Archive for the ‘creativity’ Category

Using Different Muscles

Posted: May 15, 2013 in creativity, family, ideas, procrastination, Writing
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I am a strong advocate for wholistic (not holistic) living. I believe that my  brain works better if I put the rest of it to work as well. Not only does it make me feel good, using my muscles circulates the blood and get more blood to my brain. In addition, I find myself being most creative when I am doing some otherwise mundane task.

And so I mowed the lawns, trimmed them, and started working on painting our deck. Today, since it is threatening to rain outside, I am doing two projects indoors: ripping up tile in our kitchen and prepping our dining room to paint. Yes, I would probably get each of these projects done quicker if I just focused on one. But I am in no hurry. It’s therapy, and I have a short attention span. In addition, my body gets tired of sitting on the floor chipping away at tile, and so I stand on a chair instead, scraping away the popcorn ceiling that my wife hates so much. It might sound like boring work, but if you are in a job–day and night–that calls for your brain and not much else, it’s what’s called a busman’s holiday.

And the other thing I have noticed is that my creative juices are flowing big time. I have a short story that is almost fully formed in my head, which is actually the opening chapter to a book I will write someday. And I will get this short story down on paper sometime in the next few days. But I am in no hurry, like I said.

It’s summer. And the other months of the year have enough hurry in them to make up for summer.

So chill. I know I will.

Insomnia

Posted: May 2, 2013 in creativity, family, Writing, Writing business
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It’s the end of my first day of summer. I should be totally chill, relaxing, just taking life as easy as I can. Instead, I am up late with insomnia.

My wife is snoring in the next room. Even the dogs are snoring in the living room with me. I am sitting in the dark with my cat Booker, who is trying to convince me that the most important thing in life right now is that I scratch him between the ears and hold him in my lap.

Shelly and I saw a pretty good movie tonight. It was “Hitchcock,” featuring the wonderful acting of Anthony Hopkins as Alfred Hitchcock, the famous director. The story revolves around Hitchcock’s efforts to get his movie “Psycho” shot and distributed. It was also about his relationship with his wife, which was fascinating to me for a couple of reasons. They were a very real married couple, fighting and yet devoted to each other, dependent on each other, yet caught up in lives that pulled them apart. I found myself identifying with Hitchcock as he went through the creative process and totally immersed himself in the life of the serial killer that Psycho was based upon. I found it fascinating that when the movie was over, Shelly told me that she identified with the wife in the movie as well.

The creative process is an exciting, exhilarating, frustrating and complex way to live your life. I call it being “in the zone.” Tiffany Collier, one of my students and a fellow writer, called it “The Obsession Chapters” (see her blog here). It’s a cool feeling to be caught up in so vivid a view of your story that you can’t let it go, but it can be pretty annoying to anyone trying to live with you. This may be one of the reasons that actors and others involved in creative fields tend to have a hard time keeping a marriage together. It takes a very special person to understand a writer, and be willing to live with one.

Shelly and I will celebrate our 38th wedding anniversary in August. I think what’s kept us together is that deep down we share common values, and because of that, we are both willing to sacrifice and work hard to make our marriage work. I love to write, and have always found one way or another to do it. But I always have to keep it in context. There is a difference between being a successful writer and being a happy writer. First, how do you measure success? Second, even if I sold a million books, I would still be faced with writing the next book. Third, those million people who bought my books aren’t going to be there to take care of me when I am old. It’s easy to get caught up in the idea of becoming rich and famous through writing, but it’s important to keep things in proper perspective.

Anyway, I’m rambling, which is what one might expect from someone who is up past his bedtime with insomnia. So please excuse my ramblings.

Time to get some sleep.

We Survived!

Posted: April 8, 2013 in creativity, editing, indie publishing, Writing
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Well, the good news is, I survived the weekend. And what a weekend it was.

If you have been following my blog in the past few days, you’ll know that my wife Shelly took last week off to take care of our 3-year-old grandson Gavin while his parents in Austin moved into a new apartment and my son Matt got ready to shoot a short movie over the weekend. In the meantime, Shelly got stomach flu, so it was an interesting week to say the least.

Callie was the highly talented actress in "My Laundromat Lifestyle," the shoot done this weekend.

Callie was the highly talented actress in “My Laundromat Lifestyle,” the shoot done this weekend.

