Creating Space - Frustration to Inspiration

A few weeks ago I was feeling super frustrated about my lack of writing. Not having the time or mental space while we were Down Under was understandable, but I still hadn’t put more than a handful of words on paper for two months since then.

Fortunately I'm pretty pragmatic, so I started racking my brains to work out if there were any practical steps I could take (apart from just putting one word after another on the page and ignoring the inner critic who was having a field day with me at that point!).

Around this time I realised that every time I saw a picture of a writer’s working space, the green eyed monster would come and perch on my shoulder and dig its claws in. A simple desk with a notice board above it, like this one of D. Savannah George’s could set me off…

http://nowastedink.com/2012/07/13/guest-post-writing-space-d-savannah-george/

…but it’s always Roald Dahl’s cute writing hut approached by this lovely avenue of trees that would really get me weeping.  I would skip to “work” every single day if I had somewhere like that to write!

Photo copyright David Sillitoe (http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2006/aug/26/familyholidays.culture)

Up until now, I always worked on our large dining room table and struggled to figure out how I could change that. Having recently, almost accidentally, moved to one of the most overpriced areas outside London, our house is a tad more modest than we've been used to and there’s no spare space in it. Having a garden room built at the bottom of the garden was a dream I'd started regularly entertaining, but one that seemed completely unjustifiable at least until something of mine has been published. Not about to happen any time soon. And even less likely to happen if I’m not writing anything.

I need space!  Physical space (perhaps coz I suffer mildly from claustrophobia) but also mental space coz I'm an introvert who gets energised best when I'm in my own little world :-) 

Finally I decided that if I couldn't work out in the garden, the next best thing was going to be the bay window in my bedroom, overlooking the garden.   There wasn’t any space in it, but I realised that with a bit of moving things around - primarily swapping an armchair for a small table - I could create my very own writing space. 

It might only be about a square metre in size, but it's a great start! The view is fabulous and will only get better as plants start to spring into life over the coming weeks. I can leave my notes out on the desk, rather than having to tidy them away so we can eat dinner. There's a drawer to keep things all together in one place, so I stand a better chance of finding random notes-to-self again, and a small column of wall to stick up things to inspire and encourage me.

Small changes can have a big impact.

Since creating this space a month ago, I've written thousands of words.  It's SO exciting!  I love spending time there.  As it’s solely dedicated to writing, nothing else distracts me and I can get totally lost in what I'm creating.  Which isn’t always a good thing if you forget to eat, drink or pick up your kids from school (oops!) :-)

As I gaze up the garden (in between typing, or sometimes even while typing), enjoying the beauty, majesty and intricate detail of creation, it energises and inspires me massively.  But my gaze always carries on, right to the bottom corner of the garden, as I dream about the purpose built studio (with desk, sofa and wood-burner!) that might be there one day!

Words and Music

It was listening to screenwriter James Moran last year at a conference that I first came across the idea of creating playlists to aid the writing process.  It was one of those so-blindingly-obvious-why-have-I-never-thought-of-it-before moments.

There are mountains of articles and studies about how music affects our brains and emotions, and how it can aid creativity. 

And films have soundtracks.  Lots of TV programmes too.  The right piece of music at the right moment can take a drama to a whole new level.  While it's obvious that you add music to improve something after it's been written/filmed, using it to inspire the process had never occurred to me, even though I was aware of songs that had already triggered feelings and ideas for my book.

I guess there are two key reasons why I hadn’t thought of it before.  The first, and most important, is that I need quiet in order to write!!  If music is playing while I’m trying to concentrate then I just can’t.  I’m so interested in lyrics that my ears pull my brain away from the task in hand – I want to listen to them and figure out what they mean, what they’re saying.  There’s no spare mental capacity left to write at that point ;-)

The second reason is that it seems kinda arrogant to create your own playlist, to take on a highly responsible and influential creative media role that you’re not officially qualified for and choose the soundtrack for your own movie/book/programme.  But do you know what?  That’s why it’s such a flipping marvellous idea!!! 

