Creative Lift

Aside from interior monologue, are there other ways to clue a reader into a character's thoughts and emotions? How might we keep a reader informed if we don't want to submerge them in a sea of rumination?

We're in season four of the podcast, Behind the Scenes of a Full-Novel Revision, in which I'm discussing a full novel revision with my fellow writer, Alex Doherty, a fellow middle-grade writer. Our conversation is guided by his questions and goals for the manuscript, and today we're looking at interior monologue.

Follow the show link to download this week's reflection guide.

The feedback approach we've used in this season references Design Thinking tools and mindsets. If you'd like to explore further how to apply Design Thinking to your writing process, check out our Skillshare course, Design Thinking for Writers: Create a Compelling Character at this link.

When does a character's voice come to life for you? And if you're struggling to find a character's voice, what strategies might you use to illuminate it?

We're in season four of the podcast, Behind the Scenes of a Full-Novel Revision, in which I'm discussing a full-novel revision with Alex Doherty. In today's episode, we're considering how Alex might build on the connection his readers feel with his characters. He wants readers to be in the know about what's going on, while also keeping up the pace and excitement of the plot.

This season offers tools and questions to support you in a full novel revision. The goal is that you'll enhance your own desired effect while strengthening your unique writerly voice.

Follow the show link to download this week's reflection guide.

The feedback approach we've used in this season references Design Thinking tools and mindsets. If you'd like to explore further how to apply Design Thinking to your writing process, check out our Skillshare course, Design Thinking for Writers: Create a Compelling Character at this link.

When you're reading, do you prefer to look at a character from a distance? Do you prefer to be deep in their thoughts? Or somewhere in between? And when you're writing, how do you craft the distance between your fictional creations and your readers?

We're in season four of the podcast, Behind the Scenes of a Full-Novel Revision, in which I'm discussing a full-novel revision with Alex Doherty. Our conversation is guided by his questions and goals for the manuscript, and today we're looking at narrative distance.

We're considering how Alex might play with making the reader feel connected to his characters, and in the know about what's going on, while also keeping up the pace and excitement of the plot.

This season offers tools and questions to support you in a full novel revision. The goal is that you'll enhance your own desired effect while strengthening your unique writerly voice.

Follow the show link to download this week's reflection guide.

The feedback approach we've used in this season references Design Thinking tools and mindsets. If you'd like to explore further how to apply Design Thinking to your writing process, check out our Skillshare course, Design Thinking for Writers: Create a Compelling Character at this link.

Welcome to season four of Creative Lift: Behind the Scenes of a Full-Novel Revision. We're experimenting with an alternate format this season, not to replace what we do here at Creative Lift, but to offer another type of invitation for you.

Sometimes it's helpful to be walked through an exercise, or presented with new ideas, the way we often do at Creative Lift. Other times, it's helpful to hear those ideas applied. That's why we decided to record a behind-the-scenes conversation that applies the tools that we explored last season: Design Thinking Tools for Writers.

One of the biggest ways that Design Thinking reframes the writing process is that it invites you, the writer, to consider how others might collaborate with you in your process. How might you invite feedback in a way that supports you and builds your creative confidence, while staying true to your personal vision for your work?

This season will be a case study for that kind of collaborative conversation. I'm thrilled that this season also allows me to introduce you to Alex Doherty, who is not only my collaborator and editor for both Creative Lift and our Writerly Play Skillshare classes, but also a fellow middle grade author. In this season, we'll share a conversation that considers a number of full-novel revision strategies that Alex is working with in his novel, Audrey Gray vs. the PTA.

In today's episode, we start by giving you a birds' eye view of Alex's novel and his goals for what he wants to work on with this revision. You'll notice that the conversation is driven by Alex's questions rather than my perspective as his feedback partner.

Here are the key questions we're exploring during this season: How might a writer frame the feedback discussion in a way that supports their goals for their project, and also helps them see their work from an outside perspective? How might they maintain full ownership over the revision process rather than outsourcing that responsibility to their feedback partner?

This season offers tools and questions to support you in a full novel revision. The goal is that you'll enhance your own desired effect while strengthening your unique writerly voice.

Follow the show link to download this week's reflection guide.

