Choosing the Right Words – An Introduction

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I want to talk a little bit this week about the idea of choosing the right words when you write. About thinking carefully about the words you use to express a particular mood, character or action.

This probably seems a ridiculously obvious concept, but to neglect it means abandoning a whole myriad of ways in which you can make your stories deeper, enriching them for your reader.

Think about a man walking. You could say:

He ambled
He limped
He sashayed
He scampered
He strode
He marched
He hobbled
He stomped
He inched
He shuffled
He scurried
He strolled
He paced
He sauntered

And these are only a few of the synonyms you could use for the verb ‘to walk’. Yet, they each tell us something different about the man doing the walking, and raise questions in the reader’s mind about why he is moving in that particular way.

For instance, the man who is limping – Was he born with the limp, or has he acquired it, and if he has, was it recently or a long time ago? Does he have some physical disability that limits his movement, or has he just this minute been in an accident?

He might, for example be limping because he is very old.

Perhaps he limps as a result of an old war wound – like our friend Dr John Watson. This introduces a level of poignancy, of heroism wrapped in tragedy, and invokes our sympathy for him.

A man who strides has self confidence. He holds his head high, intent on getting where he is going. He may be a man on a mission – and we want to know what that mission is!

A man who sashays might be a bit camp, might be a dancer, might be charming a companion, moving in this way to make her laugh and draw her in. Is this the start of a big romance?

A man who ambles is in no particular hurry. He is relaxed. He has time. We might think him lazy, perhaps, or more likely, a man on holiday from the usual stresses of his life, sure in the knowledge that everything can happen at his own pace.

Usually we think of ‘Show, Not Tell’, the old writers’ maxim, as something overt. Don’t tell us how John Watson got his war wound, for example. Better to show us. Show us his recurring nightmare of the moment it happened (which also demonstrates to us how he is barely coping with the trauma, as well as showing us the actual trauma itself –two for the price of one!).

By using the right words, evocative and interesting ones, we can communicate to the reader so much more, and in such a subtle way that they barely even notice being told – which is true writing skill!

Writing Exercise:

Think more about the verbs I have used in the list above, and what they communicate about the man doing the movement. Choose one and use it as a prompt for a writing exercise. Take fifteen minutes to free-write in your writers notebook about the man who marches, the man who scampers, or any of the others. (Come up with some of your own, if you like.)

Make a character sketch. Who is this man? What does he look like? What age is he? What does he do – and how does the way he dresses and moves communicate that? Why does he move the way he does? Where is he going in this particular fashion, and why? Is anybody with him, and are they affecting his way of moving?

When you have finished, look over what you have written. Can you see any clichés? Remember, while clichés are usually clichés because they are true, they don’t have to come across as clichés! Always be on the lookout for clichés in your writing, so that you can remould them into strange, eye-catching virtues.

You could use this character sketch as the core of a larger piece. Or you could take the character you have created and write about him moving in another of the ways listed, repeating the exercise to learn more about him. Why would he change his mode of movement? Is he responding to the requirements of others, or affecting a certain walk to give a particular impression? If so, why?

Spend time playing with these verbs, and let them take your imagination where it will. Most of all, have fun!

(If you want to read the next post in this series, click here.)

Happy Writing,

Journal Friday: Lists

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Your house and your life will be full of lists. Most likely shopping lists, most infamously, To Do lists. We all make them. They are the most efficient way to remind your brain about the important, and the not-so-important things.

But did you know they can add an extra dimension to your journal practise?

We keep lists because they are an easy way to record a series of items, whether they are things we already possess, things we need to get (like shopping lists),things we need to do, or remember, or worry about, or understand.

Lists also allow us to create hierarchies within them. You can order your list in terms of importance or urgency. You can use each item as a heading, and include a sub-list beneath it. Or you can just scribble items down in the order they come into your head – which is in itself a kind of order, though the meaning of that order may only be understood by you. And yes, I do use mind maps too, but I don’t find them half so useful, because they don’t have the implied order that a list does. You have to impose the order on them afterwards, which seems a waste of time to me – why not do it as you go along?

