I believe, if we are honest with ourselves, all artists would agree that creativity is a mystery.  For centuries the common belief was that creativity was something external to the human being and the lucky few were visited by the external power more or less on a regular but whimsical basis.  We can site the Muses for the Greeks, the concept of genius for the Romans.

 Jung gave us a different view with the concept of archetypes and the collective unconscious.  As I devote more time to creative endeavors I find that the unconscious kicks in especially when I sleep.  While on vacation we’re having the living room painted because it requires skills I just don’t have and am not interested in learning, especially because the project involves painting a stair case.  To prepare for the project everything must be moved out of the living room and all the artwork taken down.  When the job is finished there will be a great opportunity to re-organize both the furniture and the artwork.  One evening I actually dreamt of how the living room could look if placement of the furniture was radically changed.

Maybe it doesn’t sound too dramatic but it’s the process that is important.  I viewed re-organizing as a puzzle to be solved and then let go of it so solutions could bubble up.  I use the same technique when I write.  Recently my editor suggested two significant changes to the plot by suggesting two characters be introduced earlier and given more back-story.  His concern was that the characters were a bit like cardboard and one dimensional.

Both characters are critical to the story since once is the protagonist’s best friend and the other is his lover.  I “slept” on the editor’s suggestion and developed two new chapters each based on one primary scene to introduce both characters much earlier in the book.  To make sure I on the mark with the suggestion, I e-mailed my editor with a very rough synopsis of the two new chapters and he confirmed it was exactly what was needed.

How or why does this work?  I really don’t know.  I have learned, however, to pay attention to it.  I would like to learn how the creative process works for other writers.  Reply to this blog and share how the creative enters your work.

  

Several years ago at a Writer’s Institute Conference I was convinced of the wisdom of having one or more beta readers for my novel.  The first person that had the job I didn’t know.  It was a relative of a friend I met at the conference who swore by his sister-in-laws skills at reading and commenting on fiction.

Several weeks after submitting my manuscript to her she sent me a three page, scathing e-mail that ripped my manuscript and me apart.  It was very personal and disturbing.  She closed her written critique by stating she hated historical fiction and felt she had wasted her time in reading my manuscript.  My friend was embarrassed and I felt I wasted my time in letting a stranger serve as a beta reader.  Lesson learned – ask someone you know and trust to be your beta reader.

I asked my friend Rob for his help.  He was thorough and insightful and helped me with theme and timeline but he insisted on telling me what the title of the book should be.  In fact, he obsessed about the title and would even call me for weeks with his latest rendition of what the title should be.  That should have been a warning to me but I didn’t heed it.

After getting a galley back from the publisher I parted ways with in February I asked Rob to serve as my beta reader again.  Again, he took about three weeks to give it a good read and took copious notes and made many notes in the manuscript.   I also gave him a copy of my latest version of the back of the book blurb.  When he called me to arrange a time to meet to review his comments he proudly announced that he had re-written my back of the book blub.  What?  

Making comments, suggestions, having a discussion is fine.  But re-writing just isn’t acceptable, it crosses the line.  My friend is a song writer and we discuss his songs, I make comments and suggestions but I’ NEVER re-written the music or lyrics to one of his songs.

He also claimed I had a number of misspellings.  One he constantly corrected was Midleton (one d) a city in Ireland east of Cork and the location of the distillery making Ireland’s finest single malt whiskey.  He corrected everyone to Middleton (two d’s).  He didn’t take the time to ask me about the spelling or research it himself, he was arrogant enough to correct me.

So, as you might imagine, I’m searching for a new beta reader.  Anyone interested in being a beta reader to help a writer? 

I’ve always been a person who begins all relationships with trust.  For me, it is the civil approach, to just expect that you can trust people.  I have had friends (people I’ve trusted) tell me that I am naive and leave myself vulnerable to be both disappointed and hurt.  Their advice is that trust must be earned over time.  The problem is, I’ve never figured out what the criteria is for earning trust.

In the real world there have been a few times when my friends are right.  I had a contract with a micro publisher for my debut novel since April 2011 which I terminated in February 2013 – only 22 months.  My initial reason for terminating the contract was their refusal to schedule a publication date for the novel in 2013 after making promises to publish in April and then November 2012 and failed to do so.

For most reasonable people, I believe, that would be sufficient cause to terminate a contract.  However, after reflecting on my experience with the publisher, I’ve decided the real reason was that we never developed trust.  Without trust any relationship is doomed to failure.

I also have a beta reader that I trusted, until recently.  I gave the reader the latest draft of my novel along with a draft of the back of book blurb.  Rather than commenting on the blurb, discussing it with me or making suggestions – he re-wrote the entire blurb.  I was offended.  I considered his attempt to re-write the blub arrogant even though he thought he was being helpful.  No writer needs that sort of help – so in this case – trust was shattered and can’t be repaired.

