Matthew's Blog
Creative Energy’s Law of Amplification?
Right now, most of my creative energy is focused on writing—especially in the fiction arena—but this week I have also started a course on one of my creative hobbies: black and white photography. Here’s an odd thing. Despite having committed to completing two of my...
Words are Like a Potter’s Clay
In the recent Write Now with Scrivener podcast episode Rashelle Isip, Professional Organizer, Ms. Isip talked about how similar writing is to pottery, how words are like clay, and how essential it is to get this clay on the potter’s wheel as the necessary first step...
Why I Don’t Argue on Twitter
For me, a good argument—one which I will grow from—requires three things: Being with someone I know well and respectBeing about a subject I care aboutBeing in a private place The last reason is why I choose not to argue on Twitter.
The Three Groups of Twitter Tweeters
Before I engage someone on Twitter, I try to put them into one of three Twitter groups: givers, neutrals, and bullies. The first group, the givers, are rare. These tweeters are consistently putting out helpful content and amplifying others in a positive way. The...
One Of Twitter’s Greatest Strengths
Twitter can be problematic, but let me share one of its greatest strengths: its ability to translate and connect an “in real life” (IRL) connection in the digital domain. Here’s an example. Let’s say you attend an in-person writing conference, and you hear a literary...
Doing The Scrivener Tutorial—Again!
I’ve used the writing software Scrivener for several years, and I am comfortable with most of it’s basic functions, but over the last week I did the tutorial again. Why? Not to learn how to use the software—I already know that—but instead to review how I think as I...
Passion + Habit = Success
In best-selling author James Patterson’s Masterclass on writing, he states that the key to success is passion plus habit. I agree. Passion acts as the emotional energy, but habit is the discipline that allows one to harness it. I am reasonably solid in both, but if I...
My Desk Totem For My Writing Space
My desk totem for my writing space—my creative space—is a baby dragon hatching from an egg. It’s the one personal item I have on my desk. I selected it for a specific reason: It is a reminder that no matter how powerful an idea will become, at birth it can be fragile...
SEO, Email Lists, and Newsletters
Although I’ve blogged daily for nearly two years, I haven’t focused on SEO, I haven’t created an email list, and I haven’t done a newsletter. This has been an intentional choice, since the principle purpose of my blog was to strengthen a daily habit of writing. But as...