J is for Journaling to Join the Dots: Idea Generation and Fruition

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Image of author's recent pages visited with words like "reinvigorate," "More story ideas," and "Artsy CARD greetings."

Image provided by author, used with permission.

By JaeSage (Trauma and grief specialist by day, creative polymath by night)

Let me introduce my creative self. I have a full, satisfying career that is at times high pressure, dazzlingly busy, and both emotionally and intellectually challenging. I work long days that would suck the life out of me if I didn’t love it so much. I belong there. However, a job like mine requires that caring for the self is paramount to being able to continue the work. To hold space for the trauma and grief of others, I must ensure my own internal reservoir is replenished.

My self-care mostly consists of nature walks, sipping lattes in crowded college coffee shops, writing novels, and painting landscapes. These activities are not merely hobbies; they are the essential counterweights to the weight of my professional life. They allow me to transition from the intensity of the clinic to the expansive freedom of the studio.

 

 

Jubilant ideas

Where do I start when the page is blank or the canvas is bare?

I have been frequently confused whenever folks tell me they struggle with searching for at least one idea of something to create. They share that they are so often stumped, paralyzed by the vast whiteness of an empty sheet. My purely ego-centric puzzlement stems from my lifelong practice of having a heavily loaded journal of places, faces, conversations, landscapes, cityscapes, and so much more just waiting to be mined and formed into the parts of a project.

For me, the journal is the ultimate safety net against creative block. My idea generation comes from sketches, word lists, written observations, and endless lists of character names and descriptions. I am constantly harvesting the world around me. When I am in those crowded coffee shops, I am not just drinking caffeine; I am recording the rhythm of a stranger’s gait or the specific shade of a winter sky. Often I have so many ideas in the journal that it’s like trying to pick an outfit for the day from a full walk-in closet. The challenge is never “what to make,” but rather “which of these many seeds shall I plant today?”

The Jumping Off Point

Getting started with a project, for me, is like peeling the ideas from the journal and laying out what seems like a jigsaw puzzle. It is an act of curation and assembly. I look at a sketch of a gnarled oak tree from three years ago and pair it with a sentence I wrote last week about the feeling of resilience. Suddenly, I have a theme.

The greatest joy for me is the intricacy of putting it all together in a way that makes sense. It is the puzzle-solving nature of art that keeps me engaged after a long, taxing day of work. A path through a meadow begins to form on the canvas, appearing brushstroke by brushstroke as I reference my written notes on light and shadow. A path taken by a person who wants to preserve life in a chaotic environment walks across the manuscript page, their voice echoing the character descriptions I’ve tucked away in my margins.

The joy comes from the process of completing the project and knowing the next project is already forming a shape within those well-worn pages. My journal is a bridge between my two worlds—the specialist who witnesses the human struggle and the polymath who finds beauty and order in it. This is the journey that my journaling of ideas takes me on. This is my place of fulfillment and peace.

By keeping these records, I am never truly alone in the creative process; I am always accompanied by my past observations. I hope, dear fellow creatives, that your idea generators, however they appear to you, help you bring forth projects that give you the fulfillment you seek. May your own “closets” be full of inspiration, and may you find the same peace in the joining of your dots.

Image of artist's painting of a barn in the middle of a gold agricultural field, with green plants growing in the foreground and blue, cloud-filled sky above.

Image Copyright 2026 by JaeSage, All Rights Reserved. Used with Permission.

I Is For… Initiative!

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Contributed by Laura Rios.

Initiative: the ability to assess and initiate things independently. (Oxford Dictionary)

Ah, the ongoing struggle of anyone who works alone or pursues any creative endeavor. Make no mistake my friends, the struggle is real. Everyone has heard of writers’ block and the proverbial “dry spell”; they became stereotypical terms for a reason. We’ve all been there! So, how can we stay on track and productive without a supervisor, or assignments, or other external constructs designed to keep us moving forward?

One thing we can do is to establish that mindset for ourselves.