The lesson is simple.  To help you create your book or whatever creative writing you undertake is careful to work only with people you would trust with your life.  You’re writing is the purest expression of yourself so share the creative process with only those you trust.  

What 20th century author would you have dinner with, if you could choose anyone living or deceased?  For me it would be Ray Bradbury who died last June at the age of 91.  Bradbury had a unique creative genius and a gift for storytelling that sucked you into a story and then lead you to believe the most incredible, surrealistic things.   I suspect that most boys, at some point, have an obsession with Bradbury, mine started in high school and lasted until my mid 30’s.

At dinner I would ask Ray how he imagined stories such as Fahrenheit 451 and the Martian Chronicles.  Although Bradbury’s reputation rested on science fiction and dystopia societies, I like the “down home” books like:   Something Wicked This Way Comes, Dandelion Wine and I Sing the Body Electric.

Bradbury was a self-made writer, didn’t attend college and didn’t attend writer’s conferences or have an MFA.  Bradbury took Faulkner’s advice, “Don’t be a writer.  Be writing.”

Who would you have dinner with?  

I am new to freelance writing for income, it’s just been three years.  I like to freelance because it gives me an opportunity to research and write about the “real world” things that matter to me like; farm to fork issues, organic gardening and other green topics.

I talked with a friend who is a retired Journalism professor and he advised me to send out a ton of queries and develop a portfolio of “clips” that I could use to build credibility and some authority in my area of interest. He told me that initially don’t expect to be paid but with each publication I had reference material for the next query.

After a year I decided it was time to get paid for my research, time and writing.  I targeted regional publications because I thought it more likely to get published versus a national publication at this stage of my freelance career.  I received a phone call from the owner of a regional publication after sending a query about a friend who raises heritage Belted Galloway cattle.  The article and five pictures were accepted and published in the February 2011 issue.  I received a copy of the publication but no check.

I sent several e-mails but never received a check.  Later that year I received an e-mail asking for submissions to the same publication.  I sent an inquiry.  Again, my inquiry was accepted.  I responded that I would submit an article only if paid for the first article.  The owner assured me that I would receive payment for both articles.  My second article was published in Jan-Feb 2012 issue.  Guess what?  No payment.

In mid-December 2012 I received another e-mail asking for submissions.  Again, I responded I would be happy to submit if I received payment for my previous TWO articles.  Then I was asked to submit an invoice.  No problem, invoice submitted.  I waited.  A month went by – no check.  Two months went by- no check.  Finally on March 6th I received an e-mail that a check would be sent soon plus copies of the publication my articles appeared in.  I waited. 



The check arrived on March 11th and I cashed it the next day – you can’t be too careful.  My experience is getting paid for freelance work is a roulette wheel.

   

The theme for the readings the Winter Session of my book group TUESDAY MORNING BOOKTALS IS “Unhappily Ever After”.  One of three books in the series is The Living is Easy by Dorothy West.    One reason for being a member of a book group is to get the opportunity to read books you generally wouldn’t chose for yourself – not out of bias – out of ignorance.

Dorothy West was a member of the famous Harlem Renaissance.  The Living is Easy was published in 1948 but sadly went out of print.  West didn’t publish fiction again until 1995 at the age of 85 when The Wedding was published.  Oprah Winfrey turned the book into a TV mini-series.

The Living is Easy tells the story of a middle class Black family in Boston at the turn of the 20th century.  The family matriarch and protagonist Cleo (Cleopatra) runs a household of sisters, children and her husband with a unique maternal vision, gile, lies, conniving, ingenuity, and improvisation.  For me, Cleo will be one of the most memorable characters in literature.

While successful for many years, Cleo’s husband, Bart Judson, loses his fruit importing business and moves to New York City to find a job and send money home for the family.

The book raises the themes of intraracial oppression, assimilation into a white society and how marriage can be suffocating.

I highly recommend reading The Living is Easy, it will change your world view.

If any readers have ready Dorothy West,  I invite you to post a blog on this site. 

I’ve been involved with our local civic theater for about six years.  The theater has contributed the gift of live entertainment to our community for over 43 years.  I’ve had a variety of jobs from props, to running the light board, to running sound affects and being a stagehand.  In the past four years I’ve concentrated on serving as show producer.  I have collaborated with a director that is a friend of mine and we’re currently on our 5th show working together.

Both the director and my wife (mostly my wife) have encouraged me to go on stage.  I have fought off this suggestion for years.  However, fortune dealt me a trick hand when an actor in the current production of Wait Until Dark had to drop out due to illness.   The director asked me to fill and I said yes, to help him out.

It is a very small role at the close of the 2 hour play.  My role is so small that my character doesn’t have a name – just Patrolman #2.  Working with the actors, rehearsing, I’ve learned how the theater is like acting.

First, actors love words – as much as writers.  They love the sound of words and how words along with action and produce emotion and convince an audience to suspend disbelief.  In writing action and words should be interwoven – we call it showing not telling.

