GETTING DOWN AND CREATIVE....
Creativity is never set in concrete. It is ever changing, fluid and organic. I find it interesting to know so many writers that are creative in other fields. So many writers are not limited to putting words on the page...to writing a story or poem, a play or novel.
I know writers that are also artists, illustrators, photographers. There are those that write lyrics, make music, dj....those that face paint, body paint, sculpt and print. Writers that quilt, patchwork, stitch and sew, knit and crochet. Writers that design their garden, cook and bake, involve themselves in interior design.
Perhaps some even create vegetable sculptures out of their dinners? Who knows?
The important thing is that writers, those of us that battle with image and phrase, finding that exact word...those of us that struggle with plot and structure, character growth and cliche...we also like to dabble in the arts and crafts.
Personally I like the almost instant gratification (compared to writing it is instantaneous). When you bake a cake it is there in front of you within an hour or two. People eat, they enjoy, they make favourable comments like 'yumm' and you feel like a job well done.
There is none of the months of work, the writing, the editing, the sitting back and thinking, the rewriting, the editing, more editing, the sending off, the waiting, the waiting, the waiting, rejections, which often lead to more rewriting, more editing and the circle begins again.
This can take such a long long time, years, which is why I believe I dabble in those creative arts. I can take a photograph..or two..or hundreds...
But I have something there. 99% of the time it is something I'm not happy with, something I wish I could improve. Something in which I see every imperfection.
I sew, cross-stitch, sometimes quilt. I garden, bake, knit, beginning to make cards...and rarely paint.
I make elephant finger puppets, vampire pandas and ninjas...Why not? There is no one telling me that I can't.
Like most writers I love that ability to create. To take some felt and sew an elephant. To take some wool and knit a ninja. To take some words and pin together a story.
It's the making something from nothing. That ability to create.
Whether we turn to paints or iron, to photography or wool, fabric or music.
This is what makes us the writers we are.
I know writers that are also artists, illustrators, photographers. There are those that write lyrics, make music, dj....those that face paint, body paint, sculpt and print. Writers that quilt, patchwork, stitch and sew, knit and crochet. Writers that design their garden, cook and bake, involve themselves in interior design.
Perhaps some even create vegetable sculptures out of their dinners? Who knows?
The important thing is that writers, those of us that battle with image and phrase, finding that exact word...those of us that struggle with plot and structure, character growth and cliche...we also like to dabble in the arts and crafts.
Personally I like the almost instant gratification (compared to writing it is instantaneous). When you bake a cake it is there in front of you within an hour or two. People eat, they enjoy, they make favourable comments like 'yumm' and you feel like a job well done.
There is none of the months of work, the writing, the editing, the sitting back and thinking, the rewriting, the editing, more editing, the sending off, the waiting, the waiting, the waiting, rejections, which often lead to more rewriting, more editing and the circle begins again.
This can take such a long long time, years, which is why I believe I dabble in those creative arts. I can take a photograph..or two..or hundreds...
But I have something there. 99% of the time it is something I'm not happy with, something I wish I could improve. Something in which I see every imperfection.
I sew, cross-stitch, sometimes quilt. I garden, bake, knit, beginning to make cards...and rarely paint.
I make elephant finger puppets, vampire pandas and ninjas...Why not? There is no one telling me that I can't.
Like most writers I love that ability to create. To take some felt and sew an elephant. To take some wool and knit a ninja. To take some words and pin together a story.
It's the making something from nothing. That ability to create.
Whether we turn to paints or iron, to photography or wool, fabric or music.
This is what makes us the writers we are.
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