Resistance Is Fertile

"Just because you meet resistance doesn’t mean you should quit. It just means you need to update your plan."*

Book and flower vase bookplate by Max von Esterle
Via The Museum of Applied Arts

*Via WritersVillage

A New Tactic

"Procrastination does not mean you're broken. It means you're trying to force something through willpower alone that takes a plan and structure to achieve."
—Jessica Abel*

Kangaroo bookplate by Geoffrey Ricardo
Courtesy Museums Victoria

*Via Growing Gills

Don't Fear Inability

"Your vision should always exceed your execution" otherwise you are stagnating, not progressing as an artist.
—Jake Parker*

Dragon bookplate by Jeff Gregory

*Via Third Thursday on School of Visual Storytelling

Combat Writer's Block

"When I get writer’s block, I think it’s my subconscious telling me there’s a horrible problem somewhere in the story and I have to fix it before I can go on. So I start by asking myself where it was that I stopped enjoying the story."

-Meg Moseley*

Bookplate of  C. C. Ralph,
discovered on Pinterest

*Via Cathy C. Hall

First Day of NaNoWriMo 2015

It's not too late for NaNoWriMo

Yesterday morning my 11-year old practically bounced out of bed. I assumed it was the effect of an extra hour of sleep.

"No, Mom," he said. "Today's NaNoWriMo. Don't you remember?"

Of course, I remembered, but I didn't think he had. My budding inventor also writes novels and comics on the side. Weeks ago he was regaling me with yet another new plot line. Eager to encourage, but mentally occupied elsewhere, I suggested he write those ideas down and then set to work actually writing his stories.

"After all," I said, "National Novel Writing Month is November first, the perfect time to draft your book."

I thought I was so clever. But now he's after me every half hour, trying to find out how many words I've written.

And for writers under 17,
try the Nano Young Writer's Program

There's a great lesson here in child-like enthusiasm, and it's something I hope to bottle and hand out around November 15th. That's when my latest draft's soggy middle is going to make me want to quit.

So here's to 

enthusiasm, perseverance, and our inner child. 

May we each find the motivation we need 

to pursue our writing goals.

Writing Progress

"Every word is progress."
-Shannon Wiersbitzsky*

By George D. Perrottet

*Via Nerdy Chicks Rule

Challenging the Creative in Me

C is for Challenge

So I found out about the 2014 A to Z Challenge yesterday. The bad news it had already started. The good news? My first two posts in April were already in alphabetical order. I am psyched!

The goal is to post once for each of the twenty-six letters of the alphabet, Mondays through Saturdays in April. The benefits include strengthening your blogging skills and building community. Many of the participants are writers and bookish people, so I'm going to have fun sifting through the links. You can too, just go to A to Z and search the categorized links. Besides writing and book blogs, you'll find links to gardening, travel, history, humor . . .Happy hunting!

The most challenging thing for me will be time management, and I guess fitting my scheduled features into their proper alphabetical places. Please don't be offended at the additional mail in your mailbox. It's only 26 days, after all. I hope you'll join me, and that you'll find some interesting new blogs along the way.

Special thanks to Tina @ Life is Good kmdlifeisgood.blogspot.com/
and Arlee Bird @ Tossing it Out tossingitout.blogspot.com/

Greg Manchess on Procrastination

Spectrum cover by Greg Manchess

Illustrator Gregory Manchess is one of the top talents in his field.  He also spends time teaching workshops and online.  I stumbled upon some of Greg's tips for overcoming creative blocks at the cooperative blog, Muddy Colors, to which he contributes.

I love the dramatic lighting
 in this winery piece by illustrator Greg Manchess.

He suggests block is caused by three things:
Perfection. Procrastination. Paralysis.

"I used to start a piece needing it to be the best thing ever: perfection. It had to solve every problem of my portfolio development, it had to stimulate, it had to thrill. . . It was too much to accomplish. So, I hesitated: procrastination. The more I hesitated, the bigger the problem became, until it was so great I couldn’t start since it would surely fail on any level: paralysis. Idea abandoned.
It was simply fear."

Check out his 7 tips to fighting inactivity.

Among them, don't be afraid of being an imposter.  Battle throught the fear until you reach a discovery. Hearing Greg Manchess say he gets scared about projects was quite a jolt. Also, Failure leads to success. Expect to fail a few times so your work can evolve into something better.
Then begin. It's okay if you don't quite have it figured out yet. Nothing gets solved or accomplished if nothing is begun.

