For a return engagement, Corrine O’Flynn offers further thoughts on the creative process.
The Creativity Series: Guest Post
Journaling to Unleash Creativity
Ask a creative person what they do to keep track of their ideas and you’ll find many different answers. Some will file them away mentally until they can revisit them later, others will use a voice recorder, and still others will email themselves, call their own voice mail, or make lists. I do all of these things. But my tried and true solution to problems that crop up in my stories is usually found within my journal.
Creativity can become stifled if we’re unable to move beyond a certain sticking point. In my case, as a writer, I will find myself staring into the dark abyss of a plot hole and wonder how in the world I am supposed to get my characters from point A to point B while maintaining whatever was happening at the moment on the page. My head will be stuck on some minute detail, and then everything stalls, leaving me unable to find a solution.
Awareness of my tendency to do this does nothing to keep it from happening, mind you. Our minds play tricks on us in broad daylight!
Enter my journal. In a case like this I will pull out my journal, grab a pen, and start writing out the issue long hand. I’ll write out a question at the top of the page like, “What is the problem with Character D at this point?” And then I’ll start writing out an answer as if I was explaining to someone who was not familiar with my story. Eventually, I will get lost in the telling of the issue and start brainstorming the possible solutions I’ve come up with.
Maybe they could go here and discover this fact before such-and-such happens, or maybe they don’t find this detail out until they arrive at the next town. Or, maybe they don’t stop here at all and instead…
Thinking through a problem like this is like taking part in a one-man brainstorming session. When you start being open to putting the issue down without worrying about the writing, and instead with a goal of problem solving in mind, you free yourself from that sticking hold on your brain.
Journaling to unleash your creativity in this way can bring about many different solutions, sometimes making you change everything once a gem of an idea emerges. It forces you to separate your ego from the stunning and fabulous idea that has you stuck in the first place and allows you to come up with alternative (and equally fabulous) solutions to your problem.
Do you journal to solve creativity problems?
Bio:
Corinne loves to write about fictional dark and fantastical things. You can find her on her blog and on twitter @CorinneOFlynn
I will be co-hosting, in October 2011, a month long Fiction Writers Blog Fest called The Rule of Three. We created a shared world set in the town of Renaissance, gave the setting, some of the history, the potential for the future…but the stories of the inhabitants of Renaissance, ah…those we’ll find out together. (For my teaser story, click HERE).
All the information will be unleashed on Wednesday, August 31st. Plenty of time to sign into the project. The Basics: create a 3 person story arc, one posting per week for three weeks (with prompts provided if you need them), each posting dealing with the story you are building towards through the POV of one of your three characters. There will be one more posting, the culmination of the story you’ve been telling week by week, one final burst into the story you’ve set in Renaissance. Yes, very Rashomon.
The Shared World: Renaissance
An outpost town in the middle of nowhere, but many routes pass through or by the town. The desert is encroaching on one side (to the West), a once lush forest lies to the East and South. A large river runs through the forest, but it is not close by. Mountains are to the North, far, far away, and when you look towards them you don’t know if they are an illusion or not. Closer by are the smaller hill chain that fed the mining, creating caverns and passages underground.
The town has had a number of identities throughout it’s history: A trading post; a mining town; a ghost town until it was rediscovered; a thriving community; the scene of a number of great battles; the scene of one great tragedy (that led to it’s Ghost Town standing); a town of great joys and celebrations, and so much more.
At this point in time, there is a general population of 333. A mixture of a community. It boasts families that have lived there for generations upon generations, but they are in the minority, and are not in positions of power. There are traders who have come back here, at the end of their many travails, to settle in. The new families and power players have taken this as a last refuge for themselves, hoping to rebuild lives torn apart on the way here.
EVERYONE has a secret!
Welcome to Renaissance.
Enjoy your stay.
Full Details Released On Wednesday, August 31st, here and on Tale Spinning
Sparkfest is the invention of Christine Tyler of The Writer Coaster, and this is my first introduction to her writing blogging world. I am sure it won’t be my last as I just subscribed. SUPPORT WRITERS AND OTHER ARTISTS. End of soapbox.
The prompt for this blogfest:
What book made you realize you were doomed to be a writer?
