It’s the first day of autumn. On the sunny Gold Coast it still feels like summer. Yesterday, I learnt that it hadn’t dropped below 20 degrees Celsius (even at night) since the beginning of the year – a record apparently. Most days have been hovering around the 30 mark with nights in the low 20s, so the fans and aircon have been working overtime. Hot, humid, and deliciously summery.
A change in seasons often comes with a change in moods. The days are getting shorter, the nights will get cooler, and creativity may wane. It’s okay to cut yourself some slack and take a day off to reassess and recharge, especially if you have had a busy start to the year. While January felt like it dragged on for three months, February zoomed past as if it was on fast forward – the four weeks felt like four days, even with the extra day to account for the leap year thrown in.
Around this time of year motivation falters, any resolutions or new year goals are often thrown to the sidelines and everyday hustle and bustle gets in the way. Sitting down to watch the latest Netflix release seems a lot more attractive than working on your book, business, or whatever goal you’ve set for yourself.
Two months in is a good time to reassess.
Is what you set for yourself still realistic? Is it still important to you?
It’s okay to change your mind. Life is all about change and growth. Sometimes it’s two steps forward and one step back.
The beauty of creativity is that it doesn’t have a timeline. It exists in everything that we do with each day being a blank canvas to live out our story.
If you’re feeling like you’ve hit a wall with your creative projects, it’s okay to take a step back, cut yourself some slack, and do something different. You can still be creative without writing a book or painting a picture.
8 Ways to Be Creative (that isn’t writing)
Try out a new recipe and give it your own fresh spin with spice and ingredient swaps
Dance around your living room as you listen to your favourite tunes
Go on a walk in a place you haven’t been to in your local area and take photos of the interesting things that catch your eye
Check out a local museum or art gallery
Watch a documentary that you wouldn’t normally tune into
Rearrange your home office/pantry/bookshelf
Mix and match your wardrobe to put together three new outfits
Grab a blanket and a book, head to the park, and spend an hour or two reading under a tree
What can you do today to reignite your creative spark?
My March 2024 Creative Goals
For the first time in a long time, I didn’t set specific goals for the year. All I wanted to do is make sure that I included a bit of creativity in my everyday and enjoyed the journey that I’m on.
Publish the first book in a new series set in Queensland Wine Country. This book just finished with a beta reader and is about to go to a proofreader. This book was so much fun to write.
Continue writing the draft of book two in the series. I’m about 12% into the book and going strong. I actually outlined the story (rarely happens) with the key plot points, so now it’s just filling in the details. Sounds easy enough…in theory anyway! I’d like to finish by end of month but I’d rather just write a little each day then have the pressure of a set deadline looming over me which would probably just curb my creativity and give me writers’ block.
Be a Winemaker for the Weekend at the Queensland College of Wine and Tourism. I’ve signed up for a weekend and I can’t wait to go and pick grapes and learn all about wine. Wine and writing – two of my favourite things! This is part research and part fun. As the series I’m writing is set in the Granite Belt, this was a perfect opportunity to escape and try something new.
Continue working on and preparing for an exciting project coming soon. I can’t wait to share the details with you once everything is set.
What creative pursuits are you embarking on in March?
Creativity lives and breathes in everything that we do, even if we don’t always notice it. Humans are creative beings. We love to add colour and joy to our lives, we can make sadness look beautiful, we have the ability to make the mundane appear spectacular. Even in business endeavours, creativity prevails.
Why is it then, that we don’t give our ‘art’ as much credit as we might give a business start up, a law degree, or an athletic scholarship?
Society has not been kind to creatives. Writers are an underpaid bunch. Artists to make money are usually dead before their art becomes famous. We have been trained to believe that creative pursuits are not as valuable as other fields.
Creativity is the cornerstone of our existence. Without creative individuals using their imagination and pushing boundaries, we wouldn’t live in the world we live in now. Creativity helps us tackle the challenges the world throws at us.
Being creative, and sharing our work comes with opening ourselves up for judgement. People will judge no matter what you do or don’t do, so you might as well do what you love, what feels good, and what you value, without apologies.
As a result of the external judgement, our creativity comes along with a set of consequences – criticism.
We are our own worst self-critics.
We judge what we do before we give it any opportunity to be shared with the rest of the world. Often, our default is to talk ourselves down. I’m not saying that everything we do is going to be perfect or that we never create rubbish – of course it happens, a lot – but at the same time we forget that we don’t need permission to be creative. We don’t have to ask anyone’s opinion, nor do we have to care what others thing. Art, writing, creativity, it’s all subjective. What works for one person, might not work for another.
