Emerging Form

This is the first of a new mini-series in which we explore this weird new reality we’re living in by interviewing a variety of creative makers about how they’re channeling their creativity to cope with the new coronavirus. In this episode, we talk to Laura Joyce Davis , a writer from Oakland, California, host and creator of a new daily podcast, “Shelter in Place: finding daily sanity in a world th...

Welcome to our extended conversation with Rose Eveleth , the founder and host of Flash Forward, a podcast about the future. In this bonus episode, we talk with Rose about clarity: how she uses it to guide a project through growing pains. We’ll talk about her process for making monthly goals (so much more useful than a single New Year’s resolution!), how she organizes her goals, about her new book,...

In this five-minute bonus, Rosemerry reads four poems responding to the coronavirus pandemic:  A Change in the Light The Afternoon the World Health Organization Declares a Pandemic Staying Home Tucking in My Daughter in the Time of Corona Virus Rosemerry’s Daily Poem Blog, A Hundred Falling Veils This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus...

At some point, most creatives experience growing pains--when your project is going well and now you have decisions to make about whether to grow it, to bring in collaborators, or to expand your reach. We’ll also talk about avalanches of opportunity and money grubbing poets. Our guest this episode is the inimitable Rose Eveleth . She is the producer and host of Flash Forward, a podcast about the fu...

In this bonus episode we talk with psychologist and author Scott Barry Kaufman about the imagination network--the default chatter in your brain--and how valuable it is. We also talk about paradox, and the tug between a longing for external validation and the need to look inward for creative growth. We talk about openness to experience as a key driver for creativity, and how a rut can sometimes ser...

Are you living up to your creative potential? Or are you stuck in a rut? Could it be that the rut is serving you? These are some of the questions we wrestle with in this episode of Emerging Form. We talk about Christie’s sweet spot between struggle and boredom, how fencing (or another new activity) might supercharge your creative process, and LOTS of tips on how to get out of a rut. We finish, as...

In this bonus episode, we continue our conversation with USA Today best-selling author Sarina Bowen, who has written more than 30 contemporary novels and is cohost of the #amwriting podcast. She tells us the most important thing to remember when we think we are utterly stuck and shares with us tools from her “deep bag of tricks” for how to get unstuck.  We also talk about how genre writers are lik...

Like a lot of life plans over the past few weeks, this episode veered from our original schedule. We’d planned to discuss the joys and challenges of creating things with friends, but instead we found ourselves talking about these strange times. In this emergency episode of Emerging Form, we talk about how COVID-19 is changing what and how we write, and how it’s affecting all kinds of creative care...

In this bonus episode, we talk with memoirist and essayist Claire Dederer about the role of ambition in a writer’s life. She also discusses the different ways she responds to rejection, and how it differs when it comes from a professional source versus from a reader. She also talks about the writer’s imperative to write about difficult subjects, why it’s important it is to have clarity and distanc...

“We’re sorry, your work does not suit our needs at this time.” These words are so common. Rejection is a difficult reality for most (all?) writers and artists. So how do we handle rejection? Can we use it to improve our work? What does it have to tell us and teach us? In this episode, we talk about a useful phrase in the face of rejection, Christie’s Southeast Asia Problem, and one of the poetry w...

In this bonus episode, Sarah Knight talks about the four kinds of yessers, how she went from overachiever to having a fully operational no muscle, how to build “the gates of hell no” and then cultivate your own private “okay corral,” the calming effects of pina coladas, how her daily tweets might help you discover and maintain your own boundaries, and more. ** Please note that this episode contain...

It’s only two letters long, but the word “no” can be one of the hardest words to say out loud. In this episode, we talk about why no is every bit as important a word for a creative as yes. We’ll talk about earthworms, the trifecta of yes, how to strengthen your no muscle and Christmas candles. Then we interview the international bestselling “anti-guru” Sarah Knight, author of the No F*cks Given gu...

In this bonus episode, we continue our conversation with Thea Deley about creating on emotionally difficult topics. Thea talks about the one woman play she created about her struggles with her family and their religious belief system and about the issues that arise when addressing personal issues through art. Thea Deley  (photo of Thea by Mike Maxwell) This is a public episode. If you'd like to di...

