by Rochelle Melander “One of the things I know about writing is this: spend it all, shoot it, play it, lose it, all, right away, every time. Do not hoard what seems good for a later place in the book or for another book; give it, give it all, give it now.” –Annie Dillard Over...Read More

by Rochelle Melander What’s a lady to do when the floor falls out from under her? Easy answer: She closes her eyes. Imagines a floor where there isn’t one. Pretends that the twitch in her eye is from lack of sleep. Worry. Women Worry. Up all night worrying, I suppose! —Claire Burke, Yesteryear Are you...Read More

by Rochelle Melander You need novelty. Novelty activates the brain’s reward system, releasing dopamine and boosting learning, memory and motivation. Most of us turn to social media to get our dopamine fix. But that’s not the best thing—as we now know, social media’s addictive. But new stuff—that’s gold for your brain. Novelty helps you adapt...Read More

The 100-Day Project by Rochelle Melander With everything going on in the world, I’m struggling to focus and stay productive. For the last two years, I’ve written about the 100-day project. Last year I tried it—and wowza! For 100 days, I wrote poetry every morning. Sometimes the poetry became pieces of larger projects. Sometimes I...Read More

By Rochelle Melander I never made one of my discoveries through the process of rational thinking. —Albert Einstein I’m participating in a 30-day brainstorming challenge for children’s writers called Storystorm. I set aside time each day to read the post and then doodle my ideas. Only this year, I do more staring than writing or...Read More

by Rochelle Melander Julia Cameron, author of The Artist’s Way, suggests that we all need to “fill the well.” She writes, “When we work at our art, we dip into the well of our experience and scoop out images. Because we do this, we need to learn how to put images back. How do we...Read More

Note From Rochelle Dear writers, If you’re struggling to focus (and who isn’t?) this is the perfect time to try the Show Up and Write sessions. I’m doing a special session that combines the Writing Accountability Group and Show Up and Write on Thursday, March 27 at 11:00 AM CT (Think Chicago). We’ll be doing...Read More

by Rochelle Melander With everything going on in the world, I’m struggling to focus and stay productive. Last year, I discovered and wrote about the 100-day project (https://writenowcoach.com/the-100-day-project/). The 100-day project provides the container I need make art. Read on to learn what it is and how to make it work for you. What it...Read More

by Rochelle Melander We studied Paul Klee’s painting Senecio. The children drew a picture of themselves with a Sharpie. Then they layered the drawing with tissue paper, dabbing water on it to make it bleed. Some children discovered that if they dipped their paper in water, they could direct the colors to fill in specific...Read More

He could waste an hour’s good sleep worrying and be no wiser for it. —Geraldine Brooks (Horse, p. 84) Are you a worrier—filling your empty moments with “what ifs” about things that may never happen? Do you worry about your creative projects—will they sell, will they be successful, will people like them? Or do you...Read More