The same goes for people, places, food, and everything in between. It’s impossible to please everyone, and you shouldn’t bother trying.
You do not need permission from anyone to follow your creative pursuits.
I’ve noticed something really annoying about myself. The more people know about my writing, the more self-conscious and critical I become. It’s like whenever I create there’s someone sitting on my shoulder telling me nothing I do is good enough.
I’m never going to be the world’s best writer – that’s not my aim. It’s unlikely that I’ll ever be as successful as Stephen King, JK Rowling or Elizabeth Gilbert or whoever the next ‘big thing’ is.
So what?
Does that mean that I should push my creative urges aside, ignore my passions, and stop doing something that brings me great satisfaction? Would I suggest my son or my best friend do the same?
Hell no.
Being the best is not my intention. Yes, I want to constantly work on my craft and improve with each book I write and each blog post I publish. But the only way to achieve this is to actually write, release books, publish blog posts, get feedback, then repeat the process.
Reading about writing, talking about writing, thinking about writing are not enough. While they all have a place in the creative process, they are not going to make me (or you) a better writer.
The only way to do that is to actually get your backside in the chair, turn on the computer, open up a blank screen and start writing.
Creativity takes courage.
-Henri Matisse
To be creative is to also be vulnerable. We’re baring our souls to the world and the world is not always kind. We don’t need to ask for permission. We can simply start.
Society encourages children to be creative and step out of their comfort zones. Then we become adults, and more often than not, our creativity gets curbed by the so-called realities of life – being serious, thinking about our future, paying the bills.
Slowly and surely, the creative well, becomes dry, and we reach a point where we no longer believe that we are creative.
It makes me wonder how much unseen potential exists in the world?
How many more artists, writers, singers, sculptors, designers could there be? Instead they’ve chosen the path of least resistance and gotten business or law degrees, careers with six-figure incomes and zero joy from their days.
There’s nothing wrong with a six-figure career. I’m all for it. We need to support ourselves financially to create freely. There are few things worse than worrying about how you’re going to pay the next bill or put food on the table. These things are what will curb creativity. I do not buy into the starving artist concept for one second. It’s a fallacy. A bad joke.
But just because you have a career doesn’t mean you shouldn’t follow your creative passions. You can still be an engineer or financial planner and write romantic suspense in the evenings. You’re allowed to be a doctor or garbage collector and take those weekend acting classes.
It doesn’t matter what you do to bring home the bacon, you can give yourself permission to be creative, to write the book, paint the picture, perform in a play, dance on stage. You can do whatever your creative soul desires without waiting for permission.
Someone will always roll their eyes at what you do. That’s their problem not yours. (If they do, ask them what are they doing that brings them joy? The odds are, they’ll go bright red and not say another word).
You and your mindset are the only obstacles getting in the way of acting on your creative desires.
Remember:
You are good enough
Nobody gives a damn if you’ve written a book, so just write it
Love your supporters
Ignore the haters
Follow your passions
It’s not about being the best but doing your best
The best is subjective
We’re all creative beings whether we are doctors, artists, winemakers or architects
Creativity leads to a better world
You can do anything you set your mind to, you just have to try
Just go for it
Writing and creativity are not just for the ‘artistic’ people. Creativity comes in all shapes and sizes. We will never please everyone, nor should we bother to try. It’s a fruitless exercise.
You don’t need permission from anyone to be creative. You just have to want to be.
All you need is to give yourself permission to create. Be the master of your creative pursuits.
You never know, your story, your art, your design, might be what adds joy and wonder to someone else’s life, so don’t take that away from them.
Go out there and create what sparks joy in your heart and soul.
How are you giving yourself permission to be creative in your life?
Real writers should write everyday, right? Not necessarily so. Being a writer doesn’t just involve sitting down and putting words down on a page.
There’s also research.
And lots of thinking, reading and watching Netflix.
Yes, Netflix. There’s a lot to learn from the good and the bad shows and movies on the streaming service. You an also consider the documentaries as research.
Gotta love being a writer!
Writers have a tendency to stare into space, a lot. They might look like they’re wasting time when in fact they’re probably brainstorming their next novel.
A writers mind rarely stops.
