6 posts tagged “creativity”

This is just a small link dump of items that can be classified as inspirational that I want to add to my scratch pad here. Some I have read. Others I just clipped to read at some point.

Items via Dumb Little Man (I keep finding interesting things on this blog. Glad I added it to my feed reader):

• "How to Free Yourself from Limiting Beliefs" I may not agree with all of it (at times, there are obstacles you have no control over. You have to learn at times to let things go), but overall, this is a good reading. The exercise is to identify the beliefs that limit you, then break with them.
  
•  On a similar vein, here is "how to stop the raging war inside yourself."
  

Via Mashable:

• "HOW TO: Become an expert in your field." There is stuff on how to keep up as well as how to impart your wisdom onto others.
  
• Here are "five steps to getting unstuck and pursuing your goals." 
• And "5 ways to take control of your brand." This is something students in college about to graduate may want to look at. It deals with managing your reputation, especially online, which is a concern particularly as you are about to go in the job market. This is something I continually work on, my online brand and reputation. 

By Dave Pollard:

• I need to read this one a bit more closely, but for now I am making the note about it here. This is "Intention to Practice." 
• And over here, learn "how to save the world? ask the right questions."
  

From Presentation Zen:

• "Personal Kaizen: 15 Tips for Continuous Improvement." 
• "7Japanese Aesthetic Principles to Change Your Thinking."
• "10 Tips on How to Think Like a Designer."  
• "The Inspiring Jose Abreu and El Sistema." I started watching the video provided in this post, and then a few of the usual work interruptions happened. I need to get back to this sometime.
  

Via Lifehacker:

• This sounds interesting, but I am not sure if I can get away with it. Now, the idea of once in a while just taking some thinking time is very valuable. It is something I wish certain administrators would understand. Here is a suggestion to "take a creative sabbatical to stave off burnout." 
• "Master the 'Why Hire Me' Story to Land a Job." This could also go under job or career advice. This is something I would like to work on, making an "elevator pitch" about myself in case people ask. Reminds me also that I probably should rework the "About" pages on my blogs to make them a bit leaner.
  

I am dating this for September since that month just ended, but these are things I have been looking over or caught my attention in the last few months (at least, since the last time I did this type of post). I mostly make a note of these for personal reference, so I can keep them  handy to help me with my own writing and blogging. So, here we go:

From Copyblogger:

• "How Your Emotions are Strangling the Life Out of Your Copy." This one struck pretty close to home for me. I do often let my emotional filters get in the way of my writing, especially when it comes to my blogging. I would like to reflect on this a little further, but in part, I know it has to do with the problem of preserving and maintaining an image. A librarian blogger, unlike others, has to keep a certain professional image. We often worry about what our employers, present or potential, may think about what we write. We often censor ourselves, and I think this can take a toll on writing. Definitely something worth pondering here.
  
• "S.P.E.E.D. Writing: Five Tips to Double Your Writing Productivity." I have to read this one a bit more closely, but so far, the ideas of structure and eliminating distractions are good. I think at times I select too many things, then feel a little overwhelmed to actually write things down.
  
• A list of "Top Ten Blogs for Writers for 2009." Some of the ones on the list I already follow, but I have to take a moment from my busy schedule to look at the others. 
• Here is a reminder of "Five Grammar Mistakes that Make You Look Like a Chimp." I will admit that it irks me when I see some of these in other people's writing. In fact, this was so good I went ahead and shared it on my Facebook feed.
  
• On "The Dark Side of Authority," about creating authority for your blog, but there is also wisdom about dealing with trolls on your blog comments. 
• "The Seven Deadly Sins of Blogging." I do need to reread this one again. 

From ProBlogger:

• "How to Create Reader Profiles/Personas to Inspire and Inform Your Blogging." I have to read this one more closely, but the exercise sounds like it would be a worthwhile thing to try out.
  
• I am not sure that passion is a panacea for solving blogging blues, but here is a good argument for "How Passion Can Transform Your Blog." Maybe one of the things I may need to explore is trying to blog a bit outside of just LIS. I have been reading some interesting things which, while interesting, are not necessarily library-related (at least not directly). Time is still a big challenge for me, but I know I have to work at it.
  
• "Brainstorm 10 Ways to Expand Your Blog." This is another exercise to try out. 
• "9 Things to do to Make Sure Your Next Blog Post is Read by More Than Your Mom." I am not a Twitter user, so I am not sure if I can make that tip applicable. At this point in time, Twitter is just not useful enough for me. Now, running a post now and then through Facebook could work since I do use FB regularly. Doing it in LinkedIn could work for the professional blog, but I need to get more content written over there before I can do it.
  
