Taxing Creativity

March 7, 2011 by

Last week I talked a little bit about the joys of Spring, but this past weekend I had to deal with one of the downsides: the taxes.

Oh, what I’d give to be an average person who only had to do a simple 1040, like I helped my son do in about twenty minutes last week.  Both my husband and I are self-employed and his business is a complex construction based one. As a freelance writer and editor, my expenses are few. I can itemize my printer expenses and my trip to a national conference…and that’s about it. For my husband, it becomes spreadsheets and spreadsheets and hours upon hours of mind-numbing calculations.

(And I’m not even counting the two hours of sitting in front of my computer and whining in pain about how I didn’t even want to start the task!)

But, I’ve found the downside goes even deeper than that.

My plan of action for this weekend was to do our taxes on Friday evening and Saturday morning. Saturday afternoon and Sunday would be reserved for finishing up that first draft (yes, I’m still closing in on the end.) and some household chores. I fulfilled the first part of my bargain with little trouble (minus the whining.) but switching gears from analytical to creative was as hard and felt a catastrophic as throwing a car in reverse while cruising the highway at sixty-five mph. And not wanting to blow out the transmission of my mind, I refused to push it too hard.

While I truly believe in the butt-in-chair philosophy, it would have done little good. After expending so much focus, I had nothing left to give. I’m hoping the mental break I gave myself (and the time spent letting those final ideas simmer) will make pushing those final few thousand words out today (and possibly tomorrow).

What’s next? Round two, or my first round of revisions to the draft. A task that is much more analytical than creative.  I have a feeling in a few weeks my creative side is going to be starving!

Is the switch from right brain to left brain activities and easy one for you?

Filed Under: Life, MVRWA, Writing Life Tagged With: , , ,

Springing Into Action

March 2, 2011 by

There’s something about a light rain hitting the rooftop or being able to go outside without the heavy coats, mittens and hats that frees the spirit.  Even though it means having to clean up muddy paw prints off the floor, there’s something rejuvenating about watching the dogs play in puddles.

There are aspects about all the seasons that I enjoy, but spring is the one that effects my emotions the most. Evidenced yesterday, you can’t help but feel refreshed when you the sun shines brightly for the first time in two weeks. Leaving a coat in the car while you run into a store and feeling a light breeze dance against your skin not only awakens the body, but stimulates the mind…well, at least for me.

I realize it’s only March 2 and I’m probably jumping the gun here. Yes, I’m aware there is snow in the forecast (again!) for this weekend, but the promise of an end to the gray and the cold is enough lift my spirits. And for some reason, the promise that we won’t be stuck in the house watching it snow forever, is enough to get me to focus on my work.

Especially for us creative folk, when the spirit feels wounded the output suffers. More than in recent winters, I’ve feel like the bad weather has injured my soul. Sort of like a straw with a hole in it, I’ve been unable to bring up the part of me that can get lost in a new story. Every action has felt a little like trudging through a foot and a half of snow. But the small glimpse of spring we got yesterday — and the promise of more mild temps today — is pulling me out of the dark.

After putting on some rain shoes and stomping in some puddles, I think I can sit down and finish writing my current rough draft.

 

Filed Under: Life, Uncategorized, Writing Life Tagged With: , , , ,

Feast or Famine

December 1, 2010 by

Why is it the creative well either overflows of is bone dry? What I would give for a steady stream of inspiration that flows at a pace that keeps me pleasantly productive. Instead, I either can’t write down the ideas fast enough or I struggle for every word.

I do have a theory. Like any other muscle, the creative part of our brain is stimulated by use. When I’m brainstorming ideas or trying to piece together a plot, all those synapse are firing and the activity spurs on more. You know, like those people in the gym who get addicted to their treadmill. Once those muscles get activity, they just don’t want to stop.

That explains the feast, but what about the famine?

The easy answer would be that it’s the mere opposite. That inactivity makes that area of the brain sluggish. Maybe. But I think it’s a little more complex than that. If I’m not creating new works, then I’m editing and polishing words already written. Any wordsmith knows this uses a completely different part of the brain. While I so believe use stimulates activity, I also think it’s near impossible for both pieces to fire simultaneously. So, when I’m fine tuning mechanics, it becomes a real chore to spark creativity.

