Gaia: Creative Spirit - Care and Feeding of Creative Practices

Re: Question for writers

http://darshan.gaia.com — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 10:04:40 GMT

It's interesting because to me, I find that when I get together to talk about writing with fellow writers, discussion of the craft is seldom involved. These days I am more involved in writing screenplays, so I will talk with other writers about the films they have seen and enjoyed, but again, actual discussion of the craft seldom happens.

I have found that more often than not, I will often talk to other writers about life, philosophy and whatever it is that serves as inspiration or the fodder of writing.

I guess when it comes to the process, then yes, for me it tends to be pretty private, though I do enjoy writing in public places. Often times being surrounded by the energy of other people who are familiar but not necessarily friends, provides a source of energy and inspiration.

When it comes to editing my scripts, I will come to a circle of my most trusted friends to help provide feedback for the process, but I will once again return to a solitary mode for my actual editing.

Hope that gives you some insight. Thanks for the question!

--D.

ATTENTION! SCREENWRITER'S LOUNGE NOW OPEN!

http://darshan.gaia.com — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 09:54:50 GMT

As a resource to aspiring and working screenwriters, I have opened a new pod called the Screenwriter's Lounge. It's a place for anyone who has ever written or wants to write a screenplay to connect, learn from, and support one another.

Until Zaadz offers semi-private pods, the pod is private and by invitation. This is done to keep ideas under a little bit tighter wraps. Since screenplays and the material that inspire them are precious intellectual property, this helps ensure a greater level of security.

Drop me a private note at my profile or respond to this post, and I will extend a formal invitation to you.

Hope to see enthusiastic and passionate writers joining us soon!

Question for writers

http://mansarovar.gaia.com — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 01:37:51 GMT

Hi everyone, I'm new to this pod, and I wanted to start off by asking my fellow writers a question: In Page after Page, the author states that the input that goes into writing is public, and what comes out, what you actually write, should remain private. That is, you should read and talk to other writers and discuss books and writing and all you love about it, but when you actually sit down to write, that should be your own personal affair and shouldn’t be discussed until after the fact. Writers have to be very secretive, she says, and the same time very communal. I would like to know how writers around me feel about this. Is this an accurate description of your writing practice?

Re: Affirmations

http://d.gaia.com — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 00:54:24 GMT

Late reply to an old thread, but hey, these issues are timeless. ;)

I have two quotes to share with you on this topic. The first is from a professional theatre director I worked with several years ago. He had stellar credentials: Royal Shakespeare Company, Old Vic, professional shows in NYC, his own theatre company in Australia, plus a number of television credentials. He told me "Every time I start work on a show, I feel certain that this is the one where I'm going to be found out - that people will realize I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing."

#2 from Kurt Vonnegut: "When I write, I feel like an armless and legless man with a crayon in my mouth.

What I take away from these (and this is reinforced by my own experience) is that you don't ever reach a point where you say "yes, I've arrived - I am a master of my artwork" - instead, you just get comfortable with feeling like you're always learning.

I've been playing the piano for a while now. I know that there are things I can play now that I couldn't play a few years ago, but that's usually not what I'm focussed on. I'm usually focussed on the things I *can't* do, simply because I'm always pushing myself and trying new things. It's like the more you learn, the more you realize you don't know! ;) I can look back and pat myself on the back for the things I've learned, but then I look ahead, see all the things I can't do, and just keep moving on.

You're exactly right when you say "I don't have to drop off the quest for excellence, but if I don't sing and write, I will never achieve it, no matter how many lessons I take" - there are some lessons that can't be learned except by just doing it, so give yourself that permission. You think you're just a beginner? Well, that's OK - lots of people feel that way, even the ones who have been doing for a very long time. :)

Re: Showing up

http://DG.gaia.com — Fri, 04 Aug 2006 13:56:21 GMT

I've been thinking about this idea over the last few days, and realizing that I need to be showing up for unstructured, creative playtime. I craft constantly, but increasingly it's all purpose-based -- projects for Church of Craft, or stuff for the podcast, or design work for other endeavors I'm involved in. I almost never just sit down and make stuff for fun. I'm realizing that I miss that. Thank you, K, for the lightbulb. :-) I'll show up this afternoon!

