Tag: writing

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writing

School Yourself in the Writing Field

I just came across an interesting article on journaling and writing at the “Journal For You” blog.

School Yourself in the Writing Field.

This is good advice whether you want to write, illustrate or pursue any creative endeavor.  When you treat your creative pursuit as a form or exercise, it will free you up to be creative.

Whenever I have faced writer’s block, the one thing that has kept me creating was to write and draw in my sketchbooks whether I felt like it or note. Pretty soon, those creative juices come back.

Don’t wait for the muse to strike you. Get creative in your journal or sketchbook today, whether you feel like it or not.

Categories
creativity

Morning Pages Reboot

The last several mornings, I’ve taken up an old habit. It’s been good to get back into it, and a joy to have a habit come back that is a good one.

Several years ago, I read a book entitled, “[amazon-product text=”The Artists Way” tracking_id=”kevinspearcom-20″ type=”text”]1585421472[/amazon-product]” It is a book on creativity by Julia Cameron. One of the prescriptions in the book is to start every day with morning pages. It is three pages of longhand writing you do as soon as you wake up. I came back to it after several months and I’m really glad I did. There are several reasons why I find this habit helpful.

It Clears my Head

I can get a lot of nagging thoughts swirling around in my mind. Did I pay that bill? Do I need to get that flea medicine for the dog? Is four cups of coffee too much for this average Joe? I can clear some of those thoughts out of my cranium if I just write them down and let things settle.

It Helps me Focus

It seems every where I go, people are complaining they have Attention Deficit Disorder. I’m sure some people have a legitimate case of ADD, but I’m beginning to wonder if it’s our society that can’t stay focused for more than a few minutes. Writing things down in the morning helps me focus on some of the important things of the day. It also helps me see some patterns when I go back and read what’s been on my mind the last few weeks.

It Gets the Creative Juices Flowing

Most of what I’ve done has been in the visual arts. Yet this writing habit has made me realize I can paint pictures in words too. It feels good for me to get things out in writing and see if there are any pictures that need illustrated among the text. I am constantly mulling over whether the pictures inspire the words or the words inspire the pictures. Getting some words down gives me a starting point. It’s a lot like doodling on paper to see what shows up. For me, morning pages are a form of doodling.

I encourage you to start the habit. I would also encourage you to find

“The Artist’s Way.” It’s a good book to read when you’re looking for a creative spark, no matter what type of creative work you are in to.

Categories
books

Is it a Book?

I read an interesting blog entitled, “I Declare the War is Over: We need a new word for the things we used to call books.” The premise is we are in an era where the traditional book doesn’t adequately describe the many ways we package book content.

The article complemented the Pew research study that says e-reader and tablet ownership nearly doubled over the holiday season.

This threatens many people within publishing. But should it? All these readers still need content. Without something to read or view, e-readers are useless. Authors and publishers need to come to grips with the fact we are in the content business, not the product business.

I’ve come to realize we’ve fooled ourselves over the millennia. Publishers claimed it was all about the content, but the profit came in the physical book. We claimed the ideas within the books were important, but we were really selling the pages and cover.

Now that we’ve entered a new age, the ideas within the “book” really will matter. Let’s start selling worthy content, and not worry about what form it could take. Leave that to the consumers.

The businesses that the most to lose are the printers, not the publishers. Heaven help them!

Categories
discipline

All This and a Bag of Chips

Cartoon of a dad eating potato chips. He says to his son, "Hey, Son. I'd like to talk to you about self control right after I finish this bag of chips."

Cartoon of a dad eating potato chips. He says to his son, “Hey, Son. I’d like to talk to you about self control right after I finish this bag of chips.”

This cartoon appeared in the January, 2012 issue of the Church of God newsletter.

Self-control is something that’s been on my mind lately. We live in a world where everyone seems to have at least a little attention deficit disorder. There are so many things vying for our attention, that it is difficult to keep our eyes on one thing.

Yet, if you want to be successful at something, I realize I need to focus on one thing and do it well. It’s easier said than done when you like to draw, design and write. That’s why I’ve loved cartoons. It takes a little of all three to produce a comic. You have to be a jack of all trades to make it work. But when you have different talents, and you use them all, can you ever be a master of one?

The hard thing about discipline is I have to make some choices and toss other things out. At the same time, I won’t compromise on important things like my faith, family or health. Discipline doesn’t really work if I am not taking care of my mind, body or spirit.

So is there such a thing as a balanced, disciplined life? Who knows? All I know is when someone passes around a bag of chips, I am the first one plunge my hand in and stuff my face!

Categories
writing

Jane Friedman: Best Advice for Writers 2011

I came across this link this morning thanks to author/illustrator Katie Davis.

http://janefriedman.com/2011/12/21/my-best-advice-for-writers-from-2011/trackback/

Jane Friedman is a prolific blog writer, author and professor.