Expressing What’s Inside You Creatively

Some say there is a novel in every one of us, trying to get out, waiting to be written.

I say that’s wrong.

Not everyone is a writer, nor is everyone a musician, nor is everyone an artist.

But…

I say there’s a story within every one of us.

That story can be expressed:

• as a novel
• in a poem
• through photography
• in film
• in music
• via singing
• performing a dance
• with paint and brushes on a canvas
• by creating a sculpture
• cooking new meals
• by designing a garden
• creating a website
• giving someone a new look with a haircut
• on a fashion catwalk
• in politics
• in philosophy
• in a scientific environment
• through the skills of oratory…

The possibilities are endless.

You need to know your story.

You need to know how to best express your story.

Tell your story…

…your way.

 

 

What If I Don’t “Make It?”

What if I don’t make it?

This is a question that confronts every new and emerging writer. 

I am a new and emerging writer and I have confronted it.

Armed with a new pen, a Moleskine notebook and a dream, you set out to become a writer. But at some point the blind ambition comes face to face with the reality of the publishing industry.

It’s like having an experience with a face hugger from the movie Alien; you know at some point a xenomorph will burst out of your chest, killing you and then feed on the remnants of your dream of being a writer.

Despite every scrap of determination, every skerrick of aptitude, every committed moment of diligence, every hour of writing spent honing your craft, every fortune cookie predicting an ambiguous uncertainty of guaranteed success, there is no guarantee of you “making it” as a writer.

Alan Baxter recently hosted a blog series, The Ongoing Angst of Successful Writers, with six authors, all of whom still carry the fear of “What if I’m not good enough?”

Even though they have “made it,” based on their own standards, there is still a fear. Go and read the conclusions then work your way through the different authors. You will cheer and weep and know you’re not alone.

So what chances do I have as a new and emerging writer to “make it?”

The same chance they did.

How will I define if I have “made it?”

I see on social media reports of authors who carved out a successful blogging career and turned it into fiction or non-fiction book deal and have gone on to financially successful careers.

And they make it sound SO EASY! “I wrote a book, it was picked up by an agent and sold to the highest bidder. And I’ve sold 1,000,000 copies and now have a three book advance deal.”

I have had two short stories published in anthologies, had a vignette published, and have three stories offered for free on Ether Books app (see the Publications page). Nothing to rock the world, but it’s a start.

“Making it” implies financial success, selling stories, novellas and/or novels, whatever literary form you care to think of.

“Making it” implies critical acclaim and public praise.

And, yes, I want these things. I want to be financially successful and have critical acclaim and public praise.

But…

• I have never made a sale for a short story.
• I have not won a respected or prestigious competition (or even a disreputable one).
• I have not finished writing my first novel.

Not a great start. Yet there are more fears lurking.

• What if I never finish a novel? And assuming I finish a novel, what if I never sell it?
• Will I write a second novel? A third? A fourth? What if they don’t sell either?
• What if I NEVER sell a short story, a novella or a novel?
• What if I never *fill in the blank here*?

Trying to answer the question of “Have I ‘made it’?” is akin to trying to catch a fart in a cyclone.

I want to make it. I want to sell short stories, and just like known authors, experience rejection.

I am committed to improving my craft, developing my art and telling good stories. I will have tried my hardest. I will have written to the best of my aptitude and skill; learned what I can from whomever and wherever to ensure my work is the best it can be to have every chance to be considered.

I’m going to make damn sure I give it everything I am to have a crack at “making it.”

But if I don’t make it, I don’t mind.

Because…

Despite everything looking like a failure, I will continue to write.

This is how I know I will have ‘made it.’ I will have continued despite the “failure.”

When I’ve “made it” financially or critically, I’ll let you know.

If I don’t make it, I’m ok with that.

I won’t be ok if I have failed to continue writing.

Resurrection – When To Shut Down a Creative Life (And When To Resurrect It)

Welcome to Part 2 of Reflection, Resurrection and Recreation.

Friday’s post, Reflection, asked why we gave up a creative life and encouraged us to live creatively again.

Part 2 is about death: the need to shut down a creative life, and resurrection: when it take it up again.

