Professionally, I’ve been a journalist, author, speaker, marketer, adjunct professor, consultant, startup founder, and more; but at my core, I’m a storyteller and a lifelong student. I read voraciously about creativity, writing, media, marketing, psychology, and design, and I’m fascinated by drawing connections between these things. (I’m still allowed to say “read” when I mostly consume audiobooks, right?) I’m currently focused on helping other creators and storytellers master their craft, refine their big ideas, and figure out their unique differentiators, through The Creator Kitchen, the mastermind program I run with fellow creator Jay Acunzo.
My project is
Creator Kitchen
The Creator Kitchen is a mastermind-membership hybrid for experienced writers, podcasters, speakers, and other creatives who want to master their craft and find support in a community of like-minded creators. This flexible program is designed to help improve the work you’re already doing, not create “homework” or additional work. Members get access to masterclasses, networking roundtables with other creators, virtual coworking sessions, office hours for support, and more, all offered live and recorded for viewing that fits your schedule. Members get the instruction they need to develop creative skills, the guidance to refine their big ideas, accountability, and encouragement to push creative projects forward.
I first read this book when I was pursuing my Master’s in Arts Criticism, and found it to be a wonderfully approachable guide to honing the more creative and intangible skills of writing, not just the more tactical things like grammar and punctuation.
The latest edition (from 2016, with the blue cover) is even better than the previous one, since it includes sections on more personal and memoir-style writing, which is going to be key for differentiating from the bots. (At least until the bots start having lived experiences to draw from in their writing.)
On Writing Well has been praised for its sound advice, its clarity and the warmth of its style. It is a book for everybody who wants to learn how to write or who needs to do some writing to get through the day, as almost everybody does in the age of e-mail and the Internet.
Whether you want to write about people or places, science and technology, business, sports, the arts or about yourself in the increasingly popular memoir genre, On Writing Well offers you fundamental priciples as well as the insights of a distinguished writer and teacher. With more…
Ok, you caught me. I recommended the first edition of this book in a previous list. But this, my friends, is the second edition which, as the cover art indicates, is 10% funnier than the first.
Ann’s work is a testament to the power of honing your unique voice in a way that makes your work easy to identify, clearly differentiated, and dang near impossible to recreate well. Now that we’re battling it out against generative AI, not just other writers, this book serves as both an instructional guide and a case study on developing a distinct voice, in and of itself.
Finally a go-to guide to creating and publishing the kind of content that will make your business thrive. Everybody Writes is a go-to guide to attracting and retaining customers through stellar online communication, because in our content-driven world, every one of us is, in fact, a writer. If you have a web site, you are a publisher. If you are on social media, you are in marketing. And that means that we are all relying on our words to carry our marketing messages. We are all writers. Yeah, but who cares about writing anymore? In a time-challenged world dominated by…
There’s going to be a lot of talk in the coming years (decades??) about what counts as “creative” and whether generative AI can achieve it, and this book is going to arm you with the perspective and insight you need to participate meaningfully in those discussions and make a case for embracing the magic of human creativity.
Truthfully, I usually opt for and advocate for audiobooks, but this book had me taking so many notes and flagging so many pages that I’m glad I have the print version, and you’ll probably want it too.
From the legendary music producer, a master at helping people connect with the wellsprings of their creativity, comes a beautifully crafted book many years in the making that offers that same deep wisdom to all of us.
"A gorgeous and inspiring work of art on creation, creativity, the work of the artist. It will gladden the hearts of writers and artists everywhere, and get them working again with a new sense of meaning and direction. A stunning accomplishment.” —Anne Lamott
“I set out to write a book about what to do to make a…
This book is a mix of memoir and advice, taking you inside the life, mind, and writing processes of one of the most successful fiction writers of our time. It’s an oldie-but-a-goodie, having come out in 2000, but the advice on craft is timeless.
