Happy New Year

May all your writing and creativity resolutions come to pass during 2008!

Posting anxiety

I haven't been updating my blog lately, even after swearing that I would, due to what I can only call "posting anxiety." The belief that though this blogging medium is designed to be something different, to be less formal than previous mass communication media, my blog posts have to be perfect little essay masterpieces.

Obviously, my blog didn't start out to feature little essay masterpieces. I started this blog because I was forced to as a school assignment. But in a way, writing a blog is compelling. It's sort of like writing in a journal, but different because it is designed to be public. It's designed to be a communication to others, whereas a journal entry is designed to help one remember, or to sort things out, ruminate to one's self.

But I know that as a writer (future published writer), it's good to have a blog. Readers like them. Hey, I'm a reader, and I like to read author blogs. Especially Stephanie Bond who writes romance, romantic suspense, and romantic comedy. And Chad Darnell, who is a screenwriter. I check in with Tanya Michael's blog on a regular basis too. So, as they said in the recent Moonlight and Magnolia's session on author generated publicity, a blog is perhaps one of the best self-advertisements.

As I said though, I'm not yet published in book form. So I don't yet have any books to promote. And I'm going through this anxiety about posting--it must be good! It must be good!

Oh well, I'm really trying to get over that. I should accept the conventions of the medium. Write off the top of my head. So, that's what I'm doing now. Writing about writing once again.

I bring you:

The Tree Shepher's Daughter, a wonderful new young adult novel by my friend Gillian Summers, a fellow member of the Georgia Romance Writers. I admit, I'm sometimes hesitant to read my friend's books. What if I don't like it? So, even though this book was published several months ago, I have just gotten around to buying it and reading it. And luckily, I have had it signed by the author too! It's marvelous. I started it last night and I finished earlier today. (I decided to pick it up and read it when I woke up from insomnia. It was the wrong book to choose. I couldn't put it down, so I read from 3 a.m. to 7 a.m. If you need to get up early the next day, don't pick up this book.)

The target audience for this book is preteens and teens. It falls in the category of fantasy, although it's not the sort of fantasy that is on another planet. In fact, it's set in Colorado! That's one of the things the author did very well. The setting, a Renaissance Fair in Colorado, is beautifully incorporated. The author doesn't go on gushing about how beautiful it is, but you understand that because of the way that the trees, the stream, the meadow are incorporated into the plot line. The leading lady is fabulously written--a real teenager with real feelings of loss and abandonment (and a real twist too). And the supporting characters--there isn't stock character in the bunch. Well, yeah, there is--the best friend, the dad, etc. But they all are written as real originals.

I'm really looking forward to the followup to this book. Hopefully, book 2 in the Faire Folk Trilogy will be out soon.

This week, I have been working on writing a new essay. I've been exploring essay writing since I took creative non-fiction at Kennesaw State. The interesting thing is that the creative non-fiction course should have been named memoir writing. We did nothing else in there except memoir. Now, don't get me wrong, I learned a lot in the class, but I still say it was terribly miss-advertised because miss-named. Anyway, we didn't study essays in that class, so I've taken on the study and practice of essay writing on my own. It's definitely a genre that I enjoy and admire a lot.

Have you ever noticed that when you learn a new word that it all of a sudden starts popping up everywhere? Well, since I've decided to start working on essays, I realize that I have all this information to refer to, but that I haven't paid attention to it until recently. For instance, I have a two-year old issue of Poets and Writers in my tub-side magazine rack with a lovely article by Sven Birkerts about memoir and essay writing. I suppose it's been waiting for two years for me to get around to needing it.

Today, I attended a good workshop/Q&A session given by the Georgia Writers Association. Marc Fitten, editor of the Chattahoochee Review, a 30 year old literary magazine, spoke on literary mags and what they are looking for...especially, of course, his. It was very informative. And he happened to mention that not as many people are submitting essays as are submitting fiction, so it's actually a little bit easier to get published with essays than with short stories. But of course, he also said that he gets about 6,000 submissions each year for a lit mag published four times a year. So the odds are long, for either essay or fiction. He noted poetry is easier to get published. Why? Because books, magazines, etc. are published with pages in multiples of 8. It has to do with printers, the size of the paper used, how it's folded and bound. (I'm temporarily blanking on what those booklets are called....some funky name...register, maybe?) So, if a story runs six pages, they fill in the other two pages with poetry.... Interesting, eh?

Here's a shout out to my friend Debra Ann Shirley who has a poem published in issue #36 of the Cortland Review. Here's a link to it: http://www.cortlandreview.com/ The poem really speaks to me, and is a great reflection of Debbie (as I new her when...) who grew up in the Appalachian Mountains of North Georgia.

Another shout out to my friend Chad Darnell, who has recently had several successes with his scripts. Check into his blog http://chaddarnell.typepad.com/runchadrun2/ to find out all about it. I read some of his scripts when he was in college. I can say that I recognized his talent way back when! Plus, he's a fabulous actor, although he doesn't seem to do any acting anymore.

Happy birthday to all my Leo friends: Karen, Sarah Jane, Kailey, Angela, Shannon... Lots and lots of my friends are born in late July and August! Must be something really there when they say that Aries and Leos are compatible.

Once again into the breach...

In an effort to make my writing more meaningful, when I'm in this "minimally published" phase of my career, I've decided to start blogging once again. I started my blog due to a class I was taking in my Masters of Professional Writing program at Kennesaw State University, and found that I both loved and hated blogging. -

I have a friend, Chad Darnell, that blogs about his daily life. He is dedicated to a career that most people fantasize about, and he lives his life with a sardonic attitude that he translates beautifully into the words of his blog. But I don't think my daily life is that interesting.

I admire Stephanie Bond, a multi-published author of romance novels, who blogs about writing and gives advice to aspiring writers. I don't think that is my oeuvre either.

Although I initially named my blog "Musings on Creativity," it has actually developed into musings on the composing process. It's too late to change the name now, though. So, I will continue to blog about composing, writing, and the creative process, but I attempt to share more information about specific projects that I am working on, not just whine about my inability to write.

And with a fresh start on my blog, I have chosen a new template. I think it's an appropriate time to do that.

Tiger Woods

Last night on...I have no idea what channel, since I was doing my regular channel surfing thing--let's say it was ESPN--someone (Mark Richt?) was asked "if they could be a famous athlete, who would they be?" This person shocked me by replying that he'd like to be "the fastest person in the world--to win the 100 yard dash in the Olympics." Frankly, he shocked me. I have no idea why anyone would pick being anybody but Tiger Woods.

Yes, if I could be anyone else for the day, especially if the caveat was that it had to be an athlete, it would be Tiger Woods.

And I don't even play golf.

And I only sort of want to learn to play golf. I grew up thinking that golf was boring, but I went to a tournament one time and now I've changed my mind. Yes, I've actually seen Tiger Woods play golf in person...at least one hole. You know how hard it is to follow him? I'm too short to see over most of the crowd, so I ended up going to a hole several holes ahead and waiting for him. Good strategy--beautiful sun-shiny day, very relaxing--until the Tiger crowd came roaring up.

Anyway, back to being Tiger Woods--

I wish I had his phenomenal ability to focus.

I wish I had his ability to never give up, to come from behind.

I wish I had his ability to find, enter, and stay "in the zone."

How long does it take to develop these talents? Actually, how long does it take to get them back? I used to be able to focus and "be in the zone" but I have neglected that ability and it is a muscle that seems to flabby. Or has my brain chemistry altered and now I have "adult-onset ADD" ? I just don't know. But I'm working on it.

More musings

I am in a funk. I've been sick, and I hate the cough and sniffles and mild fever that I've had. I haven't been able to work, I haven't been blogging. Yuck.

I have been attempting to keep up with my e-mail, and when I log on, I check on several blogs. I am amazed that Tanya Michaels can keep up with her blogging while sick as a dog. She's been blogging every day. My goal is only once a week, and I'm not doing that very well.

Does dreaming count as being creative?

Although, come to think of it, I don't really dream much when I am "swd"--sleeping while drugged. Benadryl knocks me out cold.

Musings on Creativity

Really, I know that "musings on creativity" is kind of a silly title for this blog posting, since it is the name of my entire blog, but it is apropos today.

Creativity is not an idea, it's an act.

Don't judge creativity harshly. The act of creativity is sometimes more important than the quality of the product produced. Sometimes the only goal is doing the act.

The worst idea is the one not captured.

When capturing ideas, the simplest tools are the best tools. Thank you pen and paper.

Try new creative endeavors to feed new ideas in the ones you regularly work in.

Writing down, sketching out, recording your ideas, makes reality out of imagination. Imagination is great, but what if the Grimm Brothers had never written their tales down? They might not be remembered now, and the world would be lesser if we didn't have Cinderella, Rapunzel, or Sleeping Beauty.

Why do I get my best ideas in the shower? I've dealt with the "getting ideas in the car" problem by investing in an audio cassette recorder (I like the low tech stuff) but I haven't come up with a paper that won't get wet.

Musings on Religion and Good Thoughts for a Friend

Just a quick note to let you all know that I took a seminar with Barbara Winter, the author of Making a Living Without a Job and it was worth every penny I paid...which you can't say about every seminar. I'll expand on what I learned later.

Right now, I want to make a comment on all those people who say "oh, I'm not religious, I'm spiritual." It's a phrase that makes me crazy. It has no meaning. Do they just commune with some fuzzy warm feeling? Hug actual trees? I don't know. And believe me, I'm no evangelist. Heck, I can't even spell it. (Well, let's face it. I can't spell without spell check anymore, even if it's just the word "a.") But here's the rub. There is very little in the world that is more heartbreaking and terrifying than when you are going through a spiritual upheaval, whether that is because you feel that God isn't answering your prayers or because the very human leaders of your church are failing in their leadership in some way. (As all humans eventually do.) Terrifying, depressing, anxiety-producing.

Will all of you say a prayer for my friend who is going through a spiritual upheaval right now? Just refer to her as "W" as you lift her up. (And no, this isn't a thinly veiled reference to me, but she might not want her business spread all over the internet through my blog. And there ARE other people in the world whose names begin with W.) Even if you aren't a regular church-goer, but are "spiritual" (and now mad at me because of my comment above), please send good thoughts her way. I do believe in Karma...although not necessarily in the Buddhist way--more like the connection all humans have through the Holy Spirit.

Thanks everybody.

Apologies

I try to blog every week, but this week, I've been resistant to doing so. I don't know why, except that all my creative energies have been diverted into finishing replacing my living room floor.

I love to decorate, and feel like I would have been a good professional decorator. My only problem right now with it is that I rent my second bedroom to a friend. He's a friend, so I agreed to allow him to add his some of his stuff to the living and dining room. His exceedingly modern stuff. My other friends can't decide if the chandelier hanging over the dining table looks like a spaceship or something that should hang over a conference table. Really, I keep wondering why those damn aliens invaded my home and not Wired's offices.

And then there's the blue-green chair in the living room. The one that looks, to me, that it was modeled after one of those acrylic commemorative baseball stands. And if I was 3 inches taller, it would be comfortable. But I'm not 3 inches taller. So I never sit there.

Ah well. It's been good to have the extra $$, and when he gets his PhD and a job and moves out, I will miss him. But not his furniture.

Writing exercise

Recently, I have had the priviledge of hearing from old friends that I haven't seen in over 20 years. One of those friends, who has stayed in touch with the others, sent me an e-mail (she found me from this blog) and I've gotten e-mails from the others as responses to messages that she's sent out. These are people that, although I'd lost touch with them, I thought of rather frequently. I was thrilled to hear from Debbie, and I'm thrilled to hear about Mark, Andy, Judge, and Mary Grace.

One of the writing exercises I do sometimes, to work on character development and to stretch my imagination, is to choose friends from my past and to create character studies of what they might now be...based on the little information that I have from rather impersonal e-mails...

Debbie is living in Colorado. She broke her leg last spring. She's a poet.

Mark lives in Illinois.

Judge lives in the capital city of the state he grew up in and works in the arts.

Andy...I really don't know from his e-mail where he lives or what he does now....Creative license!

M.G. lives in Texas.

So, how did these smart and creative people, who started out in a Southern state, get to where they are now? I get to make it up! And I really get to make up what they are doing now, since I don't really know them well anymore.

This is one way to help develop back story for characters you use in your novels, imagining how they get from one place and stage in life to another. And if you start with someone you know, but not too well, you ground those characters in truth and imagination both.

Quick update

I am in awe of my friend Elaine, who has a new job and is able to balance her life in a way that seems to guarantee she writes. I have been asked to critique the first few chapters of her new novel, so that she can begin the submission process by Friday. Good luck to you Elaine.

Studio 60

So, my favorite television show of the fall season is Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. I love literate shows, and there seem to be so few of them. I am enjoying the way the characters are being developed (slowly). I enjoy the way that interesting facts are worked into the scripts. Case in point--information about the blacklist and the Hollywood 10, in a script featuring Eli Wallach. (One of my favorite bits of The West Wing was the episode with the mapmakers....) I enjoy the enormous number of characters, and the way the episodes are production designed and shot (go Thomas Schlamme). (By the way, if you like this show, don't read "Television Without Pity" on-line. It hates this show.)

There is a recurring storyline featuring a writer from Vanity Fair (played by Christine Lahti) doing an in-depth artlicle on the show. I loved her line (which I'm paraphrasing a bit, since I don't memorize lines well):

"The article is going to be 10,000 words. Not all of them will be winners."

I thought that was hilarious. I think every writer will. Because, let's face it, Aaron Sorkin is one of the most prolific writers around, and, in my opinion, one of the most brilliant. (Argue if you want, but wouldn't it be fascinating to sit next to him at a dinner party?) And if his words aren't all winners (and he writes autobiographically, to a certain extent), do I need to worry that not all of mine are?

And let's face it: another reason I love this show is that it features two men I drool over--Matthew Perry and Bradley Whitford. Yum.

Deb Dixon's Goal, Motivation and Conflict

I love spreading the news about good books--and right now, I'm not talking about Jesus. Although that would be a good topic too, it's really not the topic of my blog. No, today, I want to share with you the book Goal, Motivation and Conflict by Debra Dixon. Deb Dixon is fairly famous in romance writer circles, for both her book and her workshops.

At the very first writing conference I ever attended, her workshop was not only packed, but it was scheduled for two hours, when most were scheduled for one. And two hours wasn't long enough. It's my understanding that she often presents day-long workshops. At this one, it seemed like she really hadn't figured out what to cut out, so she talked really fast. Still, it was a good workshop.

However, the book, Goal, Motivation and Conflict, allows you to slow down and think about your own work while reading it. In fact, if you're me, you put the book down and go fix something in your script. Actually, I haven't fixed it completely--but I've highlighted a problem and plan to fix it in re-writes. But I've been given a little insight into what was stopping me on my young adult novel. I've had the plot in my head for months and months, but I haven't been writing a lot. And I've been dissatisfied with what I've written. The pace is great, the emotions are conveyed, but it is so meandering. Each scene really isn't going any place. I think that with the help of GMC, I can cure that problem and really end up with a novel instead of a lot of unconnected scenes.

I also think that it will help me with my chapter breaks--which is a problem that I only faced recently. I have no idea where my chapters should end, so I seem to be writing a one chapter book. A really really long chapter. But this clearly written tome is helping me with a lot of writing problems.

WritersWeekly

I've been subscribed to WritersWeekly for over 2 years now, and I am really impressed with the website/service. WritersWeekly is an on-line magazine for writers with helpful hints of all kinds, from creativity to marketing. It is run by Angela Hoy and her husband Richard (whose last name I don't know and I'm too lazy to look up), who also run the print on demand publishing company, Booklocker. Don't let that scare you away. They do not use WritersWeekly as a thinly-veiled way to force authors to use their service. (They do, however, "advertise" Booklocker on their site.)

The link above is to an article about a great way to write press releases for your newly published book. It definitely provides a way to keep your press release from being boring. Go read the article now (it's short), and think about subscribing to their weekly e-mail. It's worth it for writers of all kinds.

More Vocal Variety

My writing partner and I will be meeting tomorrow to work on "voice." Specifically, we will be reading our work out loud to each other. Do other writing/critique partners do that? Or do they just forward their work to each other?

I've been thinking lately about work habits and creative links between/among the arts. Please write in and share with me your work habits and thoughts on creativity.

Sing, baby, sing

We've been discussing "voice" in my editing class at KSU, and how it is the editor's responsibility to make sure that the editing stays true to it. But what is voice? It seems to me to be one of those "I know it when I see it" things--like pornography.

There are some books that I just "get." And I think it's because I can really hear their voice. Even if that voice isn't like mine, there is something that gives a cohesive whole to their work. For instance, right now, I'm reading Shakespeare Wars: Clashing Scholars, Public Fiascos and Palace Coups. It's a fun read, even if, when seen in public reading it, you might as well be wearing a sign that says "Literature Geek. Will work for Reads." The author has a really strong voice--definite sentence structure, word choice, the way he quotes people he has interviewed. In fact, although I haven't read the entire book yet, the only complaint I have with the book is the fact that his voice could have used some editorial-reining-in. He loves to write with sentence fragments. And I'm o.k. with that. Really. But sometimes he does it so much that you have no idea what the subject is any more. Where's that antecedent? Really, where?

When I received my first paper back in my editing class, the major comment that my professor wrote was "I would have liked to see more of YOU in the paper," which was really funny, because I'm in a class, in a degree program. When I was writing it I was worried that I was writing it like a feature story, that maybe it should have been more academic. And we all know that you are supposed hide yourself as the author when you are writing academically. All that "research was performed" etc. When I'm forced to write academically, I'm always pushing to just say "I read." "I think."

Oh, for a happy medium.

Time to Celebrate

I realized lately that I use this blog to whine about mental blocks to my creative efforts and I rarely use it to celebrate when I have been able to climb over those mental blocks. So today, I am going to use my blog to celebrate, and also to muse about why I don't do that more often.

Lately, I have had several successes. I have finished several assigned articles for a magazine. I have conducted an interview with the editor-in-chief of an academic journal and written a paper on that information. I feel really good about that paper, too. I've gotten my resume together too, and actually submitted it for a job! (Thanks for the help, Jessica.)

My friend Lou often tells me that I am incredibly self-critical. I know I am. And I think that there is a big connection between that self-criticism and those mental blocks that interfere with my creativity.

Luckily, I have been able lately to feel good about my work/accomplish my work/do more work.

How do I keep the flow coming? That is a trick to figure out.

The 2,996 Project, In honor of Lt. Michael Quilty

So I'm sitting here in a public restaurant and I'm crying.

I am attempting to find the appropriate words to honor Lt. Michael Quilty, a New York City firefighter who died 5 years ago today, on the day that changed the world.

Michael Thomas Quilty was a 20 year and 6 day veteran of the NY City Fire Department. Most of his career had been spent with Engine 282, and Ladder 148 in Brooklyn. He had been promoted to lieutenant in 1999, and served wherever he was needed. He had spent only a year at Ladder 11 when he died at the World Trade Center.

I am sending my prayers to God and my thoughts and best wishes to his family, wife Susan, son Daniel and daughter Kerry.

Since its inception in 1999, the Uniformed Fire Officers Association (UFOA) has awarded fifty-seven (57) scholarships to the children of their fallen brothers. The scholarship award is $4,000 for the first year of school followed by $2,000 for the remaining 3 years of undergraduate study for a total scholarship of $10,000. Daniel Quilty was awarded a scholarship in 2004/2005, and Kerry was just awarded one. I'm so sorry that you were eligible for the scholarship, but I feel sure that your dad would have been proud.

Mike, as he was known, was an avid sportsman. He scuba-dived with his son Daniel and coached his daughter Kerry's soccer team. He was a life-long resident of Staten Island and a member of St. Teresa's Roman Catholic Church, Castleton Corners, Staten Island, New York. You can read more about his life here.

I lack the eloquence to do justice to Lt. Quilty. I hope I honor him with what I've attempted to do here.

Rory Stewart

I tried to post yesterday, but as I the server seemed to go down just as I hit "post" and all those beautiful words went "bye-bye." Oh well. I was probably gushing anyway. I had started with the words "I have a new hero."

I was flipping channels yesterday when I ran across Rory Stewart speaking about his new book on CSpan2/Book TV. The Places in Between is the story of his 600 mile walk across Afghanistan.

I find the fact that he has walked across Afghanistan fascinating enough, but combine that with the fact that he is a British diplomat and has had postings in both Kosovo and Iraq, and more importantly, is one of the most cogent speakers on the Iraqi situation that I have ever heard speak, and I tell you, I think he's one of the most admirable people that I've run across in a long time.

Granted, I've not actually read his book (yet). He may be a crackpot. But he really didn't seem that way when speaking. I admire someone who can operate in diplomatic circles, then shuck his suit and tie and go adventuring.

To me, it seems that he has both intelligence and a creative spirit. And, having written two books, he obviously has good butt-time skills. I admire that too.

(P.S. For those who don't know the "butt-time" reference, I picked it up from Patricia Sprinkle, a Georgia mystery novelist. She says the one most important skill that writers need it the ability to do "butt-time"--the ability to keep your bottom in the chair long enough to get your book written. It's a skill I admire, because it doesn't come easily to me.)

Anxiety conquered!

All right, not conquered. Perhaps it's best if I say I slithered around it. I had two articles assigned, and I was having the hebie-jeebies about completing them, as I do all my work. I finally managed to cope with the anxiety that writing (or any creative activity that I care about) produces and get the articles written and submitted.

In the book The Courage to Write, Ralph Keyes relates the story of the writer who has his butler lock him in his office without any clothes. I sure wish I was rich enough to have a butler to do the same for me.

I've recently attempted to put a stop to using housekeeping as one way of procrastinating about writing. I think it's backfiring though. My house desperately needs cleaning!

From the Sahara to White Water

I am privileged.

I am probably the least wealthy person in my social circle, but I am wealthy beyond measure.

I have enough food to eat, safe drinking water, a roof over my head. I have abundant clothing, a car to drive.

I have the brains and the working body to make sure this continues.

I live in a society, in a country, that encourages me to live the life of my dreams, to work at something I love, and to change any of the parts of my life that I don't like.

I am privileged.

I spent six weeks this summer living in a society where things were different. Even though I was privileged enough to live with a nice, middle class family, I could look around me and realize that some important things were not the same.

I drank bottled water all the time I was in Tunisia, trying to avoid tummy troubles (unsuccessfully, but that's another story). My Tunisian family drinks rainwater. They have a big cistern to capture what little rain falls. And if they run out of rain water, they drink bottled water too. The city's water pipes are full of lead.

Bread is cheap there. I think it is subsidized by the government. Everyone buys a fresh loaf of bread every day. But cars are incredibly expensive, since they all were imported. Gasoline is expensive too. (They call it petrol. Fuel for cars is petrol, gas means natural gas.) The first oil deposits ever found in Tunisia were found earlier this year. They never have had the oil industry that both Algeria and Libya have (they had never discovered oil there before, although they have looked for a long time), so fuel has always been expensive there. In fact, so expensive that people smuggle it in from Libya and sell it around the neighborhood. Even though I complain about fuel costs here, it doesn't eat up the percentage of my income that it would if I were making a Tunisian salary.

And here in the U.S., I am able to go back to school and develop new skills (or work on ones that I already have). I am able to change and adapt as I care to. In Tunisia, they aren't able to do that. The opportunities just aren't there. I met a woman--an electrical engineer--who had been looking for a job for six years. Crazy. And sad.

And then, this past weekend, I went white water rafting. I realized how amazing that I went from spending the weekend in the Sahara Desert to being immersed in gallons upon gallons of water all in one summer. I realized how privileged that makes me.

And, of course, it filled me with all sorts of sensory experiences that I can use in my writing. It sparked so many story ideas. What an amazing weekend.

How privileged am I?