Friday after I was done with classes, Shelly and I packed up Gavin to drive him to Austin. We had barely gotten onto the freeway when Gavin started throwing up all over himself and Shelly’s new car. So we ended up turning around and going back home. Matt needed some help in Austin with his shoot, so I cleaned up the car and drove back down to Austin, rushing to get there before 6 p.m. because he needed my financial help renting some equipment. Got there in time, got the equipment, and I spent from 9:30 p.m. to 3:30 a.m. on set as he shot his movie. Got to bed by 4:30, got up at 9:30, drove back to Fort Worth, getting home around noon. Ate something, got a little sleep. That night, Shelly got serious ill. Early the next morning she woke me up, asking me to take her to the emergency room. We spent Sunday morning in the ER, where they finally told us that Shelly had passed a kidney stone. They told her to go home and get some rest. Since we were both scheduled to go back to work on Monday, I prepared myself to take another trip to Austin to deliver Gavin to his parents. At the last minute, Shelly decided she felt well enough to go with me. She and Gavin slept the whole way down to Austin. We stayed a couple of hours, then got back in the car and drove home last night.

I am tired to say the least. We are in the last three weeks of classes, so I have plenty to do in that respect. But it feels good to be back into a routine, even though I am tired. I love my grandson, but I will be happy when my house has only my wife and I–at least for a few weeks.

But I wanted to tell my about the shoot. I was amazed and impressed to follow the crew during the shoot this weekend. We had a skeleton crew for this indie shoot: two actors, a lights guy, a sound guy, a DP (director of photography) and the director. As executive producer, my job was to pay bills, go on errands, tell homeless people that the set was not open for business (it was a laundromat after hours), and eventually I ran the “slate” as well (I held up the board and said “This Laundromat Lifestyle, Scene 4, Take 2″ and then clapped it shut. It’s good to see my education being put to good use.).

It made me realize that I didn’t want to do movie work. I am perfectly happy writing books, or editing magazines if called to do. But it also made me realize how much hard work is involved in any artistic work, be it a book, a magazine, a TV show, a radio station, or a movie. When you see all the parts to putting the final product together, you realize why movie budgets are so large and why credits roll on for so long.

And I saw a lot of similarities between the business of publishing a book or magazine and the process of making a movie. The script is only the beginning of a movie, just as the manuscript is only the beginning of a book. With a book, you have to consider cover, back cover copy, page formatting, marketing campaign and a variety of other details. The author thinks they are doing all the work, but the only time that is so is when they are self publishing.

People usually don’t stop to think about all the work involved in making a movie. But they shouldn’t have to, just as they shouldn’t have to think what you went through to write and produce your book. Their job is simply to buy the finished product and enjoy it. In a lot of ways, if they have to think about the production, it takes away from their experience.

There’s a lot of work involved in launching a book, just as there’s a lot of work involved in shooting a movie. But the reward comes when you have that final product and can share it with someone who can appreciate your creative idea.

Doors and Windows

Posted: March 22, 2013 in Christianity, creativity, Writing
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“When the Lord closes a door, He opens a window.”  –Author Unknown

In 1970, I was high school junior in northern California. I was privileged to be invited to be a member of an elite drama group from our high school. But in order to join, I had to resign from the elite choir, which I had been in for the past two years. I was asked on Friday, and was told I had the weekend to decide.

It wasn’t an easy decision for me. I loved drama, having participated in several plays and skits during the year. And, from my perspective, I was pretty good. But I also loved music. To switch from music to drama would not only affect my activities for my senior year, it would change my circle of friends. I deliberated over it all weekend, and in the end decided to remain in choir.

I grew up believing that decisions like that have a long-lasting affect on our lives. Sometimes they do, and sometimes they don’t. In this case, I think it did. I committed myself to music, and eventually started writing music. Most of those who studied drama ended up going to the same college in southern California. I went to a college in northern California with a friend from choir, where I ended up meeting my future wife. I spent a lot of time in music in the years and decades to come, and never regretted it. Even now, when I have put the guitar down and stopped singing publicly, I am proud of what I did and look back fondly on those years.

We all have decisions to make in our lives. And in the end, they define who we are. But that doesn’t mean there is only one right decision. In the end, there are only three major decisions we have to make:

1. Will I follow God?

2. Who will I marry?

3. What livelihood will I pursue?

And in this day and age, only decisions one and two are really that important. People today often change their careers several times during their years before retirement. And today, even retirement is simply a change in careers. Whom you marry should be a lifelong decision, and of course, the decision to follow God should be made early and kept until our eyes close in death–and even after.

