Hey there…well, no #fridayflash today, but if you missed last week’s, you can check it out here. Can’t wait to see what everybody else is up to this Friday.
Long weekend coming up, lots on the horizon for fall. I always seem to get a burst of creativity when the seasons change. What about you? Do you notice any outside influences that add or take away from your creativity?
Anyway, something cool from GalleyCat. (Where else?) They’ve compiled a list of the best authors on Facebook and they’re asking for more suggestions. Check it out here. Got any suggestions?
Any cool plans for the weekend? Whatever you end up doing, I hope you have a great time.
Well, we made it. In a manner of speaking. I mentioned in an earlier post that we were moving to Florida. This, so far, has been met with a few different reactions, but pretty much falling into one of three categories.
1. Oh, Florida is great! You’ll get to go to the beach all the time. There’s so much to do, you’ll love it!!
2. Ugh, Florida? It’s so damn hot and muggy there, you’ll hate it. Not to mention the bugs and gators and hurricanes and crazy people and bad drivers and hurricanes and tourists and voting scandals and sharks and oh did I mention hurricanes? The place has it’s own tag on Fark.com, you know. Why would you move there?
3. (Mostly from family and close friends) You’re moving to Florida?! F*#$ YOU!! You’re leaving?! You suck. Don’t worry, you’ll be back. Oh, you’ll be back!! (Beneath the harsh words is a strong undercurrent of love. Seriously. I love them too, more than they probably know.)
You have to understand, I’ve lived in the Northern Virginia area my whole life. I have friends there I’ve known since elementary school and my entire family is in or around that area too. The roots are so deep there that it was difficult to pull up and move, but life throws you funny curve balls sometimes, and you have to take a swing and see what happens.
On a personal level, it’s been an overwhelming experience. Everything from leaving my family and friends to shedding a lot of personal possessions (that now, I wonder why I carried around in the first place), to cramming 2 cats, 2 hermit crabs, one turtle, one snake and one very brave and mercifully patient 6-year-old into my tiny car and driving for 11 hours straight from Woodbridge to Winter Park. My husband had left a couple of days earlier with the moving truck. He had his own adventure.
On a writing level, it was a whirlwind rich with emotions, sights, sounds and awesome people watching (especially at our almost mid-way point, South of the Border).
And besides my one cat pooping and then two hours later, peeing in his carrier, it was a fairly undramatic drive to Florida.
So here we are, much of our stuff unpacked, almost just as much still in boxes, but things are starting to normalize. We’re starting to get back into the rhythm of our lives, but with palm trees instead of oak trees. I’m starting back to work on my writing and of course the blog. More to come including book reviews, interviews with more authors and more.
I had several flashes of my daughter’s future this morning as she walked down the stairs. She was going to the mall with her friends, then going to prom, then graduating and following her dreams. But then she returned to the little smiley six year old that she is. Care-free and singing to herself a song she learned in school.
She slid on her Little Miss Sunshine backpack and I walked with her to the bus stop. Back in September it was raining, but she shone so vividly with her pink umbrella and dazzling smile. Kindergarten. A new adventure. So much potential, so much anticipation.
Today is the last day. It’s bright and sunny out. There’s no umbrella but the smile is still there. When she started the journey, she could read a few words, but now, she reads full chapters.
She started the year with all of her baby teeth, and now she has lost six of them in total. The four bottom ones are growing in, the top two still missing.
She’s made friends, found new interests and started to truly become her own person, separate from her father and me. It’s sad and beautiful all at the same time, but mostly beautiful. I love when she uses a new word or shares with me a new bit of knowledge she’s gained.
The bus pulls up. In September I worried so much. Would the other kids pick on her? Would she pay attention in class? Would the teachers like her? Would she like them? I cried on the walk back from the bus stop, the rain masking my tears.
Today, the same flutter rumbles in my belly as the yellow and red lights blink on the bus. I wave at the bus driver when she opens the door and she waves back. We’ve done this all school year. Sort of an unspoken agreement that she’ll get her safely to and from school and she has.
The bus pulls away and the tears well again. Not for any fear or concern, but that universal sense of pride that all parents feel when their child completes their first year of school.
