Creative Quote: George R.R. Martin's Architects & Gardeners

Here's a Haiku Deck "remix" of a quote by Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin. I took liberties with his phrasing, but I hope I've captured the essence of his meaning: Writing is rocking back and forth and toggling between two distinct mindsets. 

One approach calls for the kind of planning and mechanical processes we might associate with architects. The other mindset approaches writing from the more romanticism inspired, "faith-based"of gardening. 

These apparently divergent ways of thinking about the creative process are less a static "right/wrong" or "either/or" opposition than of an active shifting within a dynamic equilibrium (that was a mouthful!). 

Two types of writers - Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that inspires


This creative quote is my contribution to the second "make cycle" of San Diego Area Writing Project's MOOC (massive open online course): Write Now!  Like the "about this community" page says, Write Now! helps build community among passionate educators and is a "perfect way to push at the boundaries of your own writing as we create new spaces for ongoing reflection." 

Participating in the MOOC definitely reduces that particular isolation teachers can experience, and it makes me feel the burn I "inflict" on my students. Practicing what I preach!