The Power of Creative Hobbies

We've talked about creativity a lot on this blog and ways to break a writing block by using other forms to spark ideas for your story. But what is creativity and why do some of us feel a huge pull to be creative every day where others don't seem to have a creative bone in their body?

I looked up the definition of creativity today to see if it gives any insight. This is the definition from Dictionary.com for creativity:

The ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc.; originality, progressiveness, or imagination: the need for creativity in modern industry; creativity in the performing arts.

The definition isn't very helpful, but I think there is one key word in it: imagination. Kids are raised in different environments across the world, some lending more to creative ideas and imagination. Although my family isn't very creative or artistic, I was always encouraged to find games to play or things to invent when I was bored.

As far back as I remember, my free time was spent drawing, coloring and making things out of virtually nothing. I would take pieces of notebook paper and glue, tape and staple them together to make clothes like vests, shoes and hats so that I could dress up like a character I had invented. I would build tents and forts out of household items and despite my mom not being all too thrilled that I would sometimes use her good sheets and towels, instead of making me stop, she would give me old items she had that I could keep using.

Books fueled that creativity later into paintings and drawings leading me to an art degree in college. Many parents would not approve of their child going to college to earn an art degree, but my mom was the one that suggested it when I didn't know what to major in during the application process. I would have never thought it was even an option, because honestly, what do you do with an art degree? Now at 30, I have made, as well as my husband, a decent living out of my art degree.

Even today, I still feel that pull to be creative. Sometimes it's my downfall, leading me to too many hobbies and activities that I don't have time for. My creative hobbies give me an escape that I need to stay sane in this crazy world. Unfortunately I don't draw or paint anymore, but I turned the time I would have spent now writing. I use words to paint my pictures instead of oil and acrylic paint. That's not to say that I will feel the will to pick up a paint brush once again at some point, but right now I don't feel the need.

I recently felt the need to start another creative hobby, even though it doesn't seem like I have the time to. One day back in December, I woke up and realized that I wanted to learn how to crochet. My mom tried to teach me a few years back, but just couldn't understand. I'm left-handed, she right-handed and her tutorial just ended in frustration on both our parts. I searched on Youtube and found amazing videos for left-handed crochet, went to my local craft store and purchased yarn and hooks. I haven't stopped since. I now spend any free time I have when I'm not writing, at work or reading making little amigurumi. I have a blast doing it, and it keeps my hands busy when watching tv or movies at home. It has scratched the itch I had been feeling to be more creative, and even helps my mind relax and solve issues with my writing that don't seem plausible. I know that this won't be the last creative hobby I pick up, but right now it makes me happy. I'm even starting a blog to show off my new hobby, but it's not ready to share yet! When it is, I'll be sure to post the link for anyone that is interested.

I want to know, what are some of your creative hobbies that keep you happy? Do you feel the creative itch when your other hobbies aren't filling a void?

Vlogging the NYC Tour

Well, kids, only four more sleeps until I jump on the plane bound for NYC! Wowza, this has been almost a year in the making and I can’t believe it’s finally this close, this real. I’ve packed and repacked. Even loaded up stuff I still need to survive – hello – you can’t pack your CHI a week before your trip…duh….

Kitty and I will be rooming together and taking NYC by storm. Along with the most awesome, Tami, we've been critique partners for over two years, but this will the first time we meet in person. While Tami won't be joining us, we're working on a writers retreat in the future and hopefully the YAedge crit crew can meet as well.

Since my hubbie has to work, my sister – and wonderful champion in all that I do – has agreed to join us on this adventure. Thanks, Brynn!! She’s our honorary Wolfy Chick and has agreed to help us document our BEA/NYC experiences by manning the video camera.

At the end of each day, we’ll compile our video / still pictures and create vlogs of the amazing, odd or fantastical moments. You’ll get an insider view of what it’s like for newbie authors as we do our Class of 2k10 events - book signings / panel discussions.

I'll be posting the vlogs to both the Wolfy Chicks blog and YAedge since I think YAedgers will get something out of the BEA footage. Look for our first vlog on Saturday, May 22nd!

Story Zombies- Learning from your Undead Stories

It’s hard to look in your drawers and see stories you poured your heart into just sitting with no future. Like every writer who has been working on the writing craft for many years, some stories just never see the light of day again. I have quite a few of them. I’m sure we all do.

If you’re like me, you feel a pull to try and do something with them.It's as if they've come to life and are calling your name. I call them Story Zombies. The work that just won't die. As the years pass and the dust builds, you think to yourself "Maybe if I just rewrote a few parts" or "If I wrote it in a different tense or for a different audience." I had that very thought just last week. I'm one of those people who tend to remember their stories way better, or more complete than they actually are. That's when I pick it up and start reading. It's good to read them. Rewrite them? I'm here to advise you, don't do it!

Story are like a puzzle, each scene making up a piece. As hard as it is to write a 1st draft, it's that much harder to take an old story and make it into something that it's not. You can fit a corner piece into the center of the puzzle and expect the picture to make sense. In my opinion, it's always easier to take your initial idea, the part that may work for your new story and write it from page one.

