At the end of 2012, Studio 360 listener Ariel Lautman, of Silver Spring, Maryland, resolved to teach herself woodworking and build furniture for her home. Despite an exceptionally cold East Coast winter that limited her ability to work with lumber outside, Ariel has completed her first project ...

Slideshow: Work in Progress

May Update: The weather has definitely made it easier to get outside and work. I have two projects in the planning phase at the moment right now — screening in our back porch and a secret gift for my husband. I am finding that it is hard to keep up with the actual doing of my resolution ...

April Update: I grew up in the Eugene, Oregon area and my brothers and I sometimes discuss our tree-clad upbringing on the Siuslaw River. I wish I'd been able to develop that story as it seemed to request, but no time. Still, this thing kept wanting to become a novella. I wrestled it ...

Read Linda's story for April: "Covered Bridge"

April Update: It’s hard to believe I’m already four months into this project! I’m roughly one-quarter of the way through my illustrations — cranking away on the pages, but not at the pace I’d like, so I feel like I’m being haunted by this specter of “meeting quota” lately. If I want to get to my goal ...

Slideshow: Work in Progress

As 2012 drew to a close, Studio 360 listener Michael Relland resolved to perform his first public cello recital in 2013. In January, we set out to make sure he got it done, and this week, we checked in to see how the preparations are coming. Michael, a Phoenix-area music teacher ...

Slideshow: Michael's Photo Journal

March Update: The process for this story is like the others. I live in a story (in my spare time) for a few weeks and then I don't live in it and I miss it. I write notes to myself at work and come home with little yellow pieces of paper in my pockets. With any luck I'll read them before I ...

Read Linda's story for March: "Dog Heavy"

February Update: I have so far found that working every day after work (or almost every day) is starting to seem normal. It helps me think about the story all the time, knowing I have to work on it when I get home. My friends are supportive (so far, so good). The big challenge is just ...

Read Linda's story for February: "Remedy"

February Update: So far my first project has been going about as planned, though a bit slower than I had expected. I've been making display bookshelves for my son Ezra's room. He's a little over one, and pulls all of the books off of his traditional bookshelf when he's looking for a particular ...

Slideshow: Work in Progress

February Update: The biggest challenge of the project so far has been building up the courage to put the first lines of ink on the paper, making the drawing essentially “permanent.”  I'll be incorporating digital tools into my process later so the ink isn't absolute, but I'm really focusing on making ...

Slideshow: Work in Progress 

Throughout 2013, we’re going to check up on four listeners who made creative resolutions for the New Year and were brave enough to go public with them. Linda Brewer of Tucson wants to tell the stories of people’s lives in the American West, but her literary ambitions have been sidelined by ...

Read Linda's story for January: "It's All Good"

In the final weeks of 2012, we asked our listeners for their creative New Year’s resolutions. Kurt Andersen is choosing projects to check in on during the year. Last week, he spoke with Michael Relland, an elementary school band and orchestra teacher in Phoenix who has resolved to ...

Slideshow: A creative New Year's resolution in progress

As 2012 drew to a close, we asked you to declare your creative New Year’s resolution. We heard from more than 100 ambitious creatives, including aspiring novelists, composers, and a poet-turned-singer. Now that it’s 2013, it’s time to make good on those promises ...

What’s the creative project you’ve been meaning to bite off for years?  Finishing your novel story?  Or maybe it’s more of a creative challenge: writing a poem a day. Watching Kurosawa — every Kurosawa.  Let’s make 2013 the year to get it done!  And we’re here to help.

Submit your 2013 creative New Year's resolution