When the Poem Gets Away

A poet friend (a professor) once shared with me how it was for him sometimes, with writing. He was an accomplished poet with a good number of completed poems to his name. Yet there were times when an idea for a poem would come—a good idea, a prickling-of-the-skin kind of idea, but he had too many student papers to grade, letters of reference to write, and lectures to prepare. And the poem went away.

Has that happened to you? I believe that it happens more than we know. Life intervenes and we do not always act on inspiration when it comes. Or an idea may skip across our minds so fleetingly that we do not recognize it or its potential. And the idea is lost.

The good news is that the universe is teeming with ideas—ideas for poems, paintings, novels, and books of essays, all waiting to take form; and if we pay attention, if we keep our eyes and ears and our minds open, more ideas will come.

In her book, Big Magic, Elizabeth Gilbert shares her belief about the way creativity takes place. That there are untold numbers of ideas floating about, standing by, wanting to be born. That ideas have a sort of consciousness. They have will, and they “want” to develop and emerge into a larger existence. But for this to occur, they need a human collaborator. Someone who recognizes the idea for what it may become, takes hold of it, and devotes herself to making it manifest.

Perhaps that’s a little far-fetched. A little fanciful. But the ways of the cosmos and of creativity are mysterious. There’s always a little magic about the creative process. And if our next fabulous poem or novel is wanting to find us, it behooves us to be in readiness. Do what we must so that we can act when that spark of inspiration happens by.

So how do we do that? Mary Oliver says that for writers, “to pay attention, that is our endless and proper work.” So let us work to be alive to the world. To what we see and hear. The way the scent of plum blossoms takes you back to your childhood. How a robin warbling in early spring at dusk can almost break your heart. Do what we can to slow down, indulge in idleness, and remain curious. Sit in your chair in the sun with a pen in your hand, and see what wants to be written.

We live in a busy world. We have to make a living and take care of those around us. And we cannot help it sometimes—ideas disappear back into the ether from which they came. Our solace is to know that more inspiration will come, and we can unplug, relax, and pay attention, and that wild joyful rush of inspiration will make its way to us once more. –Lucy Adkins

For more inspiration, check out our website www.thewritingandcreativelife.com. Or follow this link to purchase Writing in Community or our latest book, The Fire Inside.

 

The Eye in the Heart

Original Artwork by
Bonnie Hadfield

Short story writer, novelist, and writing mentor, Tom Paine, gave a presentation discussing a concept I would like to share with you. It had to do with what he called “The Eye in the Heart.”

“You have an eye in the heart,” he said. “What you write on the page is an image of who you are.” And who you are comes from your heart—what it is you love and how you love. “Go find your heart,” he went on, “and you will be a better writer.” Or musician or artist. However it is you pour out of your heart all that you are.

So how do we go about finding our hearts?  The answer to that, I believe, is very much the way we love. Most days we go about with chain link fences around our hearts. We don’t allow others in, we don’t allow even ourselves in to feel what we are feeling. So we must open ourselves to being truly alive, allowing ourselves to want badly. Remember the first time you fell in love? The tug in the stomach, the excitement, how you could be pierced by love? Oh, it could be ecstasy or it could be a world of hurt. We allow ourselves to be vulnerable when we love, and we need that same kind of vulnerability when we write.

In the cartoon strip Peanuts, from time to time we see an image of Snoopy sitting atop his doghouse with his typewriter. “It is a dark and stormy night…” he writes, or “His was a story that had to be told,” and in the next frame, “Maybe not.”  We are all Snoopy at our typewriters wanting something wonderful to emerge as our fingers strike the keys. Sometimes succeeding and sometimes not. In another cartoon, Snoopy again is pecking away at the keys and a thought bubble rises above him “Writing is hard work.” This is true. But also “Writing is heart work.”

Right now I’m revising a novel I’ve been working on for some time. And I’ve discovered that when a particular chapter or scene is limping along, it may be due to either one of two things:  1) “bad” writing or 2) the writing is too much with the head than the heart. Of course, there are many more ways a piece of writing can go wrong, but these are two biggies for me.

