The Creative Identity

Try This

True love stories never have endings. –Richard Bach– I wish Vogue had a section for personal adverts. I've always found them intriguing, if not gripping when they come from the back of The Times Literary Supplement. In this age of instant communication and gratification, they remain vestiges of the days when fluttering surprises and mystery underpinned social relations much more than they do now, which I find to be a shame, really. I am not the only one with such passion for personals, though, see this book and this one too. I also think that to write a really good personal, one needs to be an excellent writer. Write an ad to find the love of your life but don't forget to add a little bit about yourself. In... shall we say... 50 words? Read more →

Try This

I start with research and from there I build the muse, the idea, tell a story and develop a character, a look and then a collection. –John Galliano– Ah yes, who hasn't done this? I took the above from the book I mentioned on Wednesday. When I read that sentence, I found that, for all of its complexities and peculiarities, the creative process of a visual person can be quite similar to the one of the wordsmith. I discussed this in one workshop I ran last year. We went off on a tangent and decided to create two scrapbook-like pages about one specific character that had been sat at the back of our minds for a while. This is something I've done for many years and I still enjoy it; it takes the thinking about words out of the proverbial box. You should definitely try this: build the muse, the idea, the look of your character in two pages only. Use images, scraps, items, colours, fabric, trinkets... Read more →

Try This

The aim of art is to give life form. –Proverb– Remember that Aspiring Author's Journal I already mentioned? I found a prompt in it that is just too good not to share, especially for those of us who love to combine writing with drawing. I am finally, finally getting to the stage of compiling the journal I've always wanted to leaf through and I may well use today's suggestion to kick off in style. Take out your pencils and colours and use them to bring to life any of the words below: Love Friendship Sorrow Violence Read more →

Try This

May Peace be your gift at Christmas and your blessing all year through! -Anonymous (or... is it?)- On Wednesday I recommended you buy the fabulous Christmas Stories from the Everyman Library. It's one of my favourite volumes of short stories, the other one being Love Stories, also by Everyman. It all comes together nicely with an email I received recently. It was sent by one of the entrants of the short story compo. She linked me to her first Christmas story, right here. Thank you Kate! As my wish is to write something like The Polar Express, maybe I should start today. Write a Christmas story. Dear reader, I am off for the holidays. Have a peaceful Crimbo and I shall see you on 10 January, when I shall return online with the new issue of The Creative Times, some writing on here and, no doubt, plentiful tweeting. Until then, big kiss and much love! Read more →

Try This

Procrastination is great. It helps you avoid failure, judgment, growing pains, testing. It also stops you from experiencing fun, success, learning, growth, connection and pride. –Danny Gregory– When it comes to writing, I am not big on procrastinating. But my other pursuits, for example drawing and scrapbooking, are often victims of a mental block that tells me I must have a vision before I sit down and crack the notebook open. When I was a child this vision thing did not matter. In fact, I can tell you that I always had a vision. Now I feel like I never have one. So last night I re-read the chapter on Resistance from The Creative License in order to harness some Dutch courage. I decided to adapt one of Danny's suggestions for today's prompt in case it's your writing that is stomped. Write one paragraph each about procrastination, self-doubt, obligation, perfectionism, judgementalism. Read more →