As Mentioned in the Podcast: In this week’s podcast, we mentioned a poem I wrote about my dear friend Sally Estes when she was told she had three months to live. Here I am reading the poem. It’s also printed below. They Say It’s the Best Bloom in Ten Years          —Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer She wants to go see the bluebonnets, she says. This is after she tells me they’ve said she has three months...

Engaging in a creative project can be hard enough when the subject matter is fun. But what about when it’s emotionally taxing, too? In this episode, we talk about many techniques for working with topics that make us uneasy—from changing perspective to creating rituals. Then we talk with Thea Deley, speaker, writer and improviser, and ask her two questions: 1) When do you know you are ready to writ...

In this bonus episode, Sherry Richert Belul , happiness coach and founder of Simply Celebrate , talks with us about co-founding Secret Agents of Change , how even the way you walk to the office can be playful, and how it is that she came to find herself a happiness coach.  Want to make sure you receive every bonus episode? Subscribe to our newsletter! This is a public episode. If you'd like to dis...

What does play have to do with creativity? Could a hula hoop help you finish your book project? In this episode, we argue about what is play, anyway—is it something you set time aside for? Or something that is always available to you? And how might it help your creative life? Then we are joined by author and happiness coach Sherry Richert Belul to get her take on our two questions: 1) How does pla...

Why should you enter a contest? Even if you don’t win, how might it help you? And what are downsides of entering? In this special episode, recorded live at the Telluride Lit Fest just before the announcement of the Fischer and Cantor Prizes, w talk about big juicy tomatoes, how judges make decisions, why the … Continue reading Episode 9: How Should We Think About Awards & Contests? → This is a pub...

In this bonus episode, Luis Lopez, poet laureate of Colorado’s Western Slope, and Rafael Jesús González, poet laureate of Berkeley, each read a poem and talk about their writing process. And that’s not all! Below, we present a poem Rafael Jesús González wrote about judging the Fischer poetry prize. We think his poem should be prerequisite … Continue reading Episode 9 Bonus: Luis Lopez and Rafael J...

Working with a partner on creative projects can be incredible! And incredibly frustrating. In this episode, we will discuss whether collaborations need leaders, why listening is an essential skill for working with other creatives, Chinese food, the Jabberwocky, and how spontaneity can enhance a creative collaboration. And then we’ll wrap up our conversation by talking with musician/songwriter/vide...

What can you do to evolve your creativity? How do your practices fuel or sabotage your muse? In this episode of Emerging Form, we talk about creative habits—frequency, accountability, flexibility and more. We’ll cover Rosemerry’s four promises she makes for her daily practice, Christie’s philosophy on not taking yourself too seriously, a new approach for … Continue reading Episode 7: Creative Habi...

“Quitter” is sometimes an insult, but in this episode we explore how quitting can be underrated. Anyone involved in a creative project has likely wondered at some point if they should suck it up and continue the fight or move on. We’ll also discuss the dangers of the sunk cost fallacy, insights from Clue, the … Continue reading Episode 6: Quitting (with guest Pam Houston) → This is a public episod...

Who needs an editor? Everyone. In this episode, we discuss feedback: who to ask, how to ask them, and how to respond to what they say. Also important: at what point in a project do you ask for feedback? We’ll tackle all these questions, plus we’ll talk about the sinking of the Titanic, how praise … Continue reading Episode 5: Feeback (with guest Andrea Jones-Rooy) → This is a public episode. If yo...

What keeps us from getting started on our creative projects? We have great ideas, but then we keep putting them off. In this episode, we explore how to dance with high expectations and paralysis of analysis. We talk about tricks for getting yourself past square one, and we have an outrageously good interview with poet, … Continue reading Episode 4: Getting Started (with guest Judyth Hill) → This i...

So you’re writing. Or painting. Or dancing. And you’re struck by this horrible feeling: what am I doing? How am I ever going to find the form and create something beautiful out of this tangled mess that I’ve assembled? Or you start to feel that your work doesn’t matter. That in fact, nothing matters. Your … Continue reading Episode 3: Existential Despair (with guest Andrea Bird) → This is a public...