Would You Like Fries With That?

Reblogged from bornstoryteller:

One of the most disturbing things that I have heard  from a student was:

"Why should I try? I'll only be working at McDonald's."

I was an Artist-in-Residence for a year for a large school district in Westchester County, NY. Still early in my profession, that statement was both a shock and a revelation of a point of view I had never considered before: low expectations given, and projected; leading this student to live  that that is all they can do.

Read more… 424 more words

While I have been slumbering, figuring out what to say/do with this blog, someone "liked it' this morning: rereading it, it gave me a renewed sense of purpose. I am job hunting, and that has taken over most of my concentration. Today I have two interviews, both for Director/Manager of Education position in arts administration. This post already has helped clear some of the cobwebs I've laid in my own way. Thanks for the like, Isurrett2.

Writing Critique Partners: POVs

If there is any one secret of success, it lies in the ability to get the other person’s point of view and see things from that person’s angle as well as from your own. ~Henry Ford

An art whose medium is language will always show a high degree of critical creativeness, for speech is itself a critique of life: it names, it characterizes, it passes judgment, in that it creates. ~Thomas Mann

I enjoy writing, but hate editing. I’ll do it, but it is a painful experience. From what I’ve read, a good number of you agree. Recently, I wrote two longer stories for submissions as opposed to the shorter/flash fiction I put up on Tale Spinning. For those tales I knew that if I was to have any chance of success they would have to be edited.

Luckily, I had a number of people I could call on to give my work an editorial eye. What I found enlightening was, through five different POV’s (points of views), that all who responded to my call saw something different. Grammatical changes pretty much were the same, with punctuation styles varying from one to the other.

What changed was how they approached the work: solely as Editor; solely as a reader of the genre; or a combination of the two. This allowed me to take what was offered, evaluate what I wrote through others eyes, and then edit myself to the point I felt I produced the best work possible.

To see the results of this: Nyctophilia (entered for the Figment/HarperCollins YA Defy the Dark contest). If the link does not work for you (and I think it only works in the US): go to Figment and type in the name of the story in the search box. I’d be interested in your comments, as I do think this story is publishable. The other story has been submitted, and only time will tell (both submissions had a September 1, 2012 cut off).

I want to thank the following for their time and effort: Golden Eagle; Allan Douglas; Roy A. Ackerman; Lisa Vooght;and someone who wishes to remain anonymous. The links are to their blogs. They are all well written, all interesting, and all very different POVs. Check them out.

Writers:

• How do you edit your work? 
• Do you hate editing your own work?
• Do you have Beta Readers/Critique Partners?
• Are you part of a writing group?
  
• If you have an editor that you work with consistently, how did you find her/him?

Origins of Creativity in Writing

There are numerous Blogfests running on any given day. Some are ongoing and others are one shots. With all that run, I do tend to pick around the lot, finding the ones that really interest me…and, hopefully, you.

Origins: When did your writing dream begin? is the brain child of DL Hammons at Cruising Altitude,  and he has three co-hosts: Katie Mills aka Creepy Query Girl ; Matthew MacNish at The QQQE ; and Alex Cavanaugh at Alex J. Cavanaugh.

To find the other blogs participating in this blogfest, click HERE or the Origins logo. There are close to 200 writers participating. Check them out.

I’ve also written a Flash Fiction piece  Origins: Entitled on my creative fiction blog, Tale Spinning. I hope you enjoy the story.

I can’t really pinpoint an exact time when writing became one of my dreams. It feels like it’s always been there, at the back of everything I’ve done in my life.  I don’t feel I’ve ever been tied down to wanting to “be” just one thing, ever. When I have done that, I find that I tend to get bored: especially the times when I’ve played the money game (read: non-creative pursuits).

As a kid, I read comics, watched TV and went to the movies. Outside of school projects, I would create little things for myself. Mini-comics were a way to pass time when I was bored in class. I’d take paper and fold it down, and then again, creating a sequential booklet for myself to draw in (lots of stick figures) and write short pieces. These would get passed around to friends later. I don’t remember ever getting caught.

