Tag: Motivation

  • Inspiring Words


    During the rare time waster and guilty pleasure of channel surfing the other night, I discovered a documentary about pop entrepreneur will.i.am (aka William James Adams).  He has always been an enigma to me, best known as a character in the “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” movie.  What can I say?  I’m not much of a hip hop fan but am always interested in biographies.
    So, curious, I watched.  The show did not disappoint.
    A favorite part turned out to be his inspirational quotes.  Not all pithy, his observations moved me.  I actually re-watched the program, spending time to pause and transcribe them word for word.  Not only were the quotes I wanted not readily found on the internet, it was a joy to hear him speak the words himself.
    I wrote on both sides of a sheet of 81/2 by 11 inch graph paper.  Since some of those words struck me as worth spreading to other artists, I have shared them below.  I wanted a more clever title for this post, but the effort just seemed to water down the whole point.  Enjoy.

    “On low points, I don’t look at them as low points.  I look at them as launch pads because if you learn from them, they’ll take you to a totally different platform.”

    “…Once you fill a void, you can’t avoid it.  It’s not just a play on words; it’s actually true in reality.”

    “If I had to define the thing that drives me, it would be dreams.  Everybody has dreams.  But my dreams come four-fold.  Meaning I have the dream, and then I have the dream to bring it real.  And then I dream up all the things that are gonna keep it from not making it real.  And then, by doing that, that dream is sitting in front of me as reality.”

    “Dreams are freakin’ powerful and friends, friends keep you on that path to remind you about the dream.  You can never do it alone.  You find your little friend ensemble and turn some impossible thing possible.”

    “The difference between heart, mind and gut. HEART is love & emotions. MIND is strategy & logic. GUT is intuition & spiritual connectivity.”
    And probably my favorite:

    “Except the unexpected and never, ever expect anything.”

    –

  • Writer Wednesday – Using the Tools


    Tips and tricks abound to aid the creative process.  I’ve become familiar with some very clever ones, often through the warm and wise counsel of accomplished author Catherine A. Noon.  She introduced me to the multi-talented Julia Cameron, for example, who has an entire side career dedicated to inspiring fellow artists.  Another gifted friend reminded me just this morning of some grand ways to hush the inner critic (Thanks, E!).

    Unfortunately, I’ve discovered a recurring failure to utilize these tools.  However much sense a plan makes, my good intentions somehow evaporate.  Why?  I think I’ve pinpointed a reason.  Buried in my psyche, a notion seems to persist that good writing materializes like a rabbit out of hat.  It’s supposed to be magic.
    I do believe that art has magical properties.  Without it, existence lacks a sense of hope or wonder.
    An important thing to remember about magic, though, is that David Copperfield didn’t really walk through the Great Wall of China.  Criss Angel can’t actually levitate.  They’re illusionists who put countless hours into manipulating the willing minds of an audience.
    Performers on any stage workto entertain us.  Why should writing be any different?  The answer: it’s not.
    Julia Cameron summed up my quandary in a line from “Finding Water”.  To paraphrase, my ego wants creativity shrouded in mystery.  This snooty persona thinks that artistic pursuit is somehow above punching a time clock.
    Today I defied this snob by setting a timer.  And you know what?  Thirty minutes dedicated to storytelling didn’t feel constrictive at all.  The added paragraphs gave me a sense of accomplishment even if the critic still sneered at the low word count.  So what?  I can set the timer for another thirty minutes when this post is up.

    What gets you on the page, stage, or wherever you wish your art to flourish?  I hope you’ll find the time to get out there today and do it.

    –

  • Cultivating the Imagination – Darla’s Writer Wednesday

    Recently I resumed gardening with a vengeance, renovating neglected areas of the yard as summer simmers in my region of the United States.  Succumbing to cliché, I can’t help making an analogy with my fiction writing and the situation currently underway.

    No longer do I wake with plot ideas brimming.  Instead, the once active muse continues to lie dormant after an extended period.  Attempts to pollinate my inspiration wither on the vine in sterile soil.  A tiny Haiku feels like a big accomplishment (though I guess that’s okay to some degree, as it is at least a form of creation).

    The frustrating this is that many months ago I wrote with furious intensity at every opportunity.  Pages of notebooks filled up with penned stories that I later transferred to computer.  Sheets of print-outs stacked on the passenger seat of my sedan allowed editing at long traffic lights.  I’d reread while on the NordicTrack making further, if sometimes difficult to decipher, notes of improvement.

    Minor elements twined together to sprout unforeseen branches for ever-growing characters.  I began to feel as if I’d been possessed by some benevolent spirit sharing stories from the afterlife.  Now, when I have more time to devote to writing than ever, the field is barren.