So what’s the point of this blog? The point is, whatever we choose, wherever we are in life, we can choose to follow God and speak out in His behalf. And that’s what’s important. It’s not how we do it; it’s simply a matter of doing it. I enjoyed my years in music, and during that time I sang and wrote music that praised God. Now I praise God in a different way. God gave me a gift of music, and I used it when I was at that stage of my life. I have had several people who knew me during my singing years tell me that I HAD to get back to singing. But that’s not me anymore. I have made a commitment to writing, and for now, that’s who I am.

So don’t be afraid to change paths, step out doors, or climb out windows. In the end, God really doesn’t care what you do, or how you choose to do it. What matters is that you do it for Him.

 

Constructive Procrastination

Posted: March 13, 2013 in creativity, procrastination, Writing
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Thought I'd throw in another contest picture. Here I am at Callicott Park, also affectionately known as "the duck pond." I'm not working, as you can tell.

Thought I’d throw in another contest picture. Here I am at Callicott Park, also affectionately known as “the duck pond.” I’m not working, as you can tell.

I just got done doing the dishes and cleaning the kitchen. Before that, I updated some forms on the school’s website. Why am I telling you this?

Because as worthy as those two projects are, and as much as they needed to be done, they aren’t my priority for this morning. Yes, it’s Spring Break, but school will be back in session Monday, and I am woefully behind on preparing for classes. So I need to be working on that prep.

Trouble is, my body is willing but my spirit is weak. In other words, my brain’s just not there.

I learned a long time ago to write very fast. I can crank out up to 10,000 words in a day. The only thing that holds me up is knowing what to say. And knowing what to say is directly related to how many others things are rattling around in the attic at that time. If the attic is relatively empty and swept out, it’s a lot easier to get things done. But if there are bats in the belfry, well, I don’t write too well.

One thing that does help me are deadlines (since that’s plural, I guess that’s more than one thing). Years working on a magazine and newspaper have taught me to crank it out if necessary and I have learned that even if you don’t think there are ideas up there, you can usually come up with something that looks something like an idea.

And then there’s the advantage of the subconscious. It’s ok to watch TV or go see a movie when you should be writing, IF you are in the right frame of mind when you do so, and you’re not being productive in writing anyway. Cutting yourself some slack is sometimes just what the doctor ordered (not to mix metaphors or anything). Give yourself permission to play as long as you understand that you still have to get back to your project.

So that’s what I am doing. I feel guilty when I am not doing anything constructive, but sometimes the constructive things I find to do aren’t where I should be spending some time.

Like writing this blog. Sigh. Back to the textbooks….

Review: “Divergent” by Veronica Roth

Posted: March 11, 2013 in book marketing, Christian novels, Christianity, creativity, Religion, Writing
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Apparently I CAN walk and chew gum at the same time.

This weekend I was pleased to not only complete reading a great new book but also complete writing a great new book.

First, the one I read:

51MyTJ6IWPL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_I first heard about Divergent by Veronica Roth in Rough Writers, our creative writing group on campus. One of our student writers, I don’t remember which one (Cassandra), told me that not only was it a great book, but that it had Christian overtones. Being both the skeptic and the Christian suspense writer that I am, I had to read it. Rather than buying an ebook, which I am prone to do because of my cheapskate nature, I invested a few more dollars and got a copy of the paperback. I’m glad I did, because it is definitely a book I will want to loan out.

Cassandra was right; it does have Christian overtones, but they are very light. It’s more like the story revisits Christian principles that the main character learned growing up.

To fully understand, you have to hear the basic premise. After a big war, society decided the best way to keep the peace was to divide the population into five factions. Candor is that faction who believes in always telling the truth, no matter what. Amity is the group that believes in peace no matter what. Abnegation believes in self-sacrifice and putting others first. Erudite believes that knowledge is the key to peace, and the Dauntless faction believes that courage is the key to peace. At age 16, young people are tested for aptitude and recommendations are given them as to which faction they belong in. The next day, they participate in a Choosing Ceremony, where they publicly announce which faction they belong to. The term Divergent comes when a person shows an aptitude that qualifies them for several factions at the same time.