We are often fearful of sentiment, not wanting to be overly syrupy or saccharine. This is a legitimate concern, but I would suggest that if we must err, let us do so on the side of the heart. If we see a piece is overly sentimental, we can always edit. But let us first write with the emotions, let us write from our hearts.

Writing Exercise:

  1. Think about your childhood, about the times you were in trouble, sick or hurt, the time you got your first bike, the kinds of games you played. Make a list of these memories.
  2. Read “The Dancing,” by Gerald Stern about a powerful memory from childhood.
  3. Choose an item from your list and write. If you’d like a starter line, you might begin

“I have never____________the way I did________. Allow yourself to become absorbed in the memory of that time with all your emotions, and write with the The Eye in the Heart.

For more inspiration, check out our website www.thewritingandcreativelife.com. Or follow this link to purchase Writing in Community or our latest book, The Fire Inside.
–Lucy Adkins

The Muscles of the Imagination

Imagination will carry us to worlds that never were. But without it, we go nowhere.”  -Carl Sagan

The Imagination
In the worlds of our imagination, anything is possible. Maybe that is why in January, when the days are cloudy and cold, and the spirit begins to droop a bit, gardening catalogs are so popular. We flip through the pages and dream crocuses bursting through the snow. We imagine ourselves raking away the dead of winter, planting banks of petunias, chrysanthemums. And as we do this, something in us lifts and makes the day a brighter one.  Perhaps we go on to order seeds and bedding plants, so that when warm weather comes, what we envisioned in January comes into fruition.

Artist’s Dates
“Your imagination is a preview of life’s coming attractions,” Einstein said. Pascal goes on to say that “imagination decides everything.” So it’s important, that we do what we can to take time to dream, flex the muscles of the imagination. Children are masters of this—playing games of “pretend,” imagining all sorts of wonders. But as adults, we often get out of the habit. We are intent on getting through the problems and challenges of the day. We are focused on our goals. And if this goes on too long without allowing in new dreams, we begin to go a bit stale

Julia Cameron proposes we take “Artist’s Dates”—trips to movies, museums, Asian food markets—anything out of the ordinary that will trigger that exceptional something we all have in our minds. We see a movie and while we are taken in by the primary plotline, something strikes us. Let’s say it’s about a minor character, a character who is in a scene for only a moment—but someone who intrigues us. We start dreaming a backstory for them, maybe developing a new story idea that we can’t wait to begin writing. We visit a fabric store and take in the wonderful hues of purple—and imagine a painting we could paint featuring that array of colors.

Time for Dreaming
Another thing Julia Cameron proposes is that we schedule time for dreaming. “It takes practice to expand our imagination and inhabit a larger life,” she says. And she believes in sitting down with paper and pen to do so. One of the exercises she proposes is to complete the phrase “In the best of all possible worlds, I would__________.” or “If I didn’t have to do it perfectly, I’d __________.

In all of us, there are seeds of ideas that we are not even aware of. That we haven’t allowed to come out into the open. Maybe we have the idea of a beautiful garden,  a dream to run a 5K, or to write a series of short stories. Napoleon Hill said that “what the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” So let’s conceive some wonderful things.—Lucy Adkins

Writing Exercise:
Let’s try a Julia Cameron exercise to expand our imaginations.

Get a cup of your beverage of choice, put on some soothing music, and number a page in your notebook from 1 to 10.

After each number, write the phrase “In the best of all possible worlds, I would___________” and complete it with what you would love to do or bring into being. Have a little fun with this, allow yourself to dream whatever crazy thing comes to mind. Enjoy.

For more inspiration, check out our website www.thewritingandcreativelife.com.

Or follow this link to purchase Writing in Community or our latest book, The Fire Inside.

 

 

Taking “Drastic Action”: One Approach to Writing a Novel

Maybe you know the story of Kazuo Ishiguro, how he wrote his Booker Prize winning novel, THE REMAINS OF THE DAY, in four weeks. Four Weeks! How did he do that?

The story goes that the summer of 1986, he wrote the opening chapter to the novel, and in the months following, did a great deal of reading as to the timeframe and setting involved. But after a year had gone by, what with public engagements, travel, and social obligations, he’d made no further progress. It was time to take drastic action.