I like using lists in my diary to gather together thoughts that are floating about in my head which don’t really fit anywhere. For instance, the other day, I made a list of all the items I wanted to buy which would need to be saved for: new spectacles, a juicer, a steam floor cleaner, and other things. Each of these items came from a separate train of thought: ‘I can’t see to read these days, I need to get an eye test’; ‘Maybe drinking green juice would help me feel better’; ‘Its really muddy outside and we are trailing a lot of mud into the house, and I am fed up with mopping the floor all the time, maybe there is a quick alternative.’

None of these things really go together. Normally, I would put them under headings like ‘Health care’, ‘Diet’ and ‘Housecleaning’. But I don’t have a place to record any of these ideas (I confess – mea maxima culpa – I don’t keep a Home Management binder or a GTD planner, shame on me!) They are all good ideas, but if I don’t write them down, they will get forgotten, and I will no doubt then waste valuable mental energy thinking them up again, or coming up with new solutions. Now I have a list recorded, I can forget about it until I need it.

Something else I have been doing for years is using lists to help with emotional challenges. I frequently get myself into a state of profound anxiety by worrying about half a dozen things at once. Or sometimes more! Usually, when I get like this, I find myself struck down with a migraine, so its something I prefer to avoid, if I can. Out comes the diary, then, and away I go, writing down a list of all the things I am worried about, and why. I may end up with pages of bullet points. Then I revue them. Usually I can see a pattern emerging, and I can work out that there are one or two core issues coming up that the sheer volume of worries are masking. Once I have identified what is really wrong, I can make a list of things I can do about the problem – because taking action of some kind, however small, always makes me feel better.

When I am feeling completely overwhelmed by everything I feel I have to do, I take the time to make a list of everything. Then I can identify the SHOULDS I am imposing on myself can rule them out, because they are usually neither Urgent nor Important* in the grand scheme of things. Also, writing all the things I have to get through somehow makes the mountain less intimidating. Life seems more manageable when you can get it down on a sheet of paper.

(*Knowing the difference between Urgent and Important is crucial when you have limited resources. Urgent is something that has to be done NOW. Important is something which needs to be done as a matter of priority for your future wellbeing/happiness/security etc. For example, Urgent could be putting the laundry in the machine because you won’t have any clean knickers tomorrow if you don’t. Important is getting your tax return in to avoid late filing fines. Of course, tax returns could also be Urgent, if you are within a few hours of the deadline, and the laundry might be Important if tomorrow is also the day when you have an interview for a potentially life-changing new job! But you can see the difference. Urgent changes your immediate future, whereas Important is more long term. Which is why a list helps you to identify which is which!)

I also really like using lists to explore an idea. I give myself time to visualise the concept in my mind, for example, that of Bear energy, which I was talking about the other day. Then I do a word association around that idea, writing down all the words and feelings and thoughts that pop into my head in a list which depicts what that idea means to me. I can then use that list as a starting point for exploring deeper meanings and related areas.

I mainly use lists to dump everything out of my brain because I invariably have a cranium so full of stuff that something has to be offloaded or I will go mad. Quick, thumbnail sketches of stories, plans, thoughts, worries, household jobs, recipes, things to tell my husband when he gets home, and food items we have just run out of, all end up on lists in my journal. It has only been through writing this post that I have begun to realise how addicted to lists I actually am!

The other thing about lists is that they are easily accessible when you read them back. Even a series of one word items can remind you of a whole Mind Palace of thoughts. And once these thoughts are outside your head, you can use your brain to come up with lots of lovely new ones! What liberation!

Tips for Keeping Lists:

Make sure you label your list especially if it is connected with a word association or particular project.

I often scribble lists on loose sheets of paper that I find hanging around the house, and stick them into my diary later – this means I feel I can be as messy as I want with the list because I am not messing up my nice, neat diary page. (When the list is stuck in, I can decorate it and make it nice if I like.)

If you make several lists on several sheets, stick them in your journal together so they make sense on reading back.

Give yourself space when you make a list. There will always be something else you want to add!