There were stories I wrote for sleep-away camp newspapers, mainly mash-ups (yes, plagiarisms) of others work, combining different elements into one piece. While never criticized for that, I was often praised for “imaginative writing” and writing skills. I knew the truth, and just shrugged my shoulders.

High school changed that. I worked on the DeWitt Clinton newspaper for a year, writing articles, learning the craft of setting up the newspaper from scratch. I was really involved, and was going to be promoted to an editor’s slot when my parents told me we were moving to Westchester County. While my dreams of the paper were shot at that point (the new HS paper was not very open to someone new coming in), I did continue to write.

Off and on, I would write poetry, short stories, begin ideas for novels…and more times than not they would languish, first just as a pile of legal pad paper and then committed electronically and saved. All through this, I was always hoping I’d have my name on a book (or comic book) as a writer. It was a passing dream that wove itself throughout most of my life, a goal I always hoped I’d achieve.

2011 saw a new stage of writing for me. I created my second blog, Tale Spinning, for experiments in creative writing. Starting only in February of that year, I wound up writing close to 200 short pieces of fiction. I’ve now had two short stories published in anthologies, have my own eStory published, received a number of blogging/writing awards, been asked to write a number of guest blogs, and have won a few online writing contests.

Still to come: holding that physical book with my name on the cover in my hands.

Filling the Creative Well (The Creativity Series)

Once again, one of my Triberr mates has stepped up to share their POV on creativity. Toby Neal lives a wonderful life in Hawaii, a place I’ve love to return to (hint hint). What a place t surround yourself with beauty.

The Creativity Series: Guest Post

Filling the creative well: Toby Neal

Creativity flows from depth of exposure to sensory input. Let me say that again: creativity flows from depth of exposure to sensory input.

Without sounds we’ve known, where would music come from? Without images we’ve seen, colors we’ve boggled at, shapes we’ve felt, where would new works of art come from? And, without stories, legends, fairy tales, poetry, and even journal articles, where will original narrative spring from?

New work arises from the bones of old—just as new life arises from a remix of DNA.

I’ve written before about the marvelous, magical brain and how it’s always cooking things up (Idea Mining) but with a dearth of exposure, how can new ideas emerge? In a hectic, overstimulated world with too much of one kind of input (like electronics) from whence will rise the next Michelangelo? Without time—time to wander, and putter, and percolate on rich sensory input, who could give birth to genius?

And by this, I’m not talking about retreating for six months to Esalen in Big Sur, meditating naked—(though that could be fun) I’m talking about walking in nature for awhile, letting the eyes wander where they will, picking out the butterflies trying to fly while they mate (not graceful) and the mynah bird chasing a cockroach.

 Breathing deep that smell of moss under a tree, a smell like the underside of a mushroom, cool and slightly sour.

Listening to rain falling, the parrot next door screaming “Pretty bird!” and cars honking.

Processing it. Something will emerge later from what is deeply felt and fully experienced.

I am, right now, primarily a writer (of all my creative dabbling.)  Two days ago I finished Black Jasmine, my third complete novel and best first draft to date (in my optimistic opinion, though my daughter tells me I say that of all of them.)

I am suffering the aftermath of creative overdrive, a mildly depressive state like oncoming flu. Nothing feels quite right, nothing tastes quite right, and quite frankly life looks pretty empty with nothing but fascinating work, loving family, good friends, life in paradise and rewriting in my near future.

Bleah, and bah humbug. I miss my characters. I miss my book, the constant nagging obsession of it.  I’m annoyed I feel this way, finding it neurotic and even narcissistic, and I wonder if I should go to therapy. Oh yeah, I’m a therapist. I hope that means I’m okay, but I’m far from certain of it.

I wonder if I’ll ever write again.

I apparently suffer from being a writer.

But now is the time to fill the creative well, trust the process, know that new ideas are already bubbling in the substrata of my busy brain…they just need more to feed on. Like busily multiplying bacteria, they need stuff to digest.  I need to throw a few bodies into the creative well for my rabid imagination to stew upon. No doubt, you do too.

Slow down enough to process the sensory input around you, and let it fill your creative well.