What author set off that spark of inspiration for your current Work in Progress?
Or, Is there a book or author that changed your world view?
Christine has a whole set of “rules” on her page: check them out, and enter as you will. Me, um…well, if you’ve been reading me at all, you should have an idea about how I feel: Rules? Rules? We don’ need no stinkin’ rules! Her basic prompt was to choose one of the three above.
By The Way: if you don’t know, I am also a Fiction Writer, and write on my Tale Spinning Blog. This probably should have gone there, and it might still, later. Thought you should know, if you have only known me for what I write about in Education.
I’m going to try all three. Just to be…me. (Thank you, Gene Simmons. I hope she says yes, and I hope you are better).
What book made you realize you were doomed to be a writer?
This is a tough one for me. I am not sure there is one book that did that. The first thing that comes to mind, really:
Comic Books
I have been involved with reading, collecting, cherishing comic books since way before I could read. My mother used to buy me a few when I was very little (Gold Key; Harvey; Classics Illustrated; Disney; and Archie comics) and I loved the whole thing. It was more than pictures and words. Comics took me on a journey across the world and into imagination. When I discovered Super Heroes, that was it: Hooked 110% all the way. My imagination knew no boundaries from that day forth. I also understood very well that with great power comes great responsibility.
My memory may play tricks with me, but besides wanting to be a scientist (not with MY grades!), I had always wanted to write for the comics. Always. Still do. I used to write my own little things in school when I was bored out of my mind. Always drawing my little thumbnails (didn’t know I was story-boarding then), creating characters, writing dialogue, etc.
So…doomed to be a writer? I don’t think I’ve ever thought of writing as a doomed thing. Exciting, creative, expressive, exploitative, demanding, challenging…yes. Doomed? Never.
What author set off that spark of inspiration for your current Work in Progress?
My current work in progress is Agent driven: I asked her “what do you want from me?” when all she had previously said was she wanted to see a novel from me (she won’t handle short story writers). Her answer: “I want a great love story.” So, that is what I am doing right now. For those of you that have read my published short story in Dawn of Indie Romance, you’ll see I do have that in me.
The author who set me afire in inspiration overall is Roger Zelazny. I do have a few other things in the works besides the “great love story,” and I feel that I owe them all to the late Mr. Zelazny. He was, to me, THE writer to look up to, to want to be compared to. He broke down big heavy walls in his speculative fiction and fantasy writing. He explored ancient mythologies putting his own twist on things.
Lord of Light was the first book of his I read, and will reread it as long as I can read. Hinduism, scifi, fantasy: you name it.
A Rose for Ecclesiastes just an amazingly beautiful story, melding Christian mythos with science fiction AND it’s a love story too.
The Chronicles of Amber is probably what Zelazny is best known for. This fantasy series has everything in it: great stories; great characters; great mysteries; great love; great horror and tragedy; and a lot of Zelazny’s humor.
He was diverse in his writing styles. He had a love for language. He had a diverse referencing skill in what he drew upon as a writer. If I ever had to grow up, I’d want to grow up to be a 1/10 of a Roger Zelazny in my writing. My The Kistune-Mochi Tale (working title) is inspired by his work. Thank you, Mr. Zelazny.
Is there a book or author that changed your world view?
This is the book that blew away my itty, bitty mind when I was around 16/17. It was written/published in 1972, and I still have my copy. So, yeah…16 or 17. I remember reading it, having to put the book down, close my eyes, and my head just swam/exploded with all the complexities I was experiencing from the book. No: I was not on any drug. I don’t do drugs. Never did. This book was enough.
RD Laing’s knots was a psychological poetry brainf**k for me then, and it still retains all of that for me now. Not a fiction book, per se, as I’m normally driven towards fiction. But,it is life presented in an infinity loop of desperation, longings, desires, needs, destructiveness, love, hate, and “what are we doing to ourselves and each other?” wanderings.
Amazon’s description of the book is: “A series of dialogue-scenarios, which can be read as poems or plays, describing the “knots” and impasses in various kinds of human relationships.” I think they do it a disservice.
I think my questioning of “why” someone does something, not as judgment but as wanting to just know to understand, has it’s roots from reading this book. It does help me as a writer/playwright: all characters want something. My question is: why?
