Tuesday 27 July 2010

Eat, Pray, Love...

...Or in my case Eat, Love that chocolate cake and pray it doesn't stick on my thighs...

The title is a reference to a book by author Elizabeth Gilbert (which a friend has recommended I read). I've yet to read the book but this a link the same friend sent me of a talk given by Elizabeth Gilbert:

http://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_gilbert_on_genius.html (It won't let me insert a proper link so you will need to copy and past the address into your server).

It's an interesting talk for any creative person to listen to, particularly writers.
She captures the pressure you can put yourself under to produce something of brilliance and the panic that can set in when it just isn't appearing. She also talks about the concept of 'genius', what that moment of brilliance actually is when it arrives and where it comes from.

Having the week off work last week opened a bit of a block I've been having lately and I realised it was probably because I switched off the left hand side of my brain for a while and let the right hand side have more of a look in. I was free to daydream and lose myself in books and music for a while which all help to put my brain on a logical shutdown and wander off into a more creative space.

I've heard lots of authors talk over the years about how they don't buy the excuse of 'I don't have time to write'. Working full time I've used this excuse myself but then I began to realise that there have been days where I have consciously made time to write and it still doesn't happen. I've finally realised it's all about state of mind for me. I find it difficult to write when I'm working full time because I find it difficult to switch off my sensible, logical 'work brain' when I come home at night. I've decided I'm going to attempt to do some serious daydreaming on the train home instead of thinking about what shopping I need to buy for my tea.

4 comments:

  1. I agree! There is alot of freedom in just allowing yourself to accept where you are in the creative process. Too often the pressure can stop us from putting pen to paper. I hope you enjoy Eat, Pray, Love:). Good luck with writing!

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  2. Thanks Jane. I've still not read the book...have about 5 piling up waiting to be read but think I'll make this one top of the pile! Good luck in your writing toox

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  3. I read this book just recently and found it interesting on so many levels. She certainly writes beautifully and I felt really engaged with her journey of self discovery. I feel somewhat disappointed however, it seems that having Oprah champion the book has brought a huge bandwagon of supporters and an equal amount of detractors. I just wish I had read the book and ignored everything else!

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  4. Hi Aily Paily, Oprah can sometimes be a good platform for new writers (I discovered one of my all time favourite novels, White Oleander by Janet Fitch, through her) but I agree she can cause a lot of hype and I'm sure a lot of unwelcome attention for the author. Look what she did to James Frey, built him up only to knock him down, trying to humiliate him on tv for his 'lies'. Never trust a talk show host!

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