Writers have no control over how the industry will respond to their work.  Will the script (for film or TV) be made?  Will the book be published?  Could it subsequently be made into a film?  Even if the answer to all those questions is “yes”, it’s unlikely that anyone’s ever gonna ask the writer for their input with the soundtrack.

But all is not lost!  We can, at the very least, have a bit of fun and put together our own soundtrack.  We can pretend we have a level of control and influence.  We can choose whatever we like, whatever inspires us, and not have to consider how the target audience might feel about it.  We can select the artists of our own choosing, regardless of whether or not we could ever afford them or have the clout to commission them to write something to accompany our work.

James Moran has extensive playlists for everything he writes (70 songs in just one playlist he says in step 5 if you go to the blog link - it's a very long post, be warned), as well as extra playlists to psyche him up for meetings and other stuff.  He’s definitely much more into his music than I am!

But I have found it useful to tinker around a bit in Spotify and throw a few songs that capture the feeling of my book into a playlist.  To be honest, there’s one key song in there that encapsulates the story and the emotions of the book almost entirely.  A playlist of one song is a bit sad though, so I’ve included a few more for a bit of additional variety and depth.  And it’s always just plain fun to collect together things you like.

I can’t, and therefore don’t, listen to the playlist while I’m writing.  But I do put it on now and again to remind myself – mentally and emotionally - of where I want to go with the story in the future and to measure what I’ve written recently against that.  It helps me to “feel” the story, if that makes any sense.

Soundtracks can also help with writer’s block, as Lucy Christopher told us last year on the Arvon course.  When she was really stuck with “The Killing Woods”, as well as walking more in her nearby woods (which provide its setting and inspiration), she got musician friends of hers to write some songs capturing the feel of the story.  Their music helped her push through and complete the book.

I’m not scientific.  I have no understanding of exactly how music can affect our minds and emotions so strongly.  But I know that it does.  I also know that listening to music is highly pleasurable.  AND I know that writers need all the help they can get to push through and write their stories.  So playlists in my writing life are here to stay!

Music can be a powerful influence.  Use it wisely!

Awful Arrogant Authors

Talking with and listening to other writers is one of the most valuable and enjoyable things I do on my writing journey.  I’ve already learnt so much from them, even from passing comments or throwaway remarks.

For some reason beyond my logical comprehension, I had an expectation that authors – especially published ones - would be egotistical, superior literary gods who have perfect prose flowing out of their fingertips at the slightest provocation and look down on anyone who isn’t as miraculously gifted.

Having now met a growing number of writers, I haven’t actually met even one awful, arrogant author…yet.  Because we’re not in direct competition, we’re generally nice to and encouraging of each other.  Even if two writers were writing about the same topic, the books they produce will be markedly different, as no one has the exact same voice or viewpoint as anyone else.  Everyone’s work is unique.  Writing is nothing like an exam where there are right answers and we can compare our marks and grades.  Good work sometimes doesn’t get published and bad work sometimes does!

The amazing authors I met at Arvon (not awful or arrogant in the slightest!)

It was when reading an interview with Harlan Coben earlier this year that I discovered that, like me, he swings from thinking his work is great to the next day thinking it sucks.  At Arvon, Lucy Christopher shared how stuck she’d sometimes got while writing “The Killing Woods” and had to walk around the Forest of Dean, as well as get a friend to write some music for her, to release the story.  Also, at Arvon, Meg Rosoff told us that she often gets caught between finishing one book and starting on a new one, with no ideas coming and no obvious way forward, sometimes for weeks (although she more than capably gets there in the end) :-)

Sharing our writerly struggles is unbelievably important.  Writing is a very isolated task – the majority of it done at home, on your own.  I often go whole (school hour) days without talking to anyone.  It’s far too easy to end up thinking that you’re the only person who ever faces certain difficulties or having certain struggles.

Other things we share can be more positive, like recommendations of useful books, courses or conferences.  I was encouraged to find out at Arvon (yes, “at Arvon” will be a repetitive phrase in my blog, definitely for weeks to come, possibly months, perhaps even years!) that my writing process is a lot like Melvin Burgess’s.  When we’re working on the first draft of a book, we both have key scenes in our heads which we write and then start to link them together.  I admire people who can write in a linear way, but that doesn’t appear to be my style and it was great to find out that I’m not completely odd in my preferred method!

