Tag Archives: writers

When’s The Last Time You Were Bored?

Posted on September 20, 2012 | 4 comments

When was the last time you were bored?

Really bored?

I mean really really bored?

So bored that you even thought about watching cricket? A full 5 day Test Match?

So bored that sorting through paint swatches while watching episodes of Keeping Up With the Kardashians seems like a debauched party Caligula would be proud of?

I came across this tweet from Austin Kleon (Steal Like an Artist – @austinkleon): “How art works: when depressed, you draw Batman depressed. You’re still depressed, but now you have a picture of Batman.”

So, in true artistic fashion, I will steal Austin’s quote and change it slightly: “When you’re bored, you draw Batman bored. You’re still bored, but now you have a picture of Batman.”

And then appropriate it for writers: “When you’re bored, you write a paragraph about Batman cataloguing his capes and utility belts, and colour coding his socks and underwear. You’re still bored but now you have the beginning of a piece of satirical fan fiction.

The hyperconnectivity of our digital age means we never have to be bored. Connection to people or things of interest are available to us at our fingertips. We are tempted at every opportunity to fill the silent spaces of our days with something: television, radio, the internet, mobile devices.

We are bombarded with the white noise of static and information at every moment. Within the cacophony of noise, there is great value in the conversations we have with people, the information we glean about the world around us.

Yet when we are doing nothing we feel guilty about our inactivity.

We don’t allow ourselves to become bored.

For some, boredom comes in watching cricket or tennis or football or *insert your own sporting dislike* or bonnet dramas, reading vampire novels, watching the Year 2 recorder group butcher a piece of music (the recorder in the hands of a child is a tool of Satan, says my sister).

But, boredom does something.

Boredom creates stillness.

Boredom creates silence.

Boredom creates opportunities.

It allows the subconscious to pause and catch a breath.

It allows the subconscious to percolate, meditate, compost new ideas or provide new solutions to old problems.

As a teacher I see in my students an inability to be creative because they have not grown up in an environment where they have been allowed to be bored. Children are continually entertained, visually and aurally stimulated, given activities to do at the first whine emitting from their mouth, “I’m bored.”

Let your child do nothing.

When they say “I’m bored” it’s an opportunity for them to be creative and solve their own problems. Or if you have to give them something to do, limit the options. Give them a handful of textas and tell them they can only use the red, orange and purple ones.

Depth in creativity, and the depth and development of ideas comes because you’ve had time to let an idea sit and develop.

How do you let an idea sit and develop? Have you thought of a place where you can be bored?

Think of all the domestic chores you have: the washing up, the vacuuming, hanging out the washing, folding or ironing, washing the car or mowing the lawn. These are great places to be bored.

How about during your exercise workout at the gym as you run in the same spot, trampling a rotating piece of plastic under your feet, but never achieving distance. A great place to be bored.

I use the washing up as my Boredom Place. A good friend of mine, Jodi, calls it “sudspiration.” In the mundane, repetitive activity of washing the dishes, my brain is allowed space to think. I find it’s a great way to allow ideas come to the surface. It’s just a pain to stop mid way, dry your hands, find a pen and scribble down notes. I really must get a dictaphone or Dragonspeak.

Let yourself become bored.

Boredom is the new meditative mantra for creative people.

Artists, if you’re bored, doodle something.

Musicians, if you’re bored, practice scales or arpeggios.

Writers, if you’re bored, write nonsensical sentences.

Or better still: Do Nothing.

Absolutely Nothing.

Go and be bored.

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Disposable Heroes of Mediocrity

Posted on September 13, 2012 | 8 comments

 

Disposable creativity produces mediocre art.

The statement above was prompted by two unrelated blog posts. One was by a friend, Deane Patterson, (@ReceiverITW – check out his ambient electronica) a creative friend, and an article from an educational website: What Schools Can Learn from Digital Photography.

Two lines of thinking came out of these posts:

  1. why should I create when EVERYONE can do it, and,
  2. the digital age is a great way for students (and people) to experiment and fail (and thereby learn).

