives, one that goes beyond our previously held ideas of balance.

    Chapters cover composition, abstraction, texture, layering, using found objects, encaustic, integrating text, and adding digital imagery.

    After all, you only have thirty-two pages to bring your story to life for readers ages two to eight, and the adults in their lives. Your text must be tightly focused yet leave room for illustrations to tell part of the story. And, of course, picture books should be a joy to read aloud. Award-winning author Ann Whitford Paul helps you develop the skills you need by walking you through techniques and exercises specifically for picture book writers. You'll find:Instruction on generating ideas, creating characters, point of view, beginnings and endings, plotting, word count, rhyme, and moreUnique methods for using poetic techniques to enrich your writing and make your manuscript singHands-on revision exercises (get out your scissors, tape, and highlighters) to help you identify problems and improve your picture book manuscriptsTips on researching the picture book market and approaching publishersWhether you're just starting out as a picture book writer or have tried unsuccessfully to get your work published, Writing Picture Books is just what you need to craft picture books that will appeal to young readers and parents, agents, and editors.

    No, it's the subtle kind of curse. It's the kind you might not notice until you're 46 years old at a desk job wondering why you let the best years of your life slip away. It's the kind that keeps you paralyzed at 18 when you know you have something special to offer the world but everyone says you are too young.This book is not about overcoming that curse.It's not about outgrowing the curse.It's about learning to live with it. What if loneliness is not something to be defeated, but an incredible source of power and inspiration? What if that vision you have nobody else can see is the very thing which will set you apart from the rest of the world? What if what makes you weird also makes you unique?The Creative's Curse is real, it's here to stay, and it shows up in all 3 phases of the creative journey:- Discovery -When the voices in your head are telling you nothing you create will ever be good enough.- Discipline -When you start to taste success, but freeze with the challenge of replicating that success.- Destiny -When you feel you've reached your artistic potential... and now have to figure out what on earth to do with your life. Because the Creative is afraid of success and failure and obscurity and fame all at the same time. She is beautiful and bold and timid and courageous. He is unique to the core, so will never be understood by anyone. This is the Creative's Curse.

    His liberating message: you'll be more successful if you stop struggling so hard to plan or control your success. Messy is a deeply researched, endlessly eye-opening adventure in the life-changing magic of not tidying up' Oliver BurkemanThe urge to tidiness seems to be rooted deep in the human psyche. Many of us feel threatened by anything that is vague, unplanned, scattered around or hard to describe. We find comfort in having a script to rely on, a system to follow, in being able to categorise and file away.We all benefit from tidy organisation - up to a point. A large library needs a reference system. Global trade needs the shipping container. Scientific collaboration needs measurement units. But the forces of tidiness have marched too far. Corporate middle managers and government bureaucrats have long tended to insist that everything must have a label, a number and a logical place in a logical system. Now that they are armed with computers and serial numbers, there is little to hold this tidy-mindedness in check. It's even spilling into our personal lives, as we corral our children into sanitised play areas or entrust our quest for love to the soulless algorithms of dating websites. Order is imposed when chaos would be more productive. Or if not chaos, then . . . messiness.The trouble with tidiness is that, in excess, it becomes rigid, fragile and sterile. In Messy, Tim Harford reveals how qualities we value more than ever - responsiveness, resilience and creativity - simply cannot be disentangled from the messy soil that produces them. This, then, is a book about the benefits of being messy: messy in our private lives; messy in the office, with piles of paper on the desk and unread spreadsheets; messy in the recording studio, the laboratory or in preparing for an important presentation; and messy in our approach to business, politics and economics, leaving things vague, diverse and uncomfortably made-up-on-the-spot. It's time to rediscover the benefits of a little mess.

    The Complete Guide to Altered Imagery is the only book currently on the market that provides fascinating tips and creative ideas solely focused on this new form of art. An in-depth discussion manipulation techniques is supplied, making this an essential handbook for all artists and crafters looking for creative ways to alter and enhance various types of imagery in new and traditional ways, and then to integrate this altered art into their work.

    Do you look at yourself now and wonder if the spark has gone out? Ignite that inner fire with the 30 engaging exercises, fun activities, inspirational images, and motivating ideas in this book. Learn what your Little Spark of creative passion looks like, how to capture it, and how to make room for it in your life. Read the book cover-to-cover and use it as a month-long creative roadmap, or just dip into the exercises as your time and inclination allow. Either way, you will change your life.

    A revolutionary approach to writing that will teach you how to express yourself fluently and with confidence for the rest of your life.

    Light bulbs went off in my head as I read Kelly L. Stone's Time to Write with its shrewd observations and sage, practical advice for making time to write." -Hallie Ephron, author of Writing and Selling Your Mystery Novel and 1001 Books for Every Mood"When it's a writing day, I'm writing. Period."—Jodi Picoult "I set myself a 500 word a day goal. . . . If I can do that, I can finish a first draft in six months."—Hallie Ephron "If the trouble is just getting started in the morning, I often change my writing place or method."—Jennifer Blake In Time to Write, more than 100 professional writers from across genres-including Sandra Brown, Catherine Coulter, Wendy Corsi Staub, Merline Lovelace, Steve Berry, Tess Gerritsen, Ann Major, Cherry Adair, Christine Feehan, Julia London, and Eloisa James-share their secrets to finding time to write. And if they could find the time to write, then so can you. The time is now.