As creative people, the idea of shutting down our creative life is akin to hacking a limb off or stopping breathing. While it might appear to be the opposite thing to do, it may in fact be apposite.

Every so often you need to evaluate your creative life, check the map for where you are compared to where you are headed and work out whether you are lost in the Pit of Despair or frolicking in the ball pit at Ikea.

If your creativity is not in the place you want it to be, you need some serious self-reflection.

Do you need to shut down your creative life?

Ask yourself the following questions:

Have You Lost the Passion?

Being creative is hard work. Every creative person will proclaim it loudly from the toilet cubicle (better resonance). We enjoy being creative because we are passionate about it. The passion drives us to continue, to persevere, to work through the tough periods. There is great joy in creating.

But without passion, you are continually giving of yourself and not feeding your own needs. There is more going out than what is coming in. The reasons for the lack of passion are numerous, both internal and external; you will know what has taken away your love for creativity.

Without passion, your creative work will suck you dry and spit out your withered carcass.

To find your passion again, shut down your creative life.

Are You Grieving A Loss?

The loss of a creative project or the completion of something you have invested yourself heavily into can be like a death in the family.

You have to grieve what you have lost; remember what you have accomplished and celebrate the achievements.

It is natural to grieve after a loss. In order to deal with the grief and loss, shut down your creative life.

Does Your Work Suck?

This is tricky. If you are not developing and improving in your chosen creative field, you have to ask someone to objectively and critically evaluate your work. You need to ask the hard question, “Does my work suck?”

If the overwhelming consensus is your work sucks, you have two choices. Firstly, improve your skills. Enrol in a course, find a mentor, workshop your project, seek advice. Or secondly, shut it down. Focus your creative energies elsewhere if what you are doing is truly not what you want to do. Experiment with a few areas to see where your skills are best suited.

Have You Moved Away From Your Core Values?

It can be too easy to seek out the latest trend, jump aboard the bandwagon and ride shotgun. All the while you are moving further away from your original intentions and purpose.

Are you in the wrong creative field?

Are you writing short stories when you should be producing short films?

Are you painting when you should be writing?

Who are you and what do you want to be doing?

Are you doing it?

Why not?

There is nothing wrong with diversifying and experimenting, trying out new creative mediums, but if it takes you away from the core of who you are and what you do, it is time to shut it down.

Has Your Creative Life Crossed Boundaries?

Creative people can be obsessive and focused or ethereal and unreliable as they pursue a creative life. If your creativity is taking over your life and interfering with relationships, if it is taking away from family and friends, it may be time to shut it down.

Creativity involves a sacrifice of time and effort, but not at the expense of you being a selfish pillock. Communicate what you want, negotiate the boundaries so that all involved have a clear understanding of what is required. It may require the drawing up of an agreement, stuck to the fridge as a constant reminder of each person’s responsibilities.

Focus and dedication are important to the life of a creative individual, but if it crosses boundaries, shut it down.

Has The Well Run Dry?

Creative people speak of the “well of ideas,” a place to draw inspiration. Reading a book, watching a movie, visiting art galleries or taking a walk with the rabbit on a leash can fill the well of ideas. A project needs time to develop, consciously, unconsciously and subconsciously. Ideas generate ideas.

Sometimes the creative well is dry because the plug has been pulled out. The draining of ideas may have its source in a range of things: your own emotional state, external situations and circumstances, demands and pressures on your time, or relationships.

You need to refill the well by putting the plug back in and letting it refill in its own time from a trickle to a torrent. Feed yourself on good things like art and music, books and films. Fall in love with simple pleasures again. Leave the tools on your desk and have no regrets in leaving them alone.

If you are dry, shut down your creative life.

Death and Resurrection

But how long should your creative life be shut down?

If you shut down your creative life, will it be resurrected?

Will it become a derelict building, boarded up, dilapidated, falling into ruin and fit for demolition? The shutting down of a creative life may be an individual’s choice or the result of external circumstances and situations, or a combination of both. Some may choose to leave the creative life altogether and never return. This is a shame because I believe creativity should be a part of everyone’s life.

If the shutting down is a voluntary choice, you are giving yourself permission to step aside from a creative life. When you make that decision, embrace it. Grieve your loss and mourn the death.

