Psst! If you haven’t yet subscribed to the Writerly Play Kit, you’re missing out! Issued monthly, the WP Kit is a collection of activities, book recommendations, and other inspiration to help you develop creative thinking by focusing on a single skill.
Why one specific skill?
As is true for building physical muscles, you can develop creative thinking mastery much more efficiently when you’re intentional. When you focus on one skill, you:
progress more quickly with less friction
build momentum and the confidence that comes with success
make that skill a habit so that you can turn your focus elsewhere without losing ground
Wait … Creativity is a skill?
Yep, actually creative thinking is a collection of skills. A commonly held misbelief is that people are either creative or not. If I had a penny for every time someone has told me they’re “just not a creative person,” I’m pretty sure I could buy a private jet. One reason this myth is so prevalent, in my opinion, is that people focus on one aspect of creativity when they measure their capacity. So, they might think of creativity as the ability to generate a giant collection of ideas, or to craft a well-told story, or think quickly on the spot.
This narrow thinking often creates one of two problems.
First, a person might not be good at that thing. Maybe they struggle to come up with even three ideas, or they always figure out what they should have said hours after the moment has passed. Thus, they conclude that they aren’t a creative person without noticing other skills they DO have that are also key to creative thinking.
Second, a person may have a strength in one of these areas. When they’re asked to be creative, they play only this one note. When the process moves on to another stage, they may not have the next skill needed, and they get stuck. They may undervalue the importance of developing their creativity because they don’t realize that they are actually bumping repeatedly into a weakness in their overall skill set.
The way to develop creative thinking is through marginal gains.
In his book, Atomic Habits, James Clear shares the concept of marginal gains. Basically, when you improve through marginal gains, you make tiny changes, changes that might seem insignificant on their own. However, taken together, the collection of changes lead to overwhelming transformation. Becoming better at asking questions may not feel significant at first, but taken together with an improved ability to identify problems and generate ideas about possible solutions, soon you start to see fresh, exciting creativity coming to life in your world.
What are your strengths when it comes to creativity? How about areas that get in your way? What if you had clear, step-by-step strategies and a bookshelf of tools to overcome those challenges?
That’s exactly what the Writerly Play Kit is here to do for you.
Gifts get a bad rap sometimes. We lament the hurry-scurry feel of the holiday season, and in order to settle our hearts and minds, decide gifts are off-limits. Perhaps because gifts are my love language, or because I’ve both seen and felt the heart-swelling joy of a perfectly chosen (or created) present, I’m putting my foot down. I’m taking a stand in defense of gifts.
A gift can tell a loved one that you see their heart. A gift can inspire fresh curiosity, support emerging creativity, and remind a person of who she is – and who she has the potential to be. A gift can be a point of connection, a reminder of a shared memory, an invitation to play.
Gifts don’t have to be giant to be meaningful. Here’s a list of 25 small Writerly Play inspired gifts sure to encourage the creative person in your life.
Every creative process is a hero’s journey. This thought-provoking book is a wealth of creative coaching disguised as a simple paperback, and serves as Yoda to any creative ready to take their work and courage to the next level.
Subtitled “A Journal for Slowing Down, Letting Go, and Loving Who You Are,” this beautifully illustrated journal is filled with engaging questions and prompts, and feels like a breath of fresh air in the midst of a busy day.
End your day with this invitation to playful reflection from the ever-whimsical Workman Press. Every colorful page offers a slightly different format for thinking over the day, determining its highs and lows, and pinpointing insights to carry forward to tomorrow.
Dare greatly with this guided sketchbook. Laura Lee Gulledge’s art is rich with metaphor and yet easily accessible. Artists of every medium will enjoy this collection of creative challenges which will push their thinking in new directions.
No one can resist the magic of unrolling this toolkit and revealing a rainbow of colored pens and pencils. It’s an instant call to adventure for your inner artist.
I often wonder how to stimulate the kind of thinking I might do in an acting class when the group offers a person, place and problem. Here’s an excellent solution! Warm up your drafting muscles by rolling the dice and then telling a story to fit what you roll.
While this card set is usually a party game for seeing how well you know your friends, it can also be played solo. Creatives can take on a character and play with that person’s preferences in mind. Whether they’re exploring a main character, a villain, or an ideal customer, your creative friend will come away with tons of new insight.
When it’s time to revise, it always feels cozy to stack a few friendly reference books on your desk for SOS moments. This one is an excellent guide for any kind of storytelling artist, full of inspiration for those days when all your characters want to do is roll their eyes and sigh.
