Writing From the White-Hot Center
- At January 30, 2023
- By Write in Community
- In Blog
8
Writing From the White-Hot Center
This last year I discovered a new writer that I love, the novelist, Lily King. In an essay in the back of one her novels, she tells about doing a reading at an Ivy League college in which, during the Q and A afterwards, she was asked “what factors determine your authorial distance from the narrator?” She responded that “I don’t think when I write. I am like a blind worm on the ground.” I love that! “A blind worm on the ground.”
She goes on to relate how she loves English literature classes and has been an English teacher herself. How she’s discussed and taken great interest in English-teachery things such as themes and yes, authorial distance. But that when she writes, she doesn’t use her “English teacher brain.” Not in the first draft of writing, “What you need,” she writes, “all you need, is your creative, sensual, wide-open brain.”
Read More»Gerald Stern and The One Thing in Life
- At November 28, 2022
- By Write in Community
- In Blog
- 4
A month ago, I learned about the death at age 97 of poet Gerald Stern. I knew only a handful of his poems: “The Dancing,” “Waving Goodbye,” and “Stepping Out of Poetry,” but I loved those poems. They got me in the stomach, punched me with their emotion. And hearing of his passing, I knew that I needed to read more of his work. These last few weeks that is what I have been doing.
I read again “Stepping Out of Poetry” in which he reminisces about getting on “the old yellow streetcar” and going to the public library, the joy he found there: “What would you give,” he asks, “for your dream/ to be as clean and simple as it was then/ in the dark afternoons, at the old scarred tables?”
I found and read “Waving Goodbye,” about sending his daughter off to the next stage of her life, experiencing her loss “as an animal would, pressing my forehead against her/ walking in circles, moaning, touching her cheek…”
Then there is “The One Thing in Life,” a poem he considered as one which best described him and his life in poetry. Here are the last five lines:
There is a sweetness buried in my mind;
there is water with a small cave behind it;
there’s a mouth speaking Greek.
It is what I keep to myself; what I return to;
the one thing that no one else wanted.
How lucky he was to recognize that buried sweetness, to explore that small cave. How lucky for us to be able to read his poetry. And wonder about the wonderful one thing in life which exists for each of us. –Lucy Adkins
Writing Exercise:
- Read “Waving Goodbye” and “Stepping Out of Poetry”
- Think about some people or ways of life you have said goodbye to. Jot down a few.
- Think about some fond remembrances of the past and list some of these.
- Write, beginning with the phrase “What would I give……..” Go on from there and see what happens.
For more inspiration, check out our website www.thewritingandcreativelife.com.Or follow this link to purchase our latest book, The Fire Inside.
Goodreads Giveaway for The Fire Inside
- At September 19, 2022
- By Write in Community
- In Events
- 1
Are you feeling the need for a little inspiration? THE FIRE INSIDE: A COMPANION FOR THE CREATIVE LIFE by Lucy Adkins and Becky Breed may be just what you’re looking for. And right now, it is being featured on a Goodreads Giveaway.
Enter on Goodreads for your chance to win a free copy!
Want to Consider Collaboration?
- At July 25, 2022
- By Write in Community
- In Blog
- 4
Ever think about collaborating with another writer or artist on a creative project? Wonder how it works? Bryan Collins, host of the “Become a Writer Today” Podcast recently interviewed Becky and me about our collaboration on our two books, Writing in Community and The Fire Inside. We had an intriguing conversation which provided an opportunity for us to think more about collaboration, how it worked successfully for us, and how a collaborative partner can help you to accomplish more–and better!
You may want to know:
How does the collaborative process work?
What are the advantages?
How do you find a collaborative partner?
You can listen to the interview (or view the transcript of it) here.
For more inspiration, check out our website www.thewritingandcreativelife.com.
Or follow this link to purchase our latest book, The Fire Inside.
Blue Horses: Saying the Unsayable
- At May 23, 2022
- By Write in Community
- In Blog
- 8
Blue Horses
One Christmas I received as a gift the Mary Oliver book, Blue Horses, and was absolutely blown away by it. First of all because of Mary Oliver’s writing which I’ve admired for ages, and secondly, because of the book cover. This features a painting of four horses, their forms rounded and graceful, all looking to the left as if something interesting is there. A fox or a dog returning their gaze, perhaps, or a person. The horses are beautiful and blue, the background in shades of yellow, spangled with stars, as are the horses themselves, their heads and bodies starry. So whether the horses are of the earth or the heavens, we are not sure.
Franz Marc
The painting is by Franz Marc, an expressionist painter and part of the “Blue Riders” group of artists in Germany in the early 1900’s. Marc was talented and influential, but his career was cut short after serving in the army in World War I. In 1916, flying shrapnel struck him in the temple and he was killed instantly. He was just 36 years old.
The Writing Life: Keeping the Faith
- At March 28, 2022
- By Write in Community
- In Blog
- 6
Are you a writer? A visual artist or musician? As my writing partner, Becky Breed, and I write in The Fire Inside, we are all creative, an inner fire aflame in us, urging us on. But it is not always easy—sticking to our writing or our art–we need to keep the faith.
