Today’s video left me in awe. Hiromi Uehara takes a familiar melody, Pachabel’s “Canon in D,” but turns it into something breathtaking. It may seem a little strange sounding for the first couple of minutes, but stay with it! You’ll be glad you did. If you can read music, the transcription score of her performance runs throughout the bottom of the video. Dare you try …

Buddy Greene proves that with enough practice you can play at Carnegie Hall! Sheer brilliance on an unappreciated instrument. It’s great that Bill Gaither showpieced this virtuoso. Hope it inspires you! (If you cannot see the embedded video in your newsletter email, please click the headline and go directly to our site to view it.)

Today’s video is a clever way to illustrate a charitable need. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra plays Vivaldi’s “Spring” but with one-third of the notes missing, thereby showing that 1/3 of all Cancer Research UK’s funding came from gifts. Very clever. It also illustrates something else. When your manuscript seems to be missing something, this video is what the words …

Not everything is as it seems. Is there a metaphor in this video for the writing life? Which one is your favorite? Mine is the third one. (If you cannot see the embedded video in your newsletter email, please click the headline and go directly to our site to view it.)

Take a familiar song and mess up the words and you get today’s satirical video. Complete silly fun for a Fun Friday! (If you cannot see the embedded video in your newsletter email, please click the headline and go directly to our site to view it.)

Counting to seven has never been harder. Here’s the challenge. This drummer is playing to a beat with seven counts in each measure. Your challenge is to clap correctly on the downbeat of each new measure. Don’t lose concentration, or you’ll lose the game! The musical score is provided on the bottom of the screen. It doesn’t help. Sometimes your creativity taps to the beat …

This video gives a whole new meaning to the phrase “two steps forward, three steps back.” If you think your writing career is going backwards, maybe that’s a good thing? (If you cannot see the embedded video in your newsletter email, please click the headline and go directly to our site to view it.)

Happy April Fools Day! Today’s video is a vivid picture of an author trying to break into traditional publishing. A great line at the 2:12 mark. (If you cannot see the embedded video in your newsletter email, please click the headline and go directly to our site to view it.)

Watch the miracle of growth in today’s video: a one-year time lapse of the growth of a mango tree. Starting with a seed. Extraordinary to watch. But even more intriguing is that it will take another 3-5 years before it will bear fruit. Think of the metaphor of the writing life. From the seed of an idea. Then writing 300 words a day for a year will create the foundation of a 100,000-word …