Everyone involved in a theater production develops a strong comradery while working on the play.  The degree to which they support each other, make suggestions for improvement and support the crew is incredible.  To be honest, writers, at least in my experience, could learn something from actors in supporting each other.

I invite other authors to post about their theater experience.

2-13-13 First Steps on a New Path

My retired journalism professor and volunteer editor thought it would be a good idea to return to the first manuscript I submitted and was originally accepted by my former publisher.  That rang true with me, so the search began.  I thought I had saved the manuscript on a flash drive and put it safely in our lock box.  I confidently went to the bank, searched the box and found – nothing.

Next I searched through the four flash drives I use regularly.  My practice is not to store any manuscript on the hard drive of my laptop in case something happens to the laptop.  I found seven versions of my manuscript, but not the one dating to 2010.  I didn’t panic.

I plunged into reviewing the galley version of the manuscript sent to my former publisher in August 2012.  My reasoning was that an anonymous editor reviewed the galley and did make suggestions that I thought strengthened the work, like adding more senses (taste, smell etc.).

I’m reading the galley version now and will pass it along to my editor next week.  I learned from that reading that I’m too close to the work.  I don’t seem the have the ability to determine if the plot moves as it should, if anyone would care about my protagonist, Ian Murphy and if the detail is sufficient and I’ve harnessed my tendency to tell vs. show.  That’s why there are editors and this time mine resides only a few miles away and I’ll be able to work with him eyeball to eyeball.

I’ve also met once with my volunteer cover designer.  The previous book cover, which I had no say in developing, had bright, dramatic colors.  My volunteer designer takes a darker approach and has found a wonderful gaelic font to use (my former publisher rejected my suggestion to use a gaelic font on the book cover).

I queried the 10 groups I follow on Linkedin to learn their experience with the two primary self-publishers Amazon’s Create Space and Ingram.  Next week I’ll share what I’ve learned. 

 

I have not posted a blog since early November 2012 because I was waiting to hear from my publisher when Murphy’s Troubles would be launched.  In late November I received an e-mail telling me while originally planned for publication in 2012 it would not be published until early 2013.

The 2rd week of January I wrote my publisher at e-mail asking when my novel would be scheduled for publication since I submitted edits to the galley August 1, 2012.  I received a terse e-mail response that the publisher hadn’t received the galley back from the editor (I was not allowed to have contact with the editor – the publisher claimed it was their policy to retain the independence of the editor).  The publisher refused to offer a publication date stating:  “. . . when a book is ready to be published it tells us.”  The publisher also informed me that more money has been spent on my novel than any other title in their catalog and I needed to be patient.

My journey with the micro publisher in California began in December 2010 and now it was time to end it.  On January 28th I sent the publisher a registered letter terminating the contract.  It is now time to follow a new path.

I would never consider using a vanity press but do want to explore self-publishing with either Create Space or Ingram.  Recently I learned that I can use Create Space for publication, distribution and marketing and still submit the book to Ingram for distribution because I retain the rights of the work.

So, I am embarking on the self-publication journey.  When you take on a task such as this you find out who your friends are right away.  One friend, a retired Journalism professor has agreed to be my editor.  Another friend has agreed to design a new book cover.

When asked how I felt about terminating a contract with a traditional publisher and venturing on the self-publication path my immediate response was – relief.  I am now totally responsible for all aspects of bringing my historical novel to the world, I am up to the task and energized.  My target – a September release of Murphy’s Troubles.

Join me on the journey.  Give me your comments, suggestions, thoughts, what to avoid and what not to avoid.    

A number of well known writers suggest journaling as a way of priming your creative pump and writing without self-editing.  I have kept a journal twice in my adult life.  The first time was when I suffered from what the expects called, “situational depression.”  The situation that brought about my depression waS the death of my mother and a dear poet friend within a month of each other – both from forms of cancer.  My mother, at 89, developed what her doctor called thoracic cancer and later I learned by that he meant cancer in the soft organs of your thoracic.  My friend Bob was diagnosed with throat cancer even though he never smoked a day in his life.  Both died with five months of their diagnosis.  Both made a conscious decision to not poison their bodies with chemotherapy.  Both decided in the most noble manner possible how they would die.

It was an honor to share death with Mom and Bob but their loss plunged me into depression and my psychologist suggested I write myself out of my depression with a journal and it would be better than drowning in cheap whiskey.  It worked.  After losing my depression and regaining my balance I put the journal away.  After several months I burned it.  I didn’t want to share what I wrote with the world.

The second time I kept a journal the circumstances were quite different.  In my first trip to Ireland mhy wife suggested I journal my experiences.  Not only did I record our experiences I wrote down phases I heard, specific language and how the Irish behaved.  I’ve kept that journal and still refer to it when I write.

Do you keep a journal?  Feel free to make a comment and share your experience with journaling.