Hope you liked this one. Bit on the long side, but…I never did promise you brevity.
You should join this one, if you are serious about writing too.
If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended;
That you have but slumbered here
While these visions did appear.
And this weak and idle theme,
No more yielding but a dream,
Gentles, do not reprehend.
If you pardon, we will mend.
And, as I am an honest Puck,
if we have unearned luck
Now to ‘scape the serpent’s tongue,
We will make amends ere long,
Else the puck a liar call.
So good night unto you all.
Give me your hands if we be friends,
And Robin shall restore amends.
Lights fade to black, PUCKS (yes, PUCKS) exit; Full house lights POP UP: Play the end of Peter Gabriel’s “The Rhythm of the Heat (last 1:19 of the piece, from “The Rhythm has my soul……”) and as his last note is vanishes away, just as the drums kick in, cast in the wings toss out the colored Serpentines (colored streamers) up and over the stage, and the FULL CAST OF45 Dreamers (yes, my Dreamers) hit the stage, the ramps, the lower stage, and the aisle-ways, and dance their hearts out to the African drumming. On the last hot note, the cast hits the floor, grounding them to the world as their arms and hands reach for the heavens.
Curtain Call.
I have been planning to write out some of my plans, my process and my style ideas each week. I got a comment from yesterday’s post Urban Shakespeare, (y)O! asking for just that, plus some comments on the social media sites I’ve been posting to. Far be it for me to ignore requests that are easily answered.
All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages.
I have 45 campers, ranging in age from 6 (only one) to 13 years of age. As the Senior Theater Instructor, I run the play production, oversee the staff (to a point: I’m NOT the Camp Director), run daily warm-ups, rehearse them, observe them, go on trips with them, bamboozle them and like the heck out of them. These are inner NYC youths that some have already had introductions to William Shakespeare and some of the body of his work.
We will have three performances: two for other camps/home schooled/etc, and one evening performance for family. As of this writing, there are three and a half weeks left before the first performance.
Some of the Behind The Scenes tidbits are;
Setting: This version is placed in Mali, in Africa. The culture of the music and dance are being woven into the show; highlights to move the play along, showcase the talents of the campers, and to bring a kinetic energy that will, in my opinion, draw the audience in, no matter the age.
Editing: for timing and content, the play is heavily edited down to one hour and fifteen minutes. Bawdiness and overly verbose passages, beautiful as the language may be, had to whittled down.
Characters: Any school or camp theater director knows that you almost inevitably have more cast members than you have parts. In this case, instead of relegating so many to just be Fairies with no lines, I doubled up a lot and have a lot of Greek Chorus style speech going on. I have SIX Pucks, ranging from three 7 years olds to three older campers. They have One-Word-At-A-Time, Group Choral Speak and Individual lines. The Fairies the same. I also added a little here and there to flesh out the storyline so all got a chance to have a voice.
Musical Numbers: one of the things that I borrowed is how Mark Rylance crafted “Measure for Measure” at The Globe in London. In between scenes, there were songs, dances, masques, etc, that (in the notes provided) brought the play back to how it might have been seen during Shakespearean times. I LOVED what he and his cast did, and I felt that this was the way to go: make this as much a Comedy as a Comedy with Singing and Dancing: a full production, one that will have it’s flow pushed along by high energy throughout.
Environmental: This is being performed inside, and my one true mandate for the rest of the artistic staff: this must be an environmental production. Not all the action will happen on stage. I have two 7′ramps that lead from the main stage to a lower stage. There is performance planned up and down the aisles, in front of the stage, in a balcony space, and amidst the audience. With six Pucks, you’ll never know where one will pop up (fae as well). There will be a bit of call and response happening with the audience members, beyond the clapping and tomfoolery that I have planned.
Tomfoolery: Juggling Scarves; Dancing Scarves; Acrobatics; Fencing and Stage Combat; Really bad auditions for the Mechanicals; Songs written for some of the characters; a really elaborate Wedding Dance; Tosses and Flips and Rolling and Jumping; and assorted other thises and thats. I can’t give it all away…you have enough here.