Writers can also help you to tap into and understand unconscious thoughts more fully.  At Arvon, Meg Rosoff shared a dressage analogy about resonance - the art of the horse and rider working together in complete unity – and how that is also true in writing, when you suddenly connect with an idea and it starts going full flow, in perfect tune with the story.  It was useful, but one of my course mates, Dale, reiterated it the next day as a surfing analogy, which I understood a lot better having surfed before (but never having done dressage!).

To surf, there’s a lot of preparation, including checking the tide times (finding the right time), but if you’re ever gonna do it you actually have to get into the water.  There can be so many obstacles even when you get there – the wind taking the tops off waves so they’re not that good; it’s too cold to be enjoyable; there are too many people in way to get a good run.  But when you catch THE wave, then the triumph and exhilaration of the ride make it well worth the wait! 

It can be hard to find the right time to write and even when you do, the right words might not come, a character might be difficult or a plot twist not authentic and credible enough.  But on those days when it all starts to flow, wow!  The rest of the world falls away and literary magic happens on the page.  Those days make all the hard slog and the times when you write one word after another on the page just coz you have to worth it.  They are the practice waves that mean you’re there and you’re ready when the big one comes!  I’ve found this image really encouraging and a great motivator to get on and write every day, regardless of how well it goes.

The writing has been going splendiferously well recently though :-)  More on that next time…

Encouragement From The Guys!

It’s a distinct possibility that a few people misunderstood my previous post on encouragement and were under the impression I was talking about ego stroking or relying on other people’s appreciation for our sense of self-worth.  Being misinterpreted is something that I’m already beginning to get used to – which is useful, as it’s sure to happen more and more the further along this writing journey that I get :-)

True encouragement isn’t about sycophantic praise, but giving people courage to press on.  That’s the best explanation I’ve ever heard on encouragement in this sermon from my much missed church leader, Arnold Bell.  It was definitely one of those mornings when you feel like the speaker is talking solely and directly to you!

Although I stand by my comment about encouragement being a predominantly female attribute, it would be wrong not to acknowledge that some of the most powerful sources of encouragement for me on this writing journey have been male. While I do have a few male friends who make the effort to encourage me (thank you guys!), most of that male encouragement comes in more general and public ways, rather than personally.

Someone I find constantly encouraging, via Twitter, is Nicky Gumbel. What a wise, inspiring and godly guy - I wish he was my dad!  He has that amazing gift of so often having the right words at the right time for me.  I could give you pages of examples from his tweets but here’s my current Top 5:

Your talent is God's gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God.

Be generous with encouragement. It is verbal sunshine. It costs nothing, it warms hearts and enriches lives.

'To avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing, be nothing.'

Humility is not a denial of ability; it is a recognition of where it comes from and for whom it must be used.

If you think you are too small to make a difference, you haven't spent the night with a mosquito - African Proverb

 (And one for luck - If the grass looks greener on the other side, it's probably astroturf.)

Another key encouragement and inspiration recently has been a musician called Michael Gungor.  He’s written an amazing book called “The Crowd, The Critic and The Muse: A Book For Creators”, and it’s what he talks about in relation to the title that really resonated with me.  Whatever you create – art, writing, poetry, craft, photography, cookery, anything - it’s important to consider where our creativity flows from and what influences it.  This extract sums up issues that I’ve already started to face and will do even more so, if any of my work is ever published.

“For the creator there will always be the voices.

Voices of critique.  Voices of affirmation.  The voices of the ego and the audience.  The marketers, the fans, the bloggers, or the executives.  The more exposure that an artist has to the outside world, the louder the voices will become.  The more successful the work, the more people will step in to try to influence and manipulate the work for their own benefit.

The creator has a decision to make.

What voice will I listen to?

This decision must be made daily.  Hourly.  Moment to moment.  As the voices swell and pitch, demanding that she go this way or that, the creator must decide which voice to listen to.