After clearing his calendar for one month, Ishiguro embarked on what he and his wife called “a crash,” dedicating that month to completing his book. During those four weeks, he would attend solely to his writing, working from 9:00 in the morning to 10:30 at night six days a week. He’d take an hour for lunch and two hours for dinner, but in the remaining time, he would write. He would not answer the phone, read mail, or entertain visitors. His wife agreed to take on his share of the housekeeping and meal preparation, and Ishiguro’s sole responsibility was to finish his novel.

The idea was to become so immersed in the fictional world he was creating that the narrative would flow easily. He’d get down the gist of the story, the hard first draft, and save “cleaning up” for later. And so he did. He wrote longhand, “awful sentences, hideous dialogue, scenes that went nowhere” as he described them. Leaving the awful and hideous in place and forging on to the end of the manuscript. At the end of the four weeks, though he still had refining and editing to do, Ishiguro finished his novel.

We may not all be able to devote a months’ time to our writing projects as Ishiguro did, but what can we as writers take away from his experience? Probably lots of things, but for now I’d like to discuss three.

The first important point is that such sustained writing requires a great deal of planning. This includes any pre-writing thinking about the novel—the basic story being told—as well as any research needed for the setting, historical, or cultural context. And it includes extensive planning to assure that the dedicated time will be honored.

Secondly, there are great advantages to working many consecutive days in a row. This “on-goingness” helps to keep the plot and characters in mind so that no catching up is needed. Each day, you will get into the flow more quickly.

Lastly, and perhaps most important is the realization that we are capable of greater achievement than we might believe. And it can come about in a fairly short time.

We all must write in ways that work for us. Writing a novel is a marathon; and elements of Ishiguro’s plan (adapted to fit your needs) will help keep you running. Happy writing! –Lucy Adkins

For more inspiration, check out our website www.thewritingandcreativelife.com.

Or follow this link to purchase Writing in Community or our latest book, The Fire Inside.

The Fire Inside–A Great Gift

“As we struggle with shopping lists and invitations, compounded by December’s bad weather,” Donald Westlake said, “it is good to be reminded that there are people in our lives who are worth this aggravation, and people to whom we are worth the same.”

One of the biggest challenges for many of us lies in shopping. A book is always a great gift, and for the creative people in your life, consider giving a copy of THE FIRE INSIDE: A COMPANION FOR THE CREATIVE LIFE.

New York Times bestselling author, Tosca Lee calls THE FIRE INSIDE “a warm and welcome conversation for those searching for their creative identity;” and writing guru Judy Reeves applauds it as “jam-packed with ideas, tips, suggestions, and general cheering-on…for writers and creatives of all stripes.”

Purchase through our website http://www.thewritingandcreativelife.com or follow this link to Purchase on Amazon: https://amzn.to/39s2bai.

You may also want to consider our first book, WRITING IN COMMUNITY: SAY GOODBYE TO WRITER’S BLOCK AND TRANSFORM YOUR LIFE at https://amzn.to/2ZiVtOi

Happy Holidays!
–Lucy and Becky

Finding Fulfillment: Filling the Empty Spaces

From time to time, we all experience feelings of unhappiness, dissatisfaction, a lack of fulfillment. There may be a very good reason for that unhappiness—the loss of a loved one or other disaster. Maybe we’re feeling a lack of purpose. Or perhaps we don’t exactly know what we want, but sense that something is missing. We need something new to come into our lives to feel purpose again, to feel joy.

Let me make a rather “out there” declaration. That when we are terribly unhappy, whether it due to a deep-seated sorrow, or a vague sense of being unfulfilled—the forces that be seem to work together to present to you what you are lacking. To satisfy that deep wanting.

This is huge. So let me repeat that statement. The forces that be seem to work together to present to you what you are lacking. To bring you joy and satisfy your deepest longings.

I remember two times in my life when I was unhappy—woefully unhappy—and with good reason. The first occurred after my father died; and the second in the bleak days following 9-11 when it seemed that nothing would ever be right with the world again. I knew I was undergoing depression and desperately wanted relief, but couldn’t talk myself into feeling better.

