What do you do when you feel as though you are slipping back, instead of charging forward?
Monday, June 16, 2008
frustration. fear. fun.
needing some advice, thought I would turn to all of you lovely ladies (with the right dash of boys). I am frustrated with my artistic process. With the artistic process. I feel as though I was a better writer at 18 than I am at 23. Writing, unfortunately, does not follow a linear progression - more like chaos theory.
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29 comments:
Robin, Robin, Robin you break my heart! I have read most of you published stuff and know what you are currently capable of. Your current work is so creative and thoughtful that it is beyond belief. In fact I was going to call you and ask you to rewrite the first chapter of my novel in process. As you know it badly needs som human dialogue and your the person (the only person) that I would trust to rewrite my work. Will you do me this honor?
hmmm outside my blog I try to get things perfect. On my blog I just type what's in my head, and I never try to get it "right".
How could anyone be better at anything at 18?
My creative energy ebbs and flows and I don't seem to have much say in the process. I go through dry spells and then it comes to me in bursts. Fortunately I am in a situation in which I can ride out the dry spells. I must say it does effect me when I am in that dry space.
Let go and let the natural process flow~~~~~~~~
Perhaps you're over thinking it? At 18 we are more free spirited, and could careless. Let go and have fun! :-)
(And chocolate fixes everything...wait, wrong time for that saying?)
just keep writing. I think I am getting back my groove at 34. I turned my back on writing for a bit- I think I was writing in my head though - just keep at it...it is a craft. xo
I think yr a lovely writer BTW
At eighteen I had more ideas...and more time!
But I know what you mean about slipping backwards and there is only one answer and that is practise. And read lots, not necessarily classics, but authors that you admire. Write about what you know and what you love. Then put it away for at least two weeks and then look at it again.
Oh and never burn anything...no matter how awful you think it is.
Good luck my dear, but don't stress it either
:)
oh no! I'm not a writer, but find myself in a similar situation with design. Keep pushing through and maybe it'll let you know if it's not what you are supposed to be doing.
ps- i agree with kim :)
Oh I know what you mean! I'm in a similar situation. In college I was on top of the world (in a design sense). And now being out in the real world has somehow crushed that. I feel creatively drained. I think what I did differently back then, that I can't seem to do now, is let myself go (in a good way). I let my design process work, and listened to my gut. Now I over-think and worry more about getting it wrong. Probably a good way to get back your creative juice is to think like a child...be that innocent mind with a big imagination. I also heard The Artist's Way is a good book to get you back on your feet. Good luck! Also, I did a post about re-naming Please Sir - would really love your input if you have time!
i stop focusing on it, and put my energy towards something completely different -- even if just for a day. shake it up a little, get out of your comfort zone. the passion that you had for writing is probably still there, and will come back, it just got burnt out a little. you got too comfortable with the process. i'm studying to be a writer, so i haven't been doing it for that long, but i still go through phases, and this helps me. hope that helps you.
- Jessie -
PS. thanks for stopping by my blog, yours is lovely. :)
Well if it matters much, I think you're a fantastic writer. It's always hard when you're trying to write for someone else...write for you, it will come.
It depends on the type of slipping back it is. When it's something like a diet, I break things down into small, manageable goals and focus on that. When it's something like writing, I stop worrying about what I write and for whom, but I force myself to keep writing. Eventually I get through it.
I'm not a writer, but in general I was so much more creative when I was 18 simply because it was easier to imagine the world differently. Now that I'm a "grown up" I seem to get bogged down in "that's the way that things are". If I find small ways to change things for the better it seems to combat that.
I agree with what some others have said. I think the creative process ebbs and flows BUT I find that putting yourself back into the space where you are most creative can be helpful. I find with my work, I have to be in the right state of mind and if I am, the work just comes to me.
Smile on the inside and start typing.
I actually will turn to writers I admire and just take a break from writing to read. It usually inspires me. Or I go out to a different location to write. If I have been writing at home, I go to a cafe or to the park. The change of scenery helps shift things internally.
I'm not a writer either but I can empathize a little from my design background. If I'm caught in a rut, I will often get outside for a few days and expose myself to different things, places, exhibits etc. And being in a different environment while I design seems to help the creative process. So perhaps this will help you too.
Kylie
Barry, I would love to rewrite your chapter! I will call you today.
Pam - 18 years old, before alcoholism ravaged my life and my poetic writing style. (see Kim's and Sian's comments, I think there is a lot of truth to it - we ARE carefree! not inundated with perfectionism and self consciousness BS)
Sian - awesome advice, I will do just that. THANK YOU.
Diana - definitely will give my two sense! thanks for thinking of me : ) and i think you are an incredibly talented designer, and have an amazing intuitive sense...
oh, and Artist Way, I am going to check it out - my mum loves that book - thanks!