Re: Showing up

http://jodi.gaia.com — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 14:15:42 GMT

What a great way to get a person going!

I must try this asap. I always procrtastinate and there is SO much work (painting) to be done...

Thanks for the tip K! ;)

'Showing up": I love it!

Showing up

http://KMR.gaia.com — Wed, 02 Aug 2006 06:29:13 GMT

The most important part of my creative practice is showing up, whether I'm inspired, blocked, having a great day, or having a crappy one. When I don't want to work, or find myself procrastinating, I head out to the studio, sit at one of my work stations, and set a timer for anywhere between ten minutes and an hour, depending on how I feel.

I invaribly find that I start doodling, which leads to design ideas...or I start playing with my clay which makes me want to dive in and make something -- even if it isn't a masterpiece. I think "showing up" reminds the artist inside of me that I'm serious about my work, despite bumps in the road.

If nothing "happens" and the timer goes off, I get up, close up the studio and don't think about it for the rest of the day. Sometimes I need the break -- a time to let myself lay fallow until the next idea is ready for its birth.

Works for me!

Blue skies,

-K

Re: Everything Julia Cameron wrote

http://DG.gaia.com — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 14:40:01 GMT

Just curious . . . has anyone read her new biography?

Re: Everything Julia Cameron wrote

http://zephrene.gaia.com — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 14:03:02 GMT

I'm participating in an Artists' Way group on Livejournal at the moment, as both creative and spiritual endeavor. It has been helping a bit, I think, although the community is often more inspiring than the book.

I find the morning pages and some of her exercises to be very helpful to developing a writing practice, and that is my goal for the whole process.

Keri

Re: Writing

http://zephrene.gaia.com — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 13:58:11 GMT

Sometimes I feel like I write because I have a tremendous sense of vanity about my handwriting. Or maybe the shapes of letters. I love to just watch the ink leave trails of meaning across the page...

When it comes to the content of my writing, though, I write lots of fantastical stories that come zooming through me from some outer zone of imagination. My characters come alive and keep me company. I just wish I could develop the discipline to work more consistently on writing. (I'm working on it now.)

I also write to clarify things in my own mind. Typing or writing with pen and ink can help me to fully process events, information, or emotions. I understand things better when I have written them.

But really, I think I do a lot of it because I love my own handwriting just a little too much. ;)

Keri

Re: Writing

Tue, 25 Jul 2006 03:43:21 GMT

I write for the same reason that a paleontologist meticulously uncovers the fossilized skeleton of a dinosaur.

Maybe it's because I feel that I have something to show the world. Or maybe it's just that I want to see what the thing looks like, as a whole, after it's been dug up. Who knows? I guess the only fact of the matter is that I know there are fossils inside of me, and with time and persistence I can reveal something formerly unseen.

Re: Writing

http://sarah.gaia.com — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 01:40:03 GMT

When I was a child, writing was about expressing emotion without inhibition, which was helpful and therapeutic at the time. Now, in my poems, I aim to balance that same instinctual burst of language with careful craft and form. I try to write a bit every day, even if it's just a sentence in my journal or a line of poetry. I'd love to get into a Stafford-esque rhythm of writing a poem each morning, even if it's a crappy one that needs my attention later.

Writing, to me, seems to be largely a matter of practice, not always inspiration. As Joyce Carol Oates says, "In a sense, the writing will create the mood. If art is, as I believe it to be, a genuinely transcendental function--a means by which we rise out of limited, parochial states of mind--then it should not matter very much what states of mind or emotion we are in."

Re: Knitting

Wed, 19 Apr 2006 03:46:28 GMT

Hi DG - thanks for the warm welcome. It is an honor to be here.

On the same note, I'm a bit of a nut on keeping track of my favorite online links. I've got a whole page on my server devoted to knitting, if anyone is interested.

http://victoria-e.com/doc/knitting.html

Re: Affirmations

http://anna.gaia.com — Tue, 18 Apr 2006 23:30:16 GMT

Awen,
I have most definately been caught in this trap. Changing your affirmations, I would say, is a huge stride in the right direction.

