Creativity Equals A Box of Chocolates

Will I like them all?

depositphotos.com

Paraphrasing from one of my favorite movies, Forrest Gump, creativity is like a box of chocolates. The challenge isn’t in driving the creative. Once I’ve accepted a challenge the drive has already been brewing and ready to start. The challenge is really allowing myself to be curious about all the chocolates in the box.

A goal can start out really hot and fast and I’m on top of the game and then it slows down a little bit or perhaps stops me in my tracks. I have a tendency to start the Woe As Me Campaign: Oh, life is too hard for this. I don’t have time. I’ve subjected myself to torture! It’s not getting any easier. 

That’s when all the momentum for the challenge turns me into the the leader of the Crazy Campaign and I think my motivation has dried up. Yet, creativity is infectious. How can it wither and die so fast after attempting a challenge? It doesn’t. I remember it’s like a box full of sweet candies. 

I rarely turn down chocolate but I will admit sometimes the chocolates in a box are gross. It defies the laws of nature but it happens. What do I do? I pick another one. So in my quest this month to write like a mad fool there were a few days I didn’t write and put me behind my daily goal. I looked back on those days and realized I choked down the bad chocolates and didn’t pick another one. 

If I take each day like a different chocolate surprise I can find solutions to the problems that are getting in the way. It’s actually a creative way to keep being creative.

So on the days that seems hopeless for completing any challenge remember that you already have creative forces on your side of the battle and also like a box of chocolates you can always pick another one (chocolate or creative solution) and keep moving forward. 

November 04 2014 Romance Weekly

#LoveChatWrite

Do you like to read romance novels? Wouldn't you like to know more about your favorite authors? Well you came to the right place! Join the writers of Romance Weekly as we go behind the scenes of our books and tell all..... About our writing of course! Every week we'll answer questions and after you've enjoyed the blog on this site we'll direct you to another. So come back often for a thrilling ride! Tell your friends and feel free to ask us questions in the comment box.

Welcome back for another week of Romance Weekly. I might be your first stop or you've hopped on over from S. C. Mitchell's blog. I'm curious what his blog reveals this week.

This week Sarah Hegger, author of Sweet Bea, wants us to confess our three favorite book boyfriends. The difficult part of the challenge - the limit. Who was worthy enough to make my top three list? 

I like the countdown versions of lists. So I’m going to start with the least favorite to the most favorite.

Book boyfriend #3: 

Oh Sorry! You meant a boyfriend who is a character in a book not a real person.

Adam Becker from Holly Lane by Toni Blake. Adam is a great book boyfriend. He's hot as hell but he’s a down to earth guy. People always describe female characters as the small town girl or the girl next door. I see Adam as the guy version of this. He’s a great guy who likes to hide the fact but since the book takes places around Christmas his scrooge heart is melted by someone he’s known for years. I’d snuggle up with Adam on any cold winter’s night.

Book boyfriend #2: 

Eric Northman the vampire from Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris. Why is this badass vampire in the top three? I mean if you are familiar with the series he’s not so nice most of the time. Yet, in this book there’s a side to his personality that comes out I think, just like Sookie, which is irresistible. Maybe it’s because he has amnesia (and I love amnesia stories). Maybe it’s because despite all that happens to Sookie before and after this book I still have the hope in my heart that this Eric truly loves her. He is kind and in this book he really falls for her and she for him. Now, I haven’t finished the series. This is the fault of the HBO series, True Blood, where I couldn’t watch the show and read the books at the same time. So if Eric turns into a major douche bag in the books he’ll be promptly removed from spot #2. I must read this book again.

Book boyfriend #1: 

Oh he's dreamy.

Michael Stirling from When He Was Wicked by Julia Quinn. He’s my all time favorite book boyfriend. I have read this book thousands of times and it is one of my favorites. What makes Michael so spectacular? I think it’s because Michael and the heroine were friends first and that friendship was pretty important to both of them full of humor, laughs, and joy. When the heroine’s world crashed down Michael loved her so much he didn’t know how to express it without this tremendous guilt. I don’t want to give away what happens in case you haven’t read this book (I highly recommend it). What puts him as the number one book boyfriend is his realization that despite the pain they both have they find healing from each other and in the process fall in love. He’s super hot too! 

That’s my list. Hop on over to Raine Balkera’s blog for more of Romance Weekly’s top three book boyfriends. I’m excited about the hop today because I think I’ll find several new book boyfriends! 

See ya next week!

 Photos provided by depositphotos.com

Fast Creativity

Start small

I’m participating in National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo 2014 (for those veterans of the challenge) for the month of November. I’m really going to put my creative thoughts and techniques to the test with this challenge of writing a 50,000 word novel in thirty days from November 1st to November 30th.

I’ve asked myself:

Should I write every day? (yes)

Should I write on the weekends? (yes)

Should I enjoy Thanksgiving? (yes)

Should I ignore my family? (no)

Should I ignore exercise? (no)

Is my other writing, editing, business, health, etc going to suffer? (not necessarily)

A little planning helps,

I’ve already relied on several techniques to get these first few days of the challenge off to a good start. I also reminded myself burn out can come easily on the first few days. What this challenge does for creativity is take what I think of as easy-going, free form, and something where I have all the time in the world and slaps on this huge amount of stress and pressure. Typically what happens in times like this is I can’t find my creativity. It runs away because it doesn’t like me when I’m stressed and angry.  Grrrrr. In prior challenges I jumped in with my feet tied and wondered why the process was sooooo overwhelming.

Here is what I’m doing differently. It took a little bit of planning (no you say, you didn’t go there). Unfortunately, considering everything else in life right now I had to suck it up and plan before Nov 1. 

• I took the time to create an outline of my NaNoWriMo Novel. I’m not a plotter. I fly by the seat of my pants because I find my creativity is really a thrill seeker. So this outline is a suggestion. I have ideas I jotted down in a forward flow so each day I can read the short paragraph for my current chapter and go from there. Don’t worry. I’ve already deviated from the original but I’m starting with a word filled page so the muse isn’t scared.
• I’m planning dedicated writing time where it’s quiet and there are few interruptions. I can usually work around interruptions but now it’s a time crunch. There are other tasks. I have to become very efficient with my time. I know this means I have to get up early and possibly stay up late so I am not ignoring important aspects of life like being with family and exercise.
• I’m recording my pedometer count right next to my word count. I got into the habit of daily walking prior to Nov 1 so this next step is easy. If the muse says I don’t want to NaNoWriMo right now, we go for a walk and then come back and get busy. A method of creativity is deployed during this phase because I make my muse chat with me on the said walk so we know what our respective responsibilities are. (Yes, I chastised my muse.)
• I’m not going to ignore life. This challenge is difficult. It’s during the time of year when it’s getting darker outside and colder for some of us. It’s also during a major holiday month where there are family obligations and possible travel. But I’ve used those reasons as excuses to say it’s too difficult and not possible. But really they are only excuses. There is time to write and time to relax. 
• I’m also editing a prior work at the same time as this challenge. The smarter me says, don’t edit. The even smarter me says, keep doing what you were doing. There are always going to be edits. Just remember - there is no need to edit my NaNoWriMo Novel until after I type The End on November 30th 2014.

This is one creativity challenge I used to keep me fresh. If you are participating: good luck and happy writing.

Photos from despoitphotos.com