December 12, 2012

When the Going Gets Tough…

Edinburgh Stairs, click photo for info

Just less than two weeks ago, I input the final numbers into my NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) online calculator and saw the little bar graph on my personal page sneak just up over 50,000 words.  The competition challenges would-be writers to put their pens where their mouths are and write 50,000 words of a novel in 30 days.  This year was my first time, and from the beginning I told myself that the key point here was to create important writing habits no matter how many words I was able to complete.

I trailed behind the daily target for the entire month.  I was writing on an almost daily basis, but I wasn’t always spending as much time as I needed to get the necessary 2,667 words on paper.  Even so, I kept reminding myself that the continuous writing was what mattered and that no matter what I finished with, it would be more than what I’d started with.

But as the end of the month drew closer, I really wanted to win (winning, for NaNoWriMo, is completing 50,000 words).  I had challenged myself to something bold and exciting, and I didn’t want to just do it halfway.  I wanted to own it.

So I ramped up.  On the two days that I travelled to and from my family’s house for Thanksgiving, I wrote 17,000 words.  On the planes, sitting in the airport, I was either writing in my notebook or typing away on my computer.  Back at home, I downloaded a dictation speech-to-text app on my iphone and dictated scenes and dialogue while I commuted to and from my office.  I set my alarm early and wrote before work.  I skipped out on social events.  I used the Write or Die application and typed until my wrists hurt.

And on that last day, when I hit the 50,000 word mark (and kept writing), I felt not just pride but deep comfort.

I had shown myself that I could do something that felt impossible.

I wasn’t such a fragile soul that a 50,000 word limit could get the best of me.  No, I was strong and capable.

Nowadays, in the creative world, we talk a lot about having compassion for ourselves, about listening to our bodies, taking time to rest, stopping when we’re tired.  I’m not questioning the importance of any of those things.  But I wonder if sometimes there are bigger things at stake.

In the days since November, I haven’t felt burned out.  I’ve felt the exact opposite.  Pushing myself past what I thought were my limits gave me a renewed sense of my own abilities and potential, something I’d lost sight of in the last few years. 

I don’t know if those 50,230 words will ever find their way into a novel, but I would do NaNoWriMo again in a heartbeat – just to remind myself that I can.

Filed Under: Plot Notes Tagged With: , , 3 Comments
March 6, 2012

No Maybe About It: The Truth About Making Things Happen

This is a guest post by Kelly Diels.

jane austen card by yardia - click for info

Maybe you’re an artist. Maybe you’re an artisan. Maybe you’re a writer (or you want to be).

Yes, let’s say you’re a writer.

(Because even if you’re an artist, entrepeneur, and crafter, you also need to be a writer. Your online world demands it. It demands About Pages and bios and blog posts. And it demands good ones.)

So maybe you’re a writer. (No maybe about it.) Maybe you share space with your family. Maybe space is tight. Maybe the only place with space to write is the teeny-tiny desk at the centre of an itsy-bitsy living room.

(Maybe this sounds like your place? I know it sounds like mine.)

And maybe people – your family, their friends, your friends – are coming and going, coming and going, coming and going.

Maybe it’s hard to concentrate.

No maybe about it.

So maybe you’d be forgiven for thinking that finishing your magnum opus – or starting it! – is impossible in these conditions.

Maybe you need your own space…preferably a well-appointed, well-lit, well-equipped workspace NOT populated by other creatures who share strands of your DNA. A quiet space. A space without a phone to ring when your boss wants you to work an extra shift. Because of course in this fantasy space, you don’t have a job. Or a boss. Or distractions. Or bills to pay, kids and cats to feed, and a spouse and laundry to do.

(Strike the second-to-last item from that list. Maybe doing that will help with your creative life.)

(And your relationship.)

(And…everything.)

(No maybe about it.)

And maybe then, maybe when conditions – space, quiet, equipment, money, time, full-body bliss – are ideal, you’ll create. You’ll produce. You’ll make. You’ll make a living.

And maybe angels are singing and the sun is shining and a kitten just slid down a rainbow and handed you a cupcake with a cheque for a million dollars signed by a team of unicorns.