The crowd, the critic or the muse?

This decision will give her creation its form.”

The critic – real or imagined – can be very useful and enable us to see and take action on flaws and weaknesses in our work.  But it can also be crippling or make us change our work into something it shouldn’t be, just to keep them happy.

The problem with always listening to the crowd is, again, the temptation to create something that they want, rather than creating what I truly want to create. There’s no harm in keeping in mind what might be commercially viable – and I do – but if I write a story that I think will satisfy the crowd mentality, rather than express what is within me, then I won’t be writing fully with my voice.  It could become a commercial product, a churning out of the same old, same old, instead of something that is deeply unique and personal.

The muse should be the primary source of our creativity:

“Creative work should not come out of who the external voices want you to be, or who you wish you were, but from who you are.

You are not a mere cog in a machine.  You are a human being, unique and miraculous.  The whirls and lines in the skin of your fingertips are unique to you.  Only you have your particular set of relationships, beliefs, passions and circumstances, and only you have the ability to create what you ought to create.

As an artist, the voices you listen to ought to align with that inner Voice who knows who you are.”

As a Christian, that Voice for me is God.  He is my Encourager, and seeing as He told me to be a writer in the first place, His encouragement alone can keep me writing ;-)  He is also my Inspiration and the Source of my creativity.  I’m not writing Christian books, but they will naturally contain my worldview as it’s part of who I am and I am their author.  Being a Christian writer could undoubtedly be a cause for criticism from some people in the future, even though few other writers will have their beliefs delved into and criticised in the same way.  However, if I try to write and create anything other than my stories, then I may as well not write at all.  If you want different stories then fair play - but someone else will write those for you.

My stories – whether I’m conscious of it in the writing process or not – spring from my unique set of “relationships, beliefs, passions and circumstances”, as do everyone else’s.  I’m only just beginning to discover how those emerge and merge in my writing, but it’s a fascinating process.  And if you ever want to give me courage to press on with that (aka encouragement) – whether you’re male or female! – then please feel free!  I will endeavour to the same for you :-)

Trump-tastic Trouser Truffles (thanks Dan!)

What an awesome thing crowd-sourcing is - Facebook at its best :-)

I’ve recently had my most popular status on Facebook and it was all about farts.  Or rather what they could be called instead of “fart”.  Who knew that it would grab so many people’s attention and interest?!

Here’s why I did it (aside from the fact that it was serious fun and I might just have to do it again for no good reason!).  Jeannie’s feedback on my manuscript was really encouraging– which I wasn’t expecting as I’d started to convince myself it was complete rubbish (very common for writers to swing between “this is great” and “this is tosh” with their work, often within the same 10 minute period).  However, one seemingly small, but actually massive, thing she flagged up was my use of “whizz” as the codeword my two main characters use for “fart”.

It’s American for “pee”, which I guess I knew but had conveniently forgotten.  Now who knows whether or not this book will ever get published but, just in case it does, it makes sense to smooth its path to being published globally as well and avoid obvious pitfalls like that from the start.

The BIG problem is that “whizz” is used a lot in the book, when they’re discussing farts.  Plus Ben (the lead character) is a runner, so it plays on the idea that running fast could also be described as whizzing (it makes sense when you read the book – at least I hope it does!).  Any alternative word has to nicely fit both uses, so what on earth could be an appropriate substitute?!

Disheartened I turned to my friends for help.  And what a wonderful crazy wave of creativity I was met with!!!  No less than 54 inspired suggestions :-)

I was then faced with the new problem of selecting the right one!   “Fluff” was my initial favourite (thank you Natalie and others) until I realised that it’s quite common for ladies to use that term for farting anyway.  Next I loved “traf” (thank you Jodie), especially as kids think it’s fun to spell words backwards.  I told Jeannie about this change and she asked if I’d googled it to check it out.

