Monday Morning Motivators to Slay Your Creative Dragons

By CJ Lyons and Margie Lawson

DON'T GO IT ALONE! from CJ

Attending the PASIC conference last week reminded me that even though writers toil in solitary, it really does take a “village” to ensure success in this business.

Everyone needs a little help from their friends–and writing is no exception. This help may start before you write a single word with an encouraging spouse who covers for you with the family when you seclude yourself in your writing cave. Or a friend who doesn’t mind you brainstorming the best way to hide a body as you’re strolling through a crowded mall.


Writing friends who act as critique partners, first readers, early editors, instructors and mentors. Published authors who give you encouragement, advice, and blurbs. The industry pros who help you break out: agents, editors, assistants, copy editors, publicists, reviewers, booksellers, sales force, librarians, etc, etc.

And finally the readers who tell us when we’ve done something right–and who don’t let us get away with anything!

So the next time you’re banging your head against your keyboard wondering if you’ll ever get anywhere with your writing take a moment and reflect on everyone around you. Give thanks to your invisible support team, because no one gets by without alot of help from their friends!

Thanks for reading,
CJ
As a pediatric ER doctor, CJ Lyons has lived the life she writes about in her cutting edge suspense novels. Her debut, LIFELINES (Berkley, March 2008), became a national bestseller and Publishers Weekly proclaimed it a "breathtakingly fast-paced medical thriller." The second in the series, WARNING SIGNS, is due out January, 2009. Contact her at http://www.cjlyons.net

Margie Lawson -- presenter, psychotherapist, writer -- lives at the top of a Colorado mountain west of Denver. Margie merged her two worlds, psychology and writing, to develop psychologically anchored editing systems and techniques that teach writers how to write page turners. A former college professor, Margie works as a psychotherapist, writes fiction and nonfiction, and presents full day master classes for writers internationally. Go to http://www.margielawson.com for more information.


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Monday Morning Motivators to Slay Your Creative Dragons

Gotta Love It!
by CJ

I just returned from the Love is Murder Conference, a wonderful writers/readers' weekend in Chicago. And I realized something, that no matter how much we love our work, no matter how excited we are by it, there's something special about seeing the response of an audience to the words you toiled over for so long.

In my case, this was especially rewarding as the good folks at Love is Murder awarded LIFELINES the Readers' Choice Award for Best First Novel of 2008!


Of course I was thrilled, more than thrilled--it was an unexpected and most wonderful honor, capping a wonderfully inspiring weekend!

But as I worked my way home from Chicago--complete with unpacking my carry on to show my award, affectionately known as a "Lovey", to TSA officials concerned it could be used as a weapon--I thought about the care and feeding of a writer.

We all need some sort of validation to keep going--everyone does. And, as anyone who read the rather lengthy acknowledgments in my books would know, we can't go it alone. There are always others to thank for help needed along the way to success.

Most writers work in solitary confinement, just the voices in their heads and the paper or keyboard in front of them. Hard to get validation from a computer screen.

Yet, somehow we do. Merely the process of telling our stories, making them come alive outside our minds, keeps us going, is validation enough to get our first drafts done.

Which is fantastic! Because when we write our stories down we're putting our hearts and souls on the line, exposing our vulnerabilities for all to see.

You never knew writing could be an act of courage, but it is. As well as an act of love.

So to get external validation whether a kind comment from a mentor, great cover quotes, fantastic reviews, gushing fan mail, or even an award from peers, well that reward is, as they say in the commercials....priceless!

But you don't need that to stay motivated, which was my big eureka moment as I flew home last night.

All it takes is the smile on the face of a single reader, knowing that for the time they held your words in their head they were transported to another world, one you created just for them.