The main character, Beatrice Prior, is raised in the Abnegation faction, one that wears only grey, dresses modestly and never draws attention to themselves (sound familiar, Christians?). They live to serve others, always the ones to clean up when there is a mess. Because of their self-denial, they are also the people in power in the government. That causes some jealousy, and some fireworks fly as time goes on (the second book is called Insurgent, so you get an idea of where this goes). Beatrice tests as a Divergent, and so must choose between three factions. Her decision completely changes her life, and like dominoes, affects those around her.

You can probably see the parallels in this story and Hunger Games, and I found myself comparing several times. But there are differences too. At first I thought there was going to be a love triangle, but it ends up being more a matter of unrequited love than a triangle. Also, the story is set in a dystopian future Chicago, and having lived there, that piqued my interest. There’s lot of action as well as romance, although I found it refreshing that the suggestion of sex is there, as well as sexual attraction, without completely going there. I always believe the anticipation is more effective than the actual event, in books at least. That makes is a good young adult book, I think.

I also found it interesting that Veronica Roth wrote this book while she was a college student, which should give some of you students (Tiffany and Cassandra, I mean you) reason to hope.

All it all, I found it a great YA book, one that I know a lot of people are latching onto.

* * *

Infinity coverAnd now, on to my project. I finished the rough draft of Infinity’s Reach yesterday at about noon. The last three chapters went a lot easier than I had anticipated. That always scares me a bit, and I find myself wondering if I have missed anything when that happens. But apparently I didn’t. I will know for sure by the end of this week.

For those of you just coming onboard, Infinity’s Reach is the retelling of Pilgrim’s Progress, set in a dystopian United States after a nuclear attack and invasion by an Asian coalition army. Teenager Infinity Richards is given the challenge of crossing the U.S. to join her father in Camp Zion, which is somewhere in the West.

HotdogsMy biggest challenge was balancing faithfulness to the original Pilgrim’s Progress, Christian themes and a science-fiction story, and I found at the end that I did a pretty good job of that. This week I will focus on plausibility, continuity, and grammar issues before I begin formatting pages.

I am just as eager as you are to finally see this in print, and I was tempted to launch early. But after thinking about it, I am going to stick to my April 1 launch date, just to make sure that everything is ready for the launch.

* * *

Last but not least, I have to include my photo for the contest. This time, Pedro at the local hot dog shop here in Cleburne decided to help me out. As usual, contest rules are here. Make sure you get your entry in for a free paperback copy of Infinity’s Reach. Winners will be announced beginning next Monday!

Have a great Spring Break week!

 

 

 

And, oh yeah…

Posted: March 6, 2013 in book marketing, creativity
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Way over there...that's me on the steps of the Chan Shun Centennial Library on our campus. Can I help it if no one else is up at 8 a.m.?

Way over there…that’s me on the steps of the Chan Shun Centennial Library on our campus. Can I help it if no one else is up at 8 a.m.?

Here’s today’s obligatory shot of me with the sign in a public place. Once again, anyone interested in the Infinity’s Reach Escape Clause Contest for a free book can find the rules here.

Have a good day.

Is it “We Can Help You Escape,” or “I’m Sorry, Glen?”

Posted: March 4, 2013 in book marketing, creativity, Uncategorized
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It’s hard work promoting your book. And most authors would just as soon either let someone else do it, or have it go undone.

But the reality is, as my friend and fellow author Jerry Thomas said, “These days, marketing is more than 50 percent of an author’s job.”

With that in mind, I am looking for ways to make it more fun. Enter my Media Law and Ethics class. These days they are looking for any way to get into the good graces of their teacher–me. So when I suggested they do a little video to promote my Escape Clause Contest, they didn’t fight me too much.

Trouble is, there was a tendency to get the phrasing a bit wrong. To give you an idea of what my Media Law class is like, “I’m Sorry, Glen” has become our motto.

In any case, here are the rules once again for the Escape Clause Contest, your chance to win a free copy of Infinity’s Reach when it comes out April 11:

1. You have to make a sign. The sign should read: “I CAN HELP YOU ESCAPE.”

2. You have to take a photo or video of you holding up said sign in a public place. An example of that is below, which is from the cover of my short story collection, available free on Smashwords.

3. Post the image of you holding the sign on your Facebook page. Send me a link to that page. If you can’t get that to work, then just send me the image in jpg form. In the case of a video, post it on YouTube or a comparable site and send me the link. Send it to this blog or to my direct email address: robinson@swau.edu.

