2013 Resolutions: Susan Lute and the Literary life

 

 

Resolve 2013: Creating And Nurturing A Creative Life

Susan Lute

Dragon's Thief                                              

When you create a “literary” life you have to have an idea what you think that life looks like. This is true whether you're a writer, singer, or artist. When I first published ten years ago, my idea of the writing life was writing book after book, in my office, making enough money to quit the day job. And I fought hard for that dream, filled my arsenal with every weapon at my disposal. It was awhile before I realized creating a literary life wasn't the hard part. Nurturing it was...through the good times and bad, the rejections, burning the candle at both ends, rearranging writing time to fit with my “other” life, riding the changing marketplace. And while this sounds singularly unpleasant, I have to say, it's been a remarkable journey. Along the way my dream has meta-morphed from a caterpillar to a colorful butterfly.

One of the armaments in my arsenal is a workshop I love to present called “Storyboarding Your Career”. It's fun and tells you more about how to nurture your career than you'd think at first glance. Try this at home. You'll love it.

~ get a large poster board and cut it in two. Save the second half for another day.

~ you'll need scissors, a glue stick, and lots and lots of magazines.

~ don't plan, just cut out pictures that make your pulse pump and make you think … I want THAT in my literary life! And remember all the pictures are not going to have something to do with writing.

~ when you've got all the pictures, words, and numbers you want, begin to paste them onto the poster board in whatever order makes you feel good.

~ when you're all done you'll have a collage of what it will take to nurture your literary...or creative life.

Mine is framed and hanging in my office where I can look at it frequently. I'll bet yours will be beautiful.

Are there things you do to nurture your creative life?

Where you can find me :) Goodreads, My website, Facebook, Twitter and See Jane Publish. Sign up for my newsletter and have a chance to win a gift card to Amazon or BN. And don't forget to support your local authors by becoming a “fan” on Goodreads.

THE RESOLUTION TOUR - January 1 - 9, 2013

Maggie Jaimeson - Take a Vacation

Jessa Slade - Get Organized

Paty Jager - Volunteerism

Linda Mercury - Creating a Literary (or Creative) Life

Jenna Bayley-Burke - Eat Healthier

Cassiel Knight - No More Procrastination

Cathryn Cade - Take Time for those OTHER Creative Passions

Su Lute - Reduce Stress: Find and Follow Your Bliss

Jamie Brazil - Shrink My Closet

2013 Resolutions: Jamie Brazil and the Future Mrs. Elton John

Do sunglasses and the literary life have anything to do with one another? They do for me.

As a kid growing up on the Canadian prairies with no cable television and six-foot-high snow drifts surrounding our home in winter, I obsessed over Elton John, the writer of the greatest rock and roll song ever written, Crocodile Rock.

Elton always wore sparkly outfits and his trademark wild sunglasses. He was the man of my dreams, and at eleven-years-old I knew, and I mean KNEW in an absolute and certain way… in my hearts of hearts… in the very depth of my soul… that I would marry Elton John.

I was the future Mrs. Elton John.

You can imagine how devastated I was when he married Renate. When I saw the photo of her sitting on Elton’s lap I wept. I bawled like a baby. He was supposed to be mine.
Turns out, he wasn’t Renate’s either.

Years later, I take solace in the fact that Sir Elton married fellow Canuck David Furnish and I wish them all the happiness in the world. Even if there’s now little chance of my childhood dream coming true. Some sunglasses, once removed, cannot be put back on.

My vision of creating a literary life has been permanently altered, too.

The writer I wanted to be when I began writing is not the writer I am today. I had some success with my Renate (nonfiction), but Renate was not my true love. 

Fiction was. Yet the world of million-dollar advances for first novels doesn’t exist anymore. A digital landscape exploding with possibilities took its place.

So what’s a girl to do when her old dreams bite the dust, when she accepts there is no going back to the way things were? I’m taking a lesson from Elton. I’m buying new sunglasses and reinventing myself. I want my new shades to have frames as large as my dreams, and rose-colored lenses to see the wave of digital opportunities in the best light.

And Crocodile Rock is still the best song ever written!

 Check out Jamie's wonderful book, Prince Charming, Inc.

