Today’s Take Action Prompt: Go Look at Artwork
By Sandra Lee Schubert | May 14, 2008
Museum hop - Go look at some artwork. Immerse yourself in color, images and the inspiration of the artist. Think what drove that artist to produce that particular piece of art. View different types of artwork. If you are classicist then see some surreal art. Or if you are avant-garde then spend time looking at the old masters. Write about the experience. What did you like? What made you mad? What struck you the most? How were you inspired?
Read - Pick up that juicy novel and read, read, read. Writers need to read. A good novel soaks into you. Become absorbed.
Write - Everyday. Try something new. Watching country music videos has fascinated me. I have decided despite the fact I have no musical experience I could write a country music song. They tell stories. Try to write one thing that is different then anything you have written before.
Live fully - Most of all enjoy the special pleasure that the summer brings. A life lived richly is a life lived fully. Enjoy.
© 2008 Sandra Lee Schubert www.writing-for-life.com
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A Spiritual Writing
By Sandra Lee Schubert | May 13, 2008
“We are not human beings on a spiritual journey. We are spiritual beings on a human journey.”
~ Stephen Covey
My bookshelves cover a range of books from Eric Butterworth, John Randolph Price, and Marianne Williamson, to the traditional books of the major religions such as the Bible, to the Bhagavad-Gita. My religious upbringing was in Catholicism but my twenties and thirties were spent exploring many avenues of the less traditional forms of spirituality. When I studied to become an interfaith minister, I delved into the study of many religions. My exploration, studies and training has given me a firm appreciation for anything spiritual. It also has given me a foundation of spiritual currency. There are many avenues to explore.
“We live in a vastly complex society which has been able to provide us with a multitude of material things, and this is good, but people are beginning to suspect we have paid a high spiritual price for our plenty.”
~ Euell Gibbons
If you want to consider spiritual writing then decide what it is the message you want to convey in your work. Let’s look at a couple of the options available; memoir, fiction, self help/personal development. This is not a complete list and there also sub-topics and different areas of interest in each genre. Spiritual writing is really wide open with possibility.
Memoir
Memoir writing is more specific to your personal journey then writing about personal development. There a couple of ways to approach this. You can tell your story and let the spiritual aspect emerge. One example is Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott. Her book is a series of essays separated under different topics. Some of the essays cover her faith life specifically and sometimes she just shares life experiences. You are taken along on her faith journey. On the other hand Madeleine L’Engle book, Bright Evening Star is a personal narrative that covers a very specific topic, the mystery of the Incarnation. Memoir is a specific spiritual experience that can be witness to your faith, or a journal of your journey of spiritual discovery.
Fiction
Memoirs and faith sharing may be off-putting to some people but spirituality wrapped around a good story can deliver a palatable message. The story can specific to a particular message such as the Left Behind series or new classics like the Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield. Fiction writing can offer you more opportunity to explore spirituality in a way that is not limited to doctrine or a theology.
Self-help and Personal Development
Self-help is a spiritual how to offering the reader exercises and activities to lead them along to a desire result. As example, a book on meditation may begin by explaining meditation principles and providing short meditation opportunities to lead the reader to a longer and sustained practice. Personal development may offer the same explanation of meditation but without the how to exercises. This genre can offer a range of other products and opportunities such as workbooks and journals, and even audio versions that can take someone through a guided meditation.
Look at your bookshelf and see what you like to read, or visit the library and see the offerings there. Decide on your intention for spiritual writing. Do want to deliver a faith message or offer a helpful technique? In the end, remember the reader wants to be inspired, informed and given the opportunity for growth.
© 2008 Sandra Lee Schubert www.writing-for-life.com
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Today’s Take Action Prompt: Writing in a Form
By Sandra Lee Schubert | May 7, 2008
Try writing in a form. In poetry, play with an acrostic or a more complicated form such as Terza Rima.
Two excellent resources are: The New Book of Forms: A Handbook of Poetics by Lewis Turco and The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics by Alex Preminger (Editor), et al. Even if you don’t write poetry or never use a form, trying something different will challenge you and open new pathways for more creativity.
© 2008 Sandra Lee Schubert www.writing-for-life.com
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A Circle of Creativity
By Sandra Lee Schubert | May 6, 2008
Creating is a solitary act. It is just you and that darn blank canvas, paper or camera. Many hours are spent alone figuring out what do with an evolving creation. If you are lucky, the art is all consuming and the time passes and you feel exhausted but happy. On the other hand, you could be pacing the room in turmoil because you can’t figure out what to do next. It sucks. Really it does. Those all encompassing moments don’t come like Santa down the chimney. You have to be in the presence of creation despite anxiety, panic, fear, excitement, manic joy or depression. Exhaustion and boredom haunt you. How do you handle it?
First, put aside all the excuses. Stop the negative internal dialogue. Get a grip on you mental state and create. Like losing ten pounds or taking a test, it won’t come easy. The rewards can be great. Twyla Tharp a leading choreographer gets up before the sun to go work out. When she is in the midst of a project she puts aside all distractions and focuses solely on her creation.