 Toby Neal was raised on Kauai in Hawaii and makes the Islands home after living elsewhere for “stretches of exile” to pursue education. Toby enjoys outdoor activities including bodyboarding, scuba diving, photography and hiking as well as writing. A mental health therapist, she credits that career with adding depth to the characters in the Lei Crime Series.

Q&A On Creativity: Nick Daws (The Creativity Series)

It has been a pleasure being a Writer Warrior on Triberr. I’ve connected with a number of really wonderful people. Many in the group responded to my call for articles or interviews about Creativity.

Here, In this Q & A, British freelance writer and editor Nick Daws reveals why creativity is important to him both personally and professionally…

The Creativity Series: Nick Daws on Creativity

 

Q. What do you do that is creative?

A. As I am a full-time freelance writer and editor, some would say that everything I do is creative. Personally, however, I feel that some of my work is more creative than others.

Sometimes I’m hired for my creativity – this applies especially with copywriting work. At other times, such as when I’m editing a book, the scope for creativity is less.

Even so, there are often many possible ways to edit a text, and creativity still plays an important role in achieving the best possible outcome for all concerned.

Q. How do you use your creativity?

A. I use my creativity in my work, as mentioned above, and also for coming up with ideas for new projects of my own. Although I write for clients to pay the bills, I enjoy fiction writing when the time permits, and always have a few short stories and other projects on the go.

Another area where I have to be creative is in marketing myself and seeking out new outlets and opportunities. Being a freelance writer is a tough gig at times. You have to be creative in how you present and market yourself. And sometimes you may have to reinvent yourself entirely!

Q. Why is creativity important to you?

A. Creativity is essential to me partly because, as I said above, it’s one aspect of what my clients pay me for (and sometimes the main thing).

Beyond that, though, creativity is what keeps me excited and motivated by my work, and always trying to do better. I’d hate to have a job that offered no scope for creativity. I’d soon go mad from boredom!

Q. Who or what has been a creative influence on you?

A. There are numerous brilliant creative writers whose example has inspired me – just a few examples would include the British poet and novelist Laurie Lee, science-fiction author Roger Zelazny, thriller writers Stephen King and Dean Koontz, and fantasy author Robin Hobb.

There are also some brilliant bloggers whose creativity (and productivity) never cease to amaze me: Darren Rowse of Problogger, for example, and Joanna Penn, of The Creative Penn.

More generally, the Internet itself has been a huge creative influence on me. It’s an endless source of creative ideas and inspiration.

Q. What do you feel your creativity does for others?

A. For my clients, I hope my creativity helps them to produce the very best work they can – be it a book, a website, a blog, an advertisement, or whatever. And I hope that, through my work, my creativity inspires readers to try new challenges, to take on projects they might not otherwise have considered, and to find new sources of fulfillment and creative satisfaction.

 

Byline: Nick Daws is a professional freelance writer and editor, living in the English county of Staffordshire. He has a blog at www.mywritingblog.com and a homepage at www.nickdaws.co.uk. His publications for writers include the CD-based Write Any Book in Under 28 Days and Kindle Kash, a downloadable guide for writers who want to publish their work for profit on the Amazon Kindle platform.

 

The Year of Learning and Creativity (The Creativity Series)

In this changing economy, and as we get older, it becomes more important to stay flexible and find other outlets and sources to maintain a creative life. This is very true for those without a fixed/steady income, like myself. I see “possibilities” for the future, and strive to work on a positive today. It’s not always easy, but…as the quote I used the other day:

“I’m not telling you it’s going to be easy, I’m telling you it’s going to be worth it.”

I would like to make 2012 a positive year:

The Year of Learning and Creativity.

For me, things are starting to move in that direction; slowly but (hopefully) surely:

1. I will be working with OPERA America on a four month project, creating an operetta with  composer Zach Redler for a group of Manhattan seniors. I’ll be co-directing and writing the book and libretto from stories from the seniors.
2. Jeff Wirth (Interactive Acting) has opened the door to something new for me: possibly being a member of his NYC iTeam. I met Jeff a number of years ago and had the pleasure to also work with him. This starts soon and I have fingers crossed, as this sounds to be an exciting project.
3. My book of collected stories and poetry, The Path From Love, will be published soon by Trestle Press (eBook for now; possible print later in the year). Article by me on their website: Crossing Genres
4. Re-writes of my play, ...everywhere I look, and getting it back out on the road.
5. A number of already booked storytelling gigs.
6. May 2012: The Rule of Three Blogfest-The Return to Renaissance
7. and…some more things that are too soon to mention.