Yes, I promise! A three-pack of index cards will put a smile on any creative person’s face. Revision is a puzzle, but with a fresh deck of cards for plotting, planning, and strategic thinking, your friend will have all the tools needed to face down any creative tangle. Want to give a problem-solving kit? Add black sharpies and a collection of post-its. Wha-la!
While these questions were designed with game creators in mind, so many of the angles they present are perfect for storytellers of all genres. This deck is a fantastic revision companion, offering over a hundred lenses with which to see and reconsider creative work.
A game AND a book, this hands-on experience is fantastic for warming up revision muscles. The game, as designed, guides the players to think about motivation, dialogue, character, plot and theme. However, this book goes far beyond being a game for young writers. Creatives can adapt many of the games included, and apply the same kinds of critical thinking to their own projects.
A book of stories about words? Better still, like the other Workshop tools, this book isn’t only amusing … it’s a hearty tool that will help creatives find the just-right word and refine their work.
All creatives need mentors. Whether they’re people we meet with in person, or experts we meet through their work, we deepen our work when we stand on the shoulders of giants.
For writers, finding the perfect word is a moment of pure joy. This necklace celebrates the art of the exquisitely chosen word, and describes that feeling of flow that writers can’t help but crave.
How do we visualize what we read? This book is a fascinating lens through which storytellers can take a look at their work from a completely different angle.
When we’re looking for a literary mentor or two, it’s a great idea to wander outside of our comfort zone. This reading log stretches readers to be adventurous, and also to take time to reflect on what they read.
These book darts not only mark your page, but the exact line where you left off. Better still, this adorable tin is from Anne Bogel of What Should I Read Next podcast fame. If your creative friend hasn’t yet discovered this beloved literary podcast, your gift will be a double-whammy: book darts AND a new favorite weekly listen.
The Writerly Play Cafe
Creative works are meant to be shared, but that reality doesn’t make sharing any less daring. These final five gifts acknowledge courage and encourage collaboration.
Would You Rather is one of my favorite storytelling games. This deck of cards will spark thousands of What-If conversations, and help creatives warm up for a collaboration session, or even find that next not-to-be-ignored idea.
Simple words, but true. Brene Brown’s words will look beautiful in a frame hanging over a desk, and will be a helpful reminder that showing up in the arena is worthwhile.
Yes, these printables are free, but that doesn’t make them any less valuable. Download the set, print a few copies, and tuck them in a colorful folder. Your friend will be delighted with their new set of tools for giving and receiving feedback at the beginning, middle and end of the creative process.
OR, give the gift of creative momentum!
It’s no fun to feel as though you’re rowing while dragging a thousand pound anchor behind you as you develop a novel. Writerly Play Lab: Design a Novel is a course that sparks both joy and depth in your creative process.
My playlist is an eclectic collection of tools that help me approach my work as play. I love them so much, I want to share them with you!
Object: Seeing my work, staying on track, and setting realistic expectations.
What Didn’t Work: Trying to piece together to-do apps with Evernote, Google Docs, and other reference material, losing track of past thinking and having to start over again and again, digging through Google Drive or Dropbox to find that standard language that I used nearly every week, feeling absolutely frustrated because I couldn’t see my work or build connections between research, my drafts, my ideas, and other material.
My Aha! Moment: In my dream world, my office has a digital wall that resembles a crime board. On it, I have ideas, questions, reference materials, clues, developing theories and writing projects, all connected together with string. Since the board is digital, I can swipe between projects, link one project to another and use all kinds of reference material, including online articles and material. I can also stand back and see my developing body of work, find new connections, and build on my thinking.
Sounds like a fairy tale, doesn’t it? Except it’s not. When I stumbled across Milanote, I knew I’d found a piece of technology that would supercharge my creative process. Thoughts come and go, and our brains simply can’t keep them all in view. Milanote makes it possible to build a body of thought, and multiply our thinking. It’s honestly that good.
How I Play:
Milanote does come in a free version, but when I decided to make the tool my window into all of my projects, I chose to go with the paid subscription. I haven’t regretting it for one moment.
Like a crime board, Milanote is a wide-open tool. I had to think through the organizational structure that would most help me. On my home page, I’ve included categories of my work and play, and I’ve linked boards from there.
I think of Milanote boards as file folders. I have some for projects, some for clients, and others to help me track my schedule. By using board links, I can create shortcuts so the link to a board can show up in multiple places.