    Enough of the self indulgent puns, however.  As a wise friend pointed out, life ebbs and flows like the tide (Thanks for that uplifting remark, A. Catherine Noon!  What goes out must come in, eh?).  The author in me seems to be stuck in winter, but no season lasts forever (Okay, one more pun).

    I’m going to try starting fresh each morning, perhaps assigning each weekday with a particular goal.  Mondays could be devoted to reading those short stories moldering in a binder.  Tuesdays can be spent working on blog material, which I’ve neglected.  Wednesday might be time to develop new ideas, whether for a virgin project or an unfinished one.

    Before I go on, let’s just say that I’ll have to find what works.  In the meantime, I hope you don’t stagnate in whatever you desire to achieve.

    Now let’s go create!

    Maybe I’ll scribble down a Haiku before logging off…

    –

  • Writer Wednesday – The Importance of Hope

    I am considering changing my career and have gone back to the basics, which for me, is What Color Is Your Parachute by Richard Nelson Bolles (which, if you haven’t read it or it’s been awhile, go pick up the new version, it’s awesome).  In the very first chapter, he writes about Hope and how to find it.

    I think he’s right-on.  You can read his book for his four keys to finding hope because they’re well worth reading – regardless of where you are on your career path.  But for my purposes here, I wanted to highlight his first point:  make sure you have at least two alternatives in every situation.

    We’ve talked about this kind of mindset on Writer’s Retreat before.  Darla’s Keeping the Faith and my own Power to the People are two recent examples.  Writing is, by its nature, a solitary pursuit and it’s critical to keeping the fingers moving on the keyboard that we keep the right mindset.  I don’t know if “right” is exactly the word I want, more likely it’s “effective” as in, “does what I’m doing work to keep me on the page?”  If it does, great, if not, try something else.  And that, Dear Reader, is where having alternatives comes in handy.

    For example, let’s say we’re writing a story about Jake and Luke.  Jake is a biker and Luke is a day trader.  What happens if we make Jake a suburban cyclist instead?  Or what if Luke is a child counselor?  What if Luke is Lydia?  What if they’re brother and sister, instead of a romantic partnership?

    It makes sense from a battle standpoint, as well.  There’s an old saying, “No battle plan survives contact with the enemy.”  How does a strategist prevail, then?  By having a backup plan, contingency plan, whatever you want to call it.  Figure it’s your Zombie Apocalypse Survival Plan.  It doesn’t matter what you call it, it matters that you have it.

    After all, having a plan to survive the apocalypse means you have to hope that you will survive the apocalypse, eh?

    See why hope is so important?

  • Can You Spare Some Change?

    I’m writing this post two days late because I forgot when it was due.  Unfortunately, the online calendar I relied upon to keep track has been dismantled, the domain name now up for grabs.  It’s just a modern example of the inevitability of change.

    Change and I have never been friends.  I tend to stick in ruts rather than forging a new path.  My life would probably be very different but for simple events that led me here, plodding along in their wake.

    Oh, I make cosmetic changes, for sure.  I’ve gone through various phases, from conservative to goth in dress and attitude; exchanging talk shows for alternative rock on the radio.  The important matters, however, such as where to work and live, have been dictated by chance.

    There have been no big dreams I took a chance on trying, just jobs found through temporary agencies and a house that limited the resulting commute.  Even my pets, whom I love dearly, have been virtually (in one case, literally!) dropped in my lap as strays.  It’s pretty sad, in retrospect.

    But, on the bright side, I’m not dead yet.  Maybe there is a butterfly inside this shell, waiting for the right time to break free from its cocoon.  And despite temperatures in my boring, landlocked suburban neighborhood, the old fashioned wall calendar I’m looking at announces Wednesday as the first day of spring.

    What better time to spread my wings?  Now if I can only figure out in which direction to fly.  I’ve never been a migratory creature.  Wish me luck.

    –

  • Emotion for the Masses

    It’s common knowledge that emotions show unconsciously in our body language.  In jurisdictions practicing wise policy, police officers and their ilk receive training to translate this instantly, enabling life saving reactions to armed suspects about to shoot – or not.  Human beings transmit these signals from our faces to our very feet depending upon the circumstance.

    So ingrained, these reactions show even when there is no one present to read them.  I realized this in a unique way yesterday.  A mild skin irritation between my eyes would hurt whenever I made certain expressions, and this happened frequently while reading a newly purchased book.
    This author drew me to experience the various highs and lows, the shock or joy or sorrow, right along with her characters.  That immersion, this ultimate escapism, is what draws me to fiction.  Hence I’m reminded why I enjoy writing.
    I want to pull others out of their reality.  Heck, even when penning something private I gleefully submit myself to the sentiments and passions within the words.
    These are, of course, the same reasons we listen to music and look at works of art.  I sincerely thank those who’ve moved humankind through the ages and look forward to what comes in the future.
    Meanwhile, may you discover something today that transcends your spirit from the daily grind.  Or, perhaps you will craft it yourself!  Now, time to dust off my muse and get busy, right after I search out another book by this particular author (and leave praise of her craft while I’m at it).