Journal Exercise:

You could use any of the techniques with lists that I have mentioned above, but you might like to try this one, from the field of Gestalt therapy.

This technique can help you access unconscious feelings that are causing your trouble.

Do you have an ache or pain that has been grumbling away recently? A dogged headache that resists all medication, a sprained ankle, an aching hip?

Take out your journal and sit quietly, away from noise and distractions. (Give yourself plenty of time for this.)

Focus your mind now on the part of your body that is troubling you, and really dive deep into experiencing the pain, ache, or discomfort, or whatever feeling is going on there. Let the feeling fill you up. Connect with it.

Now take out your pen and, continuing to focus on the feeling. How would you describe the feeling? Whatever word first pops into your head, no matter how unlikely it seems, write it down. Now focus again and look for the next word. And the next. Keep going until your mind empties and no more words appear.

Now read back your list. Are there any words that particularly jump out at you? Any themes that seem apparent? Some unlikely or seemingly unconnected words may turn out to be linked to things that are going on in your life, in friendships, your career or family. They may remind you of emotional issues you have not confronted, or point to something in your life that feels unfinished, unfair or unsatisfying.

Now take some time to journal about the words that seem most meaningful to you. Allow yourself to explore what comes up and see where it takes you. You may find yourself planning a new adventure, resolving old conflicts, or seeing situations in a new light. It can be very enlightening.

You may feel this exercise is a bit mumbo-jumbo, but I assure you, it’s a great way to access things going on in your head ‘behind the scenes’ so to speak, and it can explain a lot. You may also find it difficult to start off with, but practise and you will find it easier over time. You might even want to have a friend help you by writing down the words that come up as you concentrate on your own body. And if you get a recurring pain in the same place, you can go back to your list and do the exercise again, and compare the two to see if something new comes up. You may even find, as I frequently have, that the pain you focus on is significantly reduced or even disappears as a result of its ‘being heard’. It’s is a great way to use lists, and I encourage you to have a go.

Happy list-making,

Developing Superpowers

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I was reading a post at Rightbrain Planner this morning, and these words jumped out at me:

“Planning habits are part of personal assessment for me. Part of knowing what my skills are and being my own hero.”

BEING MY OWN HERO.

Those words blew me away. How is this even possible? Can I be my own hero? Can anybody? And if I were, how would it feel? Would it feel as incredibly freeing as it sounds?

Blogger and artist Andrea Sher often asks: what is your superpower?

Or as the ancient nun Jiko puts it in Ruth Ozeki’s transcendent novel, A Tale for the Time Being:

“‘Nattchan, I think it would be best for you to have some true power. I think it would be best for you to have a superpower.’

She was talking in Japanese, but she used the English word, superpower, only when she said it, it sounded like supah-pawah. Really fast. Supapawa. Or more like SUPAPAWA-!”

Page 176.

I’d like to have a SUPAPAWA. I’d like to be my own hero.

Old Jiko teaches her great-granddaughter Nao how to find her SUPAPAWA through sitting Zazen, a Zen Buddhist meditation. Obviously thats one way to go. The other seems to be to follow the words painted above the entrance to the sanctuary of the legendary Oracle of Apollo at Delphi:

Know Thyself

I truly believe that the only way to do that is to ruthlessly explore ourselves through creativity. Through writing and painting, journalling and making, through dance, music, theatre and the culinary arts, and whatever else we can create out of the raw materials of our souls. That way, by fearlessly adventuring into our creativity, maybe we really can become our own heroes.

If i had to say what my SUPAPAWAs are, I would probably mention two: the knack I have of making people smile, and writing.

Oh, and I make a really mean gluten-free chocolate brownie!

What are your SUPAPAWAs? Could you be your own hero?

Happy Creating,

Inspiration Monday: Planner Smorgesbord

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I’m still in the midst of Bear energy at the moment, only more so, because last week, after I wrote my last post, I went down with labyrinthitis, a nasty inflammation of the part of the inner ear that controls balance. The result is dizziness, nausea and on occasion, terrifying episodes of vertigo. Controllable, as it turns out, but I’ve had better times. At present, I am living with a kind of low level seasickness which, whilst its not very pleasant, is at least managable.

