Welcome to Pairings

Quitter's Day has come and gone, and with it, 80% of our 2025 New Year Resolutions. It's not too late for this smoother means to success.

When Mark Twain advised to write tight, he surely hadn't been enchanted by the Buzz Words of 2014. Read on for my Fable of Our Times.

How does inspiration strike? For these authors, it's the random events in everyday life that sparked ideas for their novels.

Here’s why Scrivener can easily become your go-to tool for organizing your research and writing and pictures.

Henry Miller's own Eleven Commandments of Writing helped him maintain his focus on work in progress. Can they help with yours, too?

The panorama feature on the iPhone is Apple’s way of saying, “Go out and have fun with your phone" and use your pano wherever.

Here's how four words — Create First, React Later — can help to keep you on the writing track.

How to amp up your photos: Think in threes when you lift your camera to your eye, squint and shoot.

Do rainy days always get you down, or are they the best days for creativity?

Knowing when to stop writing is a lot easier than starting to write in the first place. But it's simple: You just have to show up.

Don’t let fear become the biggest influence in your creative life. Find your commitment to painting and writing by delving into your fears.

Crowded out by more robust tools, typewriters have vanished from our desks. But not our back yards.

Looking for some unique new traditions? Here are seven ways to celebrate Christmas Texas-Style, like they do in Austin, Texas.

Don’t fight it. Creativity is a choice. Once you make it, the ups, and the downs, are the fun part.

There are miles and miles of Texas, and you can learn a lot about what Texans love about their great state in six days on the road.

Life provides obstacles, but you can choose what you focus on

In 2006 I wrote this ode to my creative spirit, "Artist's Poem," and found renewed inspiration.

Hitting the road is part of my creative process. And I never pass by a historical marker without braking.

"The work never never matches the dream of perfection the artist has to start with" — William Faulkner

Inspiration strikes in strange and unexpected ways. But when it doesn’t strike, there are three tricks to juice it along.