Thanks for reading! And yes, I mean that literally!!!
CJ

As a pediatric ER doctor, CJ Lyons has lived the life she writes about in her cutting edge suspense novels. Her debut, LIFELINES (Berkley, March 2008), became a national bestseller and Publishers Weekly proclaimed it a "breathtakingly fast-paced medical thriller." The second in the series, WARNING SIGNS, is due out January, 2009. Contact her at http://www.cjlyons.net

Margie Lawson -- presenter, psychotherapist, writer -- lives at the top of a Colorado mountain west of Denver. Margie merged her two worlds, psychology and writing, to develop psychologically anchored editing systems and techniques that teach writers how to write page turners. A former college professor, Margie works as a psychotherapist, writes fiction and nonfiction, and presents full day master classes for writers internationally. Go to http://www.margielawson.com for more information.


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Creative Connections - Messy Writing

My fingertips are stained purple and red from experimenting with alcohol inks. Turquoise paint from redoing the hall bath rims my fingernails. My dining table is covered with newspapers, the inks and paint, brushes, and the glass bowl that I've ink painted a glowing transparent plum color. Creativity is messy.

Writing used to be messy. Think of wastebaskets overflowing with balled-up papers, the ink-stained fingers of authors, the splurts of fountain pens on manuscripts and desks. Now writing is cleaner, no correction fluid to drip white dots on my hands,no flowing ink, not even typewriter ribbons to change. I can type and backspace, delete, change wording, correct spelling, play with fonts and colors. My hands and desk stay clean.

I wonder though if these tidy words marching across the page between clean margins are not misleading. The words are not actually perfect. They may not look it, but they are smeared, misshapen, blemished. They need polishing, crossing out, moved around. And I realize that writing is still a messy process - even if my hands aren't usually ink stained.


Lauri Griffin is a published short story writer who is currently revising some longer works. She holds degrees in educational psychology and gifted education, and is the instructional coordinator for a a literacy program. Lauri is fascinated by the many different ways our brains learn, and by the creative process. Visit Lauri's Reflections, for more thoughts on creativity, writing, lifelong learning, and parenting. Read more!

Monday Morning Motivators to Slay Your Creative Dragons

By CJ Lyons and Margie Lawson


Working Back-wise from CJ:

Writers are particularly prone to low back pain. Here are some ways to prevent or relieve pain.

~Your mother was right about good posture. Protect your back by strengthening your core muscles (abdominals and back muscles) that give you that gorgeous, strong posture. Pilates and yoga are good for this.

~Have a ball! If you work on a laptop, abandon the desk chair every once in a while and instead use a 65cm exercise ball as a chair. Place your laptop on a table or ottoman so that it is at a comfortable height. Feel how you work your muscles to balance on the ball. Talk about time efficient, working out as you work!

~Go for the L-Z boy! Studies have shown that always sitting at a strict 90 degree angle can place a strain on your lower back. Try using your laptop while sitting in a recliner or rocking chair that allows you to lean back. Researchers recommend a 120 degree angle as the most healthy.


As a pediatric ER doctor, CJ Lyons has lived the life she writes about in her cutting edge suspense novels. Her debut, LIFELINES (Berkley, March 2008), became a national bestseller and Publishers Weekly proclaimed it a "breathtakingly fast-paced medical thriller." The second in the series, WARNING SIGNS, is due out January, 2009. Contact her at http://www.cjlyons.net

Margie Lawson -- presenter, psychotherapist, writer -- lives at the top of a Colorado mountain west of Denver. Margie merged her two worlds, psychology and writing, to develop psychologically anchored editing systems and techniques that teach writers how to write page turners. A former college professor, Margie works as a psychotherapist, writes fiction and nonfiction, and presents full day master classes for writers internationally. Go to http://www.margielawson.com for more information.
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Artist Entrepreneurship: Call to Adventure -- Stage 2

Artist Entrepreneurship: Call to Adventure
Stage 2 of 12 of my Artist Entrepreneurship Adventure ^TM

I am called to embrace my artist self and be an entrepreneur. This means I am called to marry my right-brain, and all its creative meanderings, with my left-brained organized, list-making, step-by-step self.