Reading is intermittently a problem, but I have been surfing the net a bit, and I thought I would share a few pages I have been enjoying lately, just to keep you going until my brain comes back enough to write something more coherent! But before we begin, I should start with all my cards on the table:

Confession: I am a Stationery addict!

I’ve been having a bit of a planner fetish lately. I’ve always been very fond of Philofaxy, which is the filofax addict’s dream. Somehow, it doesn’t fulfil my passion for the visual, and I’ve always found filofaxes too rigid in their forms to really work for me.

What delight, then, to discover Staples’ ARC discbound system, which combines the flexibility of a loose leaf format like filofax with the aesthetics and practicality of a notebook.

It is very annoying that the gorgeous Martha Stewart aqua coloured ARC binders that are all over the blogosphere at the moment are not available in the UK. I’m trying to work out how I can get hold of one. In the meantime, have a drool at what Jen at IHeart Organizing has done with hers – it is irresistable! (She does a blog planner too, which I am head-over-heels for.)

I love what Jackie and Michelle at A Creative Operation are doing with theirs!

If you want something more creative and visually oriented than the usual planners, take a peek at Right-Brain Planner. I’m not sure I could aspire to such heights of visual complexity, but its pretty breathtaking, and shows that you don’t have to conform to what Filofax says your diary should look like.

If you fancy going right back to basics, you can’t do batter than iHanna’s tutorial on how to make your own!

If you want to go the whole hog, and plan your entire 2014, then do what I do and treat yourself to Leonie’s Amazing Biz and Life Planner. This is the third year I’ve used mine and I really love it as a way of focussing on what you want.

And of course, don’t forget Jennifer Louden’s Life Organiser. I use it religiously every Sunday. Fact.

Meanwhile, being a bit compromised in the moving-about-without-falling-over department at the moment, I’ve been hanging my nose over the Organised Portable Home Office at ‘I’m an Organizing Junkie’. Somehow I have got to make that one work so I don’t spend my whole life struggling up and down the stairs to find notebooks or binders when I’m working on the sofa instead of at my desk!

On that note, dear readers, I am going off to think about what to write about in my next post, but I hope that this one has fed your inner planner addict!

Happy creating,

Postcard from the Underworld

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There is some weird and funky stuff going on with my energy levels at the moment. And some strange synchronicities keep happening. Too many to ignore.

The Universe is sending me messages.

Let me explain:

Since Christmas I’ve been struggling with low energy, pain and brain fog. Being creative has been an uphill struggle. Most of the time it has not been happening at all. I mean, who has the strength to be creative when every step feels like walking on broken glass, or when it’s all you can do to keep your eyes open for an hour at a time?

Then there are the synchronicities that just keep on popping up. Seriously, it is like the Universe is jumping about and waiving it’s arms, trying to get me to notice.

The Persephone Myth.

Bears.

Hibernation.

These stories and images keep arriving on my desk, my desktop, in magazines, on Facebook, in books and on the TV.

‘The only way out is through.’

Today, I was working with my therapist on all the OUGHTs I have piling up inside my brain. Nigel has been shouting pretty loudly lately, so the first thing to do was to kick him firmly out of the door, SHOULDS and all. No more SHOULDS or OUGHTS for me, at least for an afternoon!

I talked about the pain and exhaustion I’ve been experiencing, and then I mentioned the fact that bears have been on my mind lately.

‘Let’s look them up,’ says my ever-resourceful therapist.

Bears, according to Native American theology, are about intuition. They are about being true to yourself, and trusting your instincts as you go in search of the honey of inner truth. They are about Shamanic inner journeys, visiting the Dreamlodge, the Otherworld, about contemplation and hibernation and ultimately, rebirth.

Not far away, then, from the myth of Persephone’s journey into Hades, her sojourn in the darkness comforting the souls of the dead and learning inner wisdom, and her return to the surface world in Spring, older and wiser.

Bears are animals that hibernate. In the depths of winter many beasts, seeds, roots and bulbs in the ground are sleeping in darkness, recharging, waiting for the surge of renewal that comes with the returning sun.

