Voices of Fiction - Can Creativity Be Taught - Part Four

Welcome to Voices of Fiction.

We continue our discussion on creativity.

Please welcome our authors.

Vicki Batman likes to kick back with a diet Coke and write crazy things for her characters. She has completed three manuscripts, written essays, and sold many short stories. Most days begin with her hands set to the keyboard and thinking "What if??" - Website, Blog, Amazon

Karenna Colcroft is the alter ego of a shy, sedate wife and mother. She has been writing since age five, and dove into erotic romance in 2006. Her first book was published in 2009, and since then she has had over thirty stories published. She lives in the northeastern US with her two children and her real-life romance hero husband. - Website, Facebook, Twitter

Carole Ann Moleti is a nurse-midwife in New York City, thus explaining her fascination with paranormal and urban fantasy. Her newest fiction is featured in Beltane: Ten Tales of Magic. Excerpts of Carole's memoir, Someday I'm Going to Write a Book: Diary of an Urban Missionary has been published most recently in the new, irreverent Not Your Mother's Book Series. - Website, Blog, Twitter

Pembroke Sinclair has had several short stories, novellas, novels, and nonfiction published in various places. She writes an eclectic mix of fantasy, science fiction, horror, some romance, and previously Westerns. - Blog, eTreasures, Amazon



Welcome Authors! It's wonderful to have you back.

Can creativity be taught?

Vicki Bateman: I'm not sure about creativity being taught. We can increase creativity by exploring it through different mediums. For example, I do needlepoint. And while I am, I often think about things, especially my writing.

Karenna Colcroft: I don't know if creativity can be taught, but I believe everyone has a degree of creativity within them. What sometimes needs to be--and can be--taught is how to *use* that creativity.

Carole Ann Moleti: Everyone is creative in some way. I can't draw or paint, but I can write (not my opinion--other people than my family have told me that). I took guitar lessons for years and don't remember anything. But I have internalized most of the details my writing teachers shared. I can also cobble together all sorts of things in a pinch, using whatever is at hand. I recently suspended a plastic sock hanger on my arbor to hold food for the birds. When my son couldn't find his regulation red bow tie for a band concert, I took one off a Vermont Teddy Bear and pinned it to his collar (after removing the "love me" badge). Maybe that's why I can piece together a story without a detailed outline.

Pembroke Sinclair: Sheesh! That's a tough question! I would like to think so. After all, we aren't born with the ability to write, and the more we do it, (hopefully) the better we get. Some people have more of a leaning toward creativity, but I think everyone has the potential to be creative. They just need the proper outlet.

Thank you all for joining us today.

Readers feel free to ask questions concerning this topic in the comments. Also feel free to send questions to chergreen@chergreen.com Subject: Voices of Fiction Question, and have them answered by the participating authors in later editions.

There’s also room for more authors to participate. Drop me an email, Subject: Voices of Fiction.

(Disclaimer - Bios and photos submitted by authors.)

Stage Fright - Five Sentence Fiction

Visit Lillie McFerrin Writes for more Five Sentence Fiction.

The prompt - Conquer

Stage Fright

Arms pulled tight against her sides, doubt and fear dripping from her face in the form of perspiration, she crosses the stage focused on her destination. She sits upon the wooden stool, placing her fingers upon the ivory keys. One stroke at a time, she connects with the instrument, mingling and becoming the music which flows through the air, a product of her own motions. A shuffle fills the room as the crowd stands and erupts into a swarm of loud applaud. She stands and faces the audience, a smile touch her lips and a beam of delight caressing her skin.

Voices of Fiction - Can Creativity Be Taught - Part Three

Welcome to Voices of Fiction.

We continue our discussion on creativity.

Please welcome our authors.

Cara Marsi, former corporate drone and cubicle dweller, and award-winning author, is published in romantic suspense, contemporary romance and paranormal romance. She also writes short romance stories for women’s magazines. Cara and her husband share their house with a fat black diva of a cat named Killer. - Website, Twitter, Facebook

Liz Crowe’s groundbreaking romance sub-genre, “Romance for Real Life,” has gained thousands of fans and followers who are interested less in the “HEA” and more in the “WHA” (“What Happens After?”) Her books are set in the not-so-common worlds of breweries, on the soccer pitch and in high-powered real estate offices. Don’t ask her for anything “like” a Budweiser or risk painful injury. - Website,  Blog, Facebook

Terry W. Ervin II is an English and Science teacher who enjoys writing. Gryphonwood Press published the first two novels in his First Civilization’s Legacy Series (FLANK HAWK and BLOOD SWORD) and he is busy writing the third novel in the fantasy series. In November 2012 Gryphonwood Press is slated to release Terry’s first short story collection, GENRE SHOTGUN. - Website, Blog

Children’s Picture Book author, Clara Bowman-Jahn, of “Annie’s Special Day” is living the life of her dreams an hour at a time. - Website, Etreasures



Welcome Authors! It's wonderful to have you back.

Can creativity be taught?

Cara Marsi: I think we're all creative in our own way and with practice and determination you can learn to release and hone your creativity.

Liz Crowe: Absolutely not. Things like discipline can however, and anyone who wants to write should at least try it. The discipline to practice, practice, practice (which for a writer translates to WRITING a lot) is probably the hardest thing to master, but it can be taught.

Terry W. Ervin II: Up to a point it can be. In the case of writing, I think a writer needs to focus on his strengths. Maybe it’s not fiction, but rather non-fiction. There is creativity in that, just a different type. It’s like asking if someone can be taught to be organized. Anyone can be, up to a point, and being better at one method over others. But how far it goes is really based on what the individual brings to the table and how persistent he is at developing and practicing to maximize those talents and abilities.

Clara Bowman-Jahn: I think imagination is fostered at an early age and that leads to creativity. Today's kids are scheduled so tightly they don't have a chance to reflect or to imagine in play and I wonder what that does to their creativity.

Thank you all for joining us today.

Readers feel free to ask questions concerning this topic in the comments. Also feel free to send questions to chergreen@chergreen.com Subject: Voices of Fiction Question, and have them answered by the participating authors in later editions.

There’s also room for more authors to participate. Drop me an email, Subject: Voices of Fiction.

(Disclaimer - Bios and photos submitted by authors.)

Whispers of Peace - Five Sentence Fiction

Visit Lillie McFerrin Writes for more Five Sentence Fiction.

The prompt - Whisper

Whispers of Peace

A couple screams in spite.

An army raises guns to fight.

So much noise to be heard, 

Yet no one seems to listen. 

Find simplicity in your message - 

Use whispers of peace and harmony. 

Millions will hear and listen.