I will write more about the production when Week Three is in the can. Tomorrow: blocking the entire end of the play, from the Wedding Dance to Pucks’ final speech. Will I have any hair left at the end of all this?
PS: The book cover at the top of the blog: for ANY naysayer who feels Shakespeare with the young is folly: Lois Burdett, a SECOND GRADE TEACHER in Canada, wrote and produced EIGHT (that I know of) Shakespeare’s plays with her students. The books introduce the story, the characters, include actual text alongside modern day prose and verse, and…SECOND GRADE!! I can not have more admiration for this.
On thinking about schooling and the education system that needs to progress for a better future, a shift in the paradigms of curriculum and methodology of teaching/how teaching is perceived, is at the forefront. As it should be. If you’ve read my essays, you’ve seen it’s been a concern of mine. Why? I have no school age kids (mine are both married; no grand kids yet). It’s the future generations I am concerned about, and how I will live, and my grandchildren and theirs, in this world. I am concerned if the students of today have the skills, or not, to be the creative and critical thinkers needed to survive the upcoming world to come.
Yes, it’s one more thing to think about. Teachers are losing jobs left and right, classroom sizes are exploding, pedagogy that actually works is undermined by the need to test and assess (yeah, I’ll never let that one go). Yet, money can be saved by going green even in existing buildings. The links above not only offer suggestions but give you more links for research.
Monies can be found through grant writing. You just have to slog through all that is out there, but when we talk budget: you have options here. Corporations that are working on going green solutions should be reached out to, and from there to local markets to support you community.
Empty lot that is an eyesore near the school and has been that way for a LONG time?
See if the owner is open to a volunteer school reclaiming the lot as a garden.
You get: Community Connections and Service; Cooperation Skills; Science and Math Skills; Agriculture; Possible Commerce (if you can grow and sell flowers/be zoned for vegetables); Organizational planning; more.
Going to eBooks instead of books.
Yeah, I LOVE books, but…ecologically, cost and space, they are a waste now. We have the technology, and it grows in leaps and bounds.
When all the big text book companies put out all their published work electronically, plus all the plays, novels, stories, etc we have around the schools, things can move along. My reasoning? Textbooks go through revisions, become outdated, or the school system takes on a whole new Math/English program that requires a whole new set of material. School books are not cheap.
Now, if electronically, you buy the text books you want to use, you should be able to get, or demand:
renewable downloads built in for ebb and flow of student numbers;
new revisions automatically (slight fee or not; up to the companies and you);
switch in new program accessibility;
corrections to “printed” material immediately;
and it’s cloud outsourced, which means your clogged book shelves and storerooms are NOT anymore.
No more “I forgot my book” or “I left my book at Grandma’s house three states away. Which brings me to…
Tablets in schools.
Less room than laptops. Will fit on ALL existing desk structures.
Connectivity in schools will have to be drastically increased (silly to go electronically when you cannot connect, or it’s always dropped. I see that too often).
You get the company to pad the outside like you do with iPhones, create shatter proof screens, and instal LoJack type systems so the property can’t be taken out of school without the attack dogs knowing (and yeah, change that chip/location often so our darling little hackers don’t have an easy time of it).
Papers on the floor, missing? Gone, or reduced. Books destroyed? What books? Other creative doo-dads that can expand the classroom globally? Oh, yes.
Costs? Think about partnering up with more than Apple. There is a LOT more out there than iPads, iPhones, iDon’t use Adobe Flash.
Global Education: we are SO behind the times in media technology in our schools. The economy and businesses are going global: why are we not prepping our students this way?
Librarians: I am NOT trying to get rid of your jobs. The schools are already doing a great job of that now. I can’t tell you how many schools are downsizing their own libraries, as classroom “libraries” grow. I think there is a need for the change in School Library paradigm as well.
Those are only three things on my list. Yes, I have a list. More things to think about as we go along.
How Do You Go Green in Schools, or Want To?
btw…the first pic at top: it just struck me as funny, the image of a GREEN Green School.
This photo just struck me as how I would love a class that is dialogue/inquiry based to be set up. EVERYONE can see each other. Room in the middle for activities. When I had my own continuous classroom, my model was for sitting in a U shape, sort of like this for that reason. Everyone was visible and line of sight was always there. It supported communications. If desks like this had a slightly raked/raised built in tablet for student use… wow.
