In my last post I talked about setting creative goals for the year and working toward them by taking action steps, no matter how small, every day. Being consistent, diligent and dedicated are important but there’s another component of creativity that’s out of one’s control: the muse.
If you could give yourself a present for the holidays that would improve your life, your art and your relationships with others, what would it be? For me it would the gift of confidence! Having confidence in yourself as a writer and as an artist is crucial to your success and to your very survival in what can often seem to be an indifferent world. To have confidence in yourself is to appreciate and treasure your uniqueness and singular point of view that no one else in the world has.
How’s the fall writing coming along? With a chill in the air you might be inspired to try something new or revamp past ways of working. Did you ever consider stepping outside your chosen genre as a way to refresh yourself creatively? I was offered the opportunity to do just that recently and I learned a lot and enjoyed it very much!
Today I gave my classes an assignment: write about a story or event that is significant to you and why it’s significant or memorable. I haven’t seen their papers yet but some of the students told me what they had chosen to write about and these stories were very meaningful to them for various reasons. This just proves what I heard one of my writing heroes, Garrison Keillor, say on the radio show, A Prairie Home Companion years ago: telling a story and figuring out the best way to tell it is “always worth the effort.”
So, it’s getting to be time for that age-old question: How did you spend your summer? As the long, hot days begin to wind down, have you been working hard on a writing project, meaning to work hard on a writing project, or just enjoying some fun summer reading?
Do you ever shy away from certain topics in your writing for fear of what people will say or think? As a writer and/or artist you have power and the ability to influence others through what you create. Why not use that power to challenge assumptions and to try and get closer to the truth? Is it because the truth can set you free, but can also get you fired, killed, or at the very least into arguments and trouble with your friends, family and associates?
You imagine your favorite (or least favorite) literary characters in your mind’s eye, which is part of the magic of reading. Have you ever been disappointed by the casting when they made the book into a movie because then that character didn’t fit the image you had in your mind?
If you’ve read any of my previous posts you know I’ve talked about my experience creating hand-drawn graphic novels and the joys and challenges of undertaking such a project. I’ve discussed how my process has evolved since my first book, Uptowners, and how I’m trying something different and more collaborative for the upcoming sequel, Queensgate.
Things have been evolving as I work on my latest graphic novel, Queensgate. You may be able to tell if you’ve read my previous posts that I’m very hands-on when it comes to my work, as I’m sure are many of you folks out there! My graphic novels are so far based on my own screenplays; they’re completely hand-drawn, by me, and I’ve also experienced that extremely steep learning curve that comes from being self-published and having to market and promote one’s own work (though I understand that even if you’re not self-published that’s often the case).
I wrote last time about the evolving process of creating my first two graphic novels, and how I plan to break this next one down even more into manageable bites that don’t feel so overwhelming. Now I’m considering breaking the story into three parts: a triptych as it were.
As I begin art work on my third graphic novel, I realize there are things I learned from creating the first two that will definitely influence the way I work on this one. If you’re involved in a long project of your own you know that completing it is a daunting task and one that sometimes looks so difficult it’s easy to get discouraged.
I’ve been writing screenplays for several years and enjoy telling stories through visual images. After storyboarding my first short film script, Route of All Evil, I decided to start creating graphic novels based on my screenplays.
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