    –

  • NaNo No No

    It’s no secret that I’m participating with National Novel Writing Month (NaNo for short).  Sadly, I find myself in a very different place from when I wrote my Writer Wednesday installment for this blog.

    Today I sit at the keyboard wondering why the house is so quiet at 1:30 in the afternoon instead of simply enjoying the fact.  Usually I hear talk radio wafting from the office next door where my husband works from home.  There’s no sound at all, though, and I realize he may be taking a rare nap.

    This realization should make me happy.  After all, he’s not going to disturb my writing if he’s asleep, right?  Instead, I found myself wishing he would knock on my door and ask me to come out to spend time with him and the cats.

    Why is this?  Sure, it’s nice to be wanted but, frankly, the inner critic is telling me to throw in the towel.  The dream sequence idea that so motivated me the other day seems to have taken over.  My most recent story additions consist of nothing more than aforementioned dream sequences, endless sex scenes, or worse yet, a puzzling combination of the two.

    The predicament is actually more funny than truly worrisome, I know.  And this bump in the road should motivate me to jump off in another direction, even if the new tangent makes no sense.  That’s what the motivational messages on the NaNo web page suggest.

    Instead I’m tempted to turn on the television and see what mindless drivel might distract me from my frustration.  And therein lies the “no no” from my blog post title.  Stopping now, just after 2:00 when possibly a crazily productive hour could lie ahead (I typically write until three on a good day), is a rotten idea.

    So, I’m going to wrap this up and jump back into my silly, meandering, but growing manuscript.  Trimming, editing, and overall refined plotting can wait.  There are words to write that have never seen the light of day.  That’s too big an opportunity, some might say even a responsibility, to quit now.

    I hope you’re having a productive day, whatever your endeavor.  Just keep moving forward and you’ll hopefully find yourself advancing to a better place with every step.  Even if your walk only seems to take you backward, I’m rooting for you from my own little path, so hang in there!

  • Darla’s Writer Wednesday – Keeping the Faith

    Today I find myself nearly smack in the middle of National Novel Writing Month.  If you’re a writer, I hope you’re with me.

    This, my third effort, started shakily.  With only a title thought up on a whim, one character that has starred in numerous unpublished short stories, and the vaguest of plot concepts, I fell prey to my biggest failing – editing instead of writing.  The word count floundered, the tale going nowhere as I painstakingly sought the perfect verb for a single sentence instead of pouring forth the paragraphs required to generate fifty thousand words for the month.
    Then yesterday happened.  Dreams from the night before woke me with vivid if nonsensical images.  I wrote what I remembered in my morning pages (like a journal, it’s an exercise recommended by Julia Cameron’s “Artist’s Way” creativity workshop), whether to purge them from mind or record them for posterity, I do not know.
    Still getting an early start after that, I sat at the keyboard with no clue how to continue.  The people on the page meandered through some dialogue when the notion of a dream sequence occurred to me.  I’m sure you know where this is going, but I’ll say it anyway.  Why not use the new material my sleeping mind generated?  I proceeded with my largest daily word count ever.
    The whole sequence might be throw-away material; I don’t know yet.  But knowing I’ve produced something that has never before existed has left me invigorated to keep going.  And as soon as I post this, I’m going to get back into that document and strive forth.

    I’ll say again, I hope you’re with me.

  • Monday with Aunt Noony – and a Fireside Chat with Kimberley Troutte!

    My friend, Kimberley Troutte, is up for several awards and I wanted to chat with her about the awards process and how it fits in with the rest of her writing. She was kind enough to take time out of her busy schedule to chat with me. Grab a cuppa and join me as I get to talk with Kimberley Troutte!

    ACN: Kimberley, you said you received word that your manuscript, Epicenter (also called Her Guardian, His Angel), is a finalist in the RWA contests Launch A Star AND the Melody of Love. You also have a second manuscript, God Whisperer, in the finals of the Hot Prospect contest. First, congratulations! That’s awesome news!

    Can you tell me a little more about Epicenter?

    KT: I would love to. Epicenter, is the dramatic story of an American philanthropist and a Haitian doctor who are fighting to save lives when the greatest earthquake Haiti has ever known rips their world apart.

    ACN: How did they get considered for Launch a Star and Melody of Love? Is that something you had to submit, or were you nominated? How does that work?

    KT: These are writing contests in two different RWA Chapters (Romance Writers of the World). I entered online, paid my fee and kept my fingers crossed. Preliminary judges read all the entries, score them based on predetermined scoresheets, and determine which entries are good enough to move to the final rounds. I was honored and thrilled to hear that I was moving to the finals where agents and editors determine the final standings of the winners.

