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Tag Archives: The Artist’s Way

The Artist’s Way is a program for unblocking creativity developed by Julia Cameron. It’s not just for artists, musicans, writers, etc… It can help anyone who wishes to live a more creative life.

Back in 2002, I did The Artist’s Way for the first time, and it helped me through an episode of writer’s block. Recently, I facilitated a group of friends through the program, meeting mostly at my house, though our last meeting was on Zoom. At our last meeting, we decided that since everyone had gotten so much out of the program, and given the state of the world, we would mentor people through the program again in a Facebook group.

Over 100 people have now joined the group! If you would like to join us, you can request to join the Facebook group, Artist’s Way Sacred Circle. And here’s a link for acquiring the book, The Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron.

Wishing you all peace and hope.

Elena

winter landscape - winter sunrise

I’ve been trying to keep showing a cheerful front to the world here in this blog, Facebook and elsewhere, but it’s time for a confession. I haven’t done any creative writing in many months.

I’m not ready to go into the reasons at this point. I can only say that I’m facing a challenge bigger than any I’ve encountered thus far, including my husband’s stroke. The good news is that I have learned a lot from that crisis and am using it all now. I am no longer looking for a light at the end of the tunnel. I’ve also discovered that I can light my own way.

My instincts (which have been serving me very well lately and I should have listened to before) are telling me to focus my energy on solving the current crisis and that it is OK to take a break from writing. Sometimes writing is a solace, but pushing myself to write now—even if I had time—would be like a runner trying to train on a broken leg.

I am doing is letting go of the guilt imposed by internal and external critics and trusting myself. I know how to be mindful, how to tell I am being too hard or too easy on myself, how to ask the right questions and find out what I need more of, what I need less of, not only to get through the crisis but to thrive afterwards.

I think we all can do this. As Jane Austen wrote, “We have all a better guide in ourselves, if we would attend to it, than any other person can be.”

In order to learn to attend to that guide, I’ve been rereading Women Who Run with the Wolves, by Clarissa Pinkola Estes. She writes about women’s need to “go home”, where “Home is a sustained mood or sense that allows us to experience feelings not necessarily sustained in the mundane world: wonder, vision, peace, freedom from worry, freedom from demands, freedom from constant clacking. All these treasures from home are meant to be cached in the psyche for later use in the topside world.” One can “go home” many ways, including going into nature, praying, meditating, making art.

She also writes “if a woman doesn’t go when it’s her time to go, the hairline crack in her soul/psyche becomes a ravine, and the ravine becomes a roaring abyss.” I know from experience that this is true. So while I’m dealing with some crazy-making issues, I’m also doing my Morning Pages (a type of journaling taught in The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron), meditating at every day and finding pockets of time to do smaller projects that sustain my creativity while demanding less time than the writing.

I am not leaving the Riskies, as our new schedule of posting just once a month allows me enough time to do the rest of the work I must do before I can write again. And I will get back to writing. The river hasn’t dried up; it’s only gone underground for a while.

Do you “go home”? How?

Elena

Fig with flashlight-2I’ve been working on a new story, but suddenly I’ve been away from it for a couple of weeks, and now I’m wallowing in doubts. When that happens, I start thinking about things like –where do our stories come from? That’s a question authors often hear from readers at book signings. Do we pluck them out of the ether? Are they gifts? Can we explain how two different thoughts may suddenly connect like flint and steel to spark a story inspiration? If we knew how it works, would it help us when we get stuck? Would it help us write faster? Better?

Since everyone’s creative process works differently, there’s no one answer, anyway, but visualization is most certainly part of it. At a recent workshop at my local writers group (RIRW), the subject was self-hypnosis, on the theory that improving ourselves also improves our writing. It was fascinating and covered a great deal, but one thing that struck me was the great similarity between the techniques of meditation and visualization that were presented by the speaker and the process of story creation. We joke a lot about writers staring off into space and claiming we’re working, but really, that “daydreaming” about our characters and what is happening to them is a lot like a self-induced hypnotic state. The relaxation required to get there helps open our creative receptors and allows the imagination to pull up the sights and sounds and people and events our stories grow from. Like most skills, it improves the more we practice it.

Some writer friends of mine who are very prolific tell me they are able to “skip around” in their stories, writing whatever scene they can ‘see” and eventually fitting all those pieces together. Often they have a view of the entire story, and can put the plot down on paper or even write a more-or-less detailed outline. I have to say I envy that ability! I am a linear writer. Until I know what the characters have done and said in the present scene, I don’t know what they are going to do later on. When it comes to work styles, writers are often classified as “planners” or “pantsers” (pantsers “fly by the seat of their pants” instead of by a map), but most writers fall somewhere in between, a combination. Those who can “see” most or all of their story undoubtedly can be “planners”. How lovely to have a road map!! Many of us –however much we wish otherwise– can’t see that far ahead. I always liken my process to that phrase you read above in the title –stumbling along in the fog at night armed with only a flashlight.