Much like Everybody Writes, this book also serves as a great case study in making your writing distinctive and leaning into your lived experiences when you write. Admittedly, I’m not a big fan of the horror genre, but I’d wager that this quick read is almost as compelling and thrilling as many of his other works.
Twentieth Anniversary Edition with Contributions from Joe Hill and Owen King
ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE’S TOP 100 NONFICTION BOOKS OF ALL TIME
Immensely helpful and illuminating to any aspiring writer, this special edition of Stephen King’s critically lauded, million-copy bestseller shares the experiences, habits, and convictions that have shaped him and his work.
“Long live the King” hailed Entertainment Weekly upon publication of Stephen King’s On Writing. Part memoir, part master class by one of the bestselling authors of all time, this superb volume is a revealing and practical view of the writer’s craft, comprising the basic tools of the…
I’ve read a lot of books on creativity, and this one stands out for its more scientific and historical approach.
No surprise; it’s written by the NYT’s Science Reporter, and it comes with the sources, case studies, and expert insights you’d expect from someone who works for the country’s newspaper of record. It covered some of the biological and evolutionary support for creativity, which was something I haven’t seen much of elsewhere; and since biological writers are up against the mechanized ones, this will help you see your key advantages.
The audiobook was over 11 hours long, but it didn’t feel like it, and I found myself sitting in the car to continue listening after I’d arrived at my destination more than once.
The New York Times's Pulitzer Prize-winning science reporter "unpacks the myths and mysteries of the creative process" (Salon)
How does creativity work? Where does inspiration come from? What are the secrets of our most revered creators? How can we maximize our creative potential?
Creativity defines the human experience. It sparks achievement and innovation in art, science, technology, business, sports, and virtually every activity. It has fueled human progress on a global level, but it equally is the source of profound personal satisfaction for individual creators. And yet the origins of creative inspiration and the methods by which great creators tap…
The Creator Kitchen is a mastermind-membership hybrid for experienced writers, podcasters, speakers, and other creatives who want to master their craft and find support in a community of like-minded creators. This flexible program is designed to help improve the work you’re already doing, not create “homework” or additional work. Members get access to masterclasses, networking roundtables with other creators, virtual coworking sessions, office hours for support, and more, all offered live and recorded for viewing that fits your schedule. Members get the instruction they need to develop creative skills, the guidance to refine their big ideas, accountability, and encouragement to push creative projects forward.
I’ve become passionate about telling parents how to raise happy, resilient, creative, confident, entrepreneurial children who are doing something that gives them joy. So many young people are unhappy; parents don’t understand how to help. They think their children should follow their path, but that no longer works for many. For the last 10 years, I’ve been speaking to parent groups; I was an Advisor to EQ Generation, an after-school program that gives children the skills to succeed; on the Advisory Board of MUSE School, preparing young people with passion-based learning; and on the Board of Spark the Journey, mentoring low-income high school students to achieve college and career success.
This book shakes longstanding assumptions of parenting.
Through 99 stories of people who are now changing the world, it shows how to raise creative, confident, resilient children who are filled with joy and purpose. Based on interviews with top entrepreneurs and their parents, it guides you to help your children identify their passion and figure out how they can spend their professional lives doing something they love.
Parents' well-intentioned efforts often boomerang. By ignoring their children’s skills and interests, parents can inadvertently create pressure and anxiety, thwarting their children's ability to excel and find happiness. Too often, following your heart…
Raising an Entrepreneur: How to Help Your Children Achieve Their Dreams - 99 Stories from Families Who Did
Learn how successful entrepreneurs were raised! Could your children start a company that disrupts existing industries? Or a non-profit that helps people around the world? Or follow their passion as an artist or activist? And most important, lead a life of joy and purpose, to be happy and fulfilled? Margot Machol Bisnow, mother of two thriving entrepreneurs, reveals how to raise creative, confident, resilient, fearless kids who achieve their dreams, through 99 stories of families who did it.
Read stories from 70 families who raised true game changers. See family photos of these thriving entrepreneurs, both when they were young…