Jessica, thanks! can't wait to see more from you, really, I love your blog too. Also, I studied writing in college, I am sure we have a lot to talk about!
britt, jess, sara - agreed. i think a good quote is, "when you are in hell, just keep walking!"
coolhntr - smile on the inside and keep writing. what a perfect strand of advice.
bandelle & sizzle - thank you so much, definitely i will try to change my surroundings.
you all are the best readers, i feel so honored to have you women (and barry) take the time to help me out. really, this blog and the comments i get restores my faith in humanity. we are strangers from all walks of life, bridging wide gaps of isolation, location and technology to connect with one another.
thanks for continuing to inspire me on a daily basis!
sometimes i like to just take a step back and see what i'm writing about or what i want to write about and see where it goes from there. it's sort of hard to figure it out, but i just write freely in hopes of getting there eventually.
Blocks are just part of a creative persons' life. I am blocked right now as I sit in front of my computer(I have to redo a logo for an Insurance Company and they've limited me to one boring typeface and one dull color???). So I'm procrastinating by making more coffee, filing my nails, cleaning out the fridge and checking your blog!!!! I'm also hoping Soph wakes up soon so I have to take her for a walk. Not good advice but that's what I do.
love m
I would figure out what I was doing then that I am not doing now!
Robin, you have written some really amazing things that on this blog - you should go back and read some of your own work for inspiration and to reinforce your confidence. I find that when I am writing stuff for work I can't see the forest for the trees and get in the same place you are. I also encourage you to read something that is well written but that you really love so that it is a page-turner, even if you've read it before. When I do that it haunts my thoughts and I find myself thinking in that author's voice. And since I prefer my own voice, it forces me to write to get it out of my system. Wacky, I know. I also suggest you read On Writing by Stephen King. Even if you don't like his fiction, this book is a great autobiography of how hard a time he had it in the beginning, what motivates him, his influences, the car crash that nearly killed him, as well as a study of the craft of writing. He is amazingly well read, and gives you literary models, a reading list, and homework!
Goodness girlie...I have been so impressed with your writing! I do not impress easily. Your writing is what keeps me coming back for more. It has made laugh and tear up. I have told you before...you write much older than your years. It possesses wisdom and mood unlike so many other pieces I come across. I am no expert, but I know what I like...so there!
Hi Robin...I'm new here...just came by to thank you for stopping by Nesting Instincts! I will say that I go through seasons of creativity, too. I would guess you're a lot more critical of yourself now then when you were 18. Ease up on yourself a bit, stop trying to create the world's greatest piece of literature, and just try to write for the sheer joy of it. (By the way, as I write this, I'm hoping I can follow my own advice.) Best of luck to you, you have a lovely blog.
Robin,
I've been meaning to get back to commenting on your post all day after reading it early this morning. What came to me immediately when I read it was a book in my home library that I bought in 1989, four years into sobriety. I read it a few times, but not for many years. So I'm not sure if it relates directly to your angst. But who knows...I just confirmed that it's available at Amazon.com and it is one of the books they feature with a "Search Inside" - so you can get a better idea. Witness to the Fire - Creativity & the Veil of Addiction, by Linda Schierse Leonard.
I love your writing!
Thank you so much for the compliment - means so much!
robin, you are a doll. i totally understand what you mean, but i think it's just distance from your work. ie, you look back at your work at 18 and think, oh, wow, that's funny and surprising and interesting, but you are too close and tired of your work now to think that. you will love your work now, i'm sure, once you have some distance from it.
you are a real talent, and you grow and shift and change and stretch into what you want to be. keep going, my dear! you can do it! xo
I would trust in your talent and believe in your abilities and it will come to you. Don't force it.
Thanks for stopping by and leaving me such a lovely comment today! I saw this entry and feel compelled to reply, pretty much in the same vein as the rest of your readers!
I look for inspiration where I can find it, but some suggestions that were listed in the Artist's Way have worked well for me - bouncing ideas off of like-minded people,reading, music, art...all have wonderful potential.
One of the more recent books I read was "The Tao of Writing" and it has some excellent suggestions also.
The bottom line for me is that when it's not there I just have to remember that this too, like so many other things, will pass. Muses have come and gone, life has ebbed and flowed and whatever else may happen, the need to express has never left completely.
Immerse yourself in whatever is in front of you today - soak in every nuance of it! - and you'll find your muse. :)
K.I.S.S. and when all else fails, help somebody else-that never fails to put things in perspective for me.
I read something I have never read before, by an author I have never read before.
Whether it sucks or rules, it inspires me to write better.
think of a word like "fecund" relax and don't press, as eckhart said "hold something lovely in your heart"
- the creative process is work, yet it is work you love - conundrum, perhaps, you were born to create - let the down time inform you not disarm you... what do i learn when i am down... question from "outside" your milieu...
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