One aspect Deane was talking about was the proliferation of photography; every person who owns a mobile phone has access to a camera. Photography is considered “easy” or “simple” or “anyone can take a picture.” Whack a filter on it and hey presto, pro photographer.

The digital revolution has changed the ease by which we can be creative. In “What Schools Can Learn From Digital Photography,” the premise is the ease at which students can learn quickly in a digital medium. Take a multitude of images and delete what you don’t want. The fear of failure is lessened.

I think this attitude is a disservice to pro photographers who have laboured to develop their understanding of the craft and endeavour to produce excellent photographs. In this digital age, the need for learning and refinement is lost because mistakes are easy to make and easy to delete.

In the same way writers are faced with the same problem. It is now easy to produce a book in a digital format. However, it is easier (in most cases) to tell the amateur from the professional in terms of structural aspects, typos, punctuation errors etc. However, essentially the problem is the same: it is “easy” to publish a book.

Why should I create when everyone else is doing it? How can I tell the difference between amateur and professional?

I see this as a problem.

Digital now means disposable.

It’s easy to learn in the digital age.

It’s easy to fail in the digital age.

If you don’t like it, delete it.

I believe everyone can and should be creative.

I don’t believe creativity should be considered disposable. Everyone should be encouraged to be creative, to try and fail. But they must be prepared to learn from their mistakes.

What is not asked is “How do I learn from my mistakes?”

Disposable creativity lessens the importance of the process and threatens to cheapen the quality of the finished creative work.

In the digital realm:

Lesser risk = lesser risk of failure = lesser learning experience

Creativity and great art should be considered as:

Greater risk = greater chance of failure = greater learning experience

Disposable art is mediocre art.

Great art requires investment in terms of time, commitment, learning and fiance. Great art also requires refinement; for a writer it’s the process of drafting, editing, rewriting, polishing.

In terms of finance (the support of artistic endeavours through patronage or the purchase of creative works: painting, books, music etc) the commodification of creativity is not under debate here, but the impetus to create is. And it is an impetus to create great books, plays, movies, music, paintings and sculpture et al.

Great art is developed when the composer takes great risks, knowing that if they fail, there is a substantial lesson to be learned. There is a great need for creative people to take risks, but it must be at a cost, not the simple act of deleting, disposing or throwing away.

There is a place for acts of throwaway creativity. But creativity, and great art,  should also be about deeper learning.

We owe it to ourselves and to our audience to create great works of art, lest we become a generation of creatives who are disposable heroes of mediocrity.

 

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Create Art “Just Because”

Posted on September 1, 2012 | 8 comments

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.”

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Cataloging The Chaos

Posted on August 30, 2012 | 4 comments

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.

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A Child’s Crayon in the Hands of an Adult

Posted on August 27, 2012 | Leave a comment

Talking with my students, some of them talk about their graduation in primary school from a pencil to a pen, and the receipt of a “pen license.” A few proudly proclaim they have been using a pen “illegally” because they never passed their pen license test.

A pencil can be erased. Mistakes can be removed and covered up.

A pen is indelible. Mistakes are permanent.

But, I like mistakes.

I like seeing a beta reader’s comments slashed all over a new story because I know they care about the work as it will look when it is finished.

Sometimes we need make mistakes with the enthusiasm of a child with a crayon and a freshly painted wall.

Emotions

Watching my own children grow and develop, there is a wonderful sense of imagination and creativity, particularly in play and in their own artworks. A child is naturally observant, engaged, creative and often think with their emotions. (And thankfully, nothing on the walls. My own experience, as my mother tells it, involved a red crayon, a long hallway and the implausible excuse that “Mickey draw.”)

And children ask “Why?”

They want to know how the world works in order to make sense of their own experiences. While they develop their understanding, their creativity is unfettered and boundless.

Logic

As we grow up and develop, we learn (and are taught) to control our emotional impulses and adopt a more logical, analytical approach to learning. Our creativity is sidelined to the periphery of our lives, sometimes considered an unnecessary adjunct to our modern life.

Give children scissors, glue, textas and paper and they will create without a second thought. Adults will ponder what to do first by arranging the items, colour coding and planning rather than simply creating.