Oh.  My.  Goodness.  Thence began an Urban Dictionary education I wish I hadn’t needed to have.  I do have to be thorough, especially with a kids’ book, so it is a necessary evil!  Right, I’m not using “traf” then :-(  

Okay, I’ll change “fluff” to “floof” I thought.  That’s a completely made up word.  Apparently not.  It’s slang for ladies’ bits.  Great.

I checked out “flump” and “gurgler” (thanks Tom) before despairing completely.  What is the world coming to?  Has every word been corrupted and got a dodgy alternative meaning??

Just before I chucked the whole manuscript in the bin, thankfully inspiration came to me in a swoosh.  And “swoosh” it almost was, but it's not completely perfect on the Urban Dictionary and Nike might take issue.  However, I think I can get away with “whoosh”.  Similar onomatopoeia to “whizz”, but with no majorly dodgy connotations (that I’ve managed to find so far, anyway).

I’ve tweaked the scene where Ben and Ned discuss what to call his farts and it’s even funnier and richer now thanks to the inclusion of some of your suggestions.  If the book gets published as a series (my ultimate hope!) then I’ll be able to incorporate more of these crazy and wonderful words in the future (subject to the Urban Dictionary test).  If you provided any of these ideas then THANK YOU!!  I may not have used your exact suggestions as my replacement word but your creativity fuelled my creativity.  It was a real pleasure to have you involved in part of my writing journey too - feel free to join in again sometime :-)

Breaking My Heart

Having your heart broken provides such great fodder for writing.  Just ask Taylor Swift!

I bought Taylor’s album “Red” this week, having loved the singles I’d heard off it.  If Wikipedia is to be believed then she’s had at least 6 relationships in the last 4 years, none of which have lasted longer than about 4 months!  That relationship rollercoaster seems to have given her a lot of material to write about – the song lyrics are chockfull of love and heartache.

Perhaps she should be grateful to be able to exorcise these feelings in this way?  Will she still write such great lyrics when she finds someone to settle down quietly with and live happily ever after?  Without love and heartbreak there’d be significantly less literature, music and art in the world.  Sad, but true.

Hopefully that that isn’t because there’s more bad stuff going on in the world than good :-(  I’d like to think that it’s mainly because when we’re happy we just get on and enjoy it, but when things are bad we want to either share it to get some sympathy/support/encouragement, or we want to express it in order to get it out of our systems and find some relief.

The last couple of years have been pants - especially as I’m usually very happy-go-lucky - but I intend to find the silver lining by turning it into stimulus for my writing.  In my Young Adult stuff, that is - it wouldn’t quite work in my current kids’ book as 7-10 year old boys aren’t overly fussed by anything particularly deep in my experience, lol :-)   It’s the perfect way to make sure that none of it wins by stealing stuff from me (especially my mental health and creativity), but actually leaves something positive behind.

Finding a creative outlet when you’re upset/stressed/angry (delete and add to as appropriate) is a great idea and can be done in lots of ways.  Why not give it a try sometime?  You could write, paint, play music, pray, build, dance, act, etc.  Last year I was really cross about something and wrote the following very basic but pretty pithy poem.  It’s not about to win any prizes (understatement!) and I can lol at it now, but it was cathartic to get it down on paper and then move on.  I give it to you as an example of how what you do doesn’t have to be any good, as long as it makes you feel better :-)

Why Bother?

The world would be a better place

If everyone looked out for everyone else

They say.

Do they?

LOL, it’s not even vaguely close to Taylor Swift’s level (not that it was meant to be)!  Her lyrics are really fresh despite the well-worn topics.  It’s so easy as a writer to slip into cliché or standard descriptions, as my writing partner’s recent edit of my manuscript demonstrated, oops :-)  Taylor, however, thinks outside the box (is that a cliché, lol?!) for new ways to describe old feelings:

“Loving him is like driving a new Maserati down a dead end street”

“Forgetting him is like trying to know somebody you’ve never met” (It hurts my head to try and work out the logic of that one – I’m probably not supposed to!)

I can’t imagine any of us would ever ask for tough times, but we can choose to turn them into great source material for creative purposes, or general motivation for numerous things.  Then we might even produce much better work thanks to those experiences, making sure that they advance, rather than cripple, us!