I can’t begin to conceive of living my life with that kind of dedication to my art. But I can imagine shifting and changing priorities and bad habits to more positive and constructive ones. I like working alone. I get lost in what I am doing most of the time. There are days when I am in that wonderful place of creation. There are other days when I am in the pit of desperation. In his book, Coaching the Artist Within, Eric Maisel speaks about the holistic creator, as “someone who has learned not to arbitrarily and defensively exclude options.” He goes on to say when confronted with the decisions of what should you create instead to simply ask, “What will I create?”
© 2008 Sandra Lee Schubert www.writing-for-life.com
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Today’s Take Action Prompt: Investigate a Story
By Sandra Lee Schubert | April 30, 2008
Put on your journalist or researchers hat and go out to investigate a story. Think of a topic that interests you. An example could be French cooking - what do you want to know? You can investigate when it started, who made it famous or the best restaurants in your town.
Once you have chosen your topic, do your research, try to talk to experts on your topic, do interviews, etc. Then you can choose to do a fiction piece or an article on what you learned. If you need more tips on what a journalist needs to do while creating a great story, you might visit Cyberjournalist for some additional help.
© 2008 Sandra Lee Schubert www.writing-for-life.com
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If I Were an Alien
By Sandra Lee Schubert | April 29, 2008
The universe is a big place, perhaps the biggest.
~ Kilgore Trout, (Philip Jose Farmer), “Venus on the Half Shell”
Scientists think the possibility for life in the universe does exist. The evidence for other planets that could sustain life increases as our technological advances find more and more planet like objects. In the remake of the movie, War of the Worlds by Stephen Spielberg there was no first contact, nor a friendly greeting, like we saw in Spielberg’s other alien movies. This was an attack on the planet. What was their motivation? What did they really think of us? Why was there no getting to know you moments?
When you think you are the only one in the world it is hard to understand another point of view. In some ways we become myopic in our vision - seeing just through a limited lens of experience.
Everything you’ve learned in school as “obvious” becomes less and less obvious as you begin to study the universe. For example, there are no solids in the universe. There’s not even a suggestion of a solid. There are no absolute continuums. There are no surfaces. There are no straight lines.
~ R. Buckminster Fuller US architect & engineer (1895 - 1983)
In one writer’s group I belong to, we submit work the week before to be critiqued on the day we meet. Without giving too much away, one friend submitted a poem of just punctuation. I had to smile when I saw the piece. Once again, I am forced to set aside my thoughts on what makes a good poem and look with new eyes. The frame, which I use to critique work, does not fit here.
So you see, imagination needs moodling - long, inefficient, happy idling, dawdling and puttering.
~ Brenda Ueland
If I were an alien, what would my world be like? On my imagined home planet the soil is just a reddish brown color. All my people are basically the same height and weight. We speak a common language except for the ones who live on the opposite side of the planet who rarely see the sun. They communicate with their eyes and it is so subtle it takes years to learn the nuances. If I were an alien, how would I view this world if I saw it for the first time? Would the variety of people language and landscape frighten me? Would I be angry? Or would I be in awe of it all?
As creative people we need to stir things up to get those creative juices flowing. Expanding our vision increases the possibilities of new and interesting things we can do in life and with our art. Keep your options open and see with new eyes.
© 2008 Sandra Lee Schubert www.writing-for-life.com
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Today’s Take Action Prompt: Choose One Goal
By Sandra Lee Schubert | April 23, 2008
Choose one goal. Make it a big goal. Don’t wimp out now. Or, choose many creative goals you would like fulfilled. Support is available in this monthly column and online course.
© 2008 Sandra Lee Schubert www.writing-for-life.com
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In Celebration of Life
By Sandra Lee Schubert | April 22, 2008
Idleness is not doing nothing. Idleness is being free to do anything. ~ Floyd Dell
In America we are tormented by the calendar. We are obsessed with filling in our days with something. I took a week off to do nothing and I did not do it well. I was tired and rest was on the list but I felt guilty about resting.
We have goals and dreams we wish to fulfill. The tension to do is great. The desire for creation is powerful. How can we best use that tension and desire to live a wonderful creative life?
My friend is learning to draw botanicals. She spends countless hours drawing circles, or creating shading. Part of her homework is to work with just one color of flower. This week it is yellow, next it will be red. What do circles or shading have to do with flowers? Each day she is building a foundation by laying out layer of color and technique. I admire her dedication and determination to be the best she can be at her craft. Her doing-ness has a purpose. It absorbs her creatively and has opened her eyes to see the world in all its color and shades.
A musician must make his music, an artist must paint, a poet must write if he is to ultimately be at peace with himself. ~ Abraham Maslow
As creative beings we are always looking for new ways to express our deepest feelings. I am fascinated by this use of many mediums. How can I create differently? How can I celebrate life as creation and not just an idle act of busy-ness? How can you?