  • Use a daily or weekly calendar or journal to assign tasks on a regular basis. If that alone is not enough to get you going, add rewards along the way to sweeten the deal. “Finish chapter one” or “start the sweater for Aunt Jane’s birthday” might earn you a chocolate bar, a spa bath, or some television time with your favorite show.
  • Recruit a productivity pal so you can keep one another on task. Midweek, make a point of checking in on one another to see how things are going. Peer pressure is an actual thing, and besides, there is nothing like a gentle nudge from your bestie.
  • Join a group of other creative types and meet weekly or bi-weekly, even if it’s a virtual group. If you can’t find such a group, form one yourself by drawing from your circle of acquaintances, which might include co-workers, neighbors, friends from church, other clubs or societies, and so on. You’ll find encouragement and motivation when you surround yourself with like-minded people who appreciate what you’re doing and who will celebrate one another’s accomplishments.
  • Follow a Facebook group, newsletter, or blog that focuses on your particular creative interest. There are dozens (maybe hundreds!) of such entities. You do have to be a little careful with this one; joining and following too many may backfire when you allow them to occupy too much of your time. Still, there are plenty of benefits to finding a few excellent ones that truly prove to keep you inspired and motivated.
  • Start and maintain an idea list. I used to keep a small pocket notebook nearby for this purpose, but for years now the Notes app in my phone has been the handiest thing for recording those random “aha moments”. When you find yourself coming up empty, choose something from your idea list and get back to creating once again.

Remember, in any creative pursuit, ultimately it’s up to us to be self-starters. That doesn’t mean we can’t benefit from helpful tips, tricks, and a little help from our friends to maintain our own initiative when the going gets rough. Keep calm and create!

H Is For… Holland. Tina Holland.

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Contributed by Tina Holland.

Tina Holland is a pseudonym. My birth name is Kristinia. In my graduating class, there were at least twenty variations of “Chris,” so most of my friends ended up calling me Krissy.

It can be a little confusing for people who meet me as Tina and then hear others call me Krissy—but in a way, that duality feels fitting for a writer.

Holland is a family name, passed down from my great-grandfather, who worked as a typesetter for a newspaper. I didn’t know that when I chose it, but it feels a bit like fate now—like I was always meant to find my way into words.

I debated between Krissy Anders and Tina Holland. The latter simply sounded better to my ear… and eventually, it became the name I built a creative life around.

I’ve been Tina Holland for over twenty years. In that time, I’ve become an author—nearly full-time—talking about writing, publishing, and books as part of my everyday life. If I’m lucky, people want to talk about those things with me, too.

I’ve built a small local following and maintain a quieter presence online compared to others. Still, I’ve published nearly twenty stories across a range of romance subgenres—and I’m proud of every one.

The name Tina Holland has served me well.

Would I have found the same path as Krissy Anders?

We may never know… but I like to think that, in the end, every version of me would have found her way back to the page.

G Is For… Gregarious Gusto!

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(Grab your Google; there are going to be some vocabulary challenges here.)

By JaeSage (Trauma and grief specialist by day, creative polymath by night)

If I were to write my autobiography, it would probably start something like this: Bubbling over with delight at having survived over seven decades of extreme weather, parental shenanigans that would nowadays be considered child abuse, a half-century (so far) marriage to a challenging personality, a severely crippling childhood auto accident, and the vagaries of extremist religion and politics, I realized survival was all due to my creatively gregarious way of living life with gusto.

I wholly believe nature had a hand in this; however, it was nurture—mainly through keen observation and precocious participation in living—that moved me through what life was throwing at me.

“Overly positivistic!” you may say.

“Healthily optimistic,” I say. After all, according to Martin Seligman, Michael Scheier, and Charles Carver, “Optimism is often dismissed as just ‘thinking happy thoughts,’ but it is more accurately described as a cognitive framework for interpreting the world. At its core, it is the persistent expectation that favorable outcomes are likely to occur and the belief that setbacks are temporary, specific, and manageable.”

The glass is not half full of water, but entirely full! After all, air is as elemental as water. When life hands you a quandary, make lavender lemonade.

In his book Peace Is Every Breath, Thich Nhat Hanh said that we can wake up and declare to ourselves that we have “twenty-four brand-new hours” to live our life afresh each day.

Future Focus

So much to look forward to! So much to dread, too! The optimistic creator notices that however horrendous a day may be, there is always something to actively engage in or to be thankful for. Did you get out of bed today? Did you observe someone’s smile? Did that coffee or tea smell fragrant? Was it a beautiful day to take a walk and maybe make some sketches? Was it a lousy weather day that was perfect for staying in and writing in your journal, or composing a poem or a story?

Action Plan

How can you bring a little creative, gregarious gusto into your life? Here are but a few suggestions:

  1. Help someone learn to read or draw.
  2. Notice something truly awesome. (I just looked up from writing this and saw buds popping out on a bare little tree.) Find something awe-inspiring just for the sake of feeling awe.
  3. Find an art buddy. Locate someone to whom you can send photos of your art or samples of your writing for mutual support.