I believe that the longer we live the creative life, creating poems or paintings, making music, loving our work, sometimes struggling in our work, the more we realize that our art is a calling, our birthright to create. And we are in it for the long haul.
We may come to the realization gradually, or it may be that after two or three years of writing, it suddenly dawns on us that this obsession of ours is not going away. This is not the fad of the moment we pick up for a while, and then drop as interest wanes. It’s more like embarking on a marriage, building a relationship that will last a lifetime.
There will be hard times: days when it’s difficult to get to your easel, when the words for your poem won’t come, or if they do, limp onto the page and fall flat. Nothing worthwhile comes easy, the old saying goes, and that is certainly true of our passions, our art. Still, it is our passion, our deep love, and we want to keep at it, knowing that our lives would not be as rich or as full without it. So you find a way to keep the faith, to keep on going. How do we do that? Here are some tips:
Keeping the Faith
- Look for the joy in the “every-day” of work. Relish those moments when the words flow from the tips of your fingers, when the brushstrokes come free and fluid.
- Read books like Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way and Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones. These and other writers provide gentle encouragement and help keep you going.
- Set goals for yourself—such as writing a certain number of pages per month, or sending out a certain number of submissions—and ask a friend to hold you accountable.
- Celebrate your accomplishments—even the small ones. When you find the right color for your painting, the right word for your poem. Give yourself a pat on the back when you send out a story to a potential publisher.
- Develop a work schedule and stick to it as much as you can. Include in your schedule some down time, time to go “off-line” and free your mind.
- Don’t beat yourself up when you stray from your writing schedule or fall short of your goals. Give yourself a break. Be kind. Then get back on track.
- Become a part of your local artist community. A good writing group or artists’ group can provide a lifetime of support and encouragement, and is probably the very best thing you can do to nurture and sustain your creative life.
Elbert Hubbard said that “Art is not a thing, it is a way.” It is not the finished painting that matters, the completed novel (though these accomplishments are wonderful!) It is the everyday of work—the violinist practicing, the writer writing, the many happinesses found in doing what we love. This is why we wrote The Fire Inside—the joy in creating. We hope you pick up a copy and explore its pages. We hope you get in touch with your inner fire—and keep it blazing.
For more ideas to help you along the creative path, see our book, The Fire Inside. We think you’ll be inspired!
The Power Within
- At January 24, 2022
- By Write in Community
- In Blog
- 8
The Power Within
Feeling powerless in your writing life? You don’t need to!
Let’s say you’ve been on the creative path for some time, but are feeling depressed, thinking you are not as far down the road as you envisioned. You write and you write but the essence of what you want to express remains elusive. Or perhaps you feel that you have acquired the chops it takes to be a writer. But your publications remain few and far between. The series of books you dreamed of remains just that—a dream you fear will never be realized.
Many writers, good and talented, dream the same dreams you do, and want validation in the form of a book. The same is true in other areas of creative endeavor–people who are pursuing their aspirations in the visual arts, in photography and acting and design. The competition for public recognition is fierce. The reality is that in some areas of the artistic life, we have little control. We cannot make the publisher publish our book. We have no control over whether the director will choose us for the part in the play. That power lies in other hands.
There is, however, much over which we do have control. We can do our work—complete our paintings, learn the new dance routine, write new stories and poems. This is great and joy-filled power. And if publication is your goal, know that every poem you write makes the possibility more likely. Every submission you make makes it likelier still. Rejection has been and will always be a part of the submission process. Perhaps because the piece you submit isn’t quite “there” yet. Or because the editor had a bad day and couldn’t see it for what it was. We can’t control the latter, but we can continue to hone our abilities—take classes and workshops, strive always for excellence, and keep submitting. We can also take an active part in the artistic community. So that when possibilities come along, we will be aware of them. These things we can do.
And whether or not we are recognized by the gatekeepers of the art world, our greatest power lies in believing in ourselves and what we are doing. We were born knowing there was magnificence around us; it was magnificence we were created from, and we are capable of greatness we cannot imagine.
We are like birds, the ability to sing in our own unique ways embedded within our DNA, the facility of flying in the ways we were meant to fly. We yearn to find the notes to the song, to take wing in flying. And while sometimes we try to suppress that yearning, it is there inside us, waiting like a phone we know is about to ring. And when it does, it will be our destiny on the other end of the line, the call we have been waiting for.
All we need to do is answer the phone. Pick up the pen or the paintbrush and do what we were meant to do And take joy in that, even if the book remains unpublished. “…Publication is not all it’s cracked up to be, “ Anne LaMott said. “But writing is.” It is the creative act itself which matters—the intense focus, the feeling of reaching beyond yourself to connect with the magnificence of the universe and bring into being some new sort of beauty. There is satisfaction in that, and great joy, and therein lies true power. You have it within yourself.
For more ideas to help you along the creative path, see our book, The Fire Inside. We think you’ll be inspired!
