The Weekend Blogger

Around this time of year I start thinking about plans and goals for next year. I try to take a look at what worked and what didn't work over the past year. You know, keep what works and chuck the rest.
I haven't gotten very far, but these are some of the adjustments I am contemplating.

• Continuing the blog on a reduced, weekends only schedule.
• Building my own intensive topical bible study for the coming year.
• Experimenting with schedules and strategies that keep my energy level in balance (minor adjustments such as what time I exercise or take a bath seem to strongly influence fatigue and nausea).
• I'm still on the fence about writing, but I think I have determined that I will do some significant writing about writing and see where it takes me.
• Normally I dislike the strict "do this every day" type of goal. However, I think I'd like to follow what is something of a mantra in the creative/arts world. "Do something creative every day."

What about you? Any goals or plans for the coming year?

The Soloist

I saw The Soloist over the weekend. I don't want to spoil the movie, but I really enjoyed the way it focused on the relationship between the two characters. It could have easily stereotyped mental illness or used the film as a political soapbox around medication or homelessness. While these issues came up, the central message was one of the power of choice and the power of relationship.
I also happen to enjoy the way the craft of writing was woven into the story. A journalist comes upon the main character and moves from seeing him as a "story" in the distant, objective sense to investing in his story and becoming part of it.
Stories are central to who we are. Each of us has a story to tell. Even the homeless guy asking for spare change. Even the waiter who is extra nice or extra unkind to you. Even the jerk who cut you off on this morning's commute.
Maybe one of the things I like about movies like this and Stranger Than Fiction is that it blends two of my passions. Words and people. The ability to share our stories is healing. It is what builds relationships.

Happy New Year

A few weeks ago the members of my creative writing group were lamenting the excessive, well, excessiveness of the holidays. Christmas is promoted before Halloween, let alone Thanksgiving. Then there's the weekend traveling and cooking for Thanksgiving, on top of which we are expected to make time for Christmas shopping. That is, if you are one of the "lazy" folks who isn't "already" done with your Christmas shopping.
And woe unto you if you have not already made your plans for ringing in the New Year. All the cool restaurants, hotels, and people have been booked for weeks. Perhaps all this explains why I was actually glad when my plans for the New Year's celebration fell through. I was downright exhausted! That balance I talked about a few posts ago? Somehow it escaped me in the chaos of the holidays. As much as I thought I'd want to be social for New Year's this year, I needed the time to restore my own sense of balance.
Which brings me to the brilliant idea one of my group members had. He thought we ought to redistribute the holidays to roughly 4 months apart or so. New Year's would probably have to stay put for the sake of time management. But really, nothing much fun is going on in August. It could use a holiday. And I know moving Christmas would pose problems with the liturgical calendar, but historians agree Jesus was not likely born in December anyway. I'm sure we could figure it out.
Anyone know how to officially propose an idea such as this?

Motivational Tools

I recently joined Twitter. I'd like to use it for networking, and as a way to enhance my productivity. My theory in joining it was that the brevity of the posts is appealing, and communicating with others would help keep me accountable in an almost micro-management sense. If I tell you I'm going to write or go do the dishes, I become a little more compelled to do so.
I'm still giving Twitter a shot, but I'm encountering a few roadblocks. One is that seeing the wonderful posts of all my creative writerly friends is actually a little intimidating. By the time I get home from work, people have twittered away for hours about their accomplishments. My little blog posts and couple of hours left for writing and art feel inferior by comparison.
So I'm going to go think about some ways to overcome my inferiority complex. As long as I'm in a true confessions mood, here's me current media line up:

Current music: So Cruel, U2
Current Netflix: Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends, Season 2
Current read: Not currently reading any books; I am gleaning tons of info from my most recent issues of Cloth, Paper, Scissors and Discipleship Journal.

Don't Wanna

I was out of town over the weekend so I have missed a post or two. Usually when that happens I have a hard time getting back into the habit of blogging. I almost skipped blogging tonight for that reason. But I started thinking about what I tell my Creative Writing students. I tell them to start writing about how they don't want to write.
So that's pretty much what I'm telling y'all. I'm tired. I have a headache. I have at least a half a dozen idea about future blog posts, but I just don't feel like writing them tonight. I was supposed to go to bed early and I've blown that goal big time. I have a hard time balancing writing with the other duties of life. If it's a night when I need to do other things, shifting gears to writing is hard.
Maybe that's what I need to work on. Transitions. I need to find a way to shift gears without stalling.
Would you look at that? I started out all whining and ended up with a take away- for myself. Hope it was useful to y'all as well. Any idea for transitions between activities?