4. I will be announcing it for the next two weeks, showing examples and will be accepting submissions, but the actual contest starts Monday, March 18. I will pick a winner each day thereafter (Monday through Friday) until April 1. Winners will need to provide mailing addresses where I can send the book. If you would rather receive an e-book version (Kindle or otherwise), I can do that too. But all prizes will be sent after April 1.

5. You can enter as many times as you want, but only one prize per person. Images with more than one person will still receive only one prize.

6. Winners will be announced here daily as well as on the Facebook Infinity’s Reach fan page. I will also post the winning photos in both places.

More than anything, this is supposed to be a fun contest, so lighten up. Be creative. I plan on awarding creativity and boldness.

Announcing the Infinity’s Reach Escape Clause Contest

Posted: March 1, 2013 in book marketing, Christian novels, creativity, Science Fiction
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Infinity coverIt’s the first of March, and I am excited to announce that I will be launching my new book, Infinity’s Reach, on April 1. You want a free book. I want you to have a free book. But I don’t want to make it easy for you. So we are going to have a contest. That way, it’s fun and…difficult.

We’ll call it the Infinity’s Reach Escape Clause Contest. It’s directly related to the first chapter of Infinity’s Reach, which you can read here. Here are the rules, (but be patient with me, because I am making them up as I go along).

1. You have to make a sign. The sign should read: “I CAN HELP YOU ESCAPE.”

2. You have to take a photo or video of you holding up said sign in a public place. An example of that is below, which is from the cover of my short story collection, available free on Smashwords.

3. Post the image of you holding the sign on your Facebook page. Send me a link to that page. If you can’t get that to work, then just send me the image in jpg form. In the case of a video, post it on YouTube or a comparable site and send me the link. Send it to this blog or to my direct email address: robinson@swau.edu.

4. I will be announcing it for the next two weeks, showing examples and will be accepting submissions, but the actual contest starts Monday, March 18. I will pick a winner each day thereafter (Monday through Friday) until April 1. Winners will need to provide mailing addresses where I can send the book. If you would rather receive an e-book version (Kindle or otherwise), I can do that too. But all prizes will be sent after April 1.

stranger front only5. You can enter as many times as you want, but only one prize per person. Images with more than one person will still receive only one prize.

6. Winners will be announced here daily as well as on the Facebook Infinity’s Reach fan page. I will also post the winning photos in both places.

More than anything, this is supposed to be a fun contest, so lighten up. Be creative. I plan on awarding creativity and boldness.

So let’s give this a try, and have some fun in the meantime!

Happiness Is a Warm Keyboard

Posted: February 19, 2013 in creativity, ideas, Writer's block, Writing
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I was listening to NPR this morning while I was in pursuit of a rumor of free firewood (a story for another time). They were talking about research on happiness. The question came up: does having children REALLY make you happier? Research showed that the acts involved in taking care of children actually ranked pretty low on a scale of what made people happy. Having sex ranked highest. But when they talked to a woman who has made a  career out of researching happiness, she stated that they need to differentiate between the individual acts of parenting and the general feeling that came as a result of being a parent. It was the latter where parenthood was considered a happy activity.

I can relate, both as a parent and as a writer. I enjoy being a writer, but I don’t find myself always eager to jump out of bed and get right on my computer, excited about what words might come out of my brain that morning. That happens rarely, usually when I already KNOW what is going to come out. Most of the time it is a disciplined torture. Many times I find every excuse in the book not to write, mostly because I don’t feel I am up to the task.

I often hate writing. But I always love having written.

The key to surviving those days–oh, so many of them–when I don’t want to write and don’t feel I have anything to say can be summed up in one word. Discipline. You have to talk to yourself as if you were your own child. Use whatever means you find works–carrot or stick–to make it happen. I find that I work best under deadline, so I often set aside a specific amount of time ahead of time with a specific goal to accomplish during that time. Often I have Want To goals as well as Need To goals. For example, spring break is coming up. I Want To finish up Infinity’s Reach as well as start editing The Champion during that time. I Need To get Infinity done. If I get ambitious, I might get both done, but the bottom line is to get my Need To list done. I also cushion my deadlines so that I expect more in less time than I actually have to have done. When and if it doesn’t happen, at least I have the real deadline to fall back on.

It’s great to have something written. Partly because I know what torture I have to go through to get it written.

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