    And the nail biting begins…

    ACN: Is there a contest fee?

    KT: Yep. Usually around $15-35 USD.

    ACN: How about God Whisperer? What is that about?

    KT: It’s the story of a mother and her eight-year-old son who are hiding for their lives in a Danish community in the hills of California when the boy becomes famous due to an ear surgery that allows him to hear God.

    God Whisperer is near and dear to my heart. I wrote it because my little boy was born without an ear canal or eardrum in his right ear. The outside of the ear looked normal (albeit a little smaller than the left) but he had no hole! Very rare. The amazing surgeons at UCLA recreated his ear, drilling the hole, making an eardrum from his own tissue, and lifting the bones so that they could pick up sounds. It was a miracle when my boy could hear out of both ears for the first time in his life and I wanted to pour that love and miracle into a book.

    ACN: How did it get selected for Hot Prospect? Is that something you did on your own, or were you nominated? How does that work?

    KT: I entered it in the online RWA writing contest. I was so pleased that it was a finalist in the single-title category that I cried.

    ACN: What made you want to be considered for these?

    KT: I’d be lying if I said I didn’t hope to win :-), but mostly I entered these contests looking for answers. I had made huge revisions to the beginnings of both manuscripts and wanted to know if the changes worked.

    First chapters are hard for me. I tend to revise them several times before the book is ready. I always worry that I might be starting in the wrong place, or in the wrong point of view, or including too much backstory, or…

    The questions I hoped that the judges would help me answer were:

    • Would readers be hooked enough to want to invest their precious time to read on?
    • Am I clear—not too much backstory but enough information so that the reader is not confused?
    • Are the character likeable?
    • Is the plot interesting?

    I was thrilled to pieces to see that the preliminary judges liked my first chapters, OMG they really did.

    ACN: How do you find contests fit into your writing process? Is it something you do out of enjoyment, or is it part of your overall marketing strategy?

    KT: Contests give me a chance to see where I am succeeding and falling short so that I can improve my story before other readers and publishing professionals see it. I always keep in mind that judging is subjective but if two judges touch on the same weak point, it probably needs to be changed.

    ACN: What advice would you give to a writer wanting to start out competing? Where would a person start and what strategies could you recommend?

    KT: I would recommend going to the RWA [Romance Writers of America] website. There are all sorts of contests for the unpublished and published alike and you don’t have to be a member of RWA to enter. Make sure you read the rules carefully and email the contest coordinator if you have any questions. I would choose a contest that offers judges feedback so that you can learn and grow from their advice. And remember that it is a subjective process. All judges, just like readers, are not the same. I have had one judge love the chapter while the other disliked it rather intensely. That’s the way it goes sometimes. If you are willing to put yourself out there and enter with an open mind, determined to use the contest as a tool, you should be able to learn something from it.

    ACN: I wish you every success and, regardless of whether you win, you should be proud for having entered. That takes guts and I’m sure proud of you.

    KT: Thank you so much. I am in a place of happy shock. I’m so grateful that judges gave up their time to help me become a better writer. It’s such a gift.

    Write on!

    Kimberley Troutte

  • On Blocks and Other Frustrations

    Have you ever set a goal for yourself, like, “I’ll finish this story by X date,” and then realized your mind’s gone blank?

    Yeah, me too.

    I wanted to have the next chapter of The Night Is a Harsh Mistress today, and set that as my goal.  Then, when I sat down to write, my mind went blank because I worried about whether it will be any good.  Rather than fight the goal, I figured I’d chat about what works for me for getting around it.

    First, be careful about what goals you do accept.  If you know that setting your expectations can tend to block you, then be selective about what goals you do try to struggle for.

    Second, set small goals for doing the work.  For example, try using a timer and set it for 30 minutes.  Even if you just stare at your computer for that 30 minutes, (and no cheating on Facebook or garbage surfing), see what happens.

    Third, if that doesn’t work, try sitting with your journal for a while.  Write about why you don’t want to work on your goal.  Write all the nasty, petty, complaining little putsy comments that you can think of.  Sometimes, just getting them out there can help.

    Fourth, try something else.  If you have another craft, like knitting, do that for a bit just to get moving creatively.  Or, try a blog post, like this, for example.

    Fifth, give yourself permission to fail.  By the time it got to be dinnertime, I realized I wasn’t going to get the chapter done today.  Instead, I decided to be honest and write about my block, and in the process, came up with some ideas for how to get around them.  It doesn’t make my goal happen, but it does keep me moving in the right direction – and that, in and of itself, can help you.

    Above all, remember we are all imperfect beings.  It’s not about the goals you accomplish, but the journey you take along the way.  As they say, you win some, you lose some.  Just keep moving forward and you might be startled by how many you start finishing.

    Happy creating!