Maybe I'll Go Traveling for a Year*

Yesterday was a bad day. I'm not afraid to tell you that. And part of that bad day came about because of my writing.


I didn't like it.


What am I doing? I thought and almost deleted the file (which wouldn't have been nearly as satisfying as burning the manuscript--heck, maybe I'll print a couple of pages for burning purposes).


You see, I've been on my second rough draft, I'm calling it, of this novel. At first, I loved it. Now, I wonder, what am I doing? (If other writers have these moments, feel free to chime in now.)


I cried.


Which is no surprise. I'm a cryer, and not for the town (although if that position's open...).


But two things have acted as a pick-me-up (outside of Whole Foods).


1. A cool front came in last night. Yesterday was a gorgeous day. For late spring. But it's November. And today I have my crisp fall day with some color on the trees.


2. (And this one's the best): my friend, Erin, that creative cat who I've bragged about before, sent me one of her Coffee Cuffs. Oh, my, this thing is cool. You see, my friend knows that I love bright colors. So she gave me bright colors--yellow and blue and orange with fun patterns like swirlies (I love swirlies) and stars and glitter. She knows that I love fun imaginative stuff, so she gave me a picture of a chicken and a cow in a purple car. She knows that I love red, so she gave me a reversible side with all red and even more swirlies! And, to top it all off, my friend knows that I love fun yarn, so she put a fringe of pink and turquoise and black crazy fun yarn.


I love my friend.


So today, inspired by my creative cat friend and my Coffee Cuff, I went to Starbucks for my favorite drink--pumpkin spice misto.


I love pumpkin spice.


And now I'm feeling good.


Want to see this crazy cool cuff?

To buy your own Coffee Cuff (and you should, you know), go to Erin's Etsy shop--she has a slew of great ones, including Christmas styles. Come to think about it, these would make great stocking stuffers.

*Fifty points if you can tell me the song from which these lyrics come

Crazy Creative Cleverness

For the weekend, I'll leave you with what's inspiring me these days, living-, writing-, and laughing-wise...

1. Sweeney Todd music: are you surprised? I'm gearing for the movie release in December and the musical coming to Dallas in January (hint, hint, Chris). The music is complex in its themes and its revelation of relationships through the characters' interaction in song, their harmony and disharmony. The story (and when the movie comes out, I'll do one of my movie and theology posts, which I haven't done in a while) is about a villian, who we all know is the hero of his own story. But this villian, a barber who goes on a murderous rampage, generates compassion when you find out his story, and you wonder, is he really the villian or the hero (or anti-hero)? And it's an excellent commentary on life and the detachment that's been going on since the Industrial Revolution (and dare I say Internet Revolution?). And if you don't laugh at "Try a Little Priest," then there's something wrong with you. Okay, enough about that one.
   


2. Pushing Daisies, the TV show. Have you seen this one? It's different from anything I've seen. I love the characters, the humor, and the color. I mean literally the color. Bright, vivid, and hopeful, as are the characters, come to think about it. Excellent writing.



3. The Memory Keeper's Daughter, my current read.


4. Lush writing. After The Road, which was minimalistic, the words and sentences feel like a feast on which to gorge myself. I love words. Okay, so no laughs here. But good story thus far. Good complicated characters. I love Caroline. And Al. I love Al.



5. My Mardi Gras yarn. That's not the technical name, but it's what I'm calling it because of the colors and the flashy gold weaved throughout. It's rich in texture with several strands weaved throughout--furry, glittery, and colorful. It inspired to make my own yarn. No, not by shearing sheep or picking cotton, but by buying different supplies--thin cotton thread which I'll knot like those 80s friendship bracelets with beads, furry "Elf Eyelash" yarn, and a strand of thin, gold, ribbon. Knotting the cotton and tying in the beads will take a long time since I have to do this with very, very long strands. I won't get started for a month or so because of some other Christmas knitting projects I need to do first. A secret dream--that I'll be able to someday sell these crazy, off-beat, gypsy scarves and wraps. I have a lot to learn. After I learn more about knitting, I'd like to take on embroidery. Hobby Lobby has these great embroidery patterns: Moroccan, modern, Indian. Love them. Someday, I'll put them on my jeans and then I'll start putting them on my crazy scarves and wraps. But that's a long time from now.
   