Desire for Success

"In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure."
– Bill Cosby

P. F. Madigan bookplate,
by L. J. Le Rolland

Writing Fears: The Vision

The Lucy Variations,
by Sara Zarr

YA author Sara Zarr writes about the revision of The Lucy Variations.  She shares some vulnerable thoughts, trying to convince herself that "Yes, I succeeded in writing this book by completely making friends with the idea that I might have a massive failure on my hands."

I was struck by her view of the vision for her writing, and think it is easily applied to all of what I do as a maker of children's books.

She says:

It wasn’t until I read over the final page proofs for Lucy that I felt satisfied. It wasn’t perfect, but I felt: I did it. Though nothing ever matches the vision and the vision always changes, I wrote the book I wanted to write and didn’t think I could. And in that moment I knew that no matter what anyone else would think of the book down the line, I’d accomplished something deeply important to me. When people ask what’s the best thing about being a writer,that’s what I can never articulate. It’s a feeling of personal triumph. It’s a battle you fought, against all of your worst fears and insecurities and predictions of doom and homelessness and blacklisting and having to flee the country. Only know how close you came to not doing it, to running away, to intentionally getting your hands caught in industrial machinery so you’d have an excuse for missing a deadline . . . Maybe this isn’t true for all writers . . .But fear–even to the point of feeling hopeless–isn’t a sign we should stop doing the hard thing . . .

We move forward and through, and the rewards in that act alone are immeasurable. I’m at that stage I always come to in the writing process of savoring that, for these last few weeks while the book is mostly mine, then soon I will happily turn it over to you–because that is the completion of the satisfaction, wanting, hoping, to move others with what moved me or them making unexpected connections completely apart from my vision–and then see what’s next.

Five Steps to Fearless Creativity

These five steps are adapted from Dan, at EmptyEasel.com.

Sometimes I'm Afraid,
by Maribeth Boelts and Cheri Bladholm

1. Take a risk.  Or I might say, experiment.  I took the advice of a friend, and the gift certificate I received for my birthday, and headed to the art supply store.  I bought materials I don't use and don't feel comfortable with.  I also chose supplies that had an immediacy so I wouldn't procrastinate.  No one will ever see that stuff, but the experimentation has reintroduced fun and decreased the stress in my other illustration projects.

2. Document successes.  Last February I started keeping a journal of accomplishments toward my goal of a fulfilling art career.  It's to-the-point, takes a minute or less to write, and gives me the sense of moving forward, even when my current project is a little stalled.

3. Analyze failures.  If you fail, make a list of reasons why so you can focus on improving those things one at a time.  I might start researching a way to improve one thing, but in my daily sketching, work to improve something different.   I don't want too many doubts paralyzing me before I begin the next project.

I Will Not Be Afraid,
by Michelle Medlock Adams
and Jeremy Tugeau

4.  Diversify.  My art professors poo-pooed illustrators who did murals, commissions, and t-shirts.  But I've always admired artists who aren't afraid to try something new (see #1).  The 21st century is the perfect place to spread your artistic wings.  Almost any creative endeavor can have a positive impact on your work.

5. Commit.  Join a critique group.  Enter a contest.  Set some deadlines.  When you commit, you force yourself to see it through.  And yes, you might fail.  See above.  Learn.  Move forward.



These steps can just as easily be applied to writing.
Next week I plan to share some advice on fighting fear from a writer's perspective.

Check my previous posts on this topic: Advice from illustrator Greg Pizzoli, designer Martin Glaser, and others.
Thanks to all who shared this information with other struggling artists.  The sense of community gives me greater courage.

Fighting Failure

Artist's Block

In a follow-up to yesterday's post, here are some thoughts on fighting fear and failure:

From Winston Churchill via Wilson Williams Jr.-
"Success is not final,  failure is not fatal:  It is the courage to continue that counts."

From Milton Glaser via Jodi Chamberlain:
Personal  development is antithetical to professional success.  In other words, to grow artistically, you have to practice, experiment, and fail.  To become more successful (ie get more clients) you have to have a consistent record of not failing.
Accept failure as part of the process of growth.  Learning to overcome will give you the tools to be a consistent professional.
His video interview is a must watch. He packs a lot into a 7 minute speech.

From Samantha Bennett:
"Think of it this way: the voices in your head are trying to keep you safe. They don’t want you to put yourself in a vulnerable position. They try to scare you into inaction by telling you that no one will care about your work. Or worse, that people will judge you harshly.  But art is about making yourself vulnerable."

Since there's plenty to chew on here, I'll save the artist's step-by-step guide to overcoming paralyzing fears for next Wednesday.  Until then, I'd love to hear your thoughts.