I heart GalleyCat. Yes, I do and I’m not ashamed to say it. It’s one of MediaBistro’s many blogs and in my opinion, it’s one of the best. Between the insider info on the publishing world and the great interviews, I feel that it’s a must read for writers and authors. No, I don’t get a check from them for saying this. When I find something I like, I feel the need to share it.
One of yesterday’s articles, entitled “Writers: Making a Living Off of Kindle?” caught my eye for a variety of reasons. Anything that has “writer” and “making a living” and “Kindle” is probably going to stop me in my tracks. I clicked on the link and lo and behold it’s an interview with J.A. Konrath, author of the Jack Daniels detective series. The interview was inspiring. Here’s an excerpt:
Is it really possible to make a living from selling eBooks on Kindle? Could someone actually give up their day job? And if so, how long would it take to do so?
I’m currently selling 180 ebooks a day on Kindle…
180 books a day, without a publisher backing him. Wahoo!
As a writer, or any artist really, you get a lot of opinions thrown at you. Art is subjective. Your work will hit everybody a little differently. Your close friends and family will most likely err on the side of being positive about your work, which for a baby artist, can be nice. After all, nobody wants to get shot down before they even start.
But there comes a time, when you have to leave that safety zone and open up your work to the opinions of *gulp* strangers. Not unlike your child’s first day of school or later teaching them how to drive, this can be one of the most exciting and terrifying experiences you will ever have.
I remember the first time I went to my local writer’s group, we read our pieces aloud for each other and then were given a critique. My physical reaction to reading my work to a bunch of strangers for the first time was rather like going in for a job interview that I wasn’t sure I was qualified for. Sweaty palms, guts in knots, that sick burning in your stomach like you’re going to barf. (And this was supposed to be my idea of fun?!) The cup of coffee I slugged down while waiting for my turn didn’t help. But at the end, I managed not to run to the bathroom and barf, and lo and behold, the comments were mostly positive. The criticisms were constructive and helpful. That was over 4 years ago and I STILL consult these people when I write. I know they will be honest yet gentle with their criticisms.
Because criticism is how we grow and learn as writers. But we can’t get the criticism if we don’t put it out there. A friend who recently discovered that I wrote read some of my stuff and then asked why I kind of kept it a secret. Saying, “fear of rejection” wasn’t a good answer, so I just shrugged. He replied, “This isn’t something you should hide.” How true. Because I promise you, there is always going to be somebody out there that doesn’t like your work, and doesn’t have a nice thing to say about it. So it’s true, if you never put it out there, you’ll never get that rejection. You’ll also never get the compliments or criticisms that will help you grow and become better at your craft. So which is worse?
Julia Cameron is the author of, “The Artist’s Way.” The book/program is supposed to help unblock the blocked and discover the undiscovered artist in each of us. It may sound a little woo-woo for some people, but oh well.
I’ve started and stopped this program about twice now. However, I have restarted it and am determined to finish this time, as I discussed in an earlier blog post. So far, so good. I know I will finish it this time. I expect you to yell at me if I don’t. We can yell at me together. It’ll be fun.
Anyway, below is an interview with Julia Cameron, primarily about “The Morning Pages.” (In other clips linked on the page, she discusses other aspects of The Artist’s Way as well.) The Morning Pages are one of the key stepping stones in The Artist’s Way path. Seriously, when I first started the course, I thought they were pointless. I’ve always resisted free writing. I’m more of a stare out the window till inspiration hits, incubate the ideas for a while and have them pretty much solid before I ever commit them to paper or screen. Staring at a blank page freaks me out and tends to scare away my already flighty muse. I arrive at the blank page armed with ideas, but that’s not the point of the morning pages.
Last week though, I had a breakthrough. I’d been doing the morning pages, but filling them with ho-hum journal-ish type things like how I wish I had a cup of coffee, and, oh dear god why won’t the cat make me a cup of coffee, or if I could just use the force to make myself a cup of coffee I’d be so happy. You get the point.
However, last week I actually wrote a piece of fiction. Not a story really, but a little slice of time. Just a page long, more of a descriptive piece than anything, but there it was. It came from nowhere. I hadn’t tossed it around beforehand, I hadn’t developed a mental sketch of anything. I just sat down and wrote, and it was great. Can’t wait to see how the rest of this journey unfolds.