Of course, time heals all wounds, but in each of these cases, there was a specific occurrence which worked to lift my spirits.

The Sunday after 9-11, after being glued to the TV news for days, my husband and I drove to Spring Creek Prairie near us to attend a raptor release. It was a rainy dismal day, but watching the release, the hawk lifting up into the drizzly sky, I felt something being released in me too. And I began to feel a little ease. Still upset about the events that had taken place, but the desolate aching was gone, replaced by the image of the hawk rising into the sky.

In the second instance after my father died and a smile had not crossed my face for weeks, I drove west on the Interstate to see my mother. I felt aimless, sad, and a little mantra began to go through my head. “This is the day the Lord has made. Rejoice, rejoice, and be glad.” This from a refrigerator magnet a friend had given me years ago. The verse floated around in my head, then formed itself into a melody. More verses and a chorus began to come. Within a few minutes I pulled into a rest area, and after a little furious scribbling, I had written a song! After all those days of feeling nothing but emptiness inside, what a blissful feeling that was.

Nature abhors a vacuum, the scientific principle asserts, the idea being that “unfilled spaces” go against the laws of nature and that inevitably the emptiness will “work” to be filled with something. And Will Shortz said that ”Human beings have a natural compulsion to fill empty spaces.”

So what can we do? Two things. First, I am a firm believer that to be happy and fulfilled, we must be doing what we love, using our gifts. For many of us, this is the gift of creativity. Of writing, painting, dancing, making music. And when we embrace our gifts and spend time using them, we find purpose. Secondly, we must be open when the universe presents to us opportunities for joy. Opportunities to fill any emptiness inside with something grand. –Lucy Adkins

For more inspiration, check out our website www.thewritingandcreativelife.com.

Or follow this link to purchase Writing in Community or our latest book, The Fire Inside.

What We Need to Live More Creatively

Want to live more creatively? Consider simplifying your life.

From time to time I go through bouts of paring down, de-cluttering, getting rid of things I don’t really need—which because of their existence, require me to see and consider them, think what to do with them—and that works to complicate my life. And lessen the time I have for what really matters.

We all want full lives, lives rich with meaning, but not necessarily full of things. Instead, we want around us that which energizes and enlivens and helps us to think in new and exciting ways.

Which brings us to creativity. Elizabeth Gilbert said that “a creative life is an amplified life. It’s a bigger life, a happier life, an expanded life, and a hell of a lot more interesting life.” And with it, as Martha Graham believes, we experience “a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening.” Which is a pretty good reason to get up in the morning.

What We Need:

So…how can we go about living more creatively? What do we really need? Let’s talk about physical needs first–the supplies or equipment requiring a certain outlay of money. The answer to that depends upon what form our creativity may take. I’m a writer, so my basic needs are for pen and paper, and access to a computer. From time to time, I need to replenish my supply of ink cartridges and printer paper, and if I am putting together a manuscript, I like to have a three ring binder. Pretty simple needs, fairly easy to lay my hands on.

Musicians need mandolins, harps or clarinets, guitar picks and music stands. Visual artists require canvases and paint, brushes and brush cleaning chemicals. We’re talking basic needs here, what essential items we absolutely must possess in order to pursue our writing or painting or music.

But besides these physical needs for equipment and supplies, the things we can see and put our hands around, we have intangible needs which are even more essential—which will encourage and delight us and keep us going. And which we must cultivate.

These include:

  • A link with the Source from which all creativity comes—for we do not work alone.
  • Connection with nature and the physical world—in it, we find continuous enchantment and inspiration.
  • People in our lives—to love and to cheer us on.
  • Books, music, and art—for they tug at our hearts and lead our thoughts in new directions.
  • A sense of fun—because it makes everything easier.
  • Steadfastness of spirit—to stick to the project at hand.
  • Flexibility—to let go and allow what wants to be created to arrive in its own time.
  • Time and Energy—to accomplish all the potential that exists within.
  • Inspiration—it’s all around us, when we have the time to notice, and when we allow it in.