A Few Things

Recently, I suggested that the folks at Levenger might owe me the new True Writer Fountain Pen they developed, plus five bucks. This was on account of how they reduced the price of a different fountain pen by five bucks just after I bought it. Not only did they then make this new pen that they did not see fit to give to me, they actually had the nerve(!) to create an even newer pen that I covet even more. Seriously, I mean, they ought to at least let me figure out how to justify one new pen before they go making another one.
In other news, I joined both Twitter and LinkedIn. It remains to be seen if either will be useful and in what capacity. I've already discovered both are less of a time sink than Facebook. In fact, one of my hopes for Twitter is that it will actually improve my productivity. I hope to use it as a way to "check in" several times a day. If I tell my followers I'm going to write, I'd better write.
Speaking of productivity, I cleaned off my writing desk and I reconfigured my art space. I'm particularly pleased with my art space. I made use of a CD tower turned on its side, a spice rack, an ice cube tray, and various other containers to clear the vast majority of my kitchen table. Now the space is ready for me to get to making some art. So there.

The Process of Writing: Counterpoint

A writing friend of mine sent this in response to the video from our agent friend. It provides a different perspective on the process of writing. It's important to be balanced and fair, after all. Again, I hope this is helpful.

The Process of Writing

A friend of mine who is an agent sent this clip illustrating the ideal flow of events in the writing and publishing process. I hope you find it useful.

Tossed Salad

My friend LeAnne recently featured singer Micheal Card on her blog. It was a really inspiring interview so I encourage you to go check it out. Several of the themes from that interview are tossing themselves with the salad in my brain. At some point, I'm hoping the whole thing comes together into something meaningful and conclusive regarding my own creative pursuits. Have you ever felt like that? Like you have a dash of something here, and a pinch of something there, and if you could just get the ingredients right you would have this fabulous recipe full of great flavor and nutrients?
This is the time of year I usually get organized and do a major housecleaning. Something about the school year triggers my love of office and organizational supplies. In fact, I tend to like organizing in general when I have a lot on my mind. Given that, I really ought to have a spotless house at this point. But the organizing thing hasn't been working for me as much recently. Perhaps that's part of why my tossed salad isn't coming together. I'm looking for the right combination of the familiar and the new to accommodate the changes. I'm also looking for tricks, rewards, and outright bribes to convince my creativity and organizational skills to get back into gear and start working together.

A Quote For Today

I've mostly been relaxing this weekend, but now that it's Sunday night I've decided to get it in gear and do all the housework & other stuff I didn't have time to do this week. One of the things I need to catch up on is writing. However, I think I'm going to do most of that writing in my journal tonight. Maybe I'll share some of it later.
For now, here's a quote I came across the other day.

"If I knew you and you knew me: we would love one another regardless of who I am or who you are."
Eric Butterworth

The Writing Process

Remember being taught how to outline a paper when you where in school? You had to write a thesis statement that identified the key purpose of your paper. You then outlined an introduction and developed carefully constructed supporting statements listed with roman numerals that led to the all important conclusion.
Oh, how my creative process has changed. There are occasions where I may begin at the beginning. Sometimes I begin right in the middle with something I want to explore. I won't have a sense of it's significance yet, or the direction I will take in writing about it. It's just an idea that needs a thesis and a conclusion, among other things, to turn it into a useful piece of writing. Other times, I begin at the end. My conclusion isn't just a recapitulation of the thesis; it's "point B" in the task of "getting from point A to point B." Beginning at the end requires that I work backwards and discover the material my creative process has unconsciously been working on.
If I'm having trouble writing something, often it's because I'm trying to start in the wrong place.
Sometimes a section of a piece is elusive. An introduction that doesn't start off nicely, a transition that won't flow, or a conclusion that isn't conclusive. The middle or the conclusion is often a better place to start in these situations. Even if I don't know the end when I begin writing, paying attention to the order in which I write things makes for happier endings. At least for the writer.

