5 Inspiring Ted Talks for Writers

If you are running low on creative motivation, these Ted Talks will help lift you up and get your pen going in no time!

“Have you ever seen or experienced something and wished you spoke up? Writer Sakinah Hofler makes the case for writing as a tool to help you process difficult memories and reclaim the power they may hold. Pick up a pen or pull up a keyboard and follow along as she walks you through how to unburden your mind and inspire reflection.”

“Reading slowly — with her finger running beneath the words, even when she was taught not to — has led Jacqueline Woodson to a life of writing books to be savored. In a lyrical talk, she invites us to slow down and appreciate stories that take us places we never thought we’d go and introduce us to people we never thought we’d meet. “Isn’t that what this is all about — finding a way, at the end of the day, to not feel alone in this world, and a way to feel like we’ve changed it before we leave?” she asks.”

“From tragedy to a proven system for everyone wanting to write a book, Chandler Bolt shares his life and his passion. Chandler Bolt is the host of the Self Publishing School podcast & the author of 6 bestselling books including his most recent book titled “Published.”. He’s also the founder & CEO of Self-Publishing School, the #1 online resource for writing your first book.”

“John Dufresne is the author of five novels, two of which were New York Times Notable Books of the Year, two short story collections and two books on writing and creativity: The Lie That Tells a Truth: a Guide to Writing Fiction and Is Life Like This?: a Guide to Writing Your First Novel in Six Months. The New York Times Book Review wrote of his latest novel, No Regrets, Coyote, “Dufresne is an original talent. His humor is frightfully dark, but also quite dazzling – even by the exacting standards of South Florida crime fiction.” Dufresne was a 2012-13 Guggenheim Fellow and teaches in FIU’s Creative Writing MFA programme.”

“Nicoletta Demetriou studied music in Thessaloniki, Vienna, and London. Her PhD (School of Oriental and African Studies [SOAS], University of London, 2008) was in the field of ethnomusicology. Her research focuses on Cypriot traditional music, and particularly on how issues pertaining to ideology, politics, and identity influence the way traditional music is discussed and performed. She has also studied creative writing, specializing in life (auto/biographical) writing. Her current research is an attempt to bring ethnomusicology and life writing together, focusing on the lives of traditional music performers. Since 2012 Nicoletta has been a research fellow in ethnomusicology and life writing at Wolfson College, University of Oxford, and also a tutor in narrative non-fiction on Oxford’s Master of Studies in Creative Writing.”

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