Tag: Annette Grantham

  • Z Is For… A Zen‑Like Wrap‑Up!

    Z Is For… A Zen‑Like Wrap‑Up!

    As April comes to a close, we find ourselves at the final letter of the A to Z Challenge — Z, the soft landing at the end of a month‑long creative journey. This year’s theme, The A to Z of Creative Practice, invited our community to explore the many ways we make, imagine, reflect, and grow as artists and writers.

    And what a month it has been.

    Each day brought a new voice, a new perspective, and a new facet of creative life. From Attention to Practice to Yes!, our members shared insights, stories, tools, and encouragement — a collective reminder that creativity is not a solitary act, but a shared ecosystem.

    A Month of Many Voices

    This year, we were fortunate to feature nine guest authors, each bringing their own lens on creative practice:

    • Tina Holland — Bravo, Education, and Travel
    • Rachel Wilder — Characters and Signs
    • Laura Rios — Demos and Discussions, Initiative, and Preparation
    • JaeSage — Gregarious Gusto, Journaling, Liberation, and Resilience
    • Nicole — Observation and Quest
    • Annette Grantham — Friction!
    • Alexandra Sissulak — Unusual Approaches
    • Carol Baxter — V Words for Writers and Xanthippes
    • Evey — Yes!

    And woven among them were posts from our in‑house contributors, including reflections on Attention to Practice, Kindness, and Noon & Wilder.

    Every post added a thread to the tapestry. Every voice shaped the month.

    What We Created Together

    Across April, we explored:

    • craft and craftiness
    • momentum and pause
    • friction and flow
    • signs, symbols, and stories
    • the ways travel, observation, and unusual approaches enrich our work
    • the power of community, curiosity, and kindness

    The A to Z Challenge is always a marathon, but it’s also a celebration — a chance to show up, share, and witness each other’s creativity in motion.

    A Moment of Gratitude

    Thank you to every contributor who wrote, drafted, revised, and hit “publish.” Thank you to every reader who followed along. Thank you to everyone who showed up in whatever way they could this month.

    Creative practice is built on small, steady acts. This April, we made them together.

    Z Is for… Zen

    As we close the month, Z invites us into a moment of quiet appreciation — a breath, a pause, a settling. The work continues, of course, but today we honor the journey we’ve taken.

    And if you’d like to keep the momentum going, remember: Writer Zen Garden sends out a community newsletter on the first of every month. It’s a gentle way to stay connected, catch upcoming events, and keep your creative practice nourished all year long. Click here to subscribe.

    Here’s to the stories we told, the ideas we sparked, and the community that held it all.

    Happy Z‑Day, friends.

  • F Is For… Friction!

    F Is For… Friction!

    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/.