Player’s Notes:
Since Milanote links to webpages, you can make a live link to a Google Doc. This means you can work on a doc while you’re inside Milanote. On that same board, you can see supporting material, plus instructions to yourself (think: a don’t forget checklist).
The column tool helps to organize related material, and the arrows and other mind-mapping tools make it possible to brainstorm, connect ideas, or define work flows.
Do you have a task that requires you to visit three websites to complete your work? Place links to each of those pages in a sequence on a Milanote board, along with instructions. Speed up processes by using a templated flow.
Milanote has a feature called “power-up,” and in this way you can transform a note into long form text. The rest of the screen dims, and you can focus on a draft of an idea, which then collapses when you are finished writing. In this way, you can quickly draft and develop ideas as you work toward placing them wherever else they belong in your workflow: InDesign, WordPress, Scrivener, or otherwise.
Take it to the Next Level:
It took me a bit of time to figure out how best to use Milanote. You have to do some structural and organizational thinking. If you’d like a shortcut, I’ve created a short video that walks through some of my boards to cast a quick vision for what’s possible. Here’s that link:
How do you feel about a blank page? We often talk about the terror of a blank, white page, but what about the possibility? I love this poem from Jacqueline Woodson because it reminds me that a blank page can be seen in more than one way. It reminds me that writing is a sensory activity with sound and texture and smell. How might you reframe your next blank white page?
Try This:
Take out a blank piece of paper and a freshly sharpened pencil.
Close your eyes. Notice the smell of your pencil and the space around you. Feel the texture of the paper under your fingers, and the ridges along your pencil.
Along each of the four edges of the page, make a border of texture, sound, smell and emotional adjectives.
Then, challenge yourself to use as many of the words in your border as you can in the draft you create on the page.
And don’t forget! Your adjectives can inspire your fellow creators! Share them below, or tag me on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter.
For writers, 10,000 hours is probably an understatement. The writing learning curve is no small thing. Writers twenty years into their careers will tell you they still have miles to go–so much landscape to cover, and so many discoveries to make. However, as any hiker knows, a solid plan, clear expectations and a backpack full of optimism are absolutely necessary to take the first step up a daunting mountain.
How you start, how you spend your time, and your overall mindset about developing your skill set can make years of difference in your writing learning curve.
The Publication Milestone
If we’re honest, when we start writing seriously, the milestone most of us aim for is publication. Writing is an art form, and art is meant to be shared. We might love writing for self-expression, for the sheer creative joy of it, for sharing with our students, children, family and friends, but we still long for that finished book with our name on the spine.
Now that I’ve been writing seriously for nearly twenty years, I see how aiming for publication as my first milestone was detrimental to my learning process. For one thing, I put my success (and honestly, my feeling of self-worth) squarely where it didn’t belong … in the hands of other people.
Okay, time out for a second. A voice in the back of your mind might be piping up, saying, “Well, yeah, yadda, yadda. I’ve heard this all before. Make goals that focus on process. But, time is short. I’m strategic. I’m determined. I can find the publication shortcut if I look hard enough.”
Yep. I absolutely agree. You might be the exception to the rule, and you might find a shortcut to publication. Let’s say you do find a publisher before you’ve deepened your writing craft. Now, your first book is out there, and it may not be representative of you as an artist. Or, you may not have the ability to follow it up with a next book. Or you might face any number of other problems that occur when the cart comes before the horse.
Or, let’s say that you experience the writer’s fairy tale. You work hard, grow as a writer, and are published without too much heartache. You carry on, growing and publishing regularly. This story is honestly the one that I wish for you, and it’s absolutely possible. It’s much more possible if you choose to focus on your craft from day one.
Here’s where the years of difference come in.
The Writing Learning Curve: An Early Milestone
Returning to our hiker for a moment, consider a trail map. The map highlights points of interest, giving you mid-trail mini-goals. However, the most memorable moments of your hike are often the ones YOU discover. You might spot a mountain lion in the distance, or unexpectedly find a four-leaf clover. In the same way, your personal milestones are likely to be the most meaningful as you develop as a writer. Still, it’s always helpful to watch for a few common milestones, as well.
An early milestone is the ability to clearly identify a craft problem in your writing. Rather than focusing on a specific story, and how to nudge a sentence or paragraph in one direction or another, you start to see patterns.
My characters don’t have the necessary depth to feel real.
My exposition pours out as an info dump.
The pacing of story questions and discoveries is too fast or too slow.
