Where the Mind Sprocket staff writes about inspiration, communication, culture, storytelling, and more.

The Back Page is where the feet go up on the desk at the end of the day. It’s that good book with a mug of hot cocoa just before bed. It’s where we goof off after a hard day’s work. The Back Page is our blog.

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Adapting when plans go awry.

by Jacqueline on June 30, 2008

Our culture has become efficient at planning out our lives, sometimes to the finest detail. People who don’t have five and ten-year plans are considered irresponsible.
So when plans change for reasons out of our control, we fall harder. We become less flexible, and less willing to accept things that require us to deviate […]

I Can Digg it. Can you Digg it?

by Lindsey Anderson on June 27, 2008

Slowly but surely, The Back Page is becoming something more than just a web page with words on it. Well, we’d like to think that that’s not all it has been, but visually speaking, it didn’t start out as anything fancy.
We’ve been adding some interesting blogs to our blogroll and now have post categories, so […]

“Life is not a submarine.”

by Lindsey Anderson on June 26, 2008

“All you can give us is what life is about from your point of view. You are not going to be able to give us the plans to the submarine. Life is not a submarine. There are no plans.”
This is from Anne Lamott’s chapter on plot in her book “Bird By Bird”.
Straightforward, clever, and intelligent, […]

Something tangible

by Jacqueline on June 25, 2008

Some people predict that one day, all books and periodicals will take to digital form.
I sincerely hope books remain tangible–something where the pages still turn or something that I can highlight for future reference.
Why?
I love holding a book in my hands. I don’t want to stare into a screen. Not only is it about my […]

A second round on us

by Edward Atkinson on June 24, 2008

This is our second slate of publishing this June.  All the better for you!
We introduce Andrea MacEachern in This Is My Heaven (with a fantastic illustration by the famed Anatole Upart) and welcome back Charlene Baldridge for Dancing Out of Time.  Both are great pieces, and we’re proud to publish them.
Also, please take our quick […]

To help us get ready for our first publication…

by Edward Atkinson on June 23, 2008

Please take our super-quick ten question online survey!
I used Survey Monkey to make the survey super easy and super fast.  I don’t want to waste your time.
The information you provide us with is important!  We’re putting together our first ever publication in October and want to make sure that we’re giving you what you want […]

82 Writing Experiments, a Poetry Engine, and More

by Lindsey Anderson on June 20, 2008

Maybe you’re already inspired, and maybe you have other sources to cure writer’s block and turn out reams of delicious prose. If that’s true, then it’s totally awesome!
But have you yet taken the time to come up with a title - perhaps one of the most loathed parts of the entire writing process?
Maybe you already […]

Download your free three e-books from Mind Sprocket

by Edward Atkinson on June 18, 2008

Dear Reader,
We haven’t told anybody about this.  Until now, that is.   Your voice, thoughts, and what you want to read matters to us because you, Dear Reader, are the reason we write.  That’s why we put together these three free e-books for you.
We believe we have something to say and we want you to […]

To do anything else is to waste it all

by Edward Atkinson on June 18, 2008

The object isn’t to be perfect. The goal isn’t to hold back until you’ve created something beyond reproach. I believe the opposite is true. Our birthright is to fail and to fail often, but to fail in search of something bigger than we can imagine. To do anything else is to waste it all.
- Seth […]

Does the Notebook You Write in Affect What You Write?

by Lindsey Anderson on June 17, 2008

I was perusing Flickr, looking for some inspiration along the scrapbooking line, and came across a photo of scrap journals by Ann Hirschfeld and Sharon Derry of Secret Leaves Paperworks.
Those of us who write or journal by hand know how much paper one person can go through just by writing on it, let alone throwing […]

Sometimes the truth is
Not what you want it to be.
Is it ever what you expected?
No, probably not.
Are you okay with that?
Are we meant to create truth or
Are we meant to find it?

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