What else would you include on this list? A writing partner? A retreat? Confidence to exhibit your photography?

Parents provide their children with the essentials–food for their bodies, shelter, and safety. But they also provide love and encouragement, comfort and the direction children need to lead complete and fulfilling lives. Let’s do the same for the creative child that lives within.

Exercise for Living More Creatively:

  1. Make a list of three things you can eliminate from your life which do not add value and meaning. And which might work to complicate your days. Maybe it’s that stuffed closet you need to clean out. Perhaps those committee meetings which drain you..
  2. Now, think about what you’d like to concentrate on to be able to live more creatively. Perhaps you’d like to spend time meditating or taking walks outdoors. Maybe you need to clear an hour each day to play with your paints. Make another list of three things.
  3. Now pick an item from each of your lists. Eliminate one barrier to your creativity, and add one which will enhance and meaning to your life.

Wishing you a beautiful and creative week.—Lucy Adkins

For more inspiration, check out our website www.thewritingandcreativelife.com.

Or follow this link to purchase Writing in Community or our latest book, The Fire Inside.

 

Wild Passions

Always I have loved gardens and gardening, but about 15 years ago after moving into a new house (new to me, anyway) and acquiring a yardful of plants and flowers, I suddenly became obsessed with all things relating to flowers–perennials, in particular. It became for me my wild passion. I checked out books from the library—Perennial All Stars and Perennial Combinations (two I remember), and pored through the pages. I loved everything about those books. I liked the pictures, of course, the descriptions of the various plants, and I especially liked their names.

There was the elegant Lady’s Mantle, the exotic Siberian Iris and Golden Hakone Grass. There was Purple Toadflax—what was that?  Silver Wormwood and Bear’s Breech? It was almost as if there were years and years of ancient lore underlying each plant, and I wanted to learn about them all. I indulged myself in those books, and then in as many plants as would thrive in the twenty by forty patch of soil under my care.

It’s wonderful when these “wild passions” make their appearances, making each day a little more exciting, each new encounter adding wonder and meaning and fulfillment to our lives. Of course there are romantic passions. And relationships with family and friends.  But if we are lucky, we will experience all sorts of grand passions. Like a passion for learning, for music, perhaps, or for gardening. The more we have, the better. I think that’s how we were meant to live: like children finding delight in each new thing, like lovers wild for what we love.

From time to time, I’ve had flings with crewel embroidery, ceramics, and macramé—remember macramé? Those passions came and went.  Others have been more enduring. I love the work of poet, Mary Oliver, and have bought every book of hers I could lay my hands on. The same with Linda Pastan, Kim Addonizio, and Dorrianne Laux. Also Joyce Sutphen. A new discovery for me is poet George Bilgere, and I highly recommend his book, The Good Kiss. And I greatly admire the novelists Alice Hoffman and Chris Bohjalian. There are many more, of course, and  more out there I haven’t discovered yet. The thought of that send chills down my spine!

And now we come to that other great love affair you might be experiencing—that with creativity, in whatever form it takes. “Passion is energy,” Oprah Winfrey said. “Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you.” Let that passion burn. Embrace it, take that passion to a beautiful place, and make it yours forever. It’s a wonderful way to be alive.

What about you? What are some of your great passions?
–Lucy Adkins (Note: This appeared in a slightly different version in The Fire Inside by Lucy Adkins and Becky Breed)

 

Writing Exercise:

  1. Read the Poem “Night Fishing” by Peter Sears.
  2. Make a list of some of the human emotions/conditions…like loneliness, happiness, a feeling of self-satisfaction. You can think of more.
  3. Make a list of some of the activities you do…like fishing, mowing the lawn, making a pie, and so on.
  4. Choose one of the human emotions/conditions, and pair it with an activity.
  5. Write, beginning with a first line that makes a comparison between the human emotion or condition and the activity.

You might be surprised at what happens!

For more inspiration, check out our website www.thewritingandcreativelife.com.

Or follow this link to purchase Writing in Community or our latest book, The Fire Inside.

 

 

 

Writing From the White-Hot Center

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»

Want to Consider Collaboration?

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.

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