In my previous post, I addressed Stage 1: Start From Where You Are. Today, I sit in the place of knowing that I am an Artist Entrepreneur but, yes, there is a BUT. You know what I mean. We want something, but we don't know how to get there. So what do we do? I start with my artist self. She writes, and loves writing, and has written countless articles, blog posts, reports, academic papers, and now novels. I know, my artist-writer self, knows, how to sit down and produce. So I KNOW, I can do this entrepreneurship thing.

But what the hay is it, being an entrepreueur? Ah, this is where my knees get wobbly, and I feel like a complete babe in the woods, deer in the headlights, you know the drill. So, I breathe, and smile, and change the chemical cascade through my body. "It's going to be okay," I tell myself. "I can do this!"

"I am an Artist Entrepreneur. I will create it as I go, just like my fiction. I can do this!"

Try that on for size -- use "I am... I will... I can..." . Just replace fiction with your art of choice. Let's create a whole league of Artist Entrepreneurs, who marry, each in our own unique way, our art and our drive to make a stamp in the world, as business people. We can do this!

What this channel for more on my Artist Entrepreneurship Adventures!

--
Beth Barany, a CCA certified creativity coach, helps creative individuals go on their own Writer's Adventure™, and become the hero of their book writing adventure. A fiction and nonfiction writer, Beth has worked in the book industry for over 20 years: in libraries and bookstores, as a book publicist, book reviewer, journalist, editor, book project manager, and book layout artist. As a sole proprietor and entrepreneur, she has channeled her passion for writing, books, and the creative process into a business, balancing the demands of her writing career with that of her coaching and consulting business. Blog: blog.writersfunzone.com. Site: www.bethbarany.com.
BETA project: writersadventureguide.com Read more!

Musings Among Valley Vineyards

Messy Beginnings
By Kelly Pollard

After endless months of rewriting and fine-tuning my young adult novel BLUSH to prepare it for agent submissions, I find myself back to square one: forging a new journey with a new set of characters, different time period (hello 1971!) and a fresh, emotional landscape. It's a messy, murky idea for a story and the only thing that keeps me tethered to some semblance of structure is a fire-orange workbook titled Book in A Month.


I am guilty of spending more time reading about the craft of writing than actually practicing the tidbits I'm learning. It kind of reminds me of those months of new motherhood I spent pouring over any self-help parenting book instead of just parenting. So I vowed to stop losing myself in books that tell me how to do a certain something, instead striking out and actually doing.

Well, I broke my self imposed ban on these handy self-help books during a browsing session at my local bookstore after a caffeinated rant with my writer friend about our mutual blocks on our projects.

My block played out as follows:

Kernal of an idea planted over ten years ago when I lost a friend as a result of his bipolar depression and four suicide attempts and one attempt that did the job.

Sat to write a story about what happens to those left behind after losing someone in a horrific, violent fashion. But couldn't do it, so started another story which took me through almost three years of drafting, rewriting, critiquing and submitting.

This summer, picked up that story kernal once again and began to write.

Executed an extremely schizophrenic relationship with the would-be novel's point of view.

First person, past tense, one narrator.

Then three separate narrators in varying combinations of first and third person viewpoints.

You name the combination and I wrote it. And stopped. Then opened a new file on the computer for yet another draft.

That day in the bookstore, a flashy orange workbook caught my eye in the writing reference section. Victoria Lynn Schmidt's Book in a Month found it's way into my arms and has been my gentle friend these past two weeks. With a set deadline, I charged through pages, finally settling on the viewpoint that works with the plot. Two weeks of falling in love with my characters and the surprises they have thrown my way. Schmidt has been my invisible teacher, holding my hand every day and guiding me through pointed worksheets about character motivations, plot snapshots and my own personal reason for writing this book. And this is an intensely personal book for me, no matter that the beings that inhabit it are pure fiction.

It won't be done in a month, but possibly the first draft will be punched into my laptop by the time my oldest starts kindergarten at the end of August.

As of today, I'm on Day 12 and up to page 67 in the new manuscript.

Status today: Read more!