Happy Tuesday, everybody. Tuesday…I’ve never really liked Tuesday. It’s just there. It’s not the middle or the end of the week and doesn’t have the distinction of being the first day of the week, it’s just…there.
Anyway, forgive the rant. I had the pleasure of seeing “Lemonade” last week. I mentioned this movie in a previous post. In my opinion, it was very well done. It’s inspiring to hear all the different stories and see people who go out there and do something they’ve always wanted to do after losing their job.
The good news is…you can watch the movie too. It’s on Hulu now. It’s only 35 minutes long, so if you have a spare half-hour or so, I recommend you check it out.
Is there a piece of art, or music or writing that you wish you had done or been a part of?
I thought about this recently while talking with a friend who said they wish they could have been involved in the Star Wars movies. That got me thinking, well, me too. Who wouldn’t want to say they had a part in one of the cinematic phenomenons of our time? And then I started thinking about other movies that would have been fun to be a part of, or books I’d written, songs I’d sung, etc., because it IS an amazing feeling to be a part of something truly great and something you are proud of.
Of COURSE our projects are ones that we are happy to be a part of, and it one day, it will be OUR projects that people wish they were a part of, but for now, what is that guitar riff that you wish you had played, or that line you wish you’d written?And no fair saying “Harry Potter” or something that just made a lot of money. You have to pick something that you are passionate about even if not a single dollar was made.
There are a few on my list, but I’ll keep it brief. For music, I’ve got to say I wish I could have done something with Queen, or with David Bowie. I’m not a songwriter or a musician, so I have no clue how I would be involved in a project with them, but they are artists I would have liked to work with. I have worked with an incredibly talented musician, Martin Page, but not in a musical way, more in a marketing kind of way, so who knows. Maybe David Bowie will call. If you’re not familiar with Martin’s work, I strongly encourage you to check him out. Working with Martin has been very rewarding, so I can check that off my list.
For fiction writing though it’s a tough one because it’s such a solitary pursuit. I would have liked to have met Ernest Hemingway, although I don’t think I could have stuck to his eating red onions and drinking red wine for breakfast regiment. When I do that, my writing is nowhere near as good as his.
I could go on and on, but what are some of your ‘dream’ projects or people?
Following up with goals…one of my goals this year is to start *and* finish, The Artist’s Way course. For those that don’t know, The Artist’s Way is a book by Julia Cameron, but is also a 12 week program to help with recover your creativity from various blocks, including fear, self-doubt, etc.
I started the course earlier this year when I felt particularly blocked. I wanted to complete the final draft on my novel, but I just couldn’t do it. I had no power, no drive, nothing. When things like that happen, I, like most creative people go to that dark place where I wondered why I even bothered writing. Those tiny thoughts tend to grow exponentially. First it’s why do I do this, next it’s, why bother? You’ll never make it anyway, hell you’ve never even sold a short story. You should be focusing on REAL things, not self-indulgent, artsy-fartsy things.
The problem is, I can’t do it. Every time I come to that point where I think I should give it up, I can’t. Even if I never make a dollar doing it, I can’t stop writing. When I’m writing, I’m happy. When I’m not, I feel like something is missing. So why, if I love it so much, do I run into these blocks? Why does anybody?
Various reasons of course…no time, life gets in the way, etc.
What the Artist Way course tries to do is find out what your blocks are and get you past them. Creativity is one of those ellusive things that we can’t just turn on or off. It comes and goes, and for me anyway, I can never quite pin it down. It’s like one of those friends you have who you LOVE visiting with, but then they don’t call or e-mail for a few weeks or months and you start feeling rejected, but then they come back and everything is right with the world again.
So, in embarking on The Artist’s Way journey, I’m hoping to equip myself with the tools I need to be able to get through these blocks when they happen, because they WILL happen. The people I know who have completed the course have said it was incredibly useful. Fingers crossed. I’ll keep you posted on my progress.
Have you done The Artist’s Way course or read the book? Any comments or suggestions? If you haven’t and you’re interested, drop me a line, maybe we could be study partners.
