In a speech, Ray Bradbury suggested we should write a short story a week. At the end of each week we will be happy because we’ve accomplished (completed) something. And if we write a short story a week, we will have 52 short stories at the end of the year.

He goes on to say we should read a short story, an essay and a poem every night before we go to bed. None of the modern stuff. We should read quality stories by Edith Wharton, Dahl,  Washington Irving and Poe. We should read the best poems–those by Alexander Pope, Frost and Shakespeare. We should read essays across the board in different fields. Examples are essays by Huxley and Loren Eiseley.

Every night before we go to bed, if we read one essay, one poem and one short story, by the end of a thousand nights, our head will be stuffed with all sorts of wonderful things and we’ll be on our way to becoming more creative.