Set a period of time for your creative life to be dormant: days, weeks, months, or even years.

During that time clear your space; throw out what is not needed; purge the unwanted and irrelevant.

Then set a specific date to resurrect your creative life.

Focus on a project; set achievable goals. Have a project ready to pick up and finish or a project to start afresh.

The creative life is one that is inherently a part of you and brings benefit, but you need to return to the thing you fell in love with. It’s like a relationship: you have to work at it.

Grieve when you need to grieve. Always find ways to improve your work. Reclaim what you are passionate about and establish the core values of who you are. Establish the boundaries of your creative life and keep the well full of ideas.

Only then will you live a creative life to the full.

Do you need to shut down your creative life and resurrect it?

* this is an edited version of a post that originally appeared at Write Anything.

Tell Me Your Story

“What’s your story, boy?”
“I don’t have a story.”
“Every man got a story.”
The Saint of Fort Washington

Three simple lines of dialogue.

A simple declaration by a homeless man: “Every man has a story.”

I saw this film, starring Danny Glover and Matt Dillon, many years ago in my late teens and the lines above resonated with me, deep in my spirit and in my soul.

I wrote down the lines in a notebook (which I still have). Deep in my spirit and deep within my soul these words planted a seed that is only now beginning to germinate and take root.

When I am asked why I write, this will be my answer: “Every man got a story.”

I wrote a manifesto.

It is my declaration of who I am as a creative person.

It is my declaration of who I am as a writer.

Towards A Creative Manifesto

I am a writer.

I write because I want to tell a story, but not just any story.

I write because I want to tell the story of those who are not heard.

I write because I want to tell the story of those who cannot speak.

I write because I want to tell the story of those who are disempowered.

I write because I want to tell the story for those who cannot.

I write because I believe that telling a person’s story is integral in understanding who they are.

I create art to speak into the darkness, that I may be a light for others to ignite their own flame and walk clearly.

Last night in a quick burst of ideas on twitter I threw down some words. It extrapolates further on my manifesto. I have compiled them here (with some editing for clarity and development).

People matter because every individual has the potential to be amazing in their own way. We ignore the everyday because we think it’s insignificant.

Instead we worship the grandeur of the successful and the famous. They are inspirational and we learn from them but it is little more than hollow idolatry.

The most influential people in our lives are the ones we know intimately because we’ve learned from their example, both in word and in deed, even when they are not looking. We have been mentored by their advice, corrected by their discipline and modelled our lives after theirs.

They are fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, cousins, friends, coaches, teachers. They are servants at heart.

And they are ordinary people.

But in their ordinariness, they have become extraordinary.

We have learned to listen to their story and recognise its value and importance.

Celebrate the little things people do. Believe in them. Support them. Love them.

For in doing so, we grant them dignity & respect.

I write truths about life through story by focusing on the little things, the seemingly insignificant: an argument before a family holiday (The Holiday), a gardening accident (Open Wounds), mental illness (Scar Tissue/Pieces of A Puzzle), cancer (The Naked Jacaranda), discrimination and disability (Give Me Your Hands), life expressed through sound (Sounds of the Heartbeat).

Simple truths expressed through story; parables and fables in their own way. It is an expression of loving your neighbour as yourself because story connects people.

Let me tell you a story.

But first, tell me your story.

Why Writing is Like Building Furniture from Ikea

Pick up the novel nearest to your hand you have read. Flick through it. You understand the plot, the characters, thematic concerns and the nuances of the language used by the author. It is said that everyone has a novel in them. Then you think, “I can give one of these novel things a crack. Doesn’t seem too hard.”

In your hand you hold a pen, ready to scribe your first novel. You know your story will unfold like a fresh bed sheet snapped out, floating down with delicate grace. The characters are complex individuals; the dialogue witty and full of sly observations; the plot is fresh and modern; the thematic concern touches on the toughest questions of life (but you have all the answers).

Sitting down you aim to start, but suddenly you are verbally constipated, stuck with the result of too much cheese and crackers. There are brief starts and squeezing out paragraphs with such force you could turn coal into a diamond.