There are always exceptions to the rule. I'm sure quite a few books came about from an author re-vamping an old story that sat under their bed for years. I'd love to hear of a few if anyone knows of any offhand.

So, despite my old stories awakening, hoping to be Frankensteined to life once more, I will take what I learned from writing them and apply it to a new fresh set of characters. The lesson was learned. Those stories exist so that I can go back when I'm having a bad day and remember just how far my writing as come.

Virtual Author Visits

As both a library technician (working in a school library) and a young adult author, I've been promoting the benefits of Skype, or virtual, author visits. For libraries, the immediate benefit is financial - authors usually provide a 20-30 minute Skype visit for free or a very small fee. For authors, you may not make as much money as with a live, in-school visit, however, less of your personal time is required - no lengthy travels, driving in crazy weather or flight delays. But you still reach new audiences, get your name and book out there - and you can make your virtual visit as memorable/exciting/unique as your imagination allows.

Through the Writers Guild of Alberta, I've been lucky enough to be paired with another media savy Alberta author, Joan Marie Galat. Joan writes travel books, as well as the very cool Dot to Dot in the Sky series, blending ancient myths relating to the stars, planets, and Moon - a fitting mix with my shapeshifters. ;) Together we are working on a few presentations outlining the dos and don'ts of Skype visits. Hopefully I'll wrangle Joan into my session for the Canadian Library Association's annual conference in Edmonton this June. (hint, hint).

Here is a sneak peek from our D&D list so far:

For Authors

Do:

- as with any author visit, prepare your presentation ahead - practice and time yourself

- look directly at your laptop or desktop camera. Joan made an awesome suggestion, put a "look here" stickie note beside the camera as a reminder. I struggle with this one a ton because it feels natural to "look" at your audience (which in a Skype visit, is displayed under the camera and to the viewers, you're always looking down).

- hold your book up to show the crowd - but hold it, Vanna White style, beside your face - not in front of it.

Don't:

- slouch - it's common to start off your visit sitting nice and tall, but as you talk, or answer questions, you might get "comfortable" and let your posture slide - DON'T - this will lower your image in the camera and detract from your presentation.

- move around too much - as you become animated (because, hey, we're talking about stuff we love - books and writing!) you might begin to use your arms, hands, shift in your seat, lean into the camera, etc. Try to keep your movements as small as possible - even with high quality live feed cameras there will be a certain amount of blur.

As I work the bugs out of my own Skype skills, I find myself watching newscasters on TV - marvelling at how they can remain still, yet be expressive as they stare into the soulless teleprompter. I think I should track down some broadcasting sites for tips. ;)

Speaking of tips, I'm keen to collect feedback on these visits - from authors and schools/libraries alike - please email me (well, my pen name) if you'd like to share your experiences thus far: judithgraves @ ymail dot com

Books I'm Excited to Read 3

Since I haven't written a books I'm excited to read post, I thought I would do one this week. Unfortunately I've been to busy to read a ton lately, so my list is long. I'll include a few of them here that I haven't had a chance to get around to reading yet.


Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Leviathan

One cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, two teens—both named Will Grayson—are about to cross paths. As their worlds collide and intertwine, the Will Graysons find their lives going in new and unexpected directions, building toward romantic turns-of-heart and the epic production of history’s most fabulous high school musical. Hilarious, poignant, and deeply insightful, John Green and David Levithan’s collaborative novel is brimming with a double helping of the heart and humor that have won both them legions of faithful fans.




Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready

Love ties them together. Death can't tear them apart.

Best. Birthday. Ever. At least, it was supposed to be. With Logan's band playing a critical gig and Aura's plans for an intimate after-party, Aura knows it will be the most memorable night of her boyfriend's life. She never thought it would be his last.

Logan's sudden death leaves Aura devastated. He's gone.

Well, sort of.

Like everyone born after the Shift, Aura can see and hear ghosts. This mysterious ability has always been annoying, and Aura had wanted nothing more than to figure out why the Shift happened so she can undo it. But not with Logan's violet-hued spirit still hanging around. Because dead Logan is almost as real as ever. Almost.

It doesn't help that Aura's new friend Zachary is so understanding—and so very alive. His support means more to Aura than she cares to admit.

As Aura's relationships with the dead and the living grow ever complicated, so do her feelings for Logan and Zachary. Each holds a piece of Aura's heart?and clues to the secret of the Shift.

Radiant Shadows by Melissa Marr

Hunger for nourishment.

Hunger for touch.
Hunger to belong.

Half-human and half-faery, Ani is driven by her hungers.

Those same appetites also attract powerful enemies and uncertain allies, including Devlin. He was created as an assassin and is brother to the faeries' coolly logical High Queen and to her chaotic twin, the embodiment of War. Devlin wants to keep Ani safe from his sisters, knowing that if he fails, he will be the instrument of Ani's death.

Ani isn't one to be guarded while others fight battles for her, though. She has the courage to protect herself and the ability to alter Devlin's plans - and his life. The two are drawn together, each with reason to fear the other and to fear for one another. But as they grow closer, a larger threat imperils the whole of Faerie. Will saving the faery realm mean losing each other?

