Human life is inherently creative

Human life is inherently creative. It's why we all have different résumés.
It's why human culture is so interesting and diverse and dynamic.

Ken Robertson

Quick, name one book that you love!

Now, scroll down to the bottom and enter it as a comment.

Thnx. Now, can you list reasons why you loved this book? Share 'em if you'd like... but I'm as curious to know that you can put your finger on some reasons as I am in knowing what they are.

In keeping with today's quote, I'm betting that each reader thought of a different book title--we are marvelously diverse and interesting. See, you're not boring at all! And don't let anyone say otherwise.

As a singular creation of the good Lord, what is your unique pursuit/calling/interest/service-to-others? Comfy in that knowledge, in that role?

If not, then do some reading in that department. Pursue the areas that delight you, that fulfill you, where work and play are almost hard to separate. Then, I'd suggest some passages from the Bible, such as "...but whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, as serving the Lord..." (blending a coupla words from Ecc 9:10 into Col. 3:23). Another might be the very simple Matthew 6: 33, "...seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." Read a bunch of the Bible's mentions of something like, "...with all your heart," or, "whole heart," just to get you started.

Okay, itsa very short sermon...so, I'll take up an offering and say, "Amen." [the offering would be what you've entered in the comments section...THNX!]

DREAMING.

It is as easy to dream a book as it is hard to write one.

Honore de Balzac, novelist (1799-1850)

 

 

 

It is easy to dream, both day and night. In fact, to this writer, I'd file dreaming under "play" rather than under the heading of "work."

 

Work comes when we try to make a dream a reality. So, that cutesy saying, "Dare to dream" or "Dare to dream big!" is just that--cute, but without putting some oomph into it, it only a dream.

Now, some dreams are pure pie-in-the-sky; others, more realistic. Some dreams may be attributed to a whisper from the divine, and others attributed to too many anchovies on your midnight pizza!

 

Seriously, I think dreams should be examined in light of one's personality, gifts/skills/desires/training. Some dreams are just the brain piling and filing...some dreams are just plain entertaining...and I think some are the serious outcry of the heart and mind and soul, and had best be heeded.

 

Had any of that third kind lately? I had one of a fictional character--I'd never met her, but she was crystal clear in speech and in looks and behavior. She strode into the dream like a queen before her underlings. Her speech was posh British. Her sense of humor--well, what can I say...she punned...in Latin.

 

Now, maybe this was just a simply entertaining dream...goodness, where it came from is beyond me (hah!) as I hadn't read or seen anything that at all resembled this character. Read any Brit-lit lately? No. Any strong females in any of the books I'd read recently? Not really. No midnight pizza, not of any flavor!

 

So, what to do, what to do? I wrote her down--I figger she'll be useful as a character is some story, someday.

 

But, to make the dream come true, I would be better off to ask meself:

--what story?

--when you starting it?

--why haven't you started it while the dream is still vivid?

--all right, shut up, I'm going to start right now.

P.S. I did start, and she is hilarious in her role. Now, to decide how big to grow her!



"THAT'S FAR ENOUGH!"

Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.

T. S. Eliot

 

 

 

Only those who go too far

risk getting their hand slapped

repeatedly.

D.S.

(ouch!)

 

Gone too far? Been told you were just being ridiculous--that the chances of your success were slimmer than none?

 

Good, welcome to the world of endless possibilities. Whether in art, poetry, fiction, or entrepreneurism--there is no end in sight.

 

Push your boundaries, clamber out of your "comfort zone," turn off the television (please!), and go and make and do and become! Bored?--it's only because you're not trying very hard. Seriously. Turn off the endless chattering media and engage with people and things first-hand. Or, at least, dialogue via the media--dialogue doesn't mean forwarding the latest joke or pic or gossip, though. It's nice when someone thinks of me that much, but it is in a personal reply or comment, that is when the magic of friendship starts.

