Author: joshpcreative

With the New Year 2016 Upon Us, It’s Time to Reflect and Project Creatively

As I sit here and ponder the fact that 2015 will soon be in my rearview mirror, I want to take a minute to reflect on what the year has meant creatively-as well as what lies up the road in 2016. I think it’s good to rewind. To look back. To take a good gander at what has passed so that we can better plan for the future.

This recent trip around the calendar certainly saw some interesting highlights. I started my writing company, and that has been fantastic. To those of you out there wondering whether or not dreams can come true, I can tell you that they do. I write and edit for a living, and I couldn’t be happier. Creativity is now a permanent part of my work and personal life, and that is what I’ve always wanted.

I also decided to polish up my personal marketing machine to embark on some re-branding campaigns for some of my books. I dove into old waters with a new swimsuit, and I can truly say that I have found a new resolve to take those manuscripts to the next level! New designs, new online copy, and a new sense of purpose will see that happen. I’m planning. I’m excited.

But most important was the time I took to just be. I didn’t rush to finish another manuscript or try to push the river of words in directions they didn’t want to flow. Instead, I took some time for family and reflection. And wouldn’t you know it? I washed ashore right where I wanted to be. Renewed. Refreshed. Ready to take on new challenges.

As we head into 2016, I want to say to all of you: keep writing, keep creating and, most importantly, keep breathing. When you pursue the lifepaths of words, art, poetry and general creativity, you sign up for more than you bargained for. It isn’t really about money or notoriety, but about putting something special out there. It’s about creating a message and getting it into the world. It’s about a strong sense of personal satisfaction that comes from an ability to see the world in our own unique way. Everyone can do it. They just have to do it!

If you struggled with creativity in 2015, make a resolution: “This new year, 2016, I will be more authentic, more courageous, and more my unique self than I have ever been before. I will speak my voice in whatever medium I love.”

And if that doesn’t work? Well, just keep breathing and see what comes your way. After all, 2017 is right around the corner.

What did you pursue creatively this year? What do you have in mind for 2016?

Josephine Boyce Gives Us Sage Tips for Writing Productivity

[In this series, Creative Blog Profiles, joshpcreative.com takes a peek at what other creative bloggers are producing and profile them here. They don’t necessarily know it’s happening (although we do the pingback/trackback where we can), so we’re prepared to remove an entry if they get mad. Hopefully they won’t. We just want to find creative stuff to tell you about.]

So this morning, the Josh P. Creative fingers were rolling around the ol’ WordPress tags, and we happened across writer Josephine Boyce’s blog. Boyce’s “About” page tells us that her blog concerns “shiny things” (including clothes, food, and writing). She says she’s been trying to get published for years, and so I immediately felt a kinship with the blog! There’s a big community of us out there. We should all get together and have a potluck or something. I’ll bring egg salad. I have a good egg salad recipe.

Anyway, the post that caught my eye was a 12/14 piece on 12 Steps to Improve your Writing Productivity. There are a few of these floating around on the interwebs, but I like them. I especially like when authors put their own spin on them and make them personal, as Boyce does, instead of just parroting a bland list from some author interview they read somewhere.

Hers is certainly personal and entertaining.

A few of my faves from her list? Number 1–“Just write the first draft.” Yes. I’ve given that advice many times, and am also currently trying to adhere to it as I work on yet another manuscript. Sometimes, writing can be painful. We want to chuck it all out. But remembering that we don’t have to be publishable on the first pass is a good reminder. That piece of advice can go a long way when we get stuck on one particular paragraph to the point where we want to quit altogether!

Another good one? Number 12–“Shut up your inner doubts.” As Boyce reminds us, comparison can be the downfall of creativity. Don’t search the web for overnight success stories about authors who happened to be sitting next to publishing house editors on a plane who immediately demanded a copy of the person’s work in progress. Forget that noise. Focus on your own work and push ahead, because it is worth something. It is unique. It is YOU!

At the end, Boyce gives us a peek into some “Orwell” tips she received from a mentor years ago, including the importance of “short”words, cutting words, and avoiding jargon.

Sage advice.

Listen folks–the writing wilderness is full of scary animals and darkness. Often, we end up shivering in the cold. But if we can light a small fire and get some warmth back into our bones, the night isn’t so scary, and a path to creative freedom may just emerge where we least expect it.

Take a look at Josephine Boyce’s tips and see if you can get a little courage back.

 

How 10,000-Year-Old Cave Lion Cubs Helped Me Thaw Out My Own Creativity

Ever heard of cave lions?

Me neither.

However, I ran across an article by Jeva Lange at The Week, and suddenly, I’d heard of cave lions. Apparently 10,000-year-old cave lion cubs were found almost totally intact in Siberia. Perfectly preserved specimens of a lineage now extinct. And that got me thinking about writing. About creating. About the ebb and flow of creative ideas as they move (or don’t move) through our lives.