So while it is said there is a novel in everyone, it is also said that no man is an island or that, all in all, we’re just another brick in the wall. And maybe that novel inside you should stay there because not everyone is called to be a novelist in the same way I am not called to be the Prime Minister of Australia (it would be a benevolent dictatorship, I assure you).

And it is because writing is difficult. It is hard. It is brutal at times. To understand how hard writing is, let me write you a simile.

Writing is like building furniture from Ikea.

In your hands you hold the instruction manual and emblazoned on the front is a catalogue image of what the finished product should look like. Caveat Addendum: power tools and me are mutually exclusive entities. I am useless with things that would validate my Man Card for all eternity.

Turning to the first page, the opening declaration states: “You must be two people to assemble this item.” (True story – was in the instructional leaflet for a lamp my wife and I received as a wedding gift).

So you lay out on the ground all the component pieces, checking you have everything you need. Then there’s the Allen key, the hexagonal tool of mystery. It is the key to success but lose it and you’re doomed to a lifetime of failure if you cannot wield it’s magical properties.

And so you begin. The instructions make no sense, you need the input of 6 people and certain words fly out of your mouth that would cause your mother to wash your mouth out with a wire brush and Dettol if she heard you.

People know to stand clear because the vein in your temple is throbbing and pulsating like a death metal blast beat, and one more inconvenient dropped screw or slipped piece of timber will cause your frustration level to become cataclysmic.

I am not usually a swear-y person, but this ad was too good not to include. Please excuse me.
http://madisonadblog.wordpress.com/2011/05/05/oh-sht/

The object before you takes on the appearance of Frankenstein’s monster; it is ugly, gangly, obtuse, imperfect, but dammit, you’re making it!

And yet you persevere; this thing will not beat you. Your aim is to give it life, and LIFE IT SHALL HAVE!

Finally, after hours of building, cursing, swearing, begging, pleading and grovelling, IT IS FINISHED. All the lines and angles are straight. Its beauty and function are unparalleled.

You did it!! (with a little help from your friends) And you don’t have a piece missing or a leftover screw.

And then someone asks why couldn’t have just bought one that was already put together.

This is why writing is like building furniture from Ikea.

With thanks to Jodi Cleghorn (@JodiCleghorn) and Monica Marier (@lil-monmon) whose comments I have appropriated.

Add your own additions to this idea in the comments below.

Confess Your Creativity

The default position of the creative person is one of self-doubt and lack of belief. A creative person questions his/her ability and creativity.

You hear them make statements such as:

“I’m a writer but I think what I write is rubbish.”

“I paint a little bit but I don’t display my work.”

“I play guitar but I’m not very good.”

We make a statement about our creativity and weaken it with a caveat: “but.”

It’s an act of self-deprecation in an attempt to sound humble or a way to avoid embarrassment. We make a trite statement, borne out of fear.

Fear of ridicule.

Fear of mockery.

Fear of failure.

Fear of scorn.

Fear of apathy.

We believe we are not worthy, that we know nothing, that we will be exposed as a sham or a farce dancing around in the Emperor’s new clothes.

The default position as a creative person should be one of confidence and belief. Confidence in your ability to write, paint, sculpt, play an instrument, or whatever creative endeavour you pursue; and a belief in the yourself as a creative person.

How do you move the default position from self-doubt and lack of belief to a new default position of confidence and belief?

The words we speak over ourselves have power.

For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks. Luke 6:45

Above all else, guard your heart,
for everything you do flows from it. Proverbs 4:23

A creative person is passionate about his work and will speak with confidence about current projects and his ability as an artist. An artist knows he is always learning, creating the best product he can with the skills and resources he has. But he believes in who he is and what he does.

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. Ephesians 4:29

Keep your mouth free of perversity;
keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Proverbs 4:24

Just as how you talk about yourself creates a positive perspective, so too does your talk about other people. Tearing down people is too easy and benefits no one. Speak positively about others and speak positively into their lives. Encourage and enable other creative people to fulfill their potential.

The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit. Proverbs 18:21

If you are a creative person, how will you speak about your work? How will you speak about yourself?

What will your default position be?

Make a statement today.

To take the first step, check out Jeff Goins’s (@JeffGoins) book, You Are A Writer.

I am making a statement, “I am a writer.”