The feedback approach we've used in this season references Design Thinking tools and mindsets. If you'd like to explore further how to apply Design Thinking to your writing process, check out our Skillshare course, Design Thinking for Writers: Create a Compelling Character at this link.

What role does intuition play in your creative process?

When you use design thinking tools, you bring intention to the way you approach your creative work. Sometimes, that mindfulness can feel like the opposite of intuition. Along the way as I learned design thinking, the question pops up now and then. What role is intuition playing here? Am I trusting my gut enough, letting go of control, allowing the magic of creativity to happen?

It's an important question as we wrap up our conversation on design thinking. Yes, these tools are powerful. Yes, if we invite others into our creative work sooner we will have greater perspective. Yes, if we fail faster, we will succeed sooner.

And.

And, as you use these tools, there are moments when the right thing to do is to let go. Throw the system out the window. Follow your intuition and see where it will lead you.

Follow the show link to download this week's reflection guide. In this season of Creative Lift, we're exploring how Design Thinking might apply to the craft of writing. If you'd like to explore these tools and mindsets further, check out our Skillshare course, Design Thinking for Writers: Create a Compelling Character, at this link.

How do you move a project toward completion? How do you know a creative project is done?

This season, we've been talking about Design Thinking, and today's episode focuses on our penultimate topic: Iteration. There are two truths I want to be sure I underline today.

First, when we hit this stage in our creative process we're not in the final stretch. We're just beginning the messy middle. Making it to those anticipated words, "the end," will require cycling back through the problem-finding and problem-solving stages of design thinking many more times.

And second, when we do return to those stages, we will not approach them in the same way we did before. Further down the road, ideation happens in a smaller possibility space, taking into account the decisions that have already been made. Picture a loop that gets smaller each time you cycle through this trial and error process.

Follow the show link to download this week's reflection guide. In this season of Creative Lift, we're exploring how Design Thinking might apply to the craft of writing. If you'd like to explore these tools and mindsets further, check out our Skillshare course, Design Thinking for Writers: Create a Compelling Character, at this link.

How do you feel about creative feedback?

This is a tough question for me, because often my mind responds one way and my heart responds another.

But even that either/or frame falls short of sorting out the complex feelings I have about feedback. And complex feelings bubbling under the surface are a sneaky culprit of creative roadblocks. Since Creative Lift is all about uncovering the core of roadblocks so we can more easily play our way to the page, today's episode shines a light on the tricky feedback question so that we can explore it with our eyes wide open.

Listen in, and let's see what we might discover. Follow the show link to download this week's reflection guide. In this season of Creative Lift, we're exploring how Design Thinking might apply to the craft of writing. If you'd like to explore these tools and mindsets further, check out our Skillshare course, Design Thinking for Writers: Create a Compelling Character, at this link.

You've probably heard the question somewhere before: Are you a plotter or a pantser? But, have you ever considered the possibility that you might not be either of these, in fact, you just might be a prototyper?

This season on Creative Lift, we've been talking about Design Thinking, and how to use these powerful mindsets, tools, and strategies in service of our creative work. In today's episode, we'll talk about what a prototype might look like for writers and other narrative artists, and the potential for prototypes to multiply your creative effectiveness. Follow the show link to download this week's reflection guide. If you decide you want to try out a prototype yourself, check out our Skillshare course, Design Thinking for Writers: Create a Compelling Character, at this link.

Especially if you're the kind of person who always has a thousand ideas, learning to brainstorm more effectively may seem pointless. After all, if you already have too many ideas, why generate more?

On the other hand, what would happen if you could clear away the more obvious ideas and tap into truly innovative ones? What potential might you unlock if you leveled up your brainstorming capacity?

This episode is for everyone—whether you're swimming in ideas or desperately in search of them. We all have room to raise the ceiling on our potential. Join me, and let's explore how that might work. Follow the show link to download this week's reflection guide.

It's a question I've heard so many times: Should I make this choice or that one? The creative process is filled with decisions large and small. We need a compass to guide our decision-making so that we can confidently move forward in the direction we mean to go. But when we're traveling uncharted territory, what kind of compass can guide us? In this episode, we'll explore one way to define our creative target and to boost our energy and flow. Follow the show link to download this week's reflection guide.