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS:

http://jamiebrazil.com

http://facebook.com/BrazilBooks http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5281706.Jamie_Brazil

Maggie Jaimeson - Take a Vacation

Jessa Slade - Get Organized

Paty Jager - Volunteerism

Linda Mercury - Creating a Literary (or Creative) Life

Jenna Bayley-Burke - Eat Healthier

Cassiel Knight - No More Procrastination

Cathryn Cade - Take Time for those OTHER Creative Passions

Su Lute - Reduce Stress: Find and Follow Your Bliss

Jamie Brazil - Shrink My Closet

2013 Resolutions: Maggie Jamieson and Being the Best ME possible

Resolve 2013: Be the BEST Me Possible

Maggie Jaimeson

HEALING NOTES

Go and make interesting mistakes, make amazing mistakes, make glorious and fantastic mistakes. Break rules. Leave the world more interesting for your being here. Make. Good. Art.
– Neil Gaiman  addressing  The Philadelphia University of the Arts Class of 2012

Leading a creative life is not for the faint of heart.  It is highly likely that many people you care about will at one time or another do a “tsk, tsk.”  If you dare complain about the challenges of creating, the lack of money, the difficult choices you have to make, most people will not understand or empathize. Some will actually be I-told-you-so friends or will distance themselves because they just don't get it. Leading a creative life during the Renaissance was prized, but during 21st Century America not so much. Today, for many, the belief is you’re an adult and you should know better than to make such a (feel in the blank with a word akin to “stupid”) choice for a career. However, for a true creative person it is the only choice that brings fulfillment. So, how do you make it work? How do you keep going in spite of the naysayers and the challenges?  Here are a few rules of the road that work for me.

1. Embrace Failure. You will fail at some point, and probably at multiple points. It is inevitable. I had 39 rejections before getting my first book contract. Other writers were successful with several books and then couldn't sell anything for years. It's the nature of being a working writer. If you paint, draw, dance, act, it is the same. Creative people fail, but they also succeed. Embrace your fear of failure and get on with it, because you will eventually succeed. Let's face it, you ARE a creative and that means you must create.
2. Embrace Success. Because most creative people fail a lot before they get to the point where they are selling regularly, once success happens it is natural to think it’s a fluke. Watch out for this kind of self-talk: “If all those readers, buyers, publishers, editors, really knew that this book is no better than the other nine I couldn’t sell, they would run screaming.  Gosh I hope they never figure it out.”  Make peace with the impostor syndrome that comes with success. You will be visiting success a lot. Enjoy the time you have there and accept it as an affirmation of all your hard work.
3. Don’t compare your success to someone else. Each creative person has a different path. You have no idea what that other person did to get there and, even if you did know, chances are your choices would be different. 
4. Celebrate each small victory. Don’t get swept up into the next thing before being fully present with the joys of this one.  In the beginning I celebrated rejections because it meant I had the guts to send out my work. Then I celebrated edits because at least I had an editor. Then I celebrated publishing. I even celebrate bad reviews because I know the person read the book and cared enough that he or she was angry when I didn't meet expectations.  OMG! A person READ my book. That is a reason for celebration. Celebration is key, don't let an opportunity for celebration escape you.
5. Make up your own rules. This is an era in which the creative landscape is in constant flux. The rules are being broken down, the gatekeepers are being replaced and displaced. There are no hard and fast rules. Do works for you.
6. You are unique and only you can tell your story.  You don’t need to copy others, just be the best you possible. Make your art, tell your story, find your voice.

Now, go forth and conquer! 

Contact Maggie: Website | GoodReads | Facebook | Twitter | Blog

Maggie Jaimeson - Take a Vacation

Jessa Slade - Get Organized

Paty Jager - Volunteerism

Linda Mercury - Creating a Literary (or Creative) Life

Jenna Bayley-Burke - Eat Healthier

Cassiel Knight - No More Procrastination

Cathryn Cade - Take Time for those OTHER Creative Passions

Su Lute - Reduce Stress: Find and Follow Your Bliss

Jamie Brazil - Shrink My Closet

2013 Resolutions: Jessa Slade and the Literary Life

 Resolve 2013: Chaos and Creation

Jessa Slade

The Darkest Night (A Marked Souls Christmas novella) 

Whenever I have friends and family visit me in Portland Oregon, I frequently haul them up to Mount St. Helens in Washington to admire the devastation a volcano leaves behind. The visitor center shows a short film called “Chaos and Creation.” The narrator says “chaos and creation” repeatedly (with very dramatic intonation) and inevitably, for every group I escort up there, the phrase becomes the running joke of the day.

I think living a creative life is having a small thing -- a dream -- writ large. Basically you are making a mole hill into a mountain, and that means fomenting a certain amount of chaos in what other people might consider a “normal” life. To pursue a creative dream, sometimes you have to destroy the peace and quiet and sacrifice chunks of everyday life.

I’ve accepted some chaos and sacrifice to make room for my creative life:

1. Drastically reduced TV: I’m a storyteller at heart, so of course I love television. But committing to my own stories means sacrificing someone else’s. I still have a couple favorite shows, but most often I have to flip through a copy of Entertainment Weekly at the grocery store to keep up with popular culture.

