GET CREATIVE: TURN ON THE BRIGHT SIDE OF YOUR BRAIN

GET CREATIVE: TURN ON THE BRIGHT SIDE OF YOUR BRAIN by cartoonist Doug MacGregor is a fun workbook of creative exercises for the right side of the brain.

As a technical writer, my brain's left side is often fully engaged while the right side is asleep. Fine for the day job, but it becomes problematic once I take off the technical writer hat and sit down to work on a novel. The big, blank page screams out for words, but the cursor blinks and blinks and blinks in stunning silence.

Doug MacGregor recently spoke at a local writer's meeting and I was intrigued by the sample exercises he led us through during the presentation. A few weeks after the meeting I bought the book and the creative exercises have helped wake up my right brain and fill my big, blank pages with words.

This book is for anyone who needs to wake up the right brain and get creative; or, for anyone who just wants to have some creative fun.

Books on Creativity

Two books on creativity caught my eye while at the Christian Writers Guild conference a few weeks ago. When I found them on McNair Wilson's recommended reading list, they both came home with me and I finished reading them last week ... thumbs up to both. They were copyrighted more than a decade ago, but their messages are timeless.

Orbiting the Giant Hairball: A Corporate Fool's Guide to Surviving with Grace was written by Gordon Mackenzie, an insider at Hallmark Cards for 30 years. He takes you on a fun-filled journey inside the "giant hairball" 0f a large corporation. Then, he shows you how to break free of the restrictive hairball and bring back the creativity. I'll be recommending this book to everyone I know. In this time of economic turmoil, we all need to maximize our creativity to survive and prosper.

Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art, written by Madeleine L'Engle is a classic for Christian artists. This book takes you on a spiritual walk with your art, regardless of its form - music, painting, sculpting, writing - leading you back to the Creator. I'll be pulling this one off the shelf when I'm struck with procrastination magnified and writing avoidance syndrome.