Storytelling is the oldest form of communications. We told stories in gestures, painting in caves, in dance, in song, and from guttural uttering to languages, to finally the written word. “How did the hunt go?” led to many tales of bravery and “…you should have seen the mammoth that got away. It was THIS big!” (yes, the first lies too).
I have a Masters of Arts Oral Traditions, but that alone does not make me a Professional Storyteller. I tell (performance: my definition of storytelling) as one way of making a living. There are a variety of styles of storytellers and ways to tell stories as there are genre’s of books.
Most people associate storytelling with something you do with the kids. You crack open a picture book and hope they go to sleep happy. That is only one way of telling.It is not just for children, and it’s time people really realized it. It’s a community based sharing of cultures and morals and mores; stories were ways of giving out news, passing histories, commentary and caution (Red Riding Hood: watch out for strangers!).
There is: conversational storytelling; telling true stories (The Moth, etc); digital storytelling; picture book telling; corporate/organizational storytelling; and performance storytelling, where the teller orally presents a story from memory and heart, most often NOT memorized word for word, but beat by story beat. This type of storytelling allows for interpretations, mood and energy of the audience or events of the day, and takes into itself the personality of the teller. There are a few more, but these hit the major oral tradition points.
I’m a performance storyteller. Not always in costume (I do that for certain thematic shows), but I am always investing of myself into the tales I tell. I create my own, love traditional fairy and folk tales, really get into global tales, improvise many, and on occasion will tell a personal story. I take pleasure in the pleasure of the telling, and the reception of my audience. I am not a favorite of the “quiet, breathy” tellers. That’s OK. I’m boisterous and energetic, and I often try to find humorous spots in the story I tell, if not completely humorous. If Shakespeare could insert a bit of humor into his most tragic of tales, why shouldn’t I? He was of and for the common man, not some highfaluting (I never knew that was one word until now-FUN!) ways and prim and proper stuff. (OK..mini rant over).
So, Storytelling to ME is…
FUN
Pleasing
Energy
Sharing
Creative
Laughter
Touching
Adventurous
Connecting
Fulfilling
Stress Reducing
Mesmerizing
Sweat Worthy!
Exhilarating
Pleasurable
If you like storytelling, go find a storytelling event in your area. Create one yourself. It’s not hard: check out my article in the top menu here on World Storytelling Day. I set up one in less than a month.
If you like my writing, check out my fiction at Tale Spinning. I think you’ll enjoy my attempts at a variety of genres.
Storytelling is not what I do for a living – it is how I do all that I do while I am living. Donald Davis
Tonight, Friday June 10th, I have a storytelling gig at The Bronx Museum. I’ll be doing something I rarely do: tell a personal story. The request for this series is to have professional storytellers from The Bronx celebrate their connection to that New York City borough (which, btw, is the only one known as THE anything). I grew up around the corner from Yankee Stadium (the original one, the real one, in my mind), just off 161st street. That means a lot to me, and will to people who grew up in that neighborhood.
I’m not normally a storyteller who does personal stories live. Yes, I’m happy to share conversational tales, personal tidbits, on my blogs and in actually talking, but on stage? Not my forte. Yes, The Moth is a huge hit, and other programs like that have caught the attention of a growing audience. I was discussing this with a storyteller friend, Dangerous Linda and she and I differ in this. To her “we are exactly opposite in this way. i find i can never (tell) something more amazing than real life.” We are both storytellers and writers. I prefer fiction, she, personal tales.
I have been asked, often, how long have I been a storyteller. I think we all are, we just don’t actualize it. We tell conversational stories all the time. As parents, we read to our kids (or should). That is my memory: my father, nightly, would read me stories from Hans Christian Anderson or collected tales from The Brothers Grimm. He sang songs to me, in German and other languages, and he encouraged me to come up with my own. Before he died, he did tell me he was proud of me for my company, The Brothers GriNN (improvisational storytelling). That was golden.