“Signposts” in the Writing Life
- At November 22, 2021
- By Write in Community
- In Blog
- 5
One March, driving west for a skiing weekend, my husband and I found ourselves in an interesting situation. It was a cold, cloudy day, snow on the ground but the roads were clear, and we were doing fine. That is, until we crossed the Nebraska border into Wyoming. Then the wind began to blow. Fiercely, hard out of the north, and as it blew, it brought snow with it, scudding across our line of vision. The farther west we drove, the more the wind howled, the blowing snow creating a ground blizzard. Visibility extended only a short distance ahead. Luckily, the highway had roadside reflectors about a hundred yards apart, and we spent the rest of the trip, our hearts in our throats, driving past one reflector and waiting the few anxious seconds before the next one came into view.
Sometimes it can feel that way in our creative lives. We start out pursuing our dreams—committing to creative time, finding ways to deepen our abilities. And now and then putting ourselves and our work “out there” for scrutiny. But though we keep doing our jobs as artists, we’re not sure we’re getting anywhere.
That’s when we need to keep our eyes open for the “reflectors,” those little glimmers that provide hope, that let us know we’re still on the road to where we want to go. What are these reflectors? Signposts that tell us we’re on the right path? They can be something as simple as an appreciative nod from a mentor or fellow artist, or an invitation to display your photographs in a coffee shop. The occasional acceptance of your poem to a literary journal, or an encouraging note in a rejection letter.
Even better than these outward forms of acknowledgment are the times of inner knowing, arriving sometimes mysteriously. When a small voice inside whispers you’re getting better, you’re getting the hang of it. That aha moment when you realize you know what to do to make a particular chapter of your novel come alive. These are small moments in a long artistic life, but each is a sign of progress taking us to the next moment and then the next.
E. L. Doctorow said that “writing is like driving a car at night. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.” That’s how we live our lives, our artistic lives as well. Driving blind, or nearly blind, depending on the occasional guidepost along the way.
For more ideas to help you along the creative path, see our book, The Fire Inside. We think you’ll be inspired!
Writing Exercise:
- Imagine you are planning to write a memoir. Don’t panic, this is not the exercise, this is just “playing pretend,” imagining. So in outlining of your imaginary memoir, jot down certain facts of your life that will need to be write about. I might include:
–I grew up on a farm in the middle of nowhere
–I grew up poor
–I married Tom (or Mary Ann or whoever)
–I fell in love with flowers - Next, read the poem “Why I’m Here” by Jacqueline Berger.
- Now, select an item from your list and put the word “why” in front of it. This will become the working title of the piece you write. You will be digging deeper. For instance, the title of my poem might be “Why I Grew Up Poor.”
- Write, using the title as above, and beginning the body of your poem or essay with “Because,” and repeat as needed.
Listen to a Sample of our Audiobook!
- At October 18, 2021
- By Write in Community
- In Blog
- 8
The Fire Inside
The Fire Inside is now available as an audiobook, and you can listen to a sample by clicking on the arrow below. (We think our reader/narrator, Melissa Melottey, is great!) You may purchase through Apple itunes https://apple.co/3BprtCe or Audible https://adbl.co/3iDEPCq. Note that if you are new to Audible, there’s an option to listen free. Take a listen!
The World of the Imagination and “Making it So”
- At September 20, 2021
- By Write in Community
- In Blog
- 9
Making it So!
Make It So
Remember Jean Luc Picard, Starfleet Captain in Star Trek? When he and his officers hit upon a solution to get themselves out of a sticky situation—by going to warp speed, say, or activating the deflector shield to evade a hostile force—he instructed his crew to “make it so.” And it would be done. I love that. Determining a course of action and following through. Making it so.
Much of what we do in this life is based upon the decisions we make. Generally speaking, if we decide to pursue a particular dream, if we believe in it strongly enough and dedicate ourselves to shepherding it to fruition, that dream will come into being. Perhaps you want desperately to achieve a college education. What do you do? Study hard in high school, complete college applications and line up loans and scholarships. Or perhaps you want to write a novel. You go to work—preparing an outline, blocking out periods of time to write, and paragraph by paragraph, you write the book. You “make it so.”
Decision by decision, we create our lives—committing to relationships, buying condominiums, going on vacations to Hawaii or the mountains. We learn to play the guitar or the piano, create Japanese gardens or meditation gardens, convert basement rooms into art studios. Roadblocks appear, circumstances may necessitate we alter out plans somewhat, but when we act on our passions, we can create lives which are rich and full, lives full of meaning.
From time to time, however, we may find ourselves feeling a bit stale. Still, as Rousseau said, “The world of reality has its limits; the world of the imagination is boundless.” Maybe it’s time to stretch the imagination, look for ways to further complete our lives. One way we can do this is to set aside time to dream. Get your notebook, number from one to ten, and complete the following phrase: “If all the forces of the universe were with me and the odds were good that I would be successful, I would…” How would you complete the phrase? Maybe you would:
- complete a number of paintings and display them in a local art gallery
- start a series of poems about your garden and the natural world
- add a new sitting area to the first floor of the house.
Let your imagination go and jot down as many dreams as you can. Gloria Steinem said that “Without leaps of imagination or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning.” So let’s dream, and allow more possibility into our lives. And then, let’s make it so.
For more inspiration, check out our website www.thewritingandcreativelife.com.
Or follow this link to purchase our latest book, The Fire Inside.
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