Writing Advice

Building Creative Habits

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By: A.B. Timothy

What creative habits do you want to build? Have you always wanted to write a book? What about playing an instrument? Write a poem or a song? Whatever art is your passion, you should try and figure out a way to enjoy it and create a habit around it.

a woman lying on bed and holding an iphone

I have an easy time explaining habits around writing and how to build them, but even if you don’t write, you can still do a little bit every day and get better and better. For example, let’s say you love drawing, but you work a full-time job, are in school for engineering, and are also a family man or woman. “I have no time!” I hear you say. Yes, you do. Ask yourself this: Do I have time to watch television? Do I have time to scroll TikTok or Instagram Reels? Do I have time to argue with strangers on the internet regarding fruitless theological takes or politics (I’m looking in a mirror on this one)? If you answered yes to any of those, then you have time!

person writing illustration in spiral notebook

Take some of that time you spend engaging in less productive things, and reassign it to more productive and creative tasks. Maybe, while watching television with your husband or wife at the end of the night, doodle, or jot down the outline for a story you have been thinking about writing. This does not have to take away from your time spent with family by any means, but perhaps it can instead enhance it.

What’s the point? Good question. There is research that says those who think outside the box more often usually have a better mood and a better outlook on life.1

So do yourself a favor and engage in creativity; somehow, someway, you will thank yourself for it later.

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  1. Tan, Yi, et al. “Being Creative Makes You Happier: The Positive Effect of Creativity on Subjective Well-Being.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, vol. 18, no. 14, 2021, p. 7244, https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18147244. Accessed 6 Jan. 2026. ↩︎

Shill For Yourself, Because No One Is Going To Do It For You

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By: A.B. Timothy

You need to be your biggest cheerleader because cheerleaders are shallow. This doesn’t make them bad; it just makes them human. When is the last time you met a cheerleader and she said, “Hey, come to the big game on Friday, the team is playing!” I can’t recall a time that I’ve ever been pitched the idea of going to a ballgame by one of the cheerleaders.

Does that mean it doesn’t happen? No. But it does mean that you are more likely to get invited by an actual player than you are by a cheerleader. Like I said, this doesn’t make cheerleaders bad people; it just means you need to do it yourself.

You need to be the one on X, in the trenches, promoting and shilling for your own content and growth. If you have friends who are interested in coming alongside you and promoting you, too, great! (And make sure you return the favor when you can.) But you can’t rely on other people, who are busy shilling and promoting themselves, to be the main source of promotion for your material.

Building a community that supports you is huge, yes, but it’s also something that comes over time, and you can’t start with it. Having a large community will cut back on your need to self-promote, but even then, you will still have to do it. Even one of the biggest names in Fantasy has to self-promote; he has a podcast and a YouTube channel where he makes content to promote his books and brand.

The moral of the story is, don’t feel bad about self-promoting your own content, ever.

Keep up the good work, and know that if you build it, they will come.

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A Blog About Blogging

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By: A.B. Timothy

“To blog or not to blog,” is a question I remember asking several weeks ago, and today I will be talking about it again.

To Blog

Are you like me? Are you a writer who is looking for a way to up their productivity or their daily output? Well, look no further than the ripcord of writing that is: Blogging.

Blogging is a great way to start or end your writing day. If you start with it, it could translate into great starting momentum for the rest of the words in your actual project to flow from. If you end with it, it could be a great way to gather your thoughts and talk about things that you dealt with during that writing day. Did you struggle with a place name or a character name? Write about it!

Or Not To Blog

Some people don’t want to blog or don’t have the time for it after they just spent all afternoon writing prose. These are totally understandable and reasonable reasons not to blog. Honestly, whatever your reason not to is, it is probably a good enough reason not to, as long as your only excuse isn’t “It’s hard”. Yeah, so is writing! But here you are, writing!

“Do the uncomfortable things, so that when you go back to the things you are comfortable with, you are better at them.” – A.B. Timothy

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Casting an Ever-Wider Net

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By: A.B. Timothy

In the pursuit of creativity, the creative must also become either beholden to a larger apperatis, such as a publisher, or they must become beholden to the audience. To catch all of the fish your marketing sea has to offer, you must cast an ever-wider net.

With this goal of a wider net in mind, below I have written some ideas that you could implement to grow your audience. Working under the assumption that you have already established a social media presence.

Free:

Let’s start with some free things you can do.

Asking A.I. for ideas

Something that I have done is I have gone to Grok (X’s A.I. platform), given it my X handle (@ABTimothyAuthor), and asked it for ideas on how I can grow on X and improve my social media presence. I am sure I would have gotten a lot of the same ideas if I had spent an hour googling social media growth strategies, but Grok was able to give me personalized ideas and concepts to try based on what I already post, what I was doing (building an authorial platform), and what my goals were.

Implementing these ideas, I have seen a boost in my follower growth metrics and in my engagements. Not everyone likes to use A.I.