Arranging a bowl of flowers in the morning can give a sense of quiet in a crowded day - like writing a poem, or saying a prayer. ~ Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Think about what you do on any given day. Are you creating your life? What can you give up, delegate or change to make your life better? If you want to write - think about what stops you. Are the dishes calling to you or the laundry? Dare to let it all wait while you engage in something more creative.
It is time to leave behind old things and begin new ones. Immerse yourself in creative and beautiful activities. Visit art galleries, museums, gardens and parks. Look at beautiful things in stores, and shops. Take photos, write poetry - dance a bit. Read a juicy novel or two, or write one. Remember to create the life you want.
© 2008 Sandra Lee Schubert www.writing-for-life.com
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Today’s Take Action Prompt: Visualize
By Sandra Lee Schubert | April 16, 2008
Visualize: Image what your life will look like with dreams fulfilled. How do you look? How do you feel? Visualizing helps draw the desired result closer to you.
Write the story of your goal fulfilled. Is it a review of the book/movie/play you finally wrote? Put lots of detail in there. Describe picking up your award. What are you wearing? Who do you thank? How does it feel?
List your creative goals/dreams. Write all of them even the unbelievable ones. Be outlandish and wildly outrageous. Writing down your goals brings them into reality and closer to fruition. Dare to be bigger then you are today.
Create an image of your fulfilled dream(s). Draw it. Or create a collage of images cut out of magazines or the paper. What does it look like? Create the cover of your completed book or your byline in a newspaper.
Meditate. Spend time each day in quiet reflection. You will feel rejuvenated and ready to be even more creative.
Gratitude: Each day appreciate what you have. Acknowledge all the gifts of your life. Be thankful and willing to have more goodness in your life. Remember having abundance in your life allows you to be even more generous with those who have less. The more you give the more you get.
Finally, we aren’t meant to be mere shadows on the earth. We are meant to grow and thrive and be creative beings. Let’s support each other and encourage people in our lives to celebrate their best selves. Each of us is indeed a gift. Enjoy. I leave you with this prayer. I don’t know the original origin but it has been valuable to me.
© 2008 Sandra Lee Schubert www.writing-for-life.com
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Fact Finding in Writing
By Sandra Lee Schubert | April 15, 2008
We truly live in the information age. It comes at us from every angle. Ads are on buses, cabs and the bodies of those willing to be walking advertisement. The Internet will give you every version of every story. TV network and cable have numerous shows from news, sports, reality shows to self help features. We have 24/7 access to information. But do we have the facts? If you are a poet or creative writer, you may feel facts are subjective and certainly to some extent they are. Memories of similar family events can be strikingly different then those of our siblings and relatives. Our interpretation of these events is personal and subject to change as we mature and learn more about what happened. Fiction and fantasy writing can take the writer and reader into extraordinary landscapes. But the stories must be realistic enough to be believed by the reader.
“Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.”
~ John Adams (1735 - 1826), ‘Argument in Defense of the Soldiers in the Boston Massacre Trials’ December 1770
Just the facts, ma’am.
If you are writing a fiction piece based in the 60’s, the details of the decade would frame the story. Your character can’t pick up a cell phone to make a call but they can visit the World’s Fair to view the newfangled videophone. Disco dancing would have to wait. You could also discuss the confluence of the 50’s and the 60’s. If you don’t know anything about a particular decade or point in history, then it is up to you to do the research. A story full of inconsistencies only puts off the reader. If you mention a historic site but you have it uptown instead of downtown, then you are deceiving the reader for the sake of your point of view and the story will lose its impact. The reader in most cases is willing to let a little creative license invade a story if it makes sense. You can’t have your character do something that is out of character for the time and place, unless you have a credible reason. Accuracy in dates, times, speech patterns, clothing is essential to a good story.
“An author is a fool who, not content with boring those he lives with, insists on boring future generations.”
~ Charles de Montesquieu (1689 - 1755)
Think of it this way…
This isn’t your 6th grade class where Mrs. Alittlemean has made you look up the life span of a marshmallow. Research can be your playground. You get to look up all sorts of interesting things and maybe talk to fun people who want to tell you all about how they do what they do. A basic guideline for journalists is: who, what, where and why. Who are the people involved in your story, what are the details, and where did this story/event happen? And lastly why did it happen? Using this guideline you can be confident that your story will cover the facts.
Remember to look for more then one source and keep track of them. Good research and solid facts will make your story sparkle. Having done your research builds the framework on which your imagination can create all sorts of wonderful things
“Only the curious will learn and only the resolute overcome the obstacles to learning. The quest quotient has always excited me more than the intelligence quotient.”
~ Eugene S. Wilson
Stay Young
If you need further encouragement, think of research in another way - it will keep you young. A sharp mind needs stimulation. Your brain builds new pathways when you learn something new. So don’t think of this as chore but as a path to wellness. Both your brain and your reader will be happy to have been expanded and enlightened in this way.
© 2008 Sandra Lee Schubert www.writing-for-life.com
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