The Artist's Way is a book which suggests lots of interesting and useful things. It also talks about some goofy ones. You can read some reviews here and order the book for as little as .99cents. (On a side note, I bought a used book for $2 and it had never been opened. Was also out of print. Sometimes you can get a real deal on those used books.)

One thing she recommends is morning pages. Hard work. Many people find them useful. Since I am incredibly introspective, I didn't learn a lot new from them. (Basically you write for three pages every day. Don't read them for a week or a month, I think. Then go back and read them. See what is in their consistently.)

Another thing she recommends is to do your art daily. I wrote three daily poems for months. I don't think any of them are great literature, but they kept my creative juices going. (Now I am working on a novel. It's not as easy to write part of a novel daily. At least not for me.)

I love her artist's date idea. Maybe because I like an excuse to go out by myself. She says to take yourself somewhere that encourages your creativity. Somewhere that gets your juices flowing. An art show. A hobby shop. An antique shop. A flea market. Go and enjoy. (I like simple assignments, too.)

The book is written in a series of weekly programs. Like a workshop, kind of.

One recommendation she made is to not read for a week. I thought back and realized that really helped me before. So I thought, okay, I'll do that. Then I find that I am reading blogs and newspapers and magazines. Anything I can get my hands on. (That is normal for me.) But I am not picking up any novels to read. And I was in the middle of a series, which I had planned to finish reading this week. And I put the newspaper down as soon as I remembered. (Not the blogs though.) I've watched more TV today, though. But since I went through a week's worth of Home and Garden type shows in less than two hours, that's not too bad. (Or maybe it is.)

So I am on a “do not read” week. AAAHHH. It hurts already. (Does that mean I can put off grading my students' finals? Guess not. Grades are due Monday.)