Well, you may not be into New Age symbolism, but these are ancient archetypes of the kind favoured by Jung, and it is not hard to extrapolate from these metaphors to the period of hibernation that my low energy suggests. Human beings were once small, furry creatures that may have hibernated, and who is to say that some of us don’t still carry the imprint of that behaviour somewhere in the primitive vestiges of our primate brains. Anyone who has suffered from even the mildest symptoms of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) would certainly agree.

So here I am, dug deep in my cave, wrapped up in the comforting furry arms of my bear familiar, letting the energy of hibernation circulate around me.

It is not static energy, oh no.

I may be resting, contemplative, still, but here in my snug little fug, stories are gestating. Sometimes we need these times of hiatus to feed our creative souls. It is not just my exhausted body and drained mind that need rest. My Muse needs to sleep too. And while she sleeps, babies grow in her belly.

I have realised that pushing myself to climb out into the sun too soon will be a mistake. All the plans and intentions, those things-I-am-not-calling-goals, will have to wait until I am ready, physically, mentally, and creatively. I must remind myself not to rush things. Don’t birth the babies until they are properly ‘cooked’!

Are you in a time of hibernation too? Were you propelled into 2014 with renewed gusto, or are you like me, groping your way like a blind mole, struggling to hold your head up in the pale wintry light?

If you are the latter, try to forgive yourself. We cannot make ourselves energetic if the juice just isn’t there, no matter how much Society nags us that it should be. Tell your Nigel to take a hike. Snuggle down, like me, in your burrow and nurture your bear energy. Find out what the stillness of hibernation has to say to you, how it can nourish you for future months. Don’t force things. Wait it out.

Spring, with all its creative renewal, will come soon enough.

Happy hibernating,

Inspiration Monday: Commuting

A Letter to Darla’s Daughter about Fanfiction

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Dear Darla’s daughter,

I’m really sorry, but when your mom left a comment on my website, she didn’t tell me what your name was, so I’ll have to hope you don’t mind my being a bit general.

Anyway, she said that you are 12 years old and that you like writing fanfiction, like me. She also mentioned that she is trying to get you to start creating characters of your own, something you and I also have in common, because I am trying to do that too. She believes this is important, and so do I, and I wanted to tell you why.

First, though, I want to say Yay for you! You’re writing, and that is fantastic!

Writing, as I am sure you have found out for yourself, is great fun, some of the best fun, in fact, that it is possible to have. And fanfiction? Well, doing that just makes it even better. You take other peoples characters and send them out into the world of your imagination. You can make them do whatever you like, get them into all sorts of trouble, and get them out, have endless adventures with them – what’s not to like? And then there’s the other thing about it. You get to act out all your crushes on the gorgeous actors and pop stars that you like. Yes, don’t blush, we all do it!

I was writing fanfiction at your age, although I was writing about actors and shows you have never heard of, and probably never will, and fanfiction didn’t even have a name back then! It was something you did by the light of a torch under the blankets at night and didn’t tell your friends about. A fantasy life all your own. It was something embarrassing you did in private, like picking your nose!

Now it’s a recognised genre, although there is still a lot of snobbery about it, like there still is about all kinds of genre fiction, like crime and romance. (Usually the people who criticize it are not writers themselves, though, so feel free to completely ignore their opinions because they invariably don’t know what they are talking about!) Today, people recognise that most of the great writers have written fanfiction at some point, and popular and literary novelists are being paid to write fanfiction novels for the legitimate market.

Fanfiction is a great thing to do, too, because it allows you to practise, to test out your writing skills and grow them. The more you write, the better you get, and if you are enthusiastic about the characters, you will write more. You get to experiment in ways you just can’t with other types of writing. And if you share your work online, there is a whole world of other writers willing to help, advise and support you as you learn. So don’t ever let anyone tell you it is wrong to write fanfiction, or that its not ‘real’ writing, because it is.

But here is the thing: using another writer’s characters can only take you so far. And if you really like writing, if you really want to get good at it, you have to take the next step. You have to make up your own original characters.