Because they exist. Just like those fantastic conditions for creativity.

But nobody can be expected to create under these circumstances. Your circumstances. The worry about money. What other people will think. The lack of time. The cramped conditions. The crappy tools. The absolute absence of privacy. The demands of family and friends. A society largely hostile to your artistic aspirations.

No, nobody could make masterpieces under those circumstances.

Except maybe Jane Austen.

She did it because she kept doing it. She kept writing and write she did: she wrote Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice and Mansfield Park and Emma and Northanger Abbey and Persuasion at a small desk in a small living room in a small house on a small budget with an even smaller amount of social support. Like, no social support at all…other than perhaps some paternalistic pats on the head. Because she was a lady-writer, y’all! And ladies weren’t writers and writers weren’t ladies!

But genteel Jane Austen was a fighter.

Every artist needs to be a fighter.

And in every fight, your first adversary is not your circumstances. Your enemy is the fantasy that you need any special tool, course, or course of action other than your talent, practice, and perseverance. Your enemy is the fantasy that you need to make a dramatic change – quit your job, get a studio, get rich – to make anything at all.

Your enemy is the fantasy that maybe one day the conditions for creativity will be ideal. And maybe then you’ll get started.

But maybe the conditions for creativity will never be ideal.

And maybe you can do it anyway.

No maybe about it.

—————

Kelly DielsKelly Diels likes to do it. She’s a wildly hire-able copywriter (bios, About Pages, blog posts, oh my!) and the literary incarnation of Mae West…if Mae West moved to the suburbs, gained baby weight that is now school-age, wrote a feisty blog (Cleavage, it’s a sexy word that means more than you might think), and taught online artists, entrepreneurs and provocateurs how to write. Well.

Filed Under: creating action, guest posts, Plot Notes Tagged With: , , , , , , 35 Comments
January 27, 2012

little things link love: calligraphy

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When I was little, I received a calligraphy set as a gift.

It wasn’t all fancy with a feathered quill and ink bottle or anything, just a simple one with four colors of calligraphy markers and an instruction book that would spark a life-long fascination with illustrative fonts and typography. I wrote calligraphy constantly. It probably even helped give me halfway-decent regular handwriting to boot. It’s a skill that requires a lot of patience and discipline, which were some of my biggest obstacles.

In Greek language, calligraphy literally translates to the combined words “beauty” and “writing”, embellished lettering ranging from simple to ornate. Calligraphy has been used in many countries  for centuries, from everyday correspondence, to important documents, to religious works, such as the Book of Kells in Ireland.

These days, we mostly see calligraphy on wedding invitations or the occasional Christmas card. The emergence of typewriters and computers have made regular handwriting a rarity over time, let alone its time-consuming artsy-fartsy cousin. I think we could stand to bring it back into the fray a little more, though. I’m game for some grocery lists with the words “eggs” and “tampons” written out with special flare. Roll them up like a scroll to really add some distinction to your errands.

Those calligraphy markers I used to have are still available in craft and stationery stores if you want to try your hand at a different type of creativity or just want to work on some exercises for improving your own handwriting. Larger sets should come with books to teach you, though you can always find a mini-tutorial online. More traditional nib pens and ink are available, too, if you’re ready to move into prime time. I recently purchased a new set, and the following day, even found a set of two dozen nibs at a thrift store for 8 bucks. Score.

If you’re curious about giving this artistic penmanship a whirl, these sites may inspire and assist you further:

  • Paper & Ink Arts – An extensive online supply site featuring calligraphy materials as well as great gift items.
  • Calligraphy Centre – This group hosts a week-long retreat for calligraphers, in addition to offering online resources and teaching classes to central North Carolina locals.
  • IAMPETH – The International Association of Master Penmen-Engrassers-Teachers of Handwriting. That name alone should let you know how serious this group is. Lots of good history as well as resources on this site. If you’re really ambitious, you can strive to become a Master Penman, where “inductees are required to produce their own certificate as proof of their ability.”

Have you tried your hand at calligraphy before?