It’s at this time the creative part of my brain goes into starvation mode. Sometimes it tries to lure me back with bursts of activity. Little sparks. Kernels of “what ifs” to draw me back, but they are short lived, and rarely complete.  I might be tempted to drop the ‘hard work’ and go back to creating, but as we all know, the most important part of writing is the rewriting.

If those idea are never polished, they will never be complete and worthy to be shared with the world. I guess that means the feast or famine phenomenon is just something I’ll have to get used to.

Filed Under: Life, Writing Life Tagged With: ,

The Creative Mundane

March 5, 2010 by

Is I often tell my daughter, somethings in life we have to do, even if we don’t want to. The biggest thing for me on that list is the deep house cleaning. The pulling the couch out and vacuuming underneath and checking the ceiling corners for cobwebs. With company coming, this was one of those days where I had to set aside the writing and editing until after I did the mundane. Clean my house.

The thing is, as much as I hate doing these chores, the time spent becomes a field day for my creativity. I’ve mentioned here before about how a lot of problem scenes work themselves out while I’m driving. The same holds true while I’m cleaning. Whether I’m running the vacuum or scrubbing pots and pans, the physical action–and the little brain power required to do the task–allows me to zone out of my life and into my characters lives.

Or maybe escaping my life for theirs is more like it!

While this might not have been a productive day–so far I haven’t typed a single new word, or edited a written sentence–I’ve spent a lot of time analyzing my plot. As previously stated, I start my stories with a minimal amount of plot and let my characters write the tale. So what I’m left when I begin my second draft is the layers, or the real craft. Things that happen at the midpoint or later, may need a touch of foreshadowing. Characters that showed up at the climax, probably need a less formal introduction in the first few chapters.  All important, and all can be tricky to weave into the prose.

So while some may swear by the red pen or the delete key (And don’t get me wrong, those are two of my favorite writing tools too) Just as effective for me is a dust mop and a scrub brush.

Filed Under: Life, Writing Life Tagged With: , , , ,

Spinning Stories

February 26, 2010 by

I’m always amazed when an idea for a new story hits me, usually like a ton of bricks. I think it’s fascinating what incites them whether it’s an event or just an overheard line. But what’s even more surprising is the timing.

While I was working on the tale I just finished drafting, I tried to think of ways to build a sequel of stories, some sort of offshoot to connect this to a new work. I quickly decided it just wasn’t going to be that kind of book. Some stories are about one (or two) people and is self contained. There isn’t a theme or set of subplots or sub-characters that have a connecting story to tell, and that is fine.

That all changed within twelve hours of typing ‘the end.’

The very next morning while driving (Because that’s when all the great ideas come to you, when pen and paper are no where to be found and it’s too dangerous to use them) the whole connection hit me like a flash of lightening. A new heroine, a new hero, the heroine’s connection to the current hero/heroine — her tale.  Not quite a sequel, but a continuation, a second generation of the current. The premise appealed and the first thing I wanted to do was get to pen and paper so I could start scribbling out notes. So, I could be creative. But what of the draft I’d just finished. It was still a draft. It still needed (still needs) the tender love and care of this author chopping it up like an axe murder.

I honored both process.  I finished driving and then opened a notebook and made a bunch of notes. I gave myself enough to build from later. Why not? That first draft needed time to percolate anyway and my mind needed to distance itself from those words on the page. However, when that time had passed, I returned to the draft and began revising, which is where I’ve been for about two weeks now. In this time, while doing the mechanical — almost mathematical — process of rewriting, new story ideas and plot twists for other tales filed in the ‘to be written’ file are coming in flashes.

But why now?

My only answer is a writer writes; a creative mind creates. And when we’re deep in those processes — like when I’m writing a first draft — that creative mind is happy and satisfied. When I complete that process, a reset button is hit.

Whether I’m right or not, the reason really doesn’t matter. I’m just glad the stories just keep coming.

Filed Under: Life, Writing Life Tagged With: , ,