There you have it. You may find that you are creating more often than you think when you start sharing, noticing, and doing. Remember, though, that being without productivity can be as creative as doing. Enjoy!

 

F Is For… Friction!

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Contributed by Annette Grantham.

We like to think creative blocks come from a lack of ideas. If only we had a better concept, a clearer outline, a spark of inspiration, then everything would fall into place.

But most of the time, the problem is not ideas. It is friction.

Friction is anything that makes it harder to begin or continue your work. It shows up in quiet, ordinary ways. A cluttered workspace. Notes scattered across too many notebooks. A project that feels too big to hold in your head. The sense that you should know what comes next but do not.

It can also be emotional. Doubt. Perfectionism. The low hum of resistance that says this is going to be hard, so maybe not today.

Friction is sneaky because it rarely announces itself. It disguises itself as procrastination, distraction, or lack of motivation. But when you look closer, you often find something very practical underneath it.

Too many steps between you and the page.
Too many decisions before you can begin.
Too much pressure to get it right.

When friction builds up, even a project you love can start to feel heavy.

The good news is that friction can be reduced.

You do not need to fix your entire process. You only need to make it easier to take the next step.

Clear one small space to work.
Gather your notes into one place.
Lower the bar for what counts as progress.
Open the document and write a single sentence.

Sometimes the most powerful shift is giving yourself permission to begin badly. A rough start has less friction than a perfect one.

Over time, you may notice something interesting. When the path is clear, your creative energy shows up more readily. Not because you forced it, but because you removed what was in its way.

Creativity does not always need more fuel. Often, it needs less resistance.

If you are feeling stuck, instead of asking what you should create, try asking a different question.

What is making this harder than it needs to be?

Start there.

Bio: Annette Grantham writes evocative magical realism rooted in memory, heritage, and the unseen magic that binds past to present. She is the author of The Frontier Witches, where ordinary women carry extraordinary power in the Wild West. She lives in the Pacific Northwest, where mist, forest, and story intertwine. Visit her online, at https://www.annettegrantham.com/.


E is for…Education!

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Contributed by Tina Holland.

As a full-time writer, I’ve learned that education isn’t something you finish—it’s something you return to. Again and again.

Not in a rigid, back-to-school kind of way, but in small, intentional moments. A class between drafts. A video while folding laundry. A rabbit hole of research that sparks a new story idea.

For me, learning is part of the rhythm of writing.

I rarely study craft in the middle of a project—I like to trust my instincts when I’m drafting—but between stories? That’s where growth happens. That’s where I stretch, experiment, and sometimes surprise myself.

Continuing education doesn’t have to mean a formal classroom. These days, it can look like a lesson on MasterClass, a workshop on Skillshare, or a deep dive through YouTube tutorials. And if you’re on a budget (aren’t we all at times?), your local library can be an incredible, often overlooked resource.

A few years ago, I took a free course through North Dakota Humanities on female Regency authors. I went in expecting a refresher on Jane Austen… and came out with a whole new appreciation for voices I hadn’t explored before.

That’s the magic of staying curious—you never quite know what will shift.

Education, as a creative practice, isn’t about mastery. It’s about momentum. It’s about staying open. Letting new ideas filter in and gently reshape how you see your work—and yourself as a creator.

I think of it as a quiet ritual. A way of refilling the well.

And so, I’ll keep learning. Not because I have to—but because I want to see where it leads next.

What’s something new you’ve learned lately that surprised or inspired you?

D Is For… Demos and Discussions!

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Contributed by Laura Rios.

Image of an adolescent orange and white cat curled up on top of an open laptop on a desk.

Photo: Pixabay (CC0)

“When you open YouTube for ‘one quick tutorial’ and suddenly it’s three hours later.”

In most creative endeavors, one of the challenges most of us face at times is finding inspiration. What to paint/sew/knit/weave/write? Beyond your favorite website, supportive Facebook group, Pinterest, magazines, and other media, YouTube has thousands of ways to get ideas flowing.