In order to make it to this milestone, writers need to have read, researched and practiced enough to:
Know what a well-crafted story needs
Build courage in their ability to solve problems
Have a body of work across which they can identify patterns
Courage may seem like the least important in that list, but I believe it is the key to unlock the others. No one wants to identify a problem he or she cannot solve. Daring to see a problem that goes beyond a specific story, to see an area of true growth for yourself, is highly difficult. You must admit that you have done your very best and still fallen short. Our subconscious flares up, playing all kinds of tricks to keep us from seeing the truth. If we haven’t proven to ourselves that a shortcoming is no big deal, if we don’t believe at a bone-deep level that with hard work, we can gain that next skill, we simply won’t be able to see the gap.
Have you made it to this milestone yet? Here are a few steps to speed up your momentum if you think you’re in this phase of growth.
Read and write regularly.
As you read and write, ask yourself questions that go beyond the specific story. If you notice that a character isn’t pulling his or her weight, ask yourself why. Then, step back and notice what this insight might mean on a more universal level.
Write small. One novel will take you a long time to write, and you won’t be able to see patterns as clearly in one piece of work. Instead, use at least some of your writing time to draft 10-15 minute stories. These low-stakes stories will help you experiment (which builds courage) and also to see patterns more clearly.
The Writing Learning Curve: A Next-Step Milestone
A next-step milestone is the ability to identify strengths in mentor texts. Once you see an area of growth, you can then turn to resources to help you develop that skill. The ability to see specifically how another writer has done what you aim to do will change the trajectory of your growth. Here’s where you truly cut years off your writing learning curve.
In order to make it to this milestone, writers need to have questioned, experimented, and explored enough to:
Identify writers they admire for strength of writing craft
Understand the strengths of their own perspective and writing voice
See past the surface of a story to the gears and cogs turning within
Again, the most important skill on this list deals with mindset. You can’t expect yourself to be teachable and willing to learn from master writers if reading their works closely will discourage you. If you don’t yet believe you have something unique to add to the conversation, you will feel as though you’re working toward being a shadowy copy of someone else. You have to know, without a doubt, that your stories matter. Learning someone else’s successful strategies allows you to stand on the shoulders of the greats, and from there, create your own beautiful, innovative, meaningful work.
Have you made it to this milestone yet? Here are a few steps to speed up your momentum if you think you’re in this phase of growth.
Create a vision for who you are, at core, as a writer. Collect artifacts–stories, scenes, beautiful lines, anything that helps you see and hear your unique voice. You may even want to make a list or a collage to keep in your writing space, a touchstone to remind you of the simple truth: there is only one you, and only you can tell your stories.
Read with your writing objectives in mind. Notice when an author stands out as a master in a skill you want to develop. Keep those mentor texts on a specific shelf or on your desk. Also, consider reading twice. Read once for the experience, and a second time, more slowly, to notice the inner workings of the story.
Begin to practice the art of reverse-engineering. Underline specific lines that show a strategy in motion. Consider what the author is doing, why, and how you might do something similar (in your own words) in your work.
Setting Milestones Provides Momentum
When I started my MFA at Hamline University in Writing for Children and Young Adults, people told me that my study would take years off my writing learning curve. Hamline is a magical place, and working with my incredible mentors there delivered exactly what they promised. If you’re able to invest in an MFA, I strongly recommend it. The mindset challenges I noted above, especially, are more easily overcome with close guidance and encouragement from a distinguished mentor. Also, writing critical papers on mentor texts pushes you to do the necessary work to make this progress possible.
That said, with or without an MFA, these milestones will make an incredible difference for you. It feels counter-intuitive to take precious writing time to write small, or to closely examine someone else’s work. However, if doing that work is like turning on a headlamp to pierce through your internal fog, think of how much more quickly you can make it where you want to go.
If you’re a longtime reader of the Writerly Play blog, you’ve likely spotted that the skills explored here are foundational in the Writerly Play Library. If you’re curious to dig deeper into how to individualize, map and problem solve your creative development, you might enjoy reading about what Writerly Play is, or how the Writerly Play Library offers creatives an opportunity to strategically develop their skill set.
As writers, one of the best ways for us to support one another is to share our insight. Have you found any mentor authors? What book has helped you grow as a writer, and how has the text specifically helped you? Let us know in the comments section or tag me on Facebook or Instagram. I can’t wait to learn from your experience.
This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Strictly Necessary Cookies
Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.
If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.