Go Old School

Watch YouTube Videos from Authors who have built a presence on social media, talk to authors on X about how they have seen the growth they have, and read books on influencing people. I say this is all free because you don’t have to buy mentorship programs, you don’t have to buy these books (libraries exist), and heck, you can even watch YouTube for free on whatever platform you are reading this on right now.

Paid:

Let’s look at some ways you could potentially pay to grow.

Verification

Verification on most platforms these days is a paid process where you give the platform (i.e. Instagram, X, or Facebook) money and they repay you with a badge on your profile and an algorithmic incentive. On X, for example, when I sign up for X Premium, my account will not only look more official because of the blue checkmark, but it will also have a higher priority in the system and will be seen by more people as a result (a wider net).

Mentorships

There are content creators out there already who offer paid mentorship programs where they teach you and help you grow. This is not something I have any personal experience with or can give any more guidance on, so tread here carefully.

Do you have any ideas?

Are you a creative with a social media following that is already impressive for your niche? Are you a content creator who has had several viral videos? Let’s talk about how you pulled it off and how you plan to continue the momentum going forward, in the comments below.

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Mythic Inspiration from Genesis 14

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By: A.B. Timothy

In Genesis 14, we read of a war that Abram(later Abraham) fights in. He is there to save his nephew Lot. He and several of his servants pursue their enemy and slaughter them on the field of battle. Abram if offered a reward by the King of Sodom because Lot and his family were citizens there, but Abram rejected the offer of riches, not wanting the king of Sodom to be able to say, “I have made Abram wealthy.” He only takes as payment what his soldiers have taken from the enemy and eaten already.

Melchizedek offers bread and wine to Abram.

After this, a character of legend appears called Melchizedek, who is said to be the king of Salem (believed by some to be ancient Jerusalem). This Priest-King appears and offers a sacrifice for Abram and his servants and blesses him with, by showing him another name of God: “El-Elyon”, which is “The Most High God”.

This can be an awesome inspiration for a myth in your world. What if there was an immortal priest whose entire existence is going around and blessing people after they do good with a sacrifice in their honor, and a new name for their God that professes an aspect that the believer always knew, but never had a name for?

What kind of Mythic musings have you found in the Bible? Have you considered the importance of the Bible in Western myth? If not, go check out my article “The Bible: The Missing Key to Western Literacy,” where I discuss this further.

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Happy Halloween, let’s get spooky!

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By: A.B. Timothy

Let’s get spooky! Like the title says, I want to prompt you all to write me a spooky short story using your current characters, and enjoy your time celebrating this day if you do. If you finish it today, or just whenever, share it here on WP or on X and and tag me (if on X @ABTimothyAuthor) or tag this post by linking to it!

Stay safe tonight and prepare for November!

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Objectivity in Poetry

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By: A.B. Timothy

Yesterday, I discussed the need for an Objective Authority in the fields of debates and arguments. Today, I will discuss, in a similar vein, the need for objectivity in more creative fields.

In college, I was tasked with a poetry assignment in what they called “Free Verse.” My teacher recognized that the idea of a lack of methodology annoyed me, and told me that this would be good for my creative journey. I did it, I did as I was told. Now, two years later, I’ll agree with that teacher; it was good for my creative journey. Because if I had not been forced to participate in such a horrid act of literary chaos, I might never have come to hate it as much as I do.

These days, when I see a poem in free verse, I will usually skip it, or I will groan before reading it anyway. I still have to know what people are saying after all. Even if I don’t want to read it. This is why you will never find a poem of mine without a structure.

Does that mean the structure must be “ABABCDCD?” No! Absolutely not. But if there is no visible structure or comprehensible idea that acts as the flow from one point to the next, I don’t want to read it! At that point, I can go read the First Book of The Fellowship of the Ring for flowery prose.

I’ll use my own work from The Shards of Arthur’s Shield as an example. Below is the Poem, “Arthur’s Call”

“Arthur, king of the West,
Arthur, king, laid to rest.
Arise, lord of the morning,
Arise, the World is calling.
Your sword awaits,
Your Shield Abaits.
Arise, the World is calling,
Arise, lord of the morning.
Arthur, king, laid to rest,
Arthur, King of the West.”

It does rhyme, true, but the Latin form you will find in my book does not. This, however, still works as poetry because it has structure. The work is a mirror like a lake’s calm surface, broken by the two items of power, the sword and the shield. There is more to it than just what is being read.

When we start to lose objective standards in poetic literature, we begin to lose culture, and I would hate to see that happen.

Next time you get asked to write a poem or next time you feel inspired to write a poetic scene, remember to look past the surface and give it a greater meaning.