Word Art

A friend sent me a link to a new website that looks promising for more than just diversionary efforts. Wordle is a site that takes a block of text that you supply and turns it into word art. Colors, sizes, fonts, and varied direction of the words combine to transform the words into an artistic rendering of your text. You can select the number of words you want Wordle to display.
You really have to experience this to understand what I mean. Try googling a poem or a well-known piece of text and playing with it in Wordle. You'll see what I mean.
My first thought was that this would be useful in creating cards or gifts. Imagine creating this kind of word art with something like a Scripture passage or an essay as a wedding, birthday, or baby gift.
My next thought was Wordle could be an interesting brainstorming tool. Let's say you want to write about something- musical instruments, for example. You type up a couple pages of your thoughts on musical instruments, what you know on the subject, what you'd like to know, what you think about when you think of musical instruments. Wordle highlights key concepts and can put them together in ways that you might not have thought of. This could create some fresh angles for your next writing project.
My last thought, and the one I'm still thinking about, is that Wordle has to have implications for book art. I don't have a fancy letterpress, or graphics editing program. So my options for creating text in interesting formats are limited. My options for editioning books of this nature are even further limited. If I want to create something with elaborate text it's going to be unique and it's going to take a lot of time. With Wordle, the text is adjustable, easily formatted, and there are several ways to transfer it into my book.
Yes, Wordle is my new toy. Did I mention it's free?

Writing Prompts

I noticed that after my last post or two, several people happened upon my blog while searching for "writing prompts." I got to wondering what prompts us to write. If you write for publication, there's the whole money, fame, food-on-the-table thing. But what prompts us to write on a deeper level?
Some published writers will call blogging or journaling cheap therapy. And maybe these kinds of writing are. Maybe that's not a bad thing. Writing is a form of communication. It can help internalize the positives of life and externalize the negatives. Shared writing creates community. Private writing facilitates the development of personal space and that ever important "sense of self."
Even with all the reasons I am motivated to write, it still takes a certain something to prompt me to write on any given day. The general motivations are not enough. They can be countered with the promise of a movie and a bubble bath. A prompt has to help me overcome all the reasons not to write. An external prompt like the Thursday Thirteen or Sunday Scribblings can help with some of those reasons. You know, the "I'm not creative. I don't know what to write" reasons. External prompts also come in the form of books and other resources with sentence starters and other creative material.
Believe it or not, prompts can also come from yourself. When I take a moment to write down something a coworker said, or make a note of something I saw that inspired me, that becomes a writing prompt. Routines are a writing prompt. I write three pages in my journal a day. Some of it makes its way into material that will be published or otherwise productive. Some of it is just a brain dump that helps me sleep. Both purposes serve as writing prompts.
Some prompts focus on inspiration for writing. Some focus on the responsibility to write. What writing prompts do you use?

A History of Color

This weekend I asked some friends for help on a writing project. My task was to explore the idea of my favorite color for myself and my art. As I recently mentioned, periwinkle is my favorite color and it has been ever since I can remember. But I was at a loss for how to describe the color or why I like it.
My friend Wendy did a little research. According to the Wiki on periwinkle (there's a Wiki on periwinkle?), it is a desaturated color. Wendy says that means it's subtle and nuanced.
Crayola says periwinkle is #7 on their list of favorite colors. Personality traits associated with periwinkle blue are serenity, purity, and infinity. (Infinitely what?) In China, periwinkle blue is symbolic of immortality. (Oh.) Philosophy graduates' tassels are this color because it represents deliberation, introspection, and conservatism.
Blue, particularly periwinkle blue, rarely occurs in nature. It does occur in two of my favorite things, certain varieties of lilacs, and certain varieties of twilight sky. Honeybees are known to prefer flowers with blue hues.
There is a site for The Periwinkle Foundation, which is dedicated to helping children with cancer. They explain that the flower that shares the name and color periwinkle contains components used to fight cancer.
I've always loved color, and I know certain colors are symbolic of certain meanings. Red can mean anger or passion, purple is used to indicate royalty. That sort of thing. I had no idea this history and meaning behind a color could be so rich, and personal. Seriously, if you know me, this is a little creepy.

Decisions, Decisions

Everybody knows there aren't enough hours in the day. Just now I was faced with deciding between emailing a bunch of friends I've ignored for far too long, revising an article a friend is waiting for, or blogging. And that set of choices only had to do with this hour; my whole evening has been a series of multiple choice questions like this. Part of the problem is that selecting any one of these options causes me to further put off addressing the other options.
So do you live life organically, deciding what "wants & shoulds" to focus on at any given moment? Or do you apply some kind of structure to discretionary time, writing at 7PM on Tuesday because 7PM on Tuesday is when it is time to write? What if you don't want to write at 7PM on Tuesday? What if you don't find the time to do the writing you want because you didn't set aside time for it at 7PM on Tuesday?
In part, it's about balance. Leaving some "white space" in your day while having the discipline to do important things without waiting for inspiration to show up. It's also about making peace with the fact that you can only do one thing at a time and some things aren't going to be done at the end of the day. So with apologies to my friends waiting for emails, I'm going to go work on that article now.