Balancing the Spheres

Creativity balances between the child-like emotions of play and exploration, and the adult need for logic and order. We need both.

There are times when we want to let the free, child-like perception to wreak havoc, running around with underpants on our head and a permanent marker in one hand and a piece of paper in the other.

And then there are times when you want the logical, adult part of your brain to take control and clean up the chaos and makes sense of the randomness. But keep the underpants on your head because you want to maintain a link to the childlike.

We can let one side (the emotional or the logical) have its sway, but we should not be driven by one side alone. We respond to the world emotionally and logically simultaneously, and in concentrated bursts of one or the other.

As a creative person we may be lead initially by the emotional side to create a piece of work, then allow the logical side to shape and craft the piece into a substantial framework, redolent with meaning and superimposed with layers of understanding.

Conversely, we use the logical side of our thinking to explore an issue, prognosticate about the form and purpose of our work, then let the childlike creativity have free reign to throw ideas around.

Creativity should be playful and fun, and plain hard work.

Being child-like in our creativity asks “Why?” to explore, to understand, to find an explanation.

Thinking Like A Child While Being An Adult

It is appropriate to ask with a child’s innocent intentions, to ask “Why?”.

It is asking, “Why is it done this way?” because we need to know the lineage and history of our chosen medium.

Is is also asking “Why has it not been done this way?” or “Why can’t I not do it this way?”

The adult side of our thinking then puts our childlike dreams into action.

Pick up a crayon or pencil or texta occasionally and look at the world with a child’s perception. Ask questions like a child.

Create good work.

Understand how the world works and question it; provoke it and challenge it like an adult.

Create good work.

And don’t forget to wear underpants on your head.

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Boys, Reading and Subversive Acts of Creativity

Posted on August 23, 2012 | 3 comments

In the light of the deaths of three young men recently (two I knew and one the son of a colleague), it made me think about how boys are often silent. Their deaths were the result of mental illness; something that is still a misunderstood disease. It is spoken about in terms that do not lend itself to understanding, therefore, people fall silent.

It is an issue that is not given a voice. Without a voice to speak, the sufferer is left mute.

In our Western society, traditional stereotypes of men are silent stereotypes. Their voices are limited to unctions of power and authority. Their actions reflect such notions, and this is what boys model their lives on.

Boys grow and mature into men who lack the language of feeling, empathy, understanding and vulnerability. They become silent because they do not have the vocabulary to express their emotions and because they have been taught to become so.

I can see this silence in some of the boys  I teach (high school ages 13-18), an inability to understand and express their emotions in a way that their female peers find so easy to do.

So, how do boys and men discover the art and language of feeling, empathy, understanding and vulnerability?

Within the pages of a book (in this case, fiction).

A small percentage of boys read regularly and it becomes obvious they have a broader understanding of the world and their emotions. Their understanding of the world is deeper and they are more perceptive to their emotional states. The older boys get, the less they read (in terms of fiction).

  • Fathers (and mothers), read to your sons.
  • Grandfathers (and grandmothers), read to your grandchildren.

Make reading a subversive act of creativity.

An act of creativity to give boys an understanding of their emotions. An act to subvert the silent stereotype. To give boys, as they mature into men, the vocabulary to express their emotional state.

Make reading a creative conspiracy between you and your child.

A Subversive Act of Creativity Action Plan

  • Read to them from a young age.
  • Model reading by being seen with a book in your hands.
  • Have them draw their favourite scene from the book.
  • Talk to them about the characters and the decisions they make
  • Ask them to express how they feel about characters’ actions
  • Read the book with them and share the experience
  • *insert your own ideas here*

Teach boys to understand feelings, empathy, understanding and vulnerability by examining and discussing the characters and their actions.

I count it a privilege as a male English teacher that I can model this understanding. We need more male English teachers.

Let’s help create men who understand their emotions and have the vocabulary to do so.

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Dream a Little Dream

Posted on August 20, 2012 | 2 comments

People love to dream of what they could achieve.

I dream about what I could achieve as a writer. You may dream about what you can achieve your creative sphere: in music, painting, sculpture, cooking, gardening, craft.