I want to thank Misha Gericke for giving me the title for this blog post (unwittingly, maybe, but it fits a lot of things); ALL the guest bloggers who helped me out in the latter part of 2011 when I got sick; a certain very special someone who has entered my life and has only enriched it, in so many ways; and all of you, the readers of BornStoryteller (and hopefully Tale Spinning too).

“Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.” ~Albert Einstein

The New Year…and Creativity

Quote: Albert Einstein

 

Here’s to a New Year that will be Worth IT, for one and all.

Thank you for reading/being part of BornStoryteller

Stuart

The Initial Spark (The Creativity Series: Guest Blog)

The Creativity Series: Guest Post

The Initial Spark: Derek Flynn

 

Stu wanted a post about creativity and the first thought that struck me was the initial act of creativity. As writers, we all know about the second and third and sixteenth drafts, and the critiques and so on, but what about the initial spark. What about that moment when you first pull the words out of the ether and put them together into a sequence that (hopefully) makes sense?

This set me thinking about writers going back a century ago, and their initial act of creation. It’s very different from writers today. Even just going back to the Forties or Fifties – before the advent of television and certainly before the advent of the internet – a writer sitting in a room was not bombarded with any of the things that they are now. There was no sensory overload. The writer sat – as many writers still do – with a pen and paper, or at a typewriter, but the mind worked differently.

Many writers probably still sit quietly writing and don’t have all this external flotsam coming in, but I would imagine that’s increasingly less common. There’s this constant multi-tasking going on. Previously, if a writer got to a point where they needed to research something, they would have just made a note – “Need to research that” – and gone back to the writing, or gone off and picked up an encyclopaedia. But the speed which we can research something now is amazing. And, of course, this is not always a good thing. Because while you can research 18^th century Parisian townhouses in a couple of Google clicks, this doesn’t make up for the two hours subsequently lost reading about the Three Musketeers. (No idea how I got to that page!)

For a long time – probably since the first person sat at a desk with parchment and a writing implement – writers pretty much sat at their desks and wrote. And they still do, but there are different ways of going about it now. I often use a Dictaphone, and it’s a much more off-the-cuff, stream-of-consciousness way of writing. So, I can be dictating whilst looking at something else, and all these ideas are coming at me, and I can stop and research, and so on. And oftentimes I’m just throwing down random ideas, rather than necessarily keeping on a constant train of thought.

It’s an interesting way to work. It’s not a way that I used to work. And, funnily enough, when I dictate while I’m out walking, I actually write more “conventionally” because I’ll get on a roll and I’ll start to write an actual whole scene. When I’m at my desk dictating, oftentimes another idea pops into my head because of something I’ve just seen on the computer and I’ll go off on a tangent with that. And I know there are writers who would gasp in horror at the idea that you would write with all this going on around you, but I think that’s the difference between the initial writing and the later edits. I would find it impossible to edit and rewrite that way; for the later drafts, I have to work from hard copy and the computer has to be shut off.

But it’s the initial phase that I’m interested in, and that initial phase of creation has certainly changed radically for writers in recent times and I think will continue to do so.

 

 

Derek Flynn is an Irish writer and musician. He’s been published in a number of publications, including The Irish Times, and was First Runner-Up in the 2011 J. G. Farrell Award for Best Novel-In-Progress. His writing/music blog – ‘Rant, with Occasional Music’ – can be found here: http://derekflynn.wordpress.com and on Twitter, he can be found here: http://twitter.com/#!/derekf03

 

How I Found My Creative Voice

Now, sit right down and let Stu tell you a story. Settled in? Good. Now, mind the spittin’ bucket if  old Ned comes by. He never could give up his chaw even after them docs took away half his jaw. His aim aint so good no more, so…you’ve been warned.