Consider these cave lions. They had a life. A narrative. A story in progress. But then? Well, that life was put on hold. Literally, put on ice. And for thousands of years, as the story of earth unfolded around them, they stayed frozen. But then, the story of human exploration and the story of the cave lion cubs intersected, and now their journey will continue. Not only will it continue, but it will help to write stories for generations of scientists to come.

All this prompted me to revisit some story ideas I’d been kicking around in my head years ago. I guess somewhere along the way, these ideas got lost. Frozen in time. These story stems became trapped under the snowdrifts of time, waiting for the day they might be uncovered again.

And then it happened. I actually started to flesh out some ideas on these old themes, and I’m pretty happy about where they might lead creatively.

You see, sometimes an idea we have feels right for our time in life. Very much in its element. However, for some reason, it gets lost. Stuck. It waits patiently for us to unearth it so that is can once again continue the journey. Instead of ignoring old ideas when something in us unearths them, perhaps the better approach is to dig a little. Explore a little. See if we can bring new life to something that seemed so cold and lifeless.

If you feel stuck or frozen, or even if you just have a bit of the idea explorer in you, try this exercise:

(1) Right now, no time to prepare, think of something fun from your past. RIGHT NOW! Got it? Good. Don’t judge it.

(2) Now, see if you can construct meaning around it. Investigate how that random, silly memory may have informed your present. Construct a new narrative around that memory. Bend it. Shape it.

(3) Type out the memory and your new story, and save it somewhere where you can come back to it. (But for now, let it go.)

The point of this exercise isn’t to get you to write the next great American novel because you recalled a story about sliding around on the ice in front of your house in Ohio because your dad decided to make a homemade ice rink and he almost slipped and hurt himself while you and your brother laug…wait…that’s my memory. Anyway, the point of this exercise isn’t to make you famous. It’s to show you that you are a storehouse of images. A waystation of wanderings. A vault of vestiges.

You have ideas and memories frozen inside of you, waiting for the story to come back to life. You never know which one will someday find its way into your ongoing story.

Stay open and explore. The results may just change the generations.

What memories came to your mind? What happened when you explored?

 

 

A Reminder: Soar Creatively by Tuning Out Negativity

We posted about soaring high a while back here at joshpcreative. Essentially, the message was: if you want to soar creatively, don’t let others bring you down with their negativity.

As the days and months of your writing and creative pursuits progress, this becomes more and more imperative to remember. I’ve had some conversations with some folks lately about their creative endeavors, and I just wanted to post this little reminder.

Be brave. Be courageous in your creations. Soar high. Listen to those who want the best for you, but try your best to tune out the negativity.

Just a friendly reminder.

L.E. Delano Suggests We Don’t Just Tell it Like it Is, but WHO it Is

[In this series, Creative Blog Profiles, joshpcreative.com takes a peek at what other creative bloggers are producing and profile them here. They don’t necessarily know it’s happening (although we do the pingback/trackback where we can), so we’re prepared to remove an entry if they get mad. Hopefully they won’t. We just want to find creative stuff to tell you about.]

I was perusing the “writing” tag at wordpress.com today, and was lucky enough to find an entry by L.E. Delano at http://ledelano.com/  called, “They Always Say ‘Write What You Know'” that was fresh off the press. It was a post that reminded me of some advice my mom gave me when I first started writing. See, I was wringing my hands wondering if I had anything new to say, and she said, “Josh, just write what you know. Write about your experiences.”

And I did.

And I still do. And I’ve found that those experiences include people. People that find their way, in fragments, into my work.

See, L.E. Delano tells a touching story about her family. Delano has a son on the Autism spectrum, and she has a daughter that she says, “struggles with the balance of an often embarrassing brother that she loves and protects fiercely.” This is such a stark and real tension, and it has become the subject of one of Delano’s upcoming books.

Delano wrote not just about what she knows, but WHO. And that gives others a chance to take a peek inside the world of people–a peek that can provoke strong feeling through familiar intimacy. If authors tell us about the folks they know, in a real and heartfelt way, then the reader gets a chance to make the same acquaintaince, even if they don’t know the characters personally.

Today, while you’re out there in the world interacting, think about this: don’t look at people for what they are, but for who they are. Try an exercise. Walk down the street, through a mall, or into a restaurant, and try to look upon each person with absolutely no judgment. Do not think about the money they make, the clothes they wear, or the cigarettes they smoke. Simple gaze, witness, and move on.

Sound easy?

It’s not.

If you’re a writer, try the same thing with your characters. Develop them, write them, and then…well…sympathize with them. Without judgment.

Really try to get to know people for who they are. After all, the best way to find out about someone is to get to know their true story. If they sense judgment on your part, you’ll get nothing but judgment, and silence, in return.

Ponder that today as you think about not only who you know, but who you’ll meet or write.

 

How to Succeed as a Freelance Writer – An Interview with Blogging Badass Anne McAuley

Courage. Perseverance. A bit of the Badass spirit, perhaps?