Why?

Well, here is the thing: At the heart of every truly great story are great characters. Look at Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings, for example. Both are full of fantastic, original characters, from Severus Snape to Frodo Baggins. There are outstanding characters in every truly great novel. Think of Elizabeth Bennett and Mr Darcy in ‘Pride and Prejudice’, Scarlett O’Hara in ‘Gone with the Wind’, Willy Wonka in ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ or even my favourite, the wonderful Sherlock Holmes. In films, you might choose the shark fisherman Quint in ‘Jaws’ (which you are too young to have seen, I suppose, but that’s a treat for the future!), James Bond or Spock in ‘Star Trek’; on the stage, there is the villainous Salieri in Schaffer’s ‘Amadeus’ or the Phantom in ‘Phantom of the Opera’. If you haven’t come across any of these yet, I encourage you to seek them out because they are tremendous.

All original. Each loved by millions. And each one has ensured their creator’s immortality.

So, to become a great writer, or even a good one, you need to have at the core of your work truly great characters.

But here is the really wonderful part:

There are only seven plots. Okay, yes, you can chop them up and interchange bits of them endlessly, but basically, there are a limited number of things you can do, plot-wise.

But there are as many original characters in your head as there are people on the planet. And here is why:

No one, anywhere, even if you are a twin, has ever had the same experience of the world as you.

You are unique.

The way your mind works, what has happened to you, the things you think about and imagine, that you think are important, that you love and hate, are all unique. There may be a few people quite like you, but no one, anywhere, has ever experienced the world exactly the same way as you.

And because you are unique, your imagination is unique. No one else can create quite the same kinds of characters as you.

And once you start creating your own characters, they start getting up doing things inside your head that are completely exciting and unexpected and utterly amazing. Believe me – I was writing a novel a few years back, and one of my main characters just upped and died right there in front of me, without any warning, and I didn’t know what to do because half of the rest of the book depended on her being there! Help! Okay, I fixed it in the end, but it was a scary moment. And also utterly wonderful.

Once you start creating your own characters, your writing moves on to the next level. That element of chaos as they take on a life of their own is only the start.

That is the moment when the wonderful thrill of story-telling hits you, and you open your wings, and take off, and soar through the air.

Fanfiction is great, believe me, but it is like being a sparrow when you could be an eagle, And wouldn’t you rather be an eagle?

So creating your own characters isn’t just thing your mom goes on about because its what she thinks is important, even though you are having so much more fun making the pin-ups on your bedroom walls have romantic adventures through fanfiction. She wants you to taste the real freedom of the imagination, as do I.

That is why I am going to write a lot less fanfiction this year, and concentrate more on my original characters. I’m already having so much fun with it. So why don’t you join me?

With Best Wishes from your fellow writer,

Evenlode’s Friend.

Outflow: Aftermath

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So last night, the last episode of series 3 of ‘Sherlock’ was shown on British television, and we have all survived to write fanfics another day.

Frankly, I am glad it is over. I am fed up of it. I am fed up of all the over-analysis and navel-gazing and second-guessing. Its worse than teenage girls talking about their boyfriends! I didn’t wait two years for uncontrolled squeeing and unalloyed adoration. The whole series had massive problems as well as sublime moments, and I have reservations.

Reservations about the series and the way its going, and reservations about fanfiction.

Don’t get me wrong, fanfiction has been good to me. It has taught me to write in ways I could never have explored otherwise. It has given me the inspiration to write thousands of words and dozens of new works. I have written every day, and I have loved every minute of it, even the bits when I was sweating blood over plot bunnies and getting aggressive reviews. It has allowed me to deal with deep emotional trauma and reclaim my sexuality, something I never expected. So, hooray for fanfiction!

But right now it feels a bit like a straightjacket.

I’ve got so used to writing with other people’s characters that I have lost the confidence to write my own. And that is more than ‘a bit not good’.