• Here is one on creating a blog maintenance routine. Definitely need to heed some of the advice here. 
• And here is one on how to create compelling content by being playful. I think I need to explore my playful side a bit more. When it comes to my writing, some of my best writing works well when it is playful. I think that I may be letting my concerns over professional image hinder some of that playfulness. 

From Write To Done:

•  "Nine Ways to Build a Bridge Between Who You Were and Who You Are." This deals with journaling, a topic that always interests me and something I am always trying to improve.
  
• "Why You Should Stop Waiting for Inspiration." This is something I may need to consider some more. 
• And here are "Five Ways to Build the Writing Habit." Given the writing funk I seem to be going through these days, I can use all the advice I can get. Maybe it is time to get back to basics. 
• And because you can never have enough tips, here are 176 tips for writers. 

From Dumb Little Man:

• Some important reminders on "Why Good Writing Matters--And How You Can Improve." 
• And for those moments, like the last month and half or so for me, "How To Write When You Think You Can't." This is more for people who think they can't write. I know I can write; I just need to get my mojo back in gear, so to speak, but still, a good set of reminders.
  

I keep clipping items about blogging and writing in my feed reader. Some of them are things I want to read later, and others are things I might want to try out. As often happens, life has a way of trumping blogging as the old saying goes. So for now, as I have done before (like here and here) I am gathering together some posts on blogging and writing that I think are must reads and not to be missed. For me, kind of like making notes in a commonplace book. Actually, when I think about it, this blog serves as sort of a commonplace book for me. Anyhow, here are the links with some notes:

• Some items from Problogger:
  
• "5 Ways to 'Systemize' Your Blogging," a guest post by Nick Thacker. Thacker mentions keeping a schedule, which is something I have found myself struggling with as of late. Not because I lack things to post about. What I find difficult is hunkering down to put the posts together, or at the least, make a schedule of ideas, then hunkering down to put them together. 
• I liked this post because once in a while we do find ourselves without Internet access. Mr. Rowse in his blog suggests then "How to Improve Your Blog When You Have No Internet Access." This happens to everyone at one point or another, so these are ideas on making the most of the time when you can't get online. 
• Rowse warns us of 21 Mistakes Bloggers Commonly Make. Right away I know I am guilty of number five: irregular posting, at least for my main blogs (it is not an issue here). Part of it goes back to my struggle with finding the time and probably need to focus more too. 
• And readers come and go. I never worried too much about how many readers my blog has. But it is reassuring to know that readers come and go, so don't be depressed about it. Learn here then "How to Lose Readers [And Not Get Depressed]"
• More on consistency and keeping a schedule: "Be Consistent and Useful: Thoughts on How Often to Publish on Your Blog."  
• This I definitely need to read and heed closely: "Develop a Plan to Boost Your Blog's Profile and Readership Online." Not so much because I want to suddenly get famous, but because there is some good advice here on planning for blogging long term as well as some very good reflective questions I would like to write out when I get the chance. 
• An assignment: "Write a 'Review' Post." You would think that as a writer and librarian I would be able to write some pretty decent book review posts. I read a lot. But taking the time to write something substantial, something you could call a review, is not something that come easily for me. Maybe this is something I can work on. I certainly review articles from the library science literature, but I would like even for those to improve on the style a bit. To supplement this, I would also read "What is the purpose of a book review? And are book reviewers writing anything useful?" by Michelle Kerns over at examiner.com.And since we are on a roll about reviews, I may as well toss this on as another bonus or supplement: CW at Ruminations reviews the book Half of a Yellow Sun. What I found useful in this post was the simple review format CW uses.
  

• From Write to Done:
  
• "The Cycle of Creativity and How to Ride It." I need to look at this one more closely.
  
• This one looks very reflective: "Are You a Spiritual Pioneer?" 
• I need to work on improving the "about" page I have now on my main blogs. Maybe this advice will help. Here are "Five Tips (and a bonus) on How to Write a Fantastic About Page." After all, the "about" page is one of the first impressions a reader gets about your blog and you. For me, since I use The Gypsy Librarian as a professional tool, I would like to improve that.
  
• A guest post by Jonathan Mead on "How to Create a Highly Viral Blog." No, I have no aspirations of infecting anyone. Having said that, there are some basics here for writers that are very good.
  