The idea of writing 1000 brand new words every day sounds wonderful. That’s 365,000 words in a year or 4-5 books depending on your book length of choice. But should you write everyday?
For part time writers, or those like me, who do it on top of our day jobs, it’s doable. One thousand words can easily be written in 30 minutes. Then there’s the marketing time, business stuff, editing and research.
It’s definitely doable.
But do you really need to write every day?
No, you don’t. Not if you don’t want to.
If you do want to write every day, then go for it.
Neither choice makes you any less or any more a writer than the person next to you. If you write, regardless of whether it’s every day or at weekends, you’re a writer.
I’ve seen comments on Twitter by people who really need to get off their high horse about judging others writing habits. If you haven’t walked a mile in someone else’s shoes, well, you’re not fit to judge them.
None of us have walked a mile in anyone’s shoes but our own, so why do we feel we have the right to judge how others write or live for that matter?
We don’t.
So should you write everyday?
It’s up to you.
Personally, I like the idea of writing every day however when you work a full time job, have a family to look after, and a life to live, well, writing every day isn’t always realistic.
I tried to write every day on this blog for the month of January and that lasted the first nine days.
Did I beat myself up about it?
I wanted to, believe me.
Then I realised, why? What’s the big deal?
I believe that writing everyday will improve the writing skills but just writing to have something written with no real purpose actually defeats the purpose.
When you choose to do something, make sure that you have a good enough reason for it.
You have to decide the best method that works for you and your lifestyle. If writing everyday works, that’s awesome. Maybe you can only fit in every other day or just Sunday mornings, that’s great too.
Take the pressure off and quit comparing your writing schedule to someone else’s. It’s your life, it’s your writing, making it work for your lifestyle.
Benefits of Writing Everday
There are many benefits to do things everyday. If it’s realistic for you or you really want to make writing a daily habit, check out some of these benefits.
Improve your craft.
Writing everyday, especially if you’re writing consciously – that means aware of the words you’re putting down rather than just gibberish (it happens to all of us), then it’s a great way to improve your abilities.
You’ll get more written.
If you want to write more books then writing everyday is a great idea. 1000 words a day is 356,000 words in year. The average book is about 70,000 words so you could potentially write 5 books per year. Some writers do less, some do more. Find the right amount that works for you.
Develop a habit.
By committing to writing everyday you’ll develop a lifelong habit. When we do things sporadically it’s easy to dismiss writing on a busy day, sooner or later, that busy day becomes a busy week or month, before you know it’s been a year since you’ve put words to a page. Even ten minutes on busy days can contribute to a life long habit of writing. If you’re in this for the long haul, developing a good writing habit by writing everyday is the way to go.
Writing everyday takes time and preparation. If you have a busy lifestyle or find procrastination easy you might put off writing for the last minute and not get it done at all. Here are a few simple trips to get you writing everyday.
Keep a journal.
Writing down your thoughts, feelings and plans everyday is a great habit to have, it’s also a goldmine for story ideas. A journal can be just a plain notebook or it can be a Word file. You can write everyday or when inspiration strikes.
With time you can go back and review your entries, they’ll remind you of things you’ve done and felt. Your journal can be a place to store ideas for future stories.
WriteFiction.
Aim for at least 10 minutes a day. In ten minutes you could easily type 250 words. That’s going to be 250 words more than you had the day before.
Fiction writing doesn’t have to be done in large chunks of time, sometimes you can get a lot more written when you have less time to do it.
Start blogging.
Blogging is a great way to improve your writing and develop regular writing habits. Set a schedule and stick to writing to it.
You can blog about anything you want. From your writing habits to your favourite books. Write about the project your working on or your thoughts about the world.
Ideas are everywhere. Writers know this but it’s still a question they get asked a lot, where do you get your ideas? In your journal or separate writers notebook or even spreadsheet, keep a running list of ideas that you can write about. This works for fiction and blogging. Spreadsheets are great because you can have multiple tabs for different projects. Scrivener works really well for this also.
There are many benefits to writing everyday but you should only do it if it works for your schedule.
My writing schedule varies. Nothing is set in stone. Most of my writing is done on the commute to work 3 days per week. The remainder of the time it happens only if I get up at 5am and can get an 1-2 in before I start work or have weekend commitments. There are always commitments. Occasionally, I indulge in a few hours over the weekend but only after making sure I’ve spent lots of quality time with my son. It’s all a balancing act.
Does writing most days of the week make me a better writer? I sure hope so.