White Cat by Holly Black

Cassel comes from a family of curse workers—people who have the power to change your emotions, your memories, your luck, by the slightest touch of their hands. And since curse work is illegal, they’re all criminals. Many become mobsters and con artists. But not Cassel. He hasn’t got magic, so he’s an outsider, the straight kid in a crooked family. You just have to ignore one small detail—he killed his best friend, Lila, three years ago. Cassel has carefully built up a façade of normalcy, blending into the crowd. But his façade starts to crumble when he finds himself sleepwalking, propelled into the night by terrifying dreams about a white cat that wants to tell him something. He’s noticing other disturbing things too, including the strange behavior of his two brothers. They are keeping secrets from him. As Cassel begins to suspect he’s part of a huge con game, he must unravel his past and his memories. To find out the truth, Cassel will have to outcon the conmen.


Gone by Lisa McMann

Things should be great for Janie—she has graduated from high school and is spending her summer with Cabel, the guy she’s totally in love with. But deep down she’s panicking about how she’s going to survive her future when getting sucked into other people’s dreams is really starting to take its toll.

Things get even more complicated when she meets her father for the very first time—and he’s in a coma. As Janie uncovers his secret past, she begins to realize that the choice thought she had has more dire consequences than she ever imagined.

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

I love complicated, flawed, devious, tempted characters. They’re fun to write and they’re a blast to read. It’s even better when these are main characters in a novel – the heroes of the tale, and not just the villains.

One of the ways you can show a character’s struggle against their inner bad boy/girl, is to have them say one thing and do another. Dialogue is powerful and can jack-knife a story in all sorts of directions – but you can create whopper moments by letting your characters be real. Real people renege on promises, they say they’re going to workout all morning and end up crashing on the couch watching The Quest for the Holy Grail (for the millionth time), they lie, they omit – often times increasing the drama in their lives.

Let’s give you a quick visual reference. Quentin Tarantino is the master of this kind of dialogue/action juxtaposition. Here’s my favourite bit from Pulp Fiction (lines courtesy of www.imdb.com):

Honey Bunny: [about to rob a diner] I love you, Pumpkin.
Pumpkin: I love you, Honey Bunny.
Pumpkin: [Standing up with a gun] All right, everybody be cool, this is a robbery!

The benign exchange of “I love yous” right before this young couple goes postal is insane, shocking, and good for a dark laugh. So why not employ a bit of deception, harmless, or otherwise? I wonder how your character’s contradictory actions will crank up the tension and reveal hidden depths...

Through the Good and the Bad: Crit Partners

This post is going to be a little short, because I totally lost track of the week and now work from my day job is waiting to be done. Despite its length, I think it's an important post. We've all felt overwhelmed in our lives. Once I hit the "publish post" button, I will have officially put my fears, apprehension and doubts away. We'll, at least for awhile.

Recently our crit group took a hiatus. It was much needed for the three of us. Between our personal lives, jobs and book launches (YAY Kitty and Tracy (ahem, I mean Judith!), we found that the group wasn't doing what we set out to accomplish. Instead of it being a safe haven for us to let down our guard as a group and go through our work with a fine tooth comb, it became stressful. At least, that's how it felt to me. We weren't consistent, weren't active enough to be helpful. I found that I would put off the crits and my chapters (we try to crit a chapter a week) until the last moment, because other things in my life were swallowing me whole. I wasn't enjoying it like I used to. In the past, I looked forward all week to their new chapters, waiting to see where their stories went. I sat at the edge of my chair, waiting for their critique of my new words, biting my nails in anticipation whether good or bad. Sadly, that went away.

I was working on two project at the time of our hiatus, but instead of feeling refreshed and creative when jumping back and forth, I just felt overwhelmed. It was like I didn't know if I was coming or going. I thought that I could take a break for a few weeks and then jump back in. To a certain extent I did, at least for awhile. I wrote a VERY rough draft (minus the last few chapters) of one of my ideas. I had fun, but it didn't have the spark I wanted it to. I didn't know why it had lost its whimsical feel that the synopsis, lore and first chapters had. Shrugging it off, I jumped into my other story hoping that I just needed to step back from the first one to get a new perspective when we went back. Writing the second story wasn't as easy. I struggled, and instead of working through it, I put it down. Stupid I know.

After a few months of reflection, I realized what was missing. It wasn't anything that changed with me specifically, it was that I didn't have the safe haven of my crit group to talk me through the bad times, cheer for me through the good. I didn't have them riding me when I didn't write, reminding me why I love to write and read every day. The last few months have been a nice getaway, where I can focus on other things in my life, but now I'm ready to jump back into it. I'm happy to saw that we will be back together starting this Sunday! I look forward to the roller coaster ride that is a fun crit group.

Thanks girls for making me a better writer and making sure that I stay on top of everything. Without you, my work wouldn't be where it is at today. It's all because of you.

(Okay, so I lied, this post isn't that short).