I know the gravity of the pandemic we are facing. I think all of us do. And I know how tempting it would be to yield to anxiety and spend most of the day watching a 24-hour news channel or obsessively Googling “Coronavirus” or “Covid19.” And, yet, it has occurred to me that the social distancing […]
The Coronavirus is impacting us and the world in ways none of us have experienced or witnessed in our lifetimes. Just a few months ago, witnessing hand sanitizer and masks becoming precious items, grappling with the specter of rationing of health care resources and keeping one another safe by keeping our distance were confined to […]
After writing three novels that had resulted in about 100 rejection letters, I was really lucky to have two experiences that led to the sale of my six novels featuring forensic psychiatrist Frank Clevenger. The first lucky experience was visiting with a psychiatrist way back in 1991 when I was chief resident in psychiatry at […]
It should come as no surprise that our own minds are not always the most reliable guides to whether we have the resources to pursue our goals. And by resources I mean energy, time, money and everything else. Sure, we can overestimate our possibilities and go tilting at windmills. But I find that, more often, […]
After talking with enough creators about their plans, I have identified a hurdle to creative expression. I want to share it with you so that you can clear it. The hurdle, if it could speak, would say something like this: “Sure, I may have the desire to write a book or start a business or […]
Winners Chosen Weekly. A prize from The Ablow Center is awarded to the writer who writes 500 words judged to have the greatest potential to make others think more positively about themselves or the world around them. Click the following link to enter: https://keithablow.boston/contest-entry-form/ Dr. Keith Ablow has published 15 novels, true crime and self-help […]
Too many of us are locked in self-consciousness. We worry about how we will be perceived by friends and family, or colleagues, or that great nameless, faceless mass of folks known as “the public.” Anxiety of that kind is the enemy of creativity because creativity requires the courage to be judged. Whether writing or painting […]
I want you to be wildly creative. What does that mean? It means that you’re not going to get anywhere staying in your lane and thinking what you’ve been taught to think and doing the things you’ve been told to do, because they’re safe, predictable or make you look productive. If you’re going to actually […]
ASK YOURSELF ONE TWO-WORD QUESTION When I began writing novels, I reached out to a writing coach named Gary Provost. Gary, who has since passed away, had a remarkable talent for simplifying the process of creating storylines. It was partly because of his excellent guidance that I began my Frank Clevenger series of mysteries. Gary […]
I recently was fortunate to have my book To Wrestle with Demons: A Psychiatrist Struggles to Understand His Patients and Himself published in a leather-bound collector’s edition by Gryphon Editions’ Classics of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Library Holding the book in my hands made me think a little bit about the moment at which we […]