Not long ago, I didn't paint or write out of a sense of inadequacy, or incompetence. It was a challenging place to be, and it lasted for years. My stiffled creativity caused a great deal of difficulty in my life. I was discussing this 'block' with a close friend who made a profound statement. I can't remember exactly, but I'll do the best I can as it changed my whole perspective. He basically told me that I was being egotisticle to think that my creations would matter so much to people that they'd spend an effort criticizing, or even commenting. How big my ego must be to think that I mattered SO MUCH to complete strangers. Those that truly loved me and cared for me would appreciate anything I did. I was, at first, shocked that he would say what initially seemed to me as harsh. After a while, I realized that he had a very good point. Who was I doing these paintings for? For whom did I write? The answer to both was 'me' and so, I reclaimed my creativity. I write now more than I ever did. Painting takes more time for me and is so more often on the back burner. I'm also a singer and sit-in regularly during another friend's gigs. We have a BEST time and neither of us cares much about who's listening and who isn't.

My encouragement is with you. I hope you are able to reclaim your reativity and your voice of creation.

Peace,
Anna

Re: Affirmations

http://DG.gaia.com — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 00:08:10 GMT

Hi, Awen! I'd bet most artists have been there, at one time or another. I'm so glad you're working with the blocks. I've been looking everywhere for this Keith Haring quote to share with you. Can't locate the source, so I'll paraphrase. He said in a documentary once that he felt it was important to make as many different images as possible, simply because they represented new things people may not have seen before. And he felt that was his service to people -- providing them with new visual excitement. As for me, when I make stuff, I tend to make more stuff. And when I worry about making, then I don't make anything. So when I'm feeling stuck, I make something small and low-stakes. You know, doodles, or a felt flower, or a refrigerator magnet or something. Usually that "greases the wheels" for bigger creative work. And I keep a big box where all these "starter" works go -- kind of a message to myself that nothing is so bad it deserves to be thrown away. Who knows? Maybe someday I'll open it and they'll have all coalesced into something amazing. :-)

Affirmations

Thu, 13 Apr 2006 11:33:31 GMT

Hi gang,

I am currently working with my biggest block: the notion
that I need to be a virtuoso to perform before anyone's
eye or record anything.
Yesterday morning, after my MPs, I changed my first of two
affirmations from 'Living as an artist is safe and
prosperous' to 'I am ready to be a prolific artist'.

I am now committed to accept and honour my Creativity
right where it is. I don't have to drop off the quest for
excellence, but if I don't sing and write, I will never
achieve it, no matter how many lessons I take--and I
currently take a total of twelve hours of lessons (fiddle,
voice, poetry and creative writing) every week!

Has anyone been caught in the same trap?

Re: Writing

http://anna.gaia.com — Tue, 04 Apr 2006 11:56:23 GMT

I write anytime something strikes me. Anything might spark my interest. I like to take moments in time and dig deep and discover everytyhing about those one or two moments and write about it. I also use my writing to express deep emotions that would be burried forever without the self-discovery of writing them down and digging them up.

Maybe I should label my overall wrting style as...

Excavation Writing.

I like it.

And so, this is how my mind works. Dig, write, dig, write, excavate, write, pause, examine, write, discover.

Re: Writing

http://DG.gaia.com — Sun, 02 Apr 2006 22:02:45 GMT

I write in order to articulate. I'm what's known as a "kinestetic learner," which means I learn things by doing, more than seeing or hearing. So writing for me is a valuable way to process new information through my body, and integrate it with other things I've learned. I write while I read, I write before important conversations, and I write most of my projects out longhand before I start working on them. Is there anything better than that moment in writing where you find just the *perfect* way to express a thought you're having?

Re: Writing

Sun, 02 Apr 2006 16:48:28 GMT

I writer full-time as a freelance writer, but it is still vital to take time out for myself to be able to write about anything I want, no matter if I will get paid for it or not.

Re: Naps!

Sun, 02 Apr 2006 16:45:18 GMT

I often take naps during the day, but they are usually longer than 20 minutes. I'll try adjusting the time and see what happens :)