• From Anecdote:
  
• A white paper on "How to be memorable and inspire action at work by telling stories." This is for more than just blogging and writing, but since I often use my blogging as a way to tell stories, I think it belongs on this list. And at times, my blogging does lead to action at work or just professionally. 
• From Copyblogger:
  
• "Your Blog vs. The World: 7 Steps for Winning the War for Attention." The advice on knowing your audience is good advice for any writer. 
• And sooner or later someone might say something you may or not agree with. Someone might leave a comment in your blog about something you wrote. I am also thinking of a recent comment I got that I did not get back to. So, you should know "How to Handle Criticism." From the list, I liked the last one: let it go. I think that is why I did not go back to that one comment. Sometimes it is better to just let it go.
  

One of the little nice details I noticed when I was hired here was the "Meet your librarian" display in the third floor. It was basically a display the librarians put together to represent themselves and allow the students and patrons to know us a bit better. The last two were the director and our instruction librarian. The next one will feature our archivist, and eventually I will put one up about myself. The idea is a nice way to tell a bit of our stories to the people who come to the library.

I thought about that when I saw this item from the blog Anecdote about "Adding storytelling to the employee engagement agenda." I am thinking that this is similar to their story wall idea, maybe a bit more public. I am not sure how the bloggers at Anecdote see the wall idea: do patrons of the business see it too, or is it just for the employees? Anyhow, a nice idea in my humble opinion.

I found this quote by celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain intriguing:

"AB: Okay. Here’s the thing. I don’t believe in fundamentalism of any kind. I believe that curiosity is my greatest and maybe my only virtue. I think a willingness to try other things in travelling is compulsory. So on that basis vegetarianism really offends me. If you’re Hindu, fine. I get it. If you’re in India and you grew up with a vegetarian regime, this is your life. But if you’re privileged, or from a privileged Western society and you’re able to travel, I’m offended by that. Just as I’m offended by fundamentalist Christians, and anybody who is absolutely certain about anything."

He said that in an interview promoting his new book, No Reservations, for the Montreal Mirror. Now, I personally see curiosity as a very important trait. It's part of what enables me to be a lifelong learner. While I can understand some people who may limit themselves due to their beliefs, for instance, the Hindus as Bourdain describes above, overall, I think you still need a sense of curiosity. You need a sense of pushing the envelope, of questioning, of wondering what would happen if things were different. I don't find vegetarians as offensive as Chef Bourdain might, but I do wonder at times what they are missing.

Now, fundamentalist Christians, and overall any fundamentalist brand of religion, I do find very offensive. In part because of that lack of curiosity. They have the feeling that they know everything for certain, so they feel no need to question or explore. That is both extremely restrictive and extremely short sighted. Life and reality are just not that certain. Life is too short not to be curious and seek out new opportunities and experiences when the present themselves.  Additionally, I just have a very simple belief: if your religion, whatever the brand, moves you to be a better person and to make the world a bit better, then more power to you. If on the other hand, your religion is an excuse for you to close your eyes, to be a bigot of any stripe, to incite violence against anyone who is not a member of your brand, then I have no use for you, and I will do what I can to denounce you. Because at the end of the day, I think it is the curious ones who will move ahead.

I liked this post from the Idea Sandbox blog on "Grains of Wisdom." Some of the things I have striven to do; others I could work on a bit better. Here is the list with my thoughts:

• "Keep an idea journal."  When at work, I keep a clipboard with paper handy. I like a clipboard because it is big enough to have some space, and I can carry it around in the library. I usually use scrap paper (leftovers from the printers) on it since I use it for quick notes, ideas, scribbles, etc. Often, I write rough drafts of posts in the clipboard, and then edit for the blog. One thing I would like to do is have a small notebook of some kind I can carry when not at work or at home. I carry a backpack, but I want something for when I don't have my backpack, which has my journal, or I am not at work. If I find a nice little thing that fits in a pocket, probably a back pants pocket, I would be set to scribble when on the road with ease. I don't want some PDA or electronic thing. Old school will be fine in that regard.
  
• "Add knowledge." Librarians can certainly do more. We can find ways to add knowledge at work as well as for the profession. A lot of the librarian bloggers do this already in their work.
  
• "Arrive with a solution."
  
• "Jerks are everywhere. Learn from them." I could work on this a little. Learn from the jerks, even if means learning something you definitely should not do.
  
• "Avoid jargon."
  
• "Expand your field of knowledge." This is where keeping up pays off. Be an active and lifelong learner. After all, you can add knowledge or expand your knowledge if you don't seek it out.
  
• "You are your brand." I am thinking this deals with your reputation. What you stand for. Your integrity as well as how you treat others. In other words, how do you want to be known?