Do you write everyday? How do you split your writing time?
I really do have a love and hate relationship with social media.
Social media has been a disruptor in society. It’s introduced us to Kardashian clones, dieting experts and much more that we might not have wanted to see. It’s also given ordinary people a voice.
I remember the first time I heard of Facebook. It would have been around 2006/2007 which seems like a different lifetime ago.
It was.
At first it seemed like a waste of time. Why in the world would anyone care that I post a picture up? Would someone really give a damn if I posted about how wonderful or fucked up my day had been? Was it really important to rave about what a delicious breakfast I just had?
Probably not, but we do it anyway.
Surprisingly, social media continued to envelop its paws around us making the people using it its slaves.
In some respects we really are enslaved to social media as millions of people have joined the bandwagon and millions more continue to do so.
Facebook has over 2.45 billion monthly users at time of writing.
Instagram has over 1 billion monthly active users
Twitter has over 321 million monthly users
Sure some of them overlap. I’m not the only one who has a Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts. There’s also Pinterest which I love to sift through, then there’s something called What’s Up, StumbleUpon and others I haven’t heard of.
Many people proclaim that social media is tearing us apart. While I agree in some respects, I also have to disagree.
Social media is bringing us closer together.
It might not be in the traditional sense of ‘hey, let’s get together for a coffee, some shopping or a bbq’ – although occasionally it does. Social media keeps us aware of the happenings in the lives of people we care about or are interested in.
Social media is a connection to people we might not normally associate with. It keeps us in the loop of what’s happening around town and the world, what others are interested in, and yes, it offers opportunities to expand our social circles.
Why I love social media
1. Having family on two sides of the world makes it hard to keep in touch. While a phone call or a free Skype or Messenger call might sound like a more traditional way to stay in touch, let’s face a simple fact: we are all busy living our own lives. It’s difficult to find a suitable time to meet up for a call when you’re functioning on two different time zones. Social media makes it easier to keep in touch. I love seeing pictures family and friends post of the things they are up to. It keeps me in the loop and then when we catch up it doesn’t feel like it’s been forever.
When shit happens and disaster strikes it’s much easier to get in touch and keep people updated. One post of ‘hey I’m okay’ can give piece of mind to family and friends.
2. Another cool thing is having reminders of what you did last year or ten years ago. The memories tab on Facebook is great for that. I do love it except when I realise that it’s been years since I did something that I had really enjoyed or it makes me feel old. But shit happens. I don’t mind. Getting old is a gift.
I don’t know about you but with so much going on my memory can be shady. Social media helps with reminding me of things I might sometimes forget.
3. Most importantly social media has given people a voice. People who might not ordinarily be heard have an opinion. Okay, so this can also have a negative impact (trolls, we’ve all had to deal with them) but for the majority, having a voice can be a positive thing. Especially when it’s being used to raise awareness for worthy causes, raising funds for bushfire relief, or bringing communities together. There will always be a bad egg to ruin it for all, but as long as the majority are good, we’re going to be alright.
More power to you if you use social media for good.
1. FOMO. Yep, it’s a problem and I think a part of us has experienced that fear of missing out on some level. It’s natural and social media isn’t the primary cause. We are only human, and it’s in our biology to believe the grass is greener on the other side. Not always.
But long before social media we held fears of missing out. They were just fewer because we only learnt of things family and friends were doing if we took the effort and made a phone call or paid them a visit.
Did you never have that inkling of a feeling of green envy when someone boasted about their great promotion, epic holiday or romantic proposal? It’s not that you weren’t happy for them, you were, it’s just made you wonder what you were doing to make your own life epic.
But to turn FOMO on it’s head, it’s not always negative. It’s great to see people are following their dreams and having a fabulous time. We want to see happiness. Happiness breeds more happiness.
It should make us want to work harder to achieve our goals and dreams because just like you are the master of your universe, I am the master of mine.
Instead of fearing you’re missing out, you should be concentrating on doing what’s important to you. Sometimes that overlaps with what others are doing, sometime it doesn’t. It’s all good as long as you’re being true to yourself (sometimes that’s easier said than done – wink wink). Are you being true to you?
2. The pressure of writing a cool caption is another hate. OMG I’m a writer, captions should be easy. But just like blurbs in a book, they are short, sweet and damn difficult.
