creativity – Catherine Hamrick

Considering a Communications Career? 10 Questions to Ask Yourself

Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change quote by Stephen Hawking via catherinehamrick.com chamrickwriter with image of Milky Way

A student in communications asked the following question: What strategy would you recommend for someone trying to break into the communications industry? Communications is a broad field, so I certainly do not have all the answers. Instead, I suggested thinking through key questions. 1. Does “service” underscore your attitude? Communications […]

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

My Other Blog: Random Storyteller

2020 Birdwatch (nature heals in an unlikely year)

Everything came sooner this year— ‘February Gold’ daffodils frilling the neighbor’s yard, marching in patches, like bonneted Dutch dolls patterning the quilts hand-stitched by my grandmother in the halo of a Depression glass kerosene lamp; the ground thaw of the full worm supermoon, with the mounding of earthworm droppings crushed under my boot weeks before […]

On Writing: The Power of the Exact Word

As a copy chief for a magazine and book division, I edited articles relentlessly—while honoring artful turns of phrase—inspired by Gustave Flaubert, the masterful storyteller who coined the term le mot juste, or “the exact word.” He wrote, “All talent for writing consists, after all, of nothing more than choosing words. It’s precision that gives […]

Coneflower Sequence (the rewrite)

Reconsidering and revising a poem can take you to a new place. Like many this year, I turned to nature for respite and got a new perspective. Here are two versions of the poem. 2020 Last spring, I wanted something trouble-free and found it in coneflower seed packets, buying into the midsummer promise of self-sowing […]