When I began writing three years ago, I didn’t have a dream of what I wanted to achieve. I began to write because it was something that was burning in me to do. As time has progressed, my vision has become clearer in regards to what I want.

I dream of having books published.

I dream of earning passive income through the books I write.

I dream of becoming a known blogger in the areas of writing and creativity.

I dream of seeing my name on the list of nominees for the Miles Franklin Literary Award (a prestigious literary award in Australia).

Recently I wrote down the projects I wanted to complete. Written on the first page of my first moleskine notebook are: 4 novels, 2 novellas (both collaborations, one is multi-media), 2 non-fiction projects, 1 picture book, 1 anthology of short stories.

Beyond the completion of these projects, there will be others to fill their place. More novels, novellas, non-fiction books, picture books, collaborative projects, anthologies, scripts, graphic novels. Plus other things I haven’t even dreamed or contemplated. And then in the “weird, but why not” category: I want to write a book about drumming, writing and spirituality.

Over the washing up (one of my “Thoughtful Spots” as Winnie The Pooh would call it, where I think through plots, ideas, blogs), I dreamed that Post Marked: Piper’s Reach was the break out book of the season. Jodi and I were invited to readings and signings, television show interviews.

That’s a dream.

But how do you go about achieving your dreams?

Some flirt with the idea of following their dreams but never act on it. Their dreams fade away and waft away like a fart on the breeze.

Others begin with gusto and vigour but they become wisps of ghosts, withered husks, as their seeds wither in the ground. Their dreams never come to fruition because they never followed through.

Dream with me a little more.

How do you achieve your dreams?

1. Make Plans

Dreams require planning. Without planning and commitment, dreams will only remain in the imagination.

John Lennon wrote: “Life is what happens to you/While you’re busy making other plans.”

Really?

Life involves planning. There is room for spontaneity. Between the hours of 3pm and 6pm on the fifth Sunday of the month. Book it in.

Let me counter this statement with a proverb: “Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control.”  Proverbs 25:28

Go and get a pen and come back. Now.

You’re back? Good.

Write down what you want to achieve, no matter how simple or unrealistic they seem. Putting it down on paper begins to solidify the intent and instill the need to be in control of your dreams.

I’ll see it when I believe it.

2. Set a Timetable

It’s no good to make plans and then use the paper to wipe your bum. You need to timetable your projects.

How long will each project take? How long do you want it to take? What time do you have available to work on a project? When can you make time? Do you want to write a novel in a year or 3 months?

Break it down into monthly, weekly and daily targets.

Prioritise your projects, but allow for flexibility.

And make sure you finish what you start.

3. Be Accountable

A little wisdom again from the Book of Proverbs (11:14): For lack of guidance a nation fails, but many advisers make victory sure.

Developing a good network of creative (or non-creative) people can keep you accountable, keeping you on track to achieve your goals. Have them check up on you on a regular basis.

Lastly, dreaming is easy. Making them a reality is hard work.

What are your dreams? How do you go about fulfilling them?

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Creativity Takes Time

Posted on August 16, 2012 | 3 comments

“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste.

But there is this gap.

For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you.

A lot of people never get past this phase; they quit.

Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this.

And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know it’s normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met.

It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”
― Ira Glass (American radio broadcaster)

This quote was posted on my facebook page and it fits where I am at with my own writing. I understand the effort that creativity takes, and I know the feeling when something seems so effortless. But it reinforces some lessons I am learning about creativity.

Creativity takes work.

You have to learn the skills. There are no shortcuts to master a skill. Learn. Practice. Rehearse. Repeat.

Creativity takes commitment.

It is a daily commitment to perform a creative act.

Creativity takes discipline.

If it’s one thing I lack, it’s discipline. Working on it.

Creativity takes time.

I have seen my writing improve in the past three years, and the gap between the reality and the potential and expectation is shrinking.

Creativity Takes Time

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Can Engineers Be Creative?

Posted on August 13, 2012 | 1 comment

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?

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The First Line Conundrum

Posted on August 10, 2012 | 6 comments

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.

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