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Shawna Ayoub Ainslie reflects on how writing can be a friend in difficult times.

Writers in touch with the sources of their inspiration are the ones who will keep writing. Stacia Fleegal offers tips for actively pursuing them, rather than waiting for them to strike, by cultivating self-awareness.

Shawna Ayoub Ainslie shares meditation-inspired tips for identifying your best writing ideas and clarifying your focus.

Have you ever needed to blend in, become part of the background? Ever want to hide? Or maybe this photo makes you think of the genius of camouflage, the relationship between living beings and our environment, or of what lurks unseen, but seeing, in the tall grass? What do you think about when you look at this image? Write about it, then enter March's photo writing prompt contest.

I saw a red-tailed hawk last week, camouflaged in winter white, no red tail flashing—playing on the wind! I stopped my car on that country road where I rarely meet another traveler. The hawk tumbled like a crow. I’ve seen crows play on the wind. This hawk wasn’t hunting. It was having a wonderful time!...

The coronavirus pandemic has the world in upheaval. We are distancing ourselves from others, isolating with our families, and working and learning from home. Our days probably look and feel radically different than they did even a few days or weeks ago, which might produce a great deal of anxiety, fear, and frustration. But we will be ok.

Ever take a chance, a leap of faith? Ever stretch yourself beyond what you thought was possible? What happened when you did? Did you stick your landing, or did you stumble or even fall? Or maybe you can’t stop wondering about this gal, what she might be running from or toward. And do animals get scared to jump? What do you think about when you look at this image? Write about it, then enter February's photo writing prompt contest.

Many years ago, my sister and I went on a house tour, a walking exploration of some of the great old houses in Oyster Bay, on Long Island, the peninsula that extends east from New York Harbor, sitting in the Great South Bay where it meets the Atlantic Ocean. The house tour was something I was less interested in than was my sister, but it was a way for us to spend time together...

One of the things I love to paint in my long lineup Still Life paintings is a group of vintage cans I’ve accumulated—tobacco cans, powder cans, baking powder cans. I love the look of their graphics, their beautiful colors, and the way they remind me of another time: childhood...

One of the first stories I wrote to submit to the children’s book market, and therefore, first, to the writers group, the one I’ve written about here, in these blog posts, was called, “A Long Way For Tinker.” “You can write,” one of the writers in the group told me after she’d read it. “But I don’t think this one will sell either.”