Category: writing life

That Thing I did, and the Other Thing I Did Because of It

leianajade

Before I dropped off the face of the earth, I said that I had signed up for a weeklong writing retreat.
That retreat took place at a place called Nimrod, and it was honestly one of the best weeks of my life. I don’t know how to describe how magical that experience was. There was no air conditioning, there were bugs, it was humid as all get out, and I’d have gone back in a heartbeat. I loved spending the morning at an antique desk, staring out lacy curtains, plunking away at my work in progress. I came away with the knowledge that my project was worth pursuing, which was priceless. I met some amazing people and had incredible food.

The owners announced in January that they were taking their land private rather than running it as a retreat. I can’t say I blame them – it’s got to be a ton of work. But it broke my heart.

However, I wasn’t about to give up on the whole retreat thing. So I signed up for a more structured workshop that was recommended to me. It was nerve-wracking, because this was definitely taking it up a couple notches. This was a week to get and give feedback and improve my craft. Because I am an absolute slacker, I took the same project to Tinker that I took to Nimrod – just a different section. (If you’re thinking she had ten months and she didn’t finish that book – yes, we can both be disappointed in me.)

This time I came away with incredible, tangible feedback, and the conviction that I need to finish this novel and work on submitting it.
Don’t get too excited. I have a lot of work I need to do. Like, a LOT. Don’t expect to see a finished product any time soon. If I’m lucky and diligent maybe I can have a workable draft by the end of the year, query-able by spring, fingers crossed.

Maybe this time…

Fingers crossed.

I did a thing.

leianajade

Maybe it was too much sugar. (I really know better than to have a pastry for breakfast.) Maybe it was just the kick in the pants that I needed.

I signed up for a weeklong writing retreat in August. Time away from everything to work on writing. But it’s not just that, but in the afternoons, you work with an author/mentor on your writing. In this case, it’s Rachel Beanland, author of Florence Adler Swims Forever, which I quite liked back in 2020.

Well, I can’t go into this writing retreat with work older than some of my cats. So it’s time to dust off the keyboard and make some progress. I’ve started pecking away at a couple of new projects, one fiction, one non. I don’t know that they’ll go anywhere, which is why I’m not giving any more details just yet – I want to see what sticks first.

Here’s to what is sure to be an adventure!

Throwback: Creative Community, Not Bullying

leianajade

I don’t know what prompted this post originally. Clearly something got me all fired up.

To everyone who is remotely creative, or knows anyone who is creative:

We have enough problems with people who don’t understand the time and effort we spend on our craft. The people who expect that we should design them a free website because we’re good at it, or photograph their kids for free. We’ve all been there at some point.

We need to stop demoralizing each other. We’re not in competition, we’re a community. None of us create exactly the same thing, the same way, which is why there really is room for all of us. And even if there isn’t enough commercial success for all of us – that’s not the point. We create because we have to, because it’s an essential part of our being, not because of the money. (Though to make a living at what we love is a dream, obviously.)

To be creative is an incredibly difficult thing, because it takes years of practice on something that often feels so intimate. Who doesn’t put a little piece of themselves into what they create?

There are so many ridiculous, subjective barriers, that we never know when we’re good enough. We see authors who can barely string together a coherent plot reach the best seller list and spawn successful movie franchises, while we agonize over the details of a character arc. A five year old gains publicity for slinging paint at a canvas, but we sell character sketches to make ends meet.

We need to be in this together. We need to encourage each other, no matter what medium, no matter what point in our journeys we’re at. We need to remind each other to do what we love, because we love it.

And we should never, ever, invalidate another person’s craft.

It doesn’t matter if you know better, or if they’re better and you know it. If they got to the same level of skill in your craft in a tenth of the time, or if they’re thirty years older and still mastering the basics, it doesn’t matter. If you spend eight hours a day and they only spend twenty minutes – it doesn’t matter. Whether you like their work or they like yours…

Don’t tell someone that they aren’t, or can’t be, what they are.

You’re an artist even if you’ve never had an exhibