Creative Spaces and Writing Places #IWSG
[I wrote this post as a member of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group where we share our worries and also offer support and encouragement to each other on the first Wednesday of every month. If you’re a writer like me and you’re looking for a bit of support, you can click the link and sign up here]
This month’s awesome Co-Hosts: J.H. Moncrieff, Tonja Drecker , Patsy Collins, and Chrys Fey!
Check out our IWSG homepage. And as always, thank you to founder Alex J. Cavaugh 🙂
Special spaces and places elicit certain mind frames and energies. Special items in these spaces create mood and comfort. Back when I was a child, my places swayed with wind, smelled of fir and green leafier things. Bark tended to prickle along my back or my hands, sometimes sticky with sap. I lived for exploring the great outdoors and finding perfect forts and branch swings. I’d lie back for hours and day-dream, or at least what felt like hours because time is different for kids. But I let my mind wander and wonder of different worlds and people. I think I was 7-years old when I started to write myself into magical worlds.
Later a favorite place became a bathtub filled with old couch cushions. I had a lamp, a notebook and pens. I didn’t need much else.
Now my favorite place is the corner of my kitchen. Chaos doesn’t matter, has never mattered I guess. Being a mom, a younger sister, a college girl at one time with three roommates and working in a busy architect or illustration studio, I’ve learned to block out sounds. I’ve learned to disappear quietly in my mind no matter what is going on around me. Except for one thing: vibration, the tap of soft fingers on the countertop, or my chair. I’m not sure why.
This month’s IWSG question asks: “What are five objects we’d find in your writing space?”
- An owl drawing my 8-year old daughter made me, props up against my monitor.
- I have a special painted rock from my 10-year old son.
- My top two favorite books lie against the tiled kitchen wall where right above it, hang several inspiration cards and postcards from my writer friend.
- My green spiral portfolio notebook which contains my current work in progress; lastly,
- My computer. I can’t live without it and it’s networked to all of my other Mac devices, my phone and my I-pad so I can take my work every where I go.
Do you have a favorite creative or special place? What was it like as a child? And now? Does vibration rattle you?
Happy IWSG Day.
Focused Distraction Is A Creative Technique #IWSG #AMWRITING
[I wrote this post as a member of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group where we share our worries and also offer support and encouragement to each other on the first Wednesday of every month. If you’re a writer like me and you’re looking for a bit of support, you can click the link and sign up here]
This month’s awesome Co-Hosts: Ellen @ The Cynical Sailor, Ann V. Friend, JQ Rose, and Elizabeth Seckman!
Check out our IWSG homepage. And as always, thank you to founder Alex J. Cavaugh 🙂
***
Have you ever watched a child in an art room digging fingers in a ball of clay, smoothing water over a shape she’s trying to create with her own two hands?
Have you ever listened to a teen recite lines for a speech or a play, eyes lost on some space on the wall, hugging her arms in while the words slip out just as she hoped?
Have you ever sat at a desk and stared at a blank screen or piece of paper, wondered where to start and why it isn’t starting right now when you have the time, and maybe too much time to think?
Creativity is a beautiful science. Images. Voices. Blank screens of possibility. Puzzled thoughts and making choices. Learning basic formulas and mixing and matching the right ones for you.
This month’s IWSG question asks, “How has your creativity in life evolved since you began writing?
I might have digressed in this post this month, thinking more of what I use to get through the evolution of creativity. I guess in remembering my own journey, I focused on what helped me work through the process, to keep going.
For me, distraction has kept me on track through time. How to use sensations to get past that chunk of clay, the cool water slipping through your fingers. The hugging motion I didn’t realize I used to get the words out. And when I’m stuck on a thought or a blank screen, I always go to the gym. I solve everything on a stair climber or a spin bike in the spin room. Maybe it’s my busy mind unable to let go. So when I distract myself with other motions, sensations, I free the block. I’m able to start again.
Distraction has taught me to use my eyes and hands, to search with additional senses. Study expressions. Memorize color. Smile at the detail in eye lashes and dimples. Wonder, or wander. Over time my distractions have evolved into smarter, doable things I am choosing to use because they work.
We can’t always control a thought or where we are, but we can change our surroundings and what we see to dream again.
A few last thoughts on creativity by some creative writers:
Have a lovely rest of your week 🙂
Good Heroes Need Good Villains #authortoolboxbloghop #amwriting
The Author Toolbox Blog Hop is “a monthly blog hop on the theme of resources/learning for authors: posts related to the craft of writing, editing, querying, marketing, publishing, blogging tips for authors, reviews of author-related products, anything that an author would find helpful.” Want to jump into the writing tool box? Search #AuthorToolboxBlogHop or to join via blog, click here.
Thank you Raimey!
***
At a writer’s conference a few years back, I sat with a literary agent and pitched my story. She mentioned my villain struck her attention the most. My villain had a goal equal in weight to my Lead. Then she mentioned lots and lots of writers forget to focus on the goal and the arc of the villain.
So today, I’m using some thoughts from The Marshall Plan Workbook. I’m focusing on the craft of the Opposition, a word Marshall uses in lieu of the Villain, and the importance of strength and equality for both the Lead and the Opposition. I’m also thinking of Khan as an example of interesting Opposition.
Four Basic Points From Marshall’s Plan to Consider
The Opposition As A Person
Marshall states, “Nothing stirs readers like person-against person conflict.” (Page 77)
I pondered all the books and movies I’ve liked the most. Avengers, The Archived, Panic, and The Coldest Girl in Coldtown. Some of my favorites involve magical possibility. All of them involve human faces. Sure, some phenomenal stories have been written with natural disasters and animals leading the opposition, but largely I do agree with Marshall. I think human opposition does “come across most effectively.”
And Khan. Is he human? Or he is he a divine being without weakness?
Wikipedia states Khan is, “a genetically engineered superhuman.” Now I’ve never seen the first appearance of Khan with the early Star Trek movie. But I do like the new version of Khan. I like seeing a human figure as the shell to all his power.
Opposition And Lead Must Be Equal
This point made me think again. True, the reader wants a good fight. True, the writer needs enough action and reaction scenes to develop an effective plot. Marshal states, ”an opposition who’s an equal match for your lead is believable to readers.” If one or the other is so far advanced, why doesn’t the story just end? A fair point. A last fair point, “Think first of your lead’s special skills and talents that will help her achieve the story goal, then bestow your opposition with a large enough share of the same talents that your lead will be given a real run her money—a run that will keep readers turning the page.”
And Khan? I had a hard time justifying if Khan was indeed equal to the Lead, Captain Kirk. Khan seemed to win at manipulation with high stake issues. Kirk seemed to win with his crew and loyalty. He surrounded himself with talented people with different talents than the ones he seemed to have. Khan didn’t seem to need anyone, with a gift of regenerative blood. He seemed super strong. He seemed to evaluate weakness better than most. So it’s still a toss up to me.
Opposition isn’t Always Evil, Just Opposite
Marshall states, “The reason the ideal opposition is someone already known to the lead is that this is usually how life really works.” When I think back on all my own goals, it’s true. And Khan? I guess his existence was known previously to the start of the movie. Spock certainly knew him. His awakening was fast and public.
An Invisible Opposition Exists
Murder mystery genres face invisible Opposition. The lead does not know the opposition. The Lead is terrorized by an invisible opponent. The whole plot strives to uncover the opposition and solve a case.
A last important Marshall Question to consider:
Why would this character oppose my lead?
For more information on the Marshall Plan Workbook, here’s an amazon link to purchase the book. You’ll love the resource. I certainly do.
Any other Opposition thoughts? Any thoughts on Khan and Kirk? I’d love to hear them 🙂
Don’t Wish For Five More Minutes. Live. #IWSG #amwriting
[I wrote this post as a member of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group where we share our worries and also offer support and encouragement to each other on the first Wednesday of every month. If you’re a writer like me and you’re looking for a bit of support, you can click the link and sign up here]
This month’s awesome Co-Hosts: Dolorah @ Book Lover, Christopher D. Votey, Tanya Miranda, andChemist Ken!
Check out our IWSG homepage. And as always, thank you to founder Alex J. Cavaugh 🙂
***
How many times have you thought to yourself, if I only had thirty more minutes, ten, even five I could do amazing things.
Then I saw a great quote yesterday. It shifted my thoughts to this statement:
Because I didn’t have one more minute, I actually accomplished xyz. Things like folding all the laundry, or getting to work on time, or reading a story with my child I didn’t think I had time to do. So maybe the moment wasn’t about writing, but the moment was about life. Life is what happens in writing, when we have the moment to write.
This month’s IWSG question asks, “How do major life events affect your writing? Has writing ever helped you through something?”
Life will always compete with my writing goals. I juggle multiple roles and am still learning the writing craft. I squeeze writing into the small moments. Reading too. It’s all I can do, but I do in fact make at least 5 minutes of my time about my passion. And yes, writing has been a fantastic escape when life seems too heavy. When the real job gets to be too much. When a moment in time seems so helpless, I can in fact control the world in my head, my characters, and their fates rest in my contrived thoughts.
So maybe you don’t have another five minutes. That’s okay. You’ll find them. Maybe the next day you’ll find twenty minutes. In any case, here are a couple of last thoughts ….
You don’t quit after you get beat. You pick yourself up, and you start rebuilding to accomplish your goals.
~Daniel Cormier
It’s our challenges and obstacles that give us layers of depth and make us interesting. Are they fun when they happen? No. But they are what make us unique. And that’s what I know for sure… I think.
~Ellen DeGeneres
Everyone who achieves success in a great venture, solves each problem as they came to it. They helped themselves. And they were helped through powers known and unknown to them at the time they set out on their voyage. They keep going regardless of the obstacles they met. W. Clement Stone