Make a bold statement.

Make a bold, declarative statement.

Make a bold, declarative, confessional statement today to pronounce what you are to the world.

I am a ___________.

How will you fill in the blank?

Create Art “Just Because”

We had our school Art Show during the week and I popped in to view the HSC (Higher School Certificate) Major Works.

There was a wonderful array of art utilising a variety of media from painting, photography, mixed media, sculpture, installation and pencil.

Accompanying each body of Major Work was a brief statement by the artist, explaining the purpose and intention behind the piece. Some statements were fluid pieces of prose, capturing the essence and beauty of the work in a brief paragraph.

And then there was one statement that struck me. 

The statement did not explain or describe the artwork. The artist put forward the idea that the expression in the art work was an expression of what was in his head. It was the equivalent of shrugging one’s shoulders and saying, “Just because.”

And I love that idea. 

Sometimes we want to explain our idea, describe the beauty of our creative work, wax lyrical on the deconstructivist, post-modern interpretation of Freud’s analysis in the subliminal metaphors of our work.

Our words, pictures, music, film or art does not always require an explanation or a reason for being. We do it for no deep philosophical reason or existential afterthought.

Sometimes, we created a piece of art, “Just because.”

Cataloging The Chaos

Hands up if you know a creative person who is disorganised, dishevelled and is the physical embodiment of Chaos Theory.

Hands up if YOU are a creative person who is disorganised, dishevelled and the physical embodiment of Chaos Theory.

Do you have multiple projects in various states of completion? Do you jump from one project to the next without finishing the first?

Creative people tend to have that aura of brilliance dropping from their shadows like scraps from the table as mere mortals pick at the morsels to feed themselves. I know a few of them.

But they are hopeless in some areas. Usually in the mundane things that matter, like paying the bills on time or wearing pants when going outside.

The myth of the creative genius (sometimes bordering on insanity) gallivanting around a studio or workspace when the Muse strikes them has been perpetuated over time and needs to be dumped in the bin like a pair of underpants with no elastic and holes in all the wrong places.

Because it creates the impression that creativity is something you wait for. People new to creative endeavours wait for the spark of inspiration to fire up the synapses to create brilliance.

And there are times when creativity is like that.

But not usually.

Most of the time creativity is focused, hard work.

• Creativity is productive.
• Creativity requires diligent focus.
• Creativity is the result of time dedicated to producing work.

This is my own organisational tendencies showing, but the more I read about authors’ work habits and talk to people about their creative processes, they have found a process that works.

Their time is allocated, set aside. They have daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly goals to achieve. From the simplicity of 500 or 2000 words a day, to draft time lines, publication dates and commencement dates for new projects.

Inspiration and creativity can strike at any time, often in the quiet moments when you’re doing something mundane and your brain has a chance to sift through the bits and pieces and put them into an order that makes sense.

It’s not about the physical space where you create. How you use your space is a personal choice. It may be neat and tidy or ramshackle or a museum to kitsch.

It’s about how you approach your creative flow and output. Too few ideas and you pause, waiting for something else to pop up. Too many ideas and you stall for want of knowing which thing to start first.

Chaos can be organised.

Chaos can be catalogued.

Lack of organisation is not an excuse for lack of creative output.

Get organised.

• Make a list.
• Fill in a spreadsheet.
• Colour code a timetable.
• Alphabetise your books.
• Sharpen all the pencils.
• Write down all your ideas in a notebook.

Catalogue your chaos.

ADDENDUM: Jodi has written a fantastic post detailing how she deals with the practicalities of organising the chaos. Click here.

Can Engineers Be Creative?

I am not being facetious in posing this question.

A couple of weeks ago I posed the following question for responses:

Creative people (writers, musicians, photographers, quilters, gardeners, cooks and chefs, painters and sculptors, poets, film makers, dancers, pastors and theologians, sportspeople and anyone else in a creative pursuit), here’s a question for you: what do you think it means to be creative?

I received a cornucopia of ideas, a plethora of pinatas (go here for the joke: The Three Amigos).

Here is a sample of responses from writers, a drummer, gardeners, a doll maker, a theologian, and a teacher.

JC – To be creative is to transcend the mundane every day. To take the light and shade of life and weave it into something all together different. To take something simple and make it complex and to take complexity and make it simple. To access the inaccessible and make the accessible a labyrinth. To attempt to make sense of what there are no answers for. To be creative is to remain sane and grounded in an insane, scattered world.

RD – I see it as two things: 1- to take an idea and build on it. 2- to take the images from my head and make them visible, tangible.

KH – To think new and exciting thoughts and have your hands breathe life into those thoughts.

HH - I think creativity is an expression of the self, whether you translate it into writing, music, painting, dancing or whatever. So having said that I think what it really means to be creative is to engage one’s imagination and translate that from an idea into a reality – it’s to be able to envisage something that has no form and be able to give it one. It is to find alternative solutions to situations. It is it take what is and turn it into something else.

MK – I think it’s like taking your brain, your heart and your soul for a walk in the wilderness of ideas. Give them all free reign, put a pen in your hand or put your fingers to the keyboard and anything can happen then!

DE – To me, being creative is doing the opposite of “normal”, or trying to stay away from the “norm” as much as possible.

DS – To have an idea and to bring it to life.

CA – To me, being creative is about expressing an idea or an emotion; taking something internal and letting it out.

IM – Being creative is about believing that there is something wonderful tucked away inside you that the world would be enriched by if you dared to display it.

CD – To use your mind, hands and heart to make something that can be enjoyed and appreciated. Fun!

JB – Creativity is making something that hasn’t been written, shown, displayed, or demonstrated before–even if you’re making it only in your head. It’s making something actually new.

I like these last two as a call to arms:

SR – To get off your butt and try something.

NB -I think its the opposite of sitting around all day watching TV.

And then the engineer dropped into the conversation, noting the occupation’s absence from the list (for which I am truly sorry and apologised). Yet his ideas help show the value of creativity in every field of life.

RF – An engineer is mainly about taking an idea and making it reality but there is also a saying I heard once, “An engineer is a person who can make something for $2 that any damn fool can make for $5,” which leans towards the suggestion of finding alternative solutions to situations.

I then started pondering what it means “to be creative” – obviously it is to create, but that does not necessarily limit creative to physical things (bridges, cars, electronics, paintings, sculptures etc) you can also create non physical things (music) or ideas, ways of thinking, views of the world. (italics are my emphasis)

The last part resonated with me: ways of thinking and views of the world.

Often we think of creativity as a physical product: a novel, poem, sculpture, painting, building or bridge.

What if we focused our creativity to change ways of thinking, to enhance our views of the world?

What if we used our creativity to live out the concept to “love your neighbour as yourself?”

This is going to resonate in my head for a while.

The true alchemists do not change lead into gold; they change the world into words – William H. Gass

What if we changed our world into words and our words into actions?

Can we use creativity to change our ways of thinking and view of the world?

Can we use our creativity to produce a physical product to achieve the same thing?

What are your thoughts?

The First Line Conundrum

Scattered around writing blogs is the sage advice along the lines of “3 Ways of Writing a Killer First Line,” or “The Top 10 First Lines of a Novel” or “How to Hook Your Reader in the First Line.”

I have a problem with this. I don’t read the first line of a new novel and stop, judging its worth and merit on a single sentence alone.

I liken it to looking at a Van Gogh painting and focusing on a single brush stroke and missing the beauty and grandeur of the night sky.

A great first line can hook you in. But it’s when you understand it within the context of the first paragraph, the first page, the first chapter through to the closing line of the novel that its true power and beauty is revealed.

I read beyond the first line. I want to be caught up in the artistry of the writer, from the first line to the first paragraph to the first page to the first chapter to the closing line; to have the sentences form sedimentary layers over me as I delve into the artistry of the written word. Or like being covered in a large bucket of spaghetti, tangled in the complexity and power of words (you chose which simile works best for you).

The first sentence encapsulates the power, breadth, beauty and depth of a novel. It retains its power because the remainder of the novel bears out the enormity and scope hinted at in the first line.

But every sentence must work for the reader. Every sentence must be crafted as delicately and intricately as the first.

Stand back and admire the beauty of the whole. Then step closer and examine the individual brush strokes to understand why it has captured your imagination.