Why I Am A Storyteller
I feel that storytelling is the purist form of entertainment, next to dance and music. The oral traditions of passing on tales moved around the world as our ancestors traveled. These tales were shared, altered to fit the social system they visited (there are over 270 versions of Cinderella alone), and they were a gift to the future. The ones that are still told, and are being crafted now for future generations. Books are storytelling, of course, comic books too, and songs, and dance. Narratives can be found in many things. This is a narrative world we inhabit, no matter what the medium or genre.
Personal storytelling, as I said, is not what excites me, although I wrote my storytelling play based all on true tales. I prefer traditional folk and fairy tales, stories from around the world. I create and write my own.
I am a Performance Storyteller, which means I invoke my acting dramatic side into my telling. This, to me, engages the audience. I am bored with someone just reading from a book, with little to no interaction. I can read a book. I want to be thrilled by the voice, hear the cadence of language, the drawing in of a good teller. Language, to me, is musical.
Three tellers presented for the event, celebrating Children’s Day and Japanese Storytelling: Neva Winter, Gail Pullman, and Taeko Theresa Okamoto. (Neva is in the top photo, Gail the second).
Ms. Winter and Ms. Pullman both used Japanese Pop-Up and Movable books to great effect. The surprise of the movements created a lot of oohs, ahhhs and laughter, as the Japanese folk lore unfolded before them. Each book has exact text, as in an American picture book, but there is the chance for broader investment in audience reactions and interpretation in the presentations.
Ms Okamoto was the final storyteller, and used the Kamishibai Theater to present her tale. A master of the art, she captured the attention of everyone in the room with her vocal and physical characterizations, historical context, and the wonderful visuals of the story.
The Kmaishibai storytellers used to travel by bike, with the theater closed into a traveling case. Once they arrived to tell, they would unfold the box, creating a theater like presentation. Once everyone was gathered, by the clacking of the blocks, the storyteller would raise the curtain in the box, and tell the story picture by picture.
This was a fun event. I wish I could have taken photos of some of the children. The wonder that was displayed across their faces proved the power of storytelling, and how involved they can be. If you have the chance to see Japanese Storytelling, or any Storytelling event, please don’t hesitate to go. It’s not just for the children.
If you wish to contact the storytellers, please click on their names above for their email addresses.
I was just asked to work with some High School students in their ongoing development into forming a literacy club. The City of White Plains Youth Bureau, which is celebrating it’s 40th anniversary, has the goal is to develop and embody the skills and tools to become good citizens and to foster positive leadership skills. The literacy club is, from my understanding, plans to work with High School students to approach general presentation skills and to unleash their own creative voices through different literacy mediums, one of which they are drawn to is Digital Storytelling.
Storytelling started with grunts, gestures and wall paintings in caves (as far as we know). Stories grew into music and dance (the Hula is still an example of that), and once languages began, you couldn’t stop stories from spreading. Sitting around the fire at night, what better way then to tell of the day’s hunt, the danger, the outcomes.
Digital Storytelling is the new buzz term for something that has been around for awhile now. We’ve had sequential storytelling in many forms: Comic Books, which started around the turn of the 20th century, is storytelling (and I’ll defend that with all I have. I know many naysayers on that topic); Kamishabai, a traditional Japanese form, uses story cards, in sequence to tell and show the story; Storyboards for film and animation worked it’s way, in my opinion, into PowerPoint presentations; Documentaries uses storytelling through still photos, recordings of music or actual footage, and voice overs to lead the narrative along.
In today’s world of emails, IM’s and texting, a lot of the oral traditions get pushed aside. How many people do you know who would much rather text you then talk to you on the phone? My hope is that the students will gain more then an understanding of using another technology only as another distancing tool. Planning out any means of expressing their inner story IS very important, and the journey they take into social engagement. I’ll let you know how it goes.
When was the last time you told someone a story? How did you tell it?
Ask a creative person what they do to keep track of their ideas and you’ll find many different answers. Some will file them away mentally until they can revisit them later, others will use a voice recorder, and still others will email themselves, call their own voice mail, or make lists. I do all of these things. But my tried and true solution to problems that crop up in my stories is usually found within my journal.
Thinking through a problem like this is like taking part in a one-man brainstorming session. When you start being open to putting the issue down without worrying about the writing, and instead with a goal of problem solving in mind, you free yourself from that sticking hold on your brain.
Bio:
