Time to Write

Do you have to be possessed to be a writer?

Can guidelines for young artists apply to young (and not so young) writers as well? A recent post features a short video about artist John Baldessari, narrated by Tom Waits. It end with three things Baldessari thinks young artists should know. Let’s look at how the second applies to writers:

"You have to be possessed, which you can’t will"

I think this is what some writers mean when they say they have to write, that if a day goes by on which they don’t write, they feel uncomfortable.

I’m sure that’s true for some writers, but I also believe there are different levels of this kind of possession. I don’t write every day, although I guess I think about it, either in terms of a current project or a new idea, just about every day.

Maybe I have “Possession Lite.”

Perhaps if I had a higher grade of possession I’d be better known or be a better writer, but it’s been enough to allow me to be a professional writer for a long time, and I’m happy with that. So if you don’t have that total drive, don’t think that means you’re not a writer, but you have to have at least some of it.

I also think while you can’t will it, you can create the conditions that make it more likely that you’ll have it. Sometimes you have to go through a period of uncertainty before the possession comes on. Maybe it’s better not to worry about it. Just get on with writing something. 

(How did the great writers of all time--Conrad, Austen, Twain, Kafka--do it? They reveal many of their secrets in my new book, Your Creative Writing Masterclass, published by Nicholas Brealey and available from Amazon or your other favorite bookseller.)

Portrait of an artist, narrated by Tom Waits

I have to admit I’d never heard of the artist John Baldessari, but I found this video, “A Brief History of John Baldessary, Narrated by Tom Waits,” interesting both for content and as a way of presenting information.

 Frankly, I mourn the passing of the idea that a “talking head”-- an interesting person talking to camera -- can be a suitable format if the person is saying interesting things. This little film is the opposite of that format, with frantic music in the background, fast editing, zooming, etc. but it embraces it so well that it works. 

 

 

A look inside the unique and bizarre world of an obsession

Below is a fascinating video about artist John Frame. After being ready to give up his artistic career as a sculptor, he woke up one night and had a vision. Ever since, he has been working to make that vision real. If you like tim Burton's animated films you'll find this of interest (the video was made to go with an exhibition at the Portland Art Museum and is about five minutes long):

52 Tips to Writing Success - 8: Take Your Inspiration from the Best

Often when I ask newer writers whose work they admire or study, they mention books on the best-seller lists or the currently most popular movies. That's fine, it's good to be aware of what's working in today's marketplace. But it's not enough. 

I think we need to draw our inspiration from deeper wells. These include:

* The novels that have stood the test of time, by the great authors like Dickens, Austen, Twain, Dostoevsky, and more recently, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Faulkner.

* Short stories by masters of the form like Chekhov, Someset Maugham, Gorki.

* The mythology of various cultures

* Folk Tales

* Fairy Tales

* Classic movies like Citizen Kane, Gone With the Wind, The Godfather, Rashomon, Ran, Lawrence of Arabia, Shane, High Noon.

Whether you agree with my choices doesn't matter, what does matter is that you keep feeding your brain with material that has stood the test of time. 

ACTION: Consider taking a couple of hours a week or more to expose yourself to the work of the greats of the past and the recent past. 

(Would you also like to learn how to write from the masters? I have collected their writing advice in my newest book, "Your Creative Writing Masterclass." It also helps you apply that advice to what you are writing. You can get the book from Amazon or your other favorite bookseller.)

The Creativity Booster Too Good to Be True (but it is)

I have a feeling this will be especially welcome news for some of the creative people who like to hang out in pubs: drinking beer helps you be more creative.

Yes, it's scientific! A study compared how men who had had two beers did on a standard creativity test compared to men who had not. The tipplers were 40% more creative!

Note: this does NOT mean they would have been 80% more creative after four beers or 120% more creative after six beers. After six beers many people require all the creativity they can muster to find their way back from the bathroom. 

It does make sense that a bit of alcohol would be useful, given that it lowers inhibitions. Not just social inhibitions, but thinking inhibitions as well.

I don't remember where the tribe was located, but I remember reading that there was a tribe that considered all important decisions twice: one when they were drunk and once when they were sober. I don't know how they made their final decision if the outcome of these two sessions clashed. Maybe I need a research grant...

I'm sure wine would have the same effect but we'd better try it just to be sure. Mine's a nice merlot, please. 

(Another way to be more creative is to read my book, "Creativity Now!," published by Pearson and available from Amazon or your other favorite bookseller.)

52 Tips to Writing Success - 4: prepare for the dip!

This is the fourth in a series of weekly tips regarding small changes you can make, one per week, to write better, write faster, and have more confidence about your writing.

_{4: Prepare for the dip. The dip is what marketing guru Seth Godin calls the point in any project, usually in the middle, when progress is difficult and you begin to doubt the work and yourself. It’s tempting at that point to drop the project and take on a new one that seems like it’ll be much easier. It won’t. If you know this is going to happen and that it’s normal, you’ll be able to deal with it much better. Now that you’ve thought about it, when it happens just say, “Aha! I was expecting you!” and continue.}

(If you want to see the other two tips that have been mentioned so far, click on the Category "52 Tips for Writing Succss."( And do you want some friendly guidance that takes you all the way from your idea through the publication?  Get a copy of my book, "Your Writing Coach," published by Nicholas Brealey and available from Amazon and other book sellers.)

 

52 Tips to Writing Success - 3: decide what you want it to be!

This is the third in a series of tips regarding small changes you can make, one per week, to write better, write faster, and have more confidence about your writing. If you implement all or most of these, by a year from now you may have transformed your writing practice.

3: At the start of a project (or now, if you’re already into it) get a notebook and jot down what you hope it will be when you’re done. An easy way to do it is to write the review that you hope you will get. About once a week or once every two weeks for bigger projects, review your notes—are you staying on track? If not, what could you do to bring it back? If you find this too distracting while you’re writing the first draft, do it when it’s time to write the second.

(If you want to see the other tips from this series so far, click on the Category "52 Tips" to the right. And if you want to get some great methods for being more creative, get my book, "Creativity Now!" published by Pearson and available from Amazon and other book sellers.)

52 Tips to Writing Success - 2: Keep it handy!

There’s a self-help book out that says you can make a big change in your life by making one small change per week. That got me thinking what a list of small changes like that might be for a writer and I’m suggesting one per week for the next year. Here’s the second in the series:

2: Even if you don’t have a dedicated room for your writing, or even a desk just for that, create a box or file that contains everything that relates to your current project so you don’t have to go hunting for it at the start of a writing session. Take it out at the start, put it away at the end.

(If you want to see the first tip in this series, click on the Category "52 Tips for Writing Success." Want writing advice from the all-time best? I mean Twain, Austen, Dickens, Stevenson as well as contemporary successful authors? It's in my book, "Your Creative Writing Masterclass," published by Nicholas Brealey and available from Amazon and other book sellers.)

Why writers should expect frustration (as well as insights)

How does creativity work? And why do we get frustrated and feel like failures if we don't solve our problems with an instant Eureka! moment? This short (about 4 min.) video discusses these issues (and is a promo for a new book, "Imagine: How Creativity Works," by Jonah Lehrer. 

IMAGINE: How Creativity Works from Flash Rosenberg on Vimeo.

 

 

(Want to be more creative? My book, "Creativity Now!" shows you 25 ways to get into a creative mood, 25 ways to generate ideas, 25 ways to turn those ideas into reality, and 25 inspirational case studies. It's pubished by Pearson and you can get it now from Amazon and other book sellers.)

What writers can learn from a top cartoonist about creating characters

Comic strip writers have to create characters who are easily understood but with enough dimension to sustain hundreds of short storylines. So maybe the rest of us could learn something from one of the best.

I think the best comic strip since "Calvin and Hobbes" is "Cul de Sac." In the video below, the writer and artist Richard Thompson talks about how he created the characters for that strip.

PS: Unfortunately, Thompson has Parkinson's. Recently several of his cartoonist friends took over the strip and gave their interpretation of his characters while he underwent treatment.