    Lynch writes for the first time about his more than three-decade commitment to Transcendental Meditation and the difference it has made in his creative process.In brief chapters, Lynch explains the development of his ideas - where they came from, how he grasps them, and which ones appeal to him the most. He specifically discusses how he puts his thoughts into action and how he engages with others around him. Finally, he considers the self and the surrounding world - and how the process of "diving within" that has so deeply affected his own work can directly benefit others.Catching the Big Fish comes as a revelation to the legion of fans who have longed to better understand Lynch's personal vision. And it is equally intriguing to those who wonder how they can nurture their own creativity.

    Award-winning educator Felicia Rose Chavez exposes the invisible politics of power and privilege that have silenced writers of color for far too long. It’s more urgent than ever that we consciously work against traditions of dominance in the classroom, but what specific actions can we take to achieve authentically inclusive communities? Together, we will address how to:· Deconstruct our biases to achieve a cultural shift in perspective.· Design a democratic teaching model to create safe spaces for creative concentration.· Recruit, nourish, and fortify students of color to best empower them to exercise voice.· Embolden our students to self-advocate as responsible citizens in a globalized community.Finally, a teaching model that protects and centers students of color, because every writer deserves access to a public voice. For anyone looking to liberate their thinking from “the way it’s always been done,” The Anti-Racist Writing Workshop is a clear, compelling guidebook on a necessary step forward.

    He weaves discussions of work by Keats, Dickinson, and Whitman with quotes from three-thousand-year-old Egyptian poems, Inuit songs, and Japanese love poems to show that writing personal lyric has helped poets throughout history to process emotional and experiential turmoil, from individual stress to collective grief. More specifically, he considers how the acts of writing, reading, and listening to lyric bring ordering powers to the chaos that surrounds us. Moving into more contemporary work, Orr looks at the poetry of Sylvia Plath, Stanley Kunitz, and Theodore Roethke, poets who relied on their own work to get through painful psychological experiences.As a poet who has experienced considerable trauma--especially as a child--Orr refers to the damaging experiences of his past and to the role poetry played in his ability to recover and survive. His personal narrative makes all the more poignant and vivid Orr's claims for lyric poetry's power as a tool for healing. Poetry as Survival is a memorable and inspiring introduction to lyric poetry's capacity to help us find safety and comfort in a threatening world.

    You don't need worry about messing up techniques you've never attempted before inside your raw-art journal. You just need to be you because raw art is you and it thrives on creative play, on experimentation and even on making mistakes.Raw Art Journaling will teach you how to embrace your art, confront negative self-talk (a.k.a., your gremlin) and make meaning with your words and with your art. Inside Raw Art Journaling you'll discover how to:Write meaningful thoughts with a single sentenceCreate thought-provoking poems through found poetryUncover images hidden in your photosMake personal meaning with the simplest of linesFinally feel free to make mistakesUse clever techniques to keep your secrets secretQuiet your gremlin, grab your permission slip (it's on page 19) and start making meaning in your own raw-art journal today!

    DeSalvo shows how anyone can use writing as a way to heal the emotional and physical wounds that are an inevitable part of life. Contrary to what most self-help books claim, just writing won't help you; in fact, there's abundant evidence that the wrong kind of writing can be damaging. DeSalvo's program is based on the best available and most recent scientific studies about the efficacy of using writing as a restorative tool. With insight and wit, she illuminates how writers, from Virginia Woolf to Henry Miller to Audre Lorde to Isabel Allende, have been transformed by the writing process. Writing as a Way of Healing includes valuable advice and practical techniques to guide and inspire both experienced and beginning writers.

    Many writers waste time waiting for the day they can finally quit their day jobs and live the so-called writing dream. Don� (TM)t wait. You can do both � " and your writing will be the better for it.Balancing a full-time job and a productive writing life is no easy feat! This book offers writers advice, skill-building techniques, prompts, and exercises in every chapter, and strategies on how to get and keep writing while also working the 9 to 5 grind.Readers will discover tips and exercises for:- Setting and protecting personal writing goals - Creating a schedule that complements their stamina - Getting creative before and after work - and on their lunch hour - Finding inspiration in the most unlikely of spots and at the most impromptu of times - Writing proficiently in multiple forms (long and short) so that they don't get bogged down writing one long project - Becoming an active participant in writing communities so they have a solid support system at the ready - Figuring out how (if at all) to share their writing life with co-workers, friends, and family membersYou� (TM)ll also get quick, practical tutorials to help you master scenes, point of view, characters, settings, dialogue, and more.Writer With a Day Job gives you the strategies and motivation you need to work 40 hours a week (or more!) and achieve writing success.