Writing is an act of faith –always. When you can only see a little bit at a time, it becomes a huge act of faith. You get stuck in blind alleys and have to back out. You always hope the path you are following is the right one, the one that will lead to a satisfying ending, the center of the maze. You have to believe there is a reason you were given this story idea in the first place!

The Artists Way coverThere are two resources I often turn to in times of doubt. One is The Artists Way by Julia Cameron. I believe the creative process is also spiritual, and the program of self-examination and inspiration this book lays out helps you to find and reinforce that connection. The other is Bird by Bird, by Anne Lamott, one of the best books of advice for writers. I can open this book to any page and be comforted, inspired, and amused all at once, but the advice to take the writing “bird by bird” (one small thing at a time) is huge when the job starts to appear overwhelmingly impossible.

Bird by BirdIf you write, what do you when a spell of doubting happens to you? Are you a planner or a pantser, or a combination? What resources do you turn to when your faith needs to be bolstered? Have you read the ones I mentioned? If you’re a reader, have you ever asked authors where their ideas came from? If you have, what answers did you get?

Snow 01/02/2014Happy New Year! I hope everyone is safe and warm despite the recent storms. It is so pretty in my backyard and I’m glad I haven’t had to drive anywhere.

I’m not much into New Year’s Resolutions. I get the appeal of the idea of starting fresh. The problem is that a year is an awfully long time to strive to be good. Frankly, I can rarely make it through a day without messing up in some way or other. I think it’s better to try to start fresh at any time. Even, say, halfway through a bag of potato chips I hadn’t intended to eat. Though admittedly hard to do!

So while I think it’s a good idea to take stock now and then, I prefer plans to resolutions. I want to change something, I make a plan and I try to make it fairly specific. Once things make it onto my To Do List, there’s a good chance they’ll get done eventually. At the very least they aren’t forgotten.

This year, one thing I want to do is see if I can learn to write faster. My writing time is still constrained by being a stroke caregiver and mother of teenagers (one of whom is headed for college SOON!) but maybe I can make that time more productive. I’ve heard some prolific writers imply that slow writers like me just need to work harder. In my case, I think it’s more about working smarter. I write quickly once I get my ideas together, but it takes me a while to connect (or reconnect) with the story and the characters. Part of that is having to write sporadically–which I can’t help–but I also think part of it is being so driven that I don’t refill the well often enough. After each spurt of creativity, I struggle for a while.

I did The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron a while ago. I’m still good about doing the Morning Pages (daily journaling) but like many, I’m not so good at the Artist’s Dates (weekly activities intended to be fun for the muse). For me, this would be things like taking time to play the piano, do crafty stuff, get out into nature, watch more movies and read for pleasure.

So this year my plan is to put an Artist’s Date on my To Do List each week. It may seem counter-intuitive to getting more writing done, but I’m going to try it and see what happens.

LDMAudioSmallHow about you? Any resolutions or plans for the New Year? I’ll be giving away 5 free download codes from Audible for Lady Dearing’s Masquerade. Comment on this post between now and next Thursday, Jan 9th. I’ll announce the winners on Friday, Jan 10th.

Elena
www.elenagreene.com

It’s been a rough week or so. The kids have been sick. I won’t bore anyone with the gory details, but they were . . . gory. It’s pretty sad when going to the mailbox feels like an outing.

I need a real one now.

I’ve managed to eke out a bit of writing time, but it’s been tough. It’s a bit like having sex—you can deal with a few interruptions, but too many and it’s really, really hard to recapture the mood. Like a couple who need to get away for a weekend, I need to get away with my muse (inner artist child, Girls in the Basement, subconscious mind, whatever you call the place ideas come from) and get her to stop sulking.

The little darlings are both in school today. If all goes well, I don’t get a call from the school nurse, and they continue to do well tomorrow, I’m heading out to the Corning Museum of Glass. I’m going to do a leisurely tour of the galleries (for fun, not research except in the laziest way), have lunch at the café and go make a sun-catcher at the Walk In Studio. Last summer my kids made projects there and as I was helping them I decided I’d like to try my hand at one myself. It’s time.

Whether you’re a writer or not, getting out and doing something fun and creative helps keep the juices flowing for other parts of your life. It’s what Julia Cameron calls an “Artist’s Date”. You go out to the movies, to a concert, bake, paint, take a walk in the woods or anything you think is fun and NOT directly related to your job. Anything that makes you feel like a kid with a brand new 64-count box of Crayolas.

Do any of you (writers or not) do Artist’s Dates (whether you call them that or not)? What do you do to keep your mojo? To get it back when it’s deserted you?

Elena
LADY DEARING’S MASQUERADE, RT Reviewers’ Choice Award nominee
www.elenagreene.com