Somewhere along the line, I have lost myself. My own voice. The only voices I can hear in my head these days are those of Cumberbatch and Freeman. My own original characters have fallen silence, and I need to give them back their voices.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that I will never write fanfiction again. I’m convinced that pretty much everything I have ever written has been a fanfic underneath. And I had a surge of inspiration yesterday that finally undid the plot block I’ve been struggling over in my ‘Cuddleverse’ story, so hooray for that because it means I will be able to finish the damn thing! And I so need to finish it!

But now my brain is finally coming back online after our Christmas Emergency, I am realising that I need to branch out in new ways. That feels scary. New stuff can be scary. But if we don’t test our boundaries, how can we ever grow as artists?

Happy boundary testing,

Creative Intentions for 2014: DARE and DEPTH

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Getting over our emergency Christmas is proving a longer, harder effort than I had thought. My brain is a puddle, so don’t ask me if I have written anything or created anything yet this year, because ain’t nothin’ goin’ on up there but clouds.

However.

Just occasionally, I have flashes of conscious thought.

I got into a conversation with Writerfriend on New Year’s Eve about plans for the coming year, as I mentioned previously, and it occurred to me today, while mulling that conversation over, that having a word for the year for my creative endeavours as well might be a good way forward.

Having two might be argued as cheating. One word should fit all of my life, after all. And yes, it fits the overview of where I want to go this year, of who I want to be. My word represents the attitude I want to cultivate throughout the coming year. It represents my willingness to ‘have a bash’, to move away from a fear and scarcity mindset, away from perfectionism and Nigel.

So maybe a Creative Word isn’t so much a word for the year as a Creative Intention. A theme. A direction in which to move.

The word I have chosen is:

DEPTH

I want to deepen my writing, explore a more multi-layered story-world, deeper characters. I want to write an original work that displays this quality. In short, I want to get serious.

I suppose this is an extension of the intentions I was nourishing in the Autumn of 2013. The desire to read more quality fiction, the need to take my writing to the next level. I am currently making a plan to help me step into this new phase. It will involve:

Reading lots of new, literary fiction (luckily, Santa was kind to me on this front, with a supply of yummy new novels!)

Refreshing my basic writing skills

Reading works on writing by published authors – A L Kennedy and Paul Auster are first on my list.

Writing every day

Making better use of my writers notebook.

At present it is quite a sketchy plan, but no doubt it will firm up into clear tasks. I don’t want it to get too firm. I want it to evolve and morph with my needs and creative interests. Nothing too concrete. It is an intention, a theme, after all.

And no doubt writing blog posts here will be part of that plan, as well as a commentary on progress.

So that’s my Creative Theme/Intention/Word for the year 2014.

What about you? What do you want to achieve? Is there a quality you want to invoke into your creative life, or are there specific works you want to make in the coming months? I’d love to hear about your plans in the comments section.

Happy creating,

Welcome to 2014!

This is why writing is important. Whether we write a journal or a story, a play or a poem, that line of ink leads us home to ourselves, over and over again. And if we follow that inky trail, we will never be lost, no matter how difficult and hopeless things seem.

Happy New Year,

With Best Wishes,

evenlodesfriend

Speak Your Truth: Writing and Creativity

Choosing the Right Words – An Introduction

Journal Friday: Lists

Developing Superpowers

BEING MY OWN HERO.

“‘Nattchan, I think it would be best for you to have some true power. I think it would be best for you to have a superpower.’

She was talking in Japanese, but she used the English word, superpower, only when she said it, it sounded like supah-pawah. Really fast. Supapawa. Or more like SUPAPAWA-!”

Know Thyself

Inspiration Monday: Planner Smorgesbord

Confession: I am a Stationery addict!

Postcard from the Underworld

Inspiration Monday: Commuting

A Letter to Darla’s Daughter about Fanfiction

You are unique.

And because you are unique, your imagination is unique. No one else can create quite the same kinds of characters as you.

Outflow: Aftermath

Creative Intentions for 2014: DARE and DEPTH

DEPTH

Welcome to 2014!

This is why writing is important. Whether we write a journal or a story, a play or a poem, that line of ink leads us home to ourselves, over and over again. And if we follow that inky trail, we will never be lost, no matter how difficult and hopeless things seem.