Filed Under: Link Love Tagged With: , , , , , , 4 Comments
October 27, 2010

a prompt to get inspired

A guest post by Katie Clemons.

My grandma didn’t think she had a story worth telling.

I started asking her little questions about her life (how my grandfather proposed, how she paid for college and earned her degree unlike few women of her time, what happened the first time she was in a state where liquor was legal…). As if a piece of her heart opened to the world, my grandma had story after story to share. I think she was shocked to discover these pieces that were still in her. They were pieces that made her who she is today at 93 years old.

Do you have a story?

I suspect you do. Your art and creative business are filled with little bits. Sometimes we don’t even realize how these moments in our lives shape us until we’re prompted.

If I handed you a blank page and said, “Now write your life story,” do you think you could do it? It’s a pretty overwhelming task. It’s also why blank journals often become records of all our sadness and frustration.

Use writing prompts to expand your creativity. See how little questions and reflections can open your heart. I think you’ll find your inner voice speaking up in journal pages. It’s going to nudge you to dream bigger dreams and celebrate more of the victories of being you.

Interviewing my grandma forever changed my life. Listening to her stories, I started wondering about all of the other women who have stories deep inside of them. I created an online journal shop, Gadanke. The store is filled with writing prompt books, travel journals, baby books, love letters, and places to unearth your inner self. It’s my creative small business, and it has given me wings. Much more importantly, I’ve been helping other people find their wings just by helping them look deep inside themselves and helping them celebrate. A big favorite? Gratitude journals where you can just focus on all the really amazing gratitudes in life.

Try journal writing with prompts. I promise you that your journals can become something so much more this way.

When you have passion for what you create and dream in your small business, write about it. Write about the fears trying to keep your potential locked up. Write about plans. And above all, write about you.

You have a story that is so very worth hearing.

Katie Clemons is American; her husband is German. They split their time between a 480 square foot apartment in Berlin, Germany and – get this – a house made out of hundreds of recycled tires in the Rocky Mountains. They ride their bikes just about anywhere they can, eat their vegetables, fly small airplanes, and have an enormous passion for seizing life. Katie’s shop, Gadanke, offers inspiring and handmade travel journals, personal diaries, baby books, and Christmas journals with 100% recycled paper, Italian papers, and embellishments.

Filed Under: creativity, guest posts Tagged With: , , 4 Comments
July 19, 2010

get some dirt under your nails

Most of my creative action is focused on writing. Well, writing & code – but to me, they are often two sides of the same coin. Like WordPress says, code is poetry. And I’m often asked how I got started with this whole blogging/writing/coding career.

It’s quite simple, I just did it.

On Saturday, I was listening to my local NPR station, as I am want to do, and caught a piece of the weekly organic gardening program. A caller said to the host something to the effect of, “I just have no idea how you know all the things you know.” And the host explained that he was self-taught and also did a stint as the editor of an organic gardening magazine.

He said the best way to learn about organic gardening is to “to get some dirt under your nails.”

If you ask me, this is the best way to learn just about anything.

For me, it meant setting up a few blogs, writing on a daily basis, watching others write & blog & code, and taking it all in. When I’d learned enough to be competent (and no more), I took a big leap – dove head first into the deep end of the pool. Each time I became competent at a skill or technique, I moved on to the next thing – all the while honing & perfecting the skills that came before.

Whatever your goal, get some dirt under your nails.

So often, I see people buy seed packets, gather the garden equipment, prep the hose, and learn what needs sun & what needs shade but never start to dig. You have to turn the dirt, plant the seeds, water the garden, dig up the weeds – and start all over again. Each season, you learn more & more. Your garden becomes thicker, more productive, more beautiful.

You cannot confuse preparation for action.

You cannot create something without getting dirt under your nails.

Want to learn how to paint? Paint. Want to make jewelry? Make jewelry. Want to write? Write. Want to climb a mountain? Climb.

When was the last time your played in the dirt?

{white ceramic planter & succulent garden kit by monkeysalwayslook}

Filed Under: ceramics, creativity, garden Tagged With: , , , 29 Comments