2. Less-than-perfect housekeeping: Okay, admitted this isn’t much of a sacrifice, but it can definitely lead to chaos. In the end, though, I’d rather have my words written than my socks folded and put away in the drawer. I’m just going to wear them again anyway!

3. Tight finances: This is an ugly reality for most creative folk who don’t have a reliable source of income (trust fund, understanding spouse, blackmail scheme). Making a creative life takes an investment of time and resources that can wreak chaos on AND demand sacrifice from your checkbook. But who needs fancy shoes when you’re at your computer in fuzzy socks anyway?

Are you willing to let in a little chaos for your creation? Please share in comments.

Goodreads, My website, My newsletter, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest
And follow my A LITTLE NIGHT MUSE blog tour for a chance to win goodies!

Continue the blog party!

Maggie Jaimeson - Take a Vacation

Jessa Slade - Get Organized

Paty Jager - Volunteerism

Linda Mercury - Creating a Literary (or Creative) Life

Jenna Bayley-Burke - Eat Healthier

Cassiel Knight - No More Procrastination

Cathryn Cade - Take Time for those OTHER Creative Passions

Su Lute - Reduce Stress: Find and Follow Your Bliss

Jamie Brazil - Shrink My Closet

2013 Resolutions: Paty Jager and the Literary Life.

Following Your Dream by

Paty Jager

I’m not sure when the true bug to be published bit me, but once it did, I took writing classes, tried to joining a local writing group(they ended up being all poets and not helping my fiction writing), and eventually connected with Romance Writers of America. 

The hardest part about being a writer is first believing in yourself and your craft. Anyone, be they a writer, an artist, a musician, not only have to learn how to do the art form they love, they have to be able to convey feelings, and paint pictures with words and music that others can resonate with. 

Once the craft is learned, and you believe in your work, you have to put that work out there for others to purchase and enjoy. You also need to surround yourself with people who encourage your writing, people who hold you accountable for the best work you can do, and people who believe in you. 

Never let the naysayers or jealousy pull you down. If you are surrounded by the right people, your creativity will soar and you will be able to follow your dream of creating a literary or creative life. 

 Secrets of a Mayan Moon

Places you can connect with Paty:

Website               Blog        Goodreads         Facebook        Twitter         Pinterest          

Maggie Jaimeson - Take a Vacation

Jessa Slade - Get Organized

Paty Jager - Volunteerism

Linda Mercury - Creating a Literary (or Creative) Life

Jenna Bayley-Burke - Eat Healthier

Cassiel Knight - No More Procrastination

Cathryn Cade - Take Time for those OTHER Creative Passions

Su Lute - Reduce Stress: Find and Follow Your Bliss

Jamie Brazil - Shrink My Closet

Working for a living: Women in the Arts, V

   What is the name of your business and what do you tell other people you do?

  My name is Linda Mercury, and I am a writer. 

   When did you know it was time to stop treating your art as a hobby and start it as a career?

On September 11, 2011, I went to work in the Children's section of the Hillsboro Public Library. My fellow librarians and I were talking about the attacks when I said something intelligent (hey, it happens now and again) about Islam. When she asked how I knew that, I replied that my first Master's degree was in Middle Eastern History. In the year following, I contributed to a book she was editing. During this process, I realized that my childhood dream of writing was not silly, was possible, and that I had things to contribute to making the world a better place.

It felt like coming home.

   What are some of the aspects of your job that people don’t see? For example, most people don’t understand how much marketing is done by the authors themselves instead of a publisher, and most audience members don’t see how costumes and props are designed/chosen.

I enjoy having a flexible schedule. Sometimes, people will see that I'm going to a museum or taking a nap and think that writing is easy. It's not. I'm constantly at work, no matter what I'm doing.

 

   Who inspired/inspires you on those inevitable rough days?'

My Beloved, the Charming Man. The women I've interviewed for this series. Michael Baxter, the brilliant photographer. All the writers out there getting their words down. And, of course, Cherry Adair, who tells you to Finish the Damn Book!

   Name a few of your current projects. For example, conferences, publicity, design process, what you have for sale. This question is a chance to meander or talk in greater depth if you’d like. Here you can talk about what hobbies you pursue, how you refresh your well of ideas, what you would recommend to other women interested in a career in the arts.

Dracula Unleashed, the third book in my Blood Wings series, comes out on March  21, 2013. 

I'm currently writing a synopsis for a fourth book in the series I'm going to submit to my editor at Kensington. Also, I'm participating in the nine-part New Year Resolutions blog tour that starts on the 1st.

As for advice? If you want to write a book, do it! Don't worry about making it Perfect or The Kind of Book People Will Study in School. Just get the damn thing out of your head and on paper. Let it suck!

Then, you get in there and edit, edit, edit.