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The Bible: The Missing Key to Western Literacy

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By: A.B. Timothy

red and white concrete church on green grass field

I wrote a little bit about this topic in my post the other week called: “The Advantage of a Church Upbringing.” There, I wrote about my experience in a literature class at my local community college, where my professor explained to me the advantage I would have over my peers, and how right he was. In the West, our literature is so supremely Christian that even the works that profess a lack of faith in God are best understood with a biblical lens, simply because the author was him/herself biblically literate.

Some may argue that it only matters if you read books that were written before our grandparents were alive, but that is not true. Literary magazines today are still full of stories penned by authors who, while claiming atheism, borrow from the Christian worldview to make their arguments or get across their themes. Take the recent story “Cream” for example, which you can read here. This story contains a scene where there is a car that proclaims the Gospel of Jesus Christ over loudspeakers. If you’ve not studied Christian literature, like the Gospels, you will be clueless as to the implications this has in the story and what it could mean for the themes and plot. Yes, it is true, the story is Japanese, and these cars are a common occurrence in many Japanese cities, but the author could have chosen to have his character ignore this detail, but he did not. Instead, he made explicit not of it. This tells us it matters to the story.

An image of The Lord of the Rings book series

There are so many other examples of this in the world of fiction, both speculative and literary. Perhaps the most famous example of this is The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. This brilliant man did a fantastic job making his works readable and enjoyable for the average reader, but the depth opens up to a canyon of meaning if you are familiar with Biblical themes and subtextual ideas. The idea of the Three Types of Christ, talked about by many scholars and casual Christian fans alike, is something that will go completely unappreciated and unnoticed by people who are ignorant of Christian literature.

The Prodigal Son returns to his father. A picture of the wayward believer coming back to God.

Are you a Christian? It’s not my place to judge the destiny of your soul; all I can do is encourage you. If you aren’t a Christian, that’s okay, for now anyway. In either case, if you aren’t already, go familiarize yourself with the gospels at a bare minimum, and get to understand the themes of sacrificial love, resurrection, devotion, betrayal, brotherhood, and humanity found in them. Read some parables taught by Jesus. Have you ever wondered what someone meant when they said “prodigal”? Well, the meaning of it is at your fingertips, in Luke 15:11-32. That story would be a great place to start, and it will help you begin to see the literary designs of God’s Love.

Interested in seeing Biblical themes in literature discussed further? Go check out Arthurian Aesthetics on X. He has a fantastic blog, and one of his posts talks about the Prophet Jeremiah’s role in bringing relics to Britain.

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Giving Up & Trying Again

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By: A.B. Timothy

Mental health is something I think creatives often struggle with. If that isn’t you, do me a favor and thank God. I struggle with self-shame, depression, and a few other debuffs upstairs. That won’t stop me, however! It has stopped me in the past, it has made day-to-day life almost unbearable for weeks at a time, but I refused to just go quietly into that goodnight this time.

Yesterday I did not post; that was due, in part, to my struggle with mental health and an overwhelming desire to just give up, but then I went to church. I was reminded that oftentimes the devil does not go after those who are doing nothing worthwhile, but rather goes after those who are doing mighty things for God. I was reminded that if I am struggling, to call out to God and seek His deliverance, because He is the only one powerful enough to give it.

What kind of things do you struggle with? Does depression often try its best to throw you off the wagon? How do you combat it? Do you contend with it? Let’s chat either in the comments below or on social media, which is also below.

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New Things

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By: A.B. Timothy

Exposing yourself to new things is hard. It takes willpower to explore things that might make us uncomfortable. That is not a bad thing; however, unless you are recovering from a concussion and using your brain too much can actually hurt you. If that doesn’t sound like something you’re going through, get out there! Explore your city/town, check out a new bookstore, try a new coffee shop, or hike a new trail. Now, sometimes the comfortable is reliable, cheaper, and better, but sometimes it’s not. For example, today I am writing this at a new coffee shop about 20 minutes farther away, and I got the same drink I usually get at my regular store. Two things: 1: the coffee tastes a bit better, and 2: the portion sizes are a little bigger while being almost half the price.

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The very same is true for writing. Are you twenty thousand words deep into a Fantasy book and stuck? Try something new, it doesn’t have to be in that world, or maybe it can be. Try writing from a new POV, or write a far-flung story that takes place in the same world but 4,000 years in the future. This could be the refresher you need to reignite the spark of inspiration and finish the story you are stuck on.

Now, does this mean you have to abandon what you started with? No way! Do I think I’ll spend an extra 20 minutes driving out here to this coffee shop for a little bit better coffee and a smaller price tag (which might not be as enticing after the gas prices)? Probably not. But maybe once a week I’ll trek out here and enjoy a little time away from my usual routine. Maybe next time I come out here, I’ll see this nice lady Rachel I met today, again, and we’ll hit it off, who knows what could happen.

What about you? Have you tried new things? Will you try new things? Tell me about a time when you tried a new thing and something beautiful came out of it. Leave that tale in the comments or on one of my social media pages linked at the icons below.

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