There is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. ~ Martha Graham

Creativity is contagious. Pass it on. ~ Albert Einstein

It happened that I did something early in my life that I swore I would not do: work for the money, not for what I wanted to really do. For fifteen years I worked a soul killing job. I had a break in my personal life during this period and I found something I was missing: an improvisation class in NYC.

It was heaven. Creative heaven. I had an amazing year+ with this company, but inner politics ruined it (as well as things I might talk about another time: My Run In with Scientology. No joke).

A two year semi creative dry spell fell upon like the wrath of grapes, and then…one summer afternoon, at the Tuxedo NY Renaissance Faire, I was found….

…by the members of the Instant Shakespeare show. My kids were pointing at me like crazy to get chosen (so, all of this is YOUR fault, Adam & Jessica ;P  ) and sure enough, I was picked to be the audience patsy.

Except, I had the best time of my life. I added a few things, hammed it up,  and had the crowd in my hands. I made the MC (Scott Eck) laugh so hard he even said  he gave up the show to me. Afterwards, so many people asked if I did this for a living. Many said I should. Less than a year later…well, I had a lot of great creative adventures. A lot.

Which now brings me to the point: if I let the roadblocks of my life (and I consider a money job as opposed to a passion job a road block) stop me, I would not have found my creative voice, and I would not be as happy and fulfilled.

“Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun.” — Mary Lou Cook

It also brought me to this:

My very first solo eStory on Amazon

Thanks to the fine people at Trestle Press I now have an eStory published that is not part of an anthology. It’s 4,000 words long, and it costs just $ .99. I get 70% of that, so…yeah, the more the merrier. Won’t you make me merry? 

Product Description: Seth had been devoured by fire. What does a man do when the life of flame becomes as real as his waking life? When the sound of fire is the beat of his blood through his body? When what he sees he lives?

You can find it at Amazon: Flash Over

I have two more stories published, both in charity anthologies, supporting Doctors Without Blorders. You can find them on my brand new Amazon Authors Page. Two volumes, both $3.99, and both support a worthy cause. Please give them a try.

Thank you.

Interview with the Writer: Faith Mortimer (#REN3)

One of the published writers who donated a book to the Rules of Three Blogfest is Faith Mortimer. What’s been wonderful about the blogfest already is being turned onto writers I have not had the privilege to experience before.

For Faith’s Bio, Click Here.

Faith Mortimer’s Website

Damyanti, Lisa, JC and I thought we’d thank the wonderful writers who offered their work as prizes by spreading the love in our various blogs via email interviews. To see all of our featured authors, CLICK HERE

Here is Faith’s answers:

1.            Tell us about the book you are donating.

Echoes of Life and Love; is a collection of six short stories. The topics cover romance, paranormal, mystery and murder

2.            Why are you donating a book to this blog fest?

I thought it was a nice thing to do. The organizer (ed: Lisa Vooght)  was polite to ask me and I thought it a good cause.

3.            Can you think of a genre, which is currently out of your comfort zone, but intrigues you enough to take up the challenge of writing in it?

I normally write either mystery and murder novels or action and adventure. As my previous novels all contain a certain amount of romance I have decided to now write a mystery romance. I’m well into it and hope to finish it this year for publication.

4.            Tell us a little bit about yourself.

I’m English and left-handed. I came to writing quite late in life (ahem) although I have always dabbled. I love good food, fine wines, diving, running and exploring. And of course reading and writing. I spend my time between England and Cyprus where we live most of the time. It’s quite a multi-cultural existence, and I love it.

5.            What are your views on Self-publishing Vs  Traditional publishing?

 

I remember reading about self-publishing and E Books about 3 years ago when all the ‘big’ names in publishing were saying e Books would not last. Oh Yeah? It’s exciting, I can control my own life and I’m answerable to no one.

I’m very excited about all the changes in publishing these days, because it means authors have direct access to their readers. It’s a fantastic time to be a writer.

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Interview with Talli Roland

Thank you Faith. I hope you all hop over to read all the entries for The Rule of Three BlogFest.  The link below will open up a list of all the writers participating (btw…we have 69 writers, not 59…don’t know how to fix it).