6. "The Velveteen Rabbit": how egotistical is it to say that your own writing inspires you and makes you laugh? This is a short story I wrote and am revising to submit to journals (it's a quirky piece written in 1st person--any journal suggestions?), and I can't help but like it. I think, personally, it's one of my best short stories, not that I've written many of them, but this one does something unusual, and I let the stream of consciousness flow. Yes, yes, I crack myself up.
   Oh, and because of this story (not my story but the children's book, which, if you ask me, is traumatic), I've never been able to get rid of any stuffed animals, and trust me, there have been lots. Finally, I gave away a garbage bag or two to charity hoping another child could love them. But Big Foot, who's been a close friend since before I was born, he stays with me.

I'll leave you with those five. What's inspiring you these days?

A Cup of Creativity

To get your weekend going...

Yesterday I went back to the English classes I guest taught last week to hear the stories they wrote. The eighth and ninth graders used the hero's journey to structure their stories, most of them taking the bones we created last week and fleshing them out, a few going down a different path. Let me tell you, those kids stepped up. We had psychadellic horror (Mich, Chris--you guys would've been so proud), a more Catcher in the Rye feel (with a scruffy beagle), a Disney bent story, a mafia tone. We had it all. One girl had perfect dialogue and character development. Another did an amazing job with her POV. One guy--the horror guy--well, we'll have to watch for him. His descriptions, tension, and flow almost made me jealous.

And the sixth graders with their Halloween stories--scary, gory, and with humor. All creative.

Here's my point--when do we unlearn creativity?

I taught junior highers at a church for a bit. Loved it. At one point, I taught a series on the life of Jacob. From the beginning, I told them that at the last session, they would teach me. They could use whatever method they wanted to embody the story. It's church. Not required. I didn't expect much.

I was wrong.

These kids, ever single one of them, not only worked hard to prepare something, but they all displayed creativity in different ways--song, drama, powerpoint, drawing. And they got the point of the whole series. They understood.

As adults, we stop being creative. We've told ourselves one too many times that we're not creative, that fingerpaints isn't good enough, that creativity is for a few people who are left-brained (or is it right-brained? I can never keep that straight!). Or we're too busy. Who has time for creativity? By the end of the day, about all we can do is flop on the couch with a remote.

So I have a challenge. (Chal-lunge! What movie is that from? Where some sumo-type guy walks around saying, "Chal-lunge!") Actually, it's two part.

Part one: go to SoulPerSuit to register to win a coffee cuff. I shouldn't tell you this because if you register, then I have less of a chance to win one, but Erin (of They Hang Like Paper Lanterns notoriety) is one of the coolest people I know. If she could bottle some of her creativity, it would sell like iPods, and you need to know about this particular product she's handmade.

Part two: color in a coloring book or use fingerpaints or sculpt with Play-Doh or doodle with fun gel pens (the sparkly ones are the best). Personally, I have recently discovered an obsession with yarn: fuzzy yarn, sparkly yarn, ribbony yarn, yarn that looks like Mardi Gras, yarn that feels like kitten fur, yarn that has reminds me of dreadlocks. So I'm spending the weekend knitting. I'll color some too. Report back on Monday.

You know what I think? (Well, you must have some curiosity on the subject seeing as how you're reading this blog.) Since all of us have a piece of the image of God embedded in us, we all have the capacity for creation and creativity--not that we can create from nothing, conjuring up dust into humans, but we can all create. The question is, will we?

This morning, part deux

Two things I want to continue from this morning:

First, the speaking was plain, old-fashioned fun, especially the eighth and ninth graders. We went through the hero's journey (using Wizard of Oz), then we used it to come up with our own plot. The kids will take those bones and write their story, adding ligaments and tendons and muscles and flesh and all that jazz. I can't wait to hear how they turn out next week. These kids have talent. The story? A beagle has to save his parents from a mad scientist.

With the sixth graders, we did a Halloween scene and practiced using the five senses to increase the scary factor (Mich, I thought of you the entire time with their haunted houses and cemeteries and werewolves and zombies and pictures with eyes that follow you). These kids had a harder time focusing, but the ideas shot out like fireworks.

It energized me, seeing brains open up (not literarly, for those of you still on the Halloween theme).

Second thing (still regarding creativity), you need to see a picture of my beloved Nancy Drew pad. It's small and goes every where with me. A friend saw it in Barnes and Noble and thought instantly of me. I'm glad she did. I suspect that I could not be a writer without it (especially considering the memory factor).

Imagine her worn on the edges, and filled with ideas: dialogue snippets, settings, observations while in the train station, and you have one of my best friends in this writing world.

By the way, Christianne, yes, the pic is from this year's ACFW, and good memory re: last year's pic. Impressive. The memory I used to have...

Creativity on Nick-at-Nite

The war was against the pirates.

No, it's not Pirates of the Caribbean. It's my dream. Go to the Misfits to read the rest.