3. Social media promotion sucks for me. I have my author page set up and I have no idea what to post. I want to be motivational, inspirational and fun but Christ Almighty, I fail miserably. It’s the pressure. There are so many cool things out there that a) it’s hard to keep up, b) I don’t know what I’m doing. How in the world are dog and cat video’s making such a killing?
4. The advertising. Sure show me an ad or two or three but not in my entire feed. I want to see what my friends are doing not being sold to twenty/four seven.
As an author is social media necessary. I don’t know. I’m on the fence. I don’t think social media sells books. Shouting ‘buy my book’ is not cool and will only lead to unfollows. But it might have an indirect impact. It doesn’t hurt to use it as long as it doesn’t interfere with writing time.
When I did a google search the top things to post about for authors were:
1. Share books you love
2. Ask for input from your fans
3. Post a picture of your working space
4. Give a quick update on your current work in progress
5. Share a snippet of intriguing dialogue from your story
6. Promote something you love (not your own books/business)
7. Create a giveaway
8. Reveal something about yourself that fans might find interesting (don’t be rude or crude)
9. Publish a picture of your pets
10. Share a funny meme
I’ve been trying to figure out a caption for a photo I want to put up on Instagram. My mind drew blanks. Many of them. So I googled it. Yep, you can google ‘cool captions for ….’ (Diet, travel, Couples, guys, weddings, holidays, pets) and you will get lots of ideas. Yep, people, you can google just about anything these days and get an answer. (Disclaimer: Don’t always trust everything you read!!!).
Social media does have a purpose in our life and I don’t see it going anywhere. Yes it will evolve and some of the platforms we see today will disappear just like MySpace did. But social media is so mainstream now that it would take nothing short of the internet disappearing for its business to be disrupted.
Finally, there are dangers to using too much social media. And it’s not just sore fingers from scrolling down the screen. Over sharing can be harmful. Not everyone cares what you ate for dinner. Some people, strangers even, might care too much. Posting everything on social media can attract all sorts of loonies. I know that people have asked to be ‘friends’ on my personal Facebook account who I’ve never met or heard of, we don’t even have friends in common. So beware of your list of ‘friends’ and don’t just accept anyone into your circle.
I have a rule for my personal Facebook account, if I I’ve never met you, then we’re not going to be friends on Facebook.
It’s a different story on my author Facebook account.
Keeping things a little bit separate is healthy. It keeps the crazies at bay and allows us to retain a little bit of privacy.
Just like anything, you have to find what works for you.
Once thing is certain, social media and the days of oversharing are not going to be disappearing anytime soon.
How helpful they are for authors depends on their intentions. A large following doesn’t necessarily mean high book sales.
Enjoy social media for what it’s worth and just keep writing books, ensuring that each one is better than the one before it. Sooner or later, with the right word of mouth, advertising and growing product list, sales will come in.
That’s my theory at least.
Happy writing friends!
What are your thoughts on social media? Love it or hate it?
Hi there, dear readers, fans and friends, I’m writing every day this month which is why you’ve been hearing from me everyday since the beginning of the year.
Why? Why? Oh Why?
The main reason is to stay accountable to myself, to see if I can do it. If I can stick to 31 days of blogging with no excuses then I can get through the glitch of not writing enough, not feeling good enough, etc etc.
I love writing. There’s no excuse not to do it.
We all go through that phase at one point or another. The most important thing is to realise it’s just a phase. It’s our mind playing tricks on us.
You can do it. You can do anything you set your mind to.
Our choices determine our levels of success. We are not what we think, we are what we do.
What are you doing everyday to get closer to your goals whether they’d be writing related, weight loss related, business related, relationship, family, travel, or whatever?
Where are you right now? Where do you want to be in 12 months?
Two of my main goals for 2020 are:
become a better writer
create better habits
These are wide goals. They could mean different things to different people. I’m testing the water by writing every day.
It’s not easy.
In fact, today is hard. I came home after 7pm, poured a glass of wine and decided to cook so that there’s lunch for work and dinner tomorrow. I find the ritual relaxing. It’s a way to spend time with the family – we chat, we laugh, we learn about each others’ day.
It’s also a form of procrastination.
As a writer, and creative, gosh that still sounds weird – I’ve never considered myself a creative. But I am, I like creating something out of nothing. That’s what writing is. The words fill a blank page creating something out of nothing.
Today, I’m creating. Tomorrow, I’ll be creating.
The book I’ve been trying to write for the past two years is forming itself in my mind. It’s slowly transitioning to the page.
