Monday 9 June 2014

Create



Over a 12 week period from March to May I had Mondays off from my day job to devote to writing. Unsurprisingly it became my favourite day of the week.I treated it like a work day, getting up early, making sure I had a some words down before lunch. Never before had I looked forward to working so much on a Monday! Any creative person who works full time I’m sure can identify with the frustration of having to go into the office on days where all you want to do is lose yourself in words or art. 

Knowing I only had this luxury for 12 weeks really helped me focus and I completed at least one or two new stories, (sometimes spending some of the time editing old ones), every Monday. Some I’m really happy with, some I’m not, but the important thing is I got words down on paper.
My original aim had been to complete my second YA novel but I realised I wanted to use the time to focus on a different type of writing and experiment a bit.

There were moments where I started to overthink and panic, thinking I might waste the whole day staring at a blank computer screen. If lines weren’t flowing for one story, I would simply abandon it and move onto something else.

One weekend in amongst my Mondays when I was feeling a bit demotivated and uninspired, (and probably having a bit of a week where I was doubting my writing, amongst other things), I sat in a café reading through a helpful little booklet which was free with Writing Magazine, called ‘Just Write’ (7 days of inspiration to unlock your creativity). I liked the NO RULES in bold at the top of the booklet, because really when you start setting yourself strict rules in writing that’s when your words stop flowing…

I paid particular attention to the Neil Gaiman quote in the book: ‘Life is sometimes hard. Things go wrong, in life and in love and in business and in friendship and in health and in all the other ways that life can go wrong. And when things get tough, this is what you should do. Make good art.’ (taken from Neil Gaiman's commencement speech 'Make Good Art' delivered to the University of Arts in 2012).

On leaving the café I stopped in at Waterstones in search of a book I’ve always meant to read called ‘The Artists’ Way.’ As soon as I walked to the art section a different book caught my eye. It was called ‘Make Good Art’. Yup- it was Neil Gaiman’s whole speech in a creative book form! So I sat and read the whole speech (you should look it up - you can hear/see him speak it on youtube). Some very encouraging and inspiring words for artists everywhere.

The weekend after this I met up with a friend for a late birthday get together. The photo at the top of this blog post is part of her present to me. The ‘Create Happiness’ pencils and the blank journal seemed like another sign that I should continue with the making and the creating!

So now my Mondays off are over that’s the challenge – to keep making good art and figure out a schedule which works for me to make sure I give myself time to do this.

A friend recently recommended an interesting book called ‘Daily Rituals: How Artists Work’ by Mason Currey, which documents over one hundred famous writers'/artists’/musicians' working routines. I envy the writers who can get up at 5.30am (some as early as 4am) and function.

I've come to the conclusion that it's probably best I don't try to think too much about a writing 'routine' and instead focus on getting words down anytime, anywhere that I can, and worry about the sentence structure during moments of calm.

So that said, I think it's time we all got off the internet to go and make some good art!


13 comments:

  1. Great post Vikki. All the best sustaining your Monday work ethic - I too know how hard it is to juggle work/family commitments with writing.

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    1. Thanks for dropping by Helen. It's always a challenge, but I think what the Mondays taught me was not to wait for the muse to strike, which is very important on limited time! Good luck with your own writing.

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  2. I found that little booklet with Writing Magazine inspiring too Vikki-can't remember where I've put it, must find it-quite handy for those days when I don't feel like writing. I wrote about that Mason Currey book on my blog recently-it's great and well worth a read! Best of luck with your writing.

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    1. The booklet was great and I used the blank page to try some 'free writing' in the cafe, something I've not really done much of. I looked over that page at the weekend and managed to extract parts to turn into a more coherent flash fiction piece! I knew I'd read extracts of the Mason Currey book before, I remember now you did a post about it...It is a really interesting read. Good luck with your own writing too, Anita!

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  3. Love your post, Vikki, and I deeply sympathise with you losing your writing Mondays! But you're correct - you can write anywhere in all those little moments between activities. Good luck with the stories you got down.

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    1. Thanks, Mum. Slowly adjusting to the loss of the writing Monday. I think it will just make me more determined to make better use of my time!!

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  4. 'Buy the ticket, take the ride' is really speaking to me right now, and I love the pencils! It can be so hard to carve out creative time in a busy week when you work full time, but your Mondays have set you on a great path. I have 'The Artist's Way' but have never completed it. I think that's ok though - it's about picking and choosing what you need in that moment and seeing where it takes you on your creative journey. Glad you are liking the Daily Rituals book and I think I'll need to check out Neil Gaiman now!

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    1. I love that statement too- makes me want to go off on more travels! I never did find 'The Artists Way' that day so will need to have a read of you or Leona's copy sometime. I can imagine that it is the kind of book that would be good to dip in and out of. And I highly recommend watching NG's speech - think you'll like it!

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  5. I'm lucky to have lots of writing time now. It means I can get more done, but I don't think it makes my work any better than when I was typing away in lunch breaks and other short bursts of free time.

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    1. That's interesting, Patsy, that you feel more time doesn't necessarily make a difference to quality. I think I've come up with some of my best ideas/sentences in the midst of really busy periods but I always feel I need to be awake and fresh (which isn't always the case after a long day at work!) to make sure it all pans out ok!!

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  6. A great post, Vikki. I also think it's best not to think too much about a routine, but to just let the writing become a time of absolute pleasure, however brief it can sometimes be, and to anticipate the next session with a view, once again, to simply love the words that flow. It doesn't matter if there are only a few, as long as they have brought you joy. Sometimes, I can feel as creative after a half-hour session as I do after a whole day.

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    1. Thanks Joanna! I think that's a great way of looking at it, and I always feel in a much better mood after having written anything, no matter how short, as you say ;)

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