Showing Tag: "creativity" (Show all posts)

Capturing the moment

Posted by George Polley on Tuesday, June 4, 2013, In : Art of writing 
Our days become so crammed with activities and preoccupations that it is easy to miss the little things, which seem so insignificant . . . but are they? As a writer, it's important that I stay in the moment as much as possible in order to catch the magic that is there.

One day while sitting reading in a shopping mall, I noticed something moving near the floor to my left. Glancing that way I saw a tiny boy, his face beaming, waving at me. I smiled back and waved at him as he passed me by, stil...
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Creating stories and poems by filling in the blanks

Posted by George Polley on Friday, May 24, 2013, In : Art of writing 
The other day a writer friend showed me a simple formula for writing a story, or a novel by filling in the blank spaces in a sentence: "When a [     ] [     ] is dragged into [    ] s/he is forced to [    ] in order to [    ]." Character, situation, conflict and story are all set down in those simple steps.

Looking at it, I was reminded of a writing assignment my youngest son had when he was eight years old. He and his classmates were required to fill in the blanks in the following sentence: "...
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Parking

Posted by George Polley on Tuesday, March 22, 2011, In : Art of writing 

Parking


New writing projects pop into my head fairly often, especially when my brain is in “create” mode. I may be riding along on the subway, eating, talking with my wife or a friend, just waking up (happened this morning), overhear someone talking, or have an idea or image nag away at me until I do something about it. If any of the ideas begi...


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When your well runs dry, wait...

Posted by George Polley on Monday, April 19, 2010, In : The Creative Process 
... it will replenish itself if you relax and don't panic.

I recently hit a "flat" place while working on chapter 5 in my novel about Seiji, the Asakusa Tokyo artist. He had just arrived in Princeton, New Jersey to visit old friends David and Noriko Sakamoto, and I got stuck. I felt tired,deleted, and wanted nothing so much as to go to sleep.

"Hmmm," I said; "wonder if we're both suffering a little jet lag and culture shock?" We were (at least I was, culture shock that is). He'd never visited t...
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About Me


George Polley I'm an author, fiction writer and poet. My recent publications are "The Old Man and The Monkey," "Grandfather and the Raven", and "Bear", a story about an unusual dog and his human friend Andy, published by Taylor Street Publishing, San Francisco. A collection of short stories, "Fernandez' Tale and Other Stories", and a poetry collection "Seeing: Collected Poems, 1973-1999", were published by Tortoise & Hare. I love telling stories, so drop by from time to time for updates. My publisher is Taylor Street Publishing in San Francisco, California.