Sunday Stuff

I joined Facebook. I haven't quite figured it out yet, but I was curious. I wonder if either my blog or Facebook will end up driving traffic to each other. I don't want Facebook to turn into a time waster, but it is interesting to see what people have on their pages & find the things that are "you." We all like to personalize things, don't we?
I went to visit my parents this weekend. They have cable & I don't. So whenever I am out there, I like to watch the decorating shows on HGTV. I'm coming to the conclusion that watching these shows is part of my creative process. Just one more part of life that informs and inspires my writing. I just can't see paying for cable to watch one channel, though. Oh well. I'll have to get my fixes when I can.
I've got a stressful week coming up. I hope to keep the blog posts regular, but I don't think I should make any promises.

Influence Pt. 2

I mentioned that people outside our particular area of interest can often influence our development in that area. I like that because comparing our work to that of the great masters is often challenging. I admire the work of CS Lewis, but I could never compare my writing to his. Monet is my favorite painter, but I haven't painted a work of art since the stuff that was on the fridge when I was in second grade. So does Monet influence my art?
I'd rather say that Monet influences my writing and Lewis influences my art. Not only does it get me out of that sticky comparison thing, it opens up new ways to look at what I do. I love the juxtaposition of one form of art studied in light of another form of art. Try using musical metaphors to describe a painting, or the language of 2-D art to describe a piece of writing. This approach leads to some serendipitous results. I especially like it because it treats the artist holistically, rather than stuff him or her into one category. As a writer, I'm always looking for new sources of inspiration. As I said before, influence is different than inspiration. But perhaps inspiration can come from contemplating influence.

Influence

You have to love zeitgeist. Last night I was reading Alphabetica, which has a great section on the creative process of the artists in the book. One of the categories is "influence." As in, who influences your art? I love that question. I think it carries more weight than asking who inspires your work. Influence puts action behind the inspiration. So I started chewing on the question.
Then Crystal had this post on mentoring. I love that we can be mentored by people we've never met. And I love how the book she refers to says that the mentee has responsibilities as well. We need to allow people to influence us. It's how our work is shaped, given depth and texture.
The artists in the book I was reading listed all kinds of people as influencers. Musicians are influenced by more than just other musicians, and writers are influenced by more than just other writers. Talk about layers of depth and texture! Just think about what can happen to the creative process if we open ourselves to the possibility of being mentored and influenced by people outside our own areas of interest and expertise.

If You Want To Write

It's no secret that I've struggled with writing for publication for some time now. I don't have any definitive solutions, but I have been musing on a few ingredients that contribute to that motivation to write.
If you want to write:

• Be poor. Now, this is relatively speaking here. I'm not saying you need to be a starving artist. But if writing helps you make ends meet, then maybe needing to make ends meet can help you write.
• Be busy. If you don't have a lot of time to write, your cup will surely overflowth with ideas. It's frustrating, but it works.
• Be lonely. Frankly, when my social calendar is full, my energy is drained and my needs are met. If I've got just a little more solitude than is comfortable, I start writing just to simply communicate. And face it, if I'm bored enough, I'll eventually write something. (On second thought, maybe I don't want to claim boredom as a reason for writing. I've not really been bored in a while and I've got plenty to handle at the moment, thank you).
• Be accountable. Talking with fellow writers who are a step or two ahead of you in their careers is an important reality check. They provide encouragement, brainstorming, and good old fashioned peer pressure.

There are many other ingredients in the formula for writing. These are just a few that seem to be most important to me at the moment.

What's Your Art?

I was fortunate to spend the last couple of days with two very dear friends who are also writers. We did many things & had many conversations that will provide great material for blogging over the next few weeks. We spent a lot of time discussing art and writing. In one of the handmade books I showed them I had used a favorite quote from Madeline L'Engle in her book Walking on Water.
"Until I have worked through self, I will not be enabled to get out of the way."
In this quote, she is explaining what happens in the creative process when the artist gets into what we call "flow." You know, that experience when time & space disappear and you're no longer conscious of what you are doing, where it's no longer you doing the work, it's the work being done through you.
When I write, I acknowledge that as my art. But I am intimidated by other forms of art such as drawing and painting. I do not feel like an artist in that context. So, having visited the Art Institute with my friends, I thought about my perspective on that quote. I'd originally used it in reference to doing therapy with a client of mine. Therapists work to get out of the way so we can be available to work more authentically and thoughtfully with our clients. When I'm at my best as a therapist, I get out of the way. If I can set aside my own concerns, tiredness, and assumptions, I don't have to worry about finding empathy. It just shows up.
Writing is a form of art. Therapy is also a form of art. Whatever you do that makes you who you are, when you get out of the way, that is art. What's your art?