George Eliot

Portrait by
Frederick William Burton
1864

"The finest language is mostly made up of simple, unimposing words."

— George Eliot

English Novelist

1819 - 1880

Think simple.  Think unadorned.  Think powerful.  Sometimes we believe it's the fancy words, the longest speeches, the wildest colors that win the day.   But the truth is the simple words carry more emotion and have a greater impact.

Read More

Judson Jerome

"Poetry is more fundamental than written language... It is one of the characteristics that defines us as human... Where there are people, there is speech; where there is speech, there is poetry."

— Judson Jerome

American Author

1927 - 1991

I just pulled off my bookshelf the first book about writing poetry that I ever read.  I purchased it in 1967.  The book is The Poet and the Poem by Judson Jerome.  For more than 30 years, Jerome wrote the poetry column for Writer's Digest.  The title of the first chapter is:  "Are You A Poet?"  The first two sentences read:  "Of course, you think you are.  I have never met a person who has never written a poem."

Many people write what they think is poetry.  Most have no clue as to what poetry really is and many have never read a book of poetry.  Few people would take up painting without studying the masters of the past.  Most people wouldn't attempt to play the piano without studying the greats.  Yet, many who have not ever read a poem will pick up a pen and attempt to write one.

As Jerome says, "where there is speech, there is poetry.  Poetry is in our DNA.  Poetry is at the heart of language.  So maybe we all at some level are poets.  We may not be great poets or even good poets, and we may write bad poems, but we still call ourselves poets.  And that is okay.  We should not stop writing, painting or singing simply because we are not successful.

Read More

Anton Chekhov

"Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint on the broken glass."

— Anton Chekov

Russian Writer

1860 -1904

Writing is in the sharing of details.  Even the smallest detail helps to create the story.  Writers are cautioned again and again not to tell, but to show.  If you tell, you are placing judgement on the story.  If you show, you are allowing the reader to make up his own mind.  And I think the same is true of painting.  The goal is not to show the moon hanging in the sky, but to see it reflected in the plants and trees.  Painting is about light and shadow.  You know the sun or moon is there even if you can't see it.  You see the light on the leaves.  Dig deep and reveal the details.  The story is build on the details.

Read More

Salman Rushdie

Salman Rushdie

"Language is courage: the ability to conceive a thought, to speak it, and by doing so to make it true."

— Salman Rushdie

Indian Novelist

1947 -

One of the things that makes us humans special is our ability to learn and understand verbal language.  We name things.  That is what writers do.  That takes courage.  We conceive a thought, write it down and share it with others.  And this also makes writing different than painting.

Eric Fischl

Eric Fischl, an American artist, says it this way:  "The difference between painting and other forms of creativity like writing or filmmaking is that painting is a preverbal experience."  The language of painting is the language of the eyes.  We communicate by seeing.  The language of the  spoken word is the language of the ears.  We understand by hearing.  Language was first spoken before it was written.  It takes courage to speak and to hear what is  spoken.

The ability to conceive a thought and then speak it is an amazing gift.  If you ever become depressed because you feel you don't have talent, stop and think about the many gifts you have been given — the ability to think, the ability to comprehend language, the ability to speak words and the ability to write and read.  Consciousness itself is an amazing gift.  If you don't think of it as a gift, imagine being dead and having no consciousness.

Painting by Eric Fischl

And because we can speak words, we are able to imagine that which is not.  We are able to conceive ideas and worlds that do not exist.  We are not limited to the world that we see, hear,  taste, smell and touch.  And writers have the power to help us see worlds that only exist in our minds.  Imagination is an amazing gift.  Celebrate your imagination.  Celebrate your ability to speak.  

Here is Salman Rushdie discussing his creative process.

Read More

Zig Ziglar

"You never know when one kind act, or one word of encouragement, can change a life forever."

Zig Ziglar

American Speaker/Author

1926 -

Words are very powerful.  A few words here or there can change a life.  Who have been the encouragers in your life?  Maybe it was a parent, a teacher, a friend, a child or a preacher? What did they say to you?  How did they touch your life?  How did they change your life?  

Many motivational speakers have inspired me over the years.  Driving to Texas from Illinois in December of 1982 to start a new job, I discovered Zig Ziglar, the grandfather of motivational speaking,  on the radio.  I didn't know who he was or the impact he would eventually have on my life.  I have since met him and seen him on several occasions speak.  The last time I saw him speak was at the 2000 National Speakers Association annual convention in Washington, D.C.  Like many speakers that I enjoy, I have listened to him dozens of times on tape.  I, with his permission, actually tell some of his stories.

One of my favorite Ziglar stories is the story of the man who had an opportunity to visit heaven and hell before he died.  St. Peter asked the man where he wanted to go.  He told St. Peter to take him down to hell.  There he saw a beautiful banquet hall with the finest food and drink you could imagine.  When he looked at the people he saw that they were skin and bones and that they were cursing and swearing at each other.  He told St. Peter to take him up to heaven.  In heaven, he saw the same beautiful banquet hall filled with the finest food and drink.  When he looked at the people, he saw that they were healthy and robust and that they were laughing and singing.  The man asked St. Peter what was going on.  St. Peter responded, "Did you see the silverware."  Strapped to each arm was a four foot fork and a four foot knife.  Now, we all know we can't eat with such large silverware.  The people in hell were so busy getting everything for themselves that nobody got anything.  Up in heaven each person would feed the person across from him and that person would feed him back.  The message is very simple but powerful:  if you help other people get what they need and want you will get everything you need and want.

As creative leaders we have the opportunity to touch the lives of the people we meet through our books, paintings, songs, photographs and stories.  Whose life did you touch today?




Here is Zig Ziglar telling his famous primp the pump story.

Read More

Donald Hall

"I don't know where a poem comes from until after I've lived with it a long time.  I've a notion that a poem comes from absolutely everything that every happened to you."

— Donald Hall

American Poet

1928 -

Do you know where you creative work comes from?  Have you ever been surprised by something that you created?  Everything that happens to us and everything that we do ultimately influences what we create.  That quarrel you had with your spouse this morning may one day make it into your painting, or story or poem.  Watching the sunset today with your lover may someday find its way into a novel or a play that you write.  That stranger you saw at your local coffee shop this evening may have a walk on role in that short story you are writing.  I once wrote a story called Bath Day about an old woman who lived in a nursing home.  I had a walk-on part in the story as a young man who times how long it takes to give the woman a bath.  This bit of action is based on a time when I was doing a time study of how long it takes to give a bath.  In one of my story poems, Mary Lou, the fact that my father showed Grand Champion hogs at state fairs showed up in a poem about young love and the loss of virginity.

Here is a poem by Donald Hall.

White Apples

when my father had been dead a week

I woke

with his voice in my ear

                                              I sat up in bed

and held my breath

and stared at the pale closed door

white apples and the taste of stone

if he called again

I would put on my coat and galoshes.

Here is Donald Hall reading his poem, Affirmation.

Read More