As an artist, I turn to YouTube repeatedly. There are tutorials and demos for every medium, from acrylic paint to watercolors. If you enjoy calligraphy, you will find practical demonstrations as well as discussions on supplies, complete with product reviews. In addition to helping you get ideas, demos are great instructional tools. If, for example, you want to practice your “wet in wet” technique in watercolor, or you’d like to work on painting more loosely, simply search the term you like, and hundreds of demonstration videos will emerge for your consideration. I like to use tutorials as a stepping-off point; I can easily change things up to make the final painting or drawing my own. Using a demo is not copying, it’s a fantastic way to get you motivated and on your way to making masterpieces.

Not an artist? Let’s say you enjoy needlework. A quick search on YouTube will provide you with endless ideas for cross stitch and embroidery pieces, crochet or knitting projects, and garment making. Demos can teach you to make French knots, knit cables, set-in sleeves or operate a loom. Choose your fabric, fiber, and colors to create a fabulous original!

Writers will also find inspiration and assistance on YouTube.  YouTube offers videos to help with grammar, style, crafting a riveting story, writing clearly and effectively on the job, and any number of other topics. You will find book discussions and reviews. You can listen to Pulitzer winners discuss their techniques and find all sorts of how-to-do-whatever it is you may be struggling with so you can create again. When a slump of any kind has you feeling hopeless or sluggish, demos and discussions can be your best friends.

C Is For… Characters!

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Contributed by Rachel Wilder.

Characters.

My biggest outlet for my creative energies is writing. My first choice is fiction stories, usually with paranormal or urban fantasy elements. And, whatever the plot or setting, the driving force are the characters.

One of the very first things I do to cement the character is to find a photo of them. A vague image in my mind isn’t enough. I usually pick an actor as I like to have more than one image for my character.

I have a co-author, A. Catherine Noon, and for our latest story our main character is Caden Meadows. His physical appearance is based on the talented actor William Moseley. Since Caden is twenty-two, I picked earlier photos of the actor. I was lucky enough to find a similar image for our cover.  You can see images of Moseley on the Pinterest board I curate, here. A link to our book, As the Crow Flies, is here.

Book cover for As the Crow Flies by A. Catherine Noon and Rachel Wilder. Image is of a young blond man with a crow in flight over his left shoulder against a backdrop of a forest.

What do you think?  And how do you picture characters when you read them?

Let me know in the comments.

Rachel Wilder

B is for… Bravo!

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Contributed by Tina Holland.

We’re so good at pushing forward—chasing the next goal, starting the next project—that we forget to acknowledge what we’ve already done.

Recently, I published How to Love a Lord, and instead of enjoying it, I jumped straight into the next book… and started a short story. (To be fair, that short story is due this month—but still.) I should have savored that soft release a little more.

Instead, everything started to feel rushed—finessing the paperback, juggling deadlines, moving on too quickly.

Truthfully? I need to pause long enough to congratulate myself.

Because this is what I usually do:

For every 1,000 words? I get a sticker.
Yes, really—and it’s become such a thing that I now buy stickers before I even start the book.

Every 5,000 words, I level up the reward:

  • Flowers
  • A bookstore trip
  • A small online splurge (I match dollars to word count—$30 for 30K)

And when the book finally goes up for preorder? That calls for a proper celebration. I usually convince my dear husband to take me out to dinner—anything from fancy to a cozy night in where he cooks.

It’s a little like turning writing into a game… and honestly? It works.

Now I just need to apply that same energy to the rest of my life. (Imagine folding laundry for points. Revolutionary.)

So here’s your moment:

Bravo.
 For showing up.
For creating.
For growing—even in ways no one else can see.

What have you accomplished lately? And how are you celebrating it?

A is for… Attention to Practice!

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Photo by: Pixabay
License: Pixabay License (CC0 — free for commercial use, no attribution required)
Source: https://pixabay.com

Welcome to Day 1 of the 2026 A to Z Challenge here at Writer Zen Garden!

This year, our community of writers, artists, and makers is exploring the A to Z of Creative Practice — the habits, rituals, reflections, and small moments that sustain a creative life.

We’ll be sharing posts throughout April from a variety of WZG authors, each offering their own perspective on what it means to build and nurture a creative practice. Some posts will be reflective, some playful, some deeply practical — all rooted in the shared belief that creativity is something we return to, tend, and grow over time.

Today’s “A” is for attention: the quiet, intentional noticing that allows ideas to take root. Attention to your energy. Attention to your materials. Attention to the sparks that become stories, paintings, poems, or insights.

We’re excited to spend the month with you, letter by letter, practice by practice.

Happy A‑Day, friends.