These values describe the resolve behind so many of history’s most influential minds and their history-transforming advancements. They also describe how the freelance writer sitting quietly with a computer and a dream in 2015 can change his or her fortunes.

That’s right! These three values have as much to say to the aspiring successful freelance writer as they do to the savviest and most successful CEOs of our time.

Don’t believe me?

Well, then welcome to another installment in the How to Succeed as a Freelance Writer series. We’ve talked to successful freelance writers Nikki Steele and Suzanne Heyn about how they found their place in this space, and this week, we’re fortunate to interview yet another successful freelance writer in the Phoenix area, Blogging Badass Anne McAuley.

Anne has graciously agreed to answer the same four questions with which you are now so familiar, to give us her unique take.

Read well. What’s here could be two (or ten) invaluable tips to help give your freelance writing dream just the badass kick start it needs.

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What is your academic and professional background in the writing space?

I’ve been a professional blogger since 2010 when I was laid off from my job in corporate America. When I looked at my job description after being laid off, I realized what I loved about my job was everything that wasn’t in the job description – networking, marketing, and, of course, writing. I decided it was time to make my dream of being a professional writer a reality and McAuley Freelance Writing was born.

What were some key factors that got you thinking about a freelance writing career?

When I thought about pursuing a freelance writing career, I knew there was a fair amount of risk but also a fair amount of freedom. I could choose the projects I would work on instead of someone else telling me what to do. I could make my own schedule and work from home. I could create my own future without relying on someone else to do it for me.

Where would I get my clients? Networking and meeting other business owners.

Could I handle not receiving a biweekly check? I worked with a personal budgeting coach to understand how to budget my freelance money as if I were getting paid biweekly from an employer. We worked out a personal and business budget that gave me peace of mind.

Who is my target client? All too often freelancers and small business owners want everyone to be their target market. It sounds like a great idea until you dig in and try to market to everyone; it’s impossible. Over the years my target market has changed but I’ve always had one and it has streamlined my networking and marketing efforts.

What steps did you take to get your freelance career off the ground?

I spent the first two years of my business networking my ass off with in-person and online events and meetings. I formed strategic partnerships that I still have today that have helped me grow my business.

The other steps I took were to develop a social media presence on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn and develop relationships with my community. As a result, I now have a Facebook group called Blogging Badass where we talk about how content and social media work together and I receive referrals through all of these networks.

What are some key tips you can give to those considering a freelance writing career?

  • In the beginning, you will work more hours than if you had a j-o-b but it pays off when you can take a day or week off to spend time with family and friends without asking a boss for permission.
  • The work won’t come to you. You have to network and build relationships with people in-person and online.
  • Build a presence on social media.
  • Don’t be afraid to grow and change. I am working on a rebrand from McAuley Freelance Writing to Blogging Badass because I am more than a writer. I am a content marketer with a keen understanding of how content should be part of every marketing plan.

Being a freelancer doesn’t mean you’re a starving artist. It means you’ve chosen a path of being your own boss, making your own rules. While the road might be tough getting started or at times throughout your career, it’s worth it to have the freedom to create the life you desire.

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Anne’s advice is strong and clear: If freelance writing is the path you want to take, you should get out there and make it happen. You need the courage to believe in yourself, the perseverance to market and build your platform, and a bit of the badass to make it all work!

But in the end, you just might have a whole new career and a whole new sense of freedom.

Anne McAuley, the Blogging Badass, is a Phoenix, Arizona-area freelance writer. You can find her at McAuley Freelance Writing and on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and LinkedIn.

Wynonainaday Will Make You Love Autumn and Avoid Galleries

[In this series, Creative Blog Profiles, joshpcreative.com takes a peek at what other creative bloggers are producing and profile them here. They don’t necessarily know it’s happening (although we do the pingback/trackback where we can), so we’re prepared to remove an entry if they get mad. Hopefully they won’t. We just want to find creative stuff to tell you about.]

Today, we’re featuring a blog with an interesting mix of beauty and on-point madness: Wynonainaday. I happened upon this blog while searching the “writing” tag at WordPress.com.

I was delighted (yes, I used the word “delighted”–wanna make somethin’ of it?) to find a beautiful poem entitled “Letter to Autumn” which got me thinking about my days growing up in the East/Midwest. I remembered the sound of neighbors raking crisp leaves in the evening and the smell through the neighborhood as they burned. Great memory. Haven’t thought about that in a while.

This was followed by an entry called, “The Daily Fail: Volume 4” in which Wynona (I’m assuming this is her name…is that a bad assumption? I don’t know… I’ll just keep assuming) discusses a recent foray into an art gallery that EXACTLY DESCRIBES why I don’t like browsing in art galleries. I mean, it’s so on point, it’s almost creepy.

Read it. You’ll agree with it.

Wynanainaday’s tagline is that she is “trying to commit to something other than a Netflix subscription.” I’d say the blog is a great start. If you’re looking for something that has a good mix of fun and artistry, go check it out.

And read that gallery story. You’ll become a window shopper for the rest of your life.