 

So, when was the last time you tried something that wasn't routine, cut-and-dried, been-there-done-that? Studied a new subject? Read a non-fiction book that was outside your normal world? Tried a new craft or hobby or musical style or instrument? Painted with watercolors or oils or sketched? Spent time outdoors identifying rocks or birds or plants or trees? Tinkered with a something: a recipe, a gadget?

 

Keep in mind that Patent Office worker, who suggested shutting down the department, "...since everything worth inventing already has been"?

 

[Even better: the quote is likely bogus in its initial attribution: somebody in the patent office said words to that effect some 60 years earlier! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Holland_Duell ]

 

So, there are endless possibilities out there...and sometimes it is merely a wandering path that'll help you stumble onto a gem. Some endless possibilities are only met by those who, like Thomas Edison and Ben Franklin, don't hear the words "NO" and "you cannot."

For a writer...endless opportunities await both the aimless and the industrious--oops, they gotta overlap a whole lot if one is actually gonna write and not merely have Technicolor daydreams.

Oh, then there's the whole opportunity to not invent one's own reality, but to (thinly or not-so-thinly) fictionalize the truth. What a wonderful world...where people will actually PAY to buy a work of fiction.

 

Hope you'll pay to buy mine! Coming soon, to a website near you...THE ANIMALS OF CHRISTMAS! Buy direct from the publisher.

 

Oh, there's a dialogue box below. Don't use it...spontaneous personal combustion may occur.

 



Laugh or Cry or Gape in Amazement: what great writing is all about.

“No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader.”

-Robert Frost

- - = = - - = = - - = = - -

"No fun in the writer, no fun in for the reader" would be my little addendum, if I dare to camp onto the Poet Laureate's words. Not that life is all fun and light and sweetness...but don't we crave moments of light and sweetness and fun and fulfillment? I think those kind of yearnings are there to remind us to fix our eyes on something bigger and better'n we ourselves are.

So, do I cry when I write? Nope. (Sometimes, reading what I've written--oh yeah!)

Am I surprised when I write? Oh, certainly. I adhere to one famous author's suggestion: Take strong characters, throw them into difficult circumstances, and see what they do! Then, throw them into more difficulties...add tension, stir, and repeat.

The critical ingredient in that recipe is STRONG characters. Or, characters who are becoming strong. Or, characters who used to be strong and we wonder--do they still have it? Are they gonna reach way down deep inside and do it, or will they choke? Stay tuned, because, as Scarlett reminds us, "Tomorrah is anothah day!"

..............

"I want to make you laugh.

I want to make you cry.

Even better, both at the same time."

 

(from Stephen King's lapidary opus, ON WRITING: For Love of the Craft.)

 

Stay calm, and write a page a day.

"Slow but steady wins the race."

 

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How many of life's dilemmas could be solved by generalizing today's blog title?

"Stay calm."

Easily said, not easy for some of us. Of course, worrying or getting fretful doesn't enhance anyone's productivity...but, some folks need a calming influence. I'll bet you know exactly what calms you...so, duh, do it!

"...and write a page a day."

Most projects will be done and done well when we plug away at them, a bite-sized morsel at a time. Remember, there's some (crazy!) person in the Guinness Book of World Records who ground up and ate...an entire school bus. When asked how he did it, he replied, "One mouthful at a time."

(Note, there's not a record of anyone asking WHY???????????????)

So, I'll write my page a day, and you do what you need to do, and we'll compare notes, eh?

Slow but steady still wins a lot of races, but most runners say that the cheers of the crowd give them a second wind, especially when facing a hill. Having a support team is good--they can function as cheerleaders; they can also check in with a "Howz it going?" or "Slacking, again?"

=-=-=-=-=-=--=

So, does the average writer do a page a day? Some do, some don't. Some strive for 1000-2000 words a day, which would actually be around 3-6pp/day! If we look at popular writers, many are turning out 300 page books pretty much one a year--sounds like about a page a day to me!

Howzabout me? Some days I'm lucky to get a ppgh. Other days, one or two pages...but, the trick is, I just keep plugging whether I'm moving faster or slower, the deal is to just keep myself goin!