Writers Write creates writing resources and shares writing tips. In this post, we discuss how to find workable story ideas.

While maintaining a work-life balance is difficult and time-consuming, there must be some semblance of organising your day into smaller tasks to get the work done in time.

Here are some of the craziest writing methods of famous authors, the bizarre habits and creative processes that have produced amazing works of literature.

In a delightful new romantic comedy from Elinor Lipman, one woman's trash becomes another woman's treasure, with deliriously entertaining results. Daphne Maritch doesn't quite know what to make of the heavily annotated high school yearbook she inherits from her mother, who held this relic dear. Too dear. The late June Winter Maritch was the teacher to whom the class of '68 had dedicated its yearbook, and in turn she went on to attend every reunion, scribbling notes and observations after each one--not always charitably--and noting who overstepped boundaries of many kinds. In a fit of decluttering (the yearbook did not, Daphne concluded, \"spark joy\"), she discards it when she moves to a small New York City apartment. But when it's found in the recycling bin by a busybody neighbor/documentary filmmaker, the yearbook's mysteries--not to mention her own family's--take on a whole new urgency, and Daphne finds herself entangled in a series of events both poignant and absurd. Good Riddance is a pitch-perfect, whip-smart new novel from an \"enchanting, infinitely witty yet serious, exceptionally intelligent, wholly original, and Austen-like stylist\" (Washington Post).

In Memory July 5, 2011 Cy Twombly b. 1928, Lexington, Va. d. 2011 Rome, Italy Edwin Parker "Cy" Twombly was born in 1928, in Lexington, Virginia. From 1948 to 1951, he studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Washington and Lee University, Lexington; and the Art Students League, New York, where he met Robert Rauschenberg. At Rauschenberg’s encouragement, he attended Black Mountain College, near Asheville, North Carolina, in 1951 and 1952, where he studied under Franz Kline, Robert Motherwell, and Ben Shahn. The Kootz Gallery, New York, organized his first solo exhibition in 1951. At this time, his work was influenced by Kline’s black-and-white gestural Expressionism, as well as by Paul Klee’s childlike imagery. In 1952, Twombly received a grant from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts that enabled him to travel to North Africa, Spain, Italy, and France. Upon his return in 1953, he served in the army as a cryptologist. From 1955 to 1959, he worked in New York and Italy, finally settling in Rome. It was during this period that he began to create his first abstract sculptures, which, although varied in shape and material, were always coated with white paint. In Italy, he began to work on a larger scale and distanced himself from his former Expressionist scribbles, moving toward a more literal use of text and numbers, drawing inspiration from poetry, mythology, and classical history. He subsequently created a vocabulary of various signs and marks, sometimes sexually charged, that read on a metaphorical level rather than according to any form of traditional iconography. Cy personified the "investigative scribble" + "poetic word" on the canvas. When he broke into the gallery scene in the early 50's he changed the way abstraction was perceived. -Eye-likey circa 50's In the late 60’s Twombly made this work using an unusual technique: he sat on the shoulders of a friend, who shuttled back and forth along the length of the canvas, thus allowing the artist to create his fluid, continuous lines. His father, who played baseball for the Chicago White Sox, got the nickname “Cy” after the famous baseball player Cy Young. The nickname eventually passed to Twombly Jr. too. We also know Jean-Michel Basquiat kept a book of Twombly works open next to his canvas while painting. Basquiat cites Twombly as a major influence to his work. See the past OCT feature for Basquiat's work. cy with his works nyc 1950's Mr. Twombly died last week in Rome at the age of 83.

Another recipe from Mum's scribbled cookery notes

Evidently, spending years laying out a single gold-leafed page wasn't all it's cracked up to be.

Edward Gorey is one of my favorite artists. What if he had illustrated Lovecraft’s stories or created artwork with Lovecraftian themes? The art of John Kenn Mortensen might be the result.

When we get a minute to spare, a lot of us simply fire up Netflix and blow it away relaxing. But a 32-year-old who goes by the nickname Scribbly G isn't most of us. Recently, the South African found his evenings not as occupied as before, so he started creating webcomics. Just like that. So while scrolling through the comic strips, remember, the guy achieved all of this in just about a year-and-a-half.

Focussen, of te wel, je aandacht richten. Sommige mensen noemen het ook wel concentreren of je aandacht ergens op richten. Een symbool voor focus tekenen kan natuurlijk op veel verschillende manieren. Afhankelijk van hoe je het woord precies bedoeld. In het plaatje zie je zeven manieren waarop ik het woord focus zou tekenen. Teken een… […]

Rovina Cai

Dream by franz falckenhaus on Flickr.

Another recipe from Mum's scribbled cookery notes

4. Awe, so thoughtful: Beth Holloway via Pinterest 5. I think the note is a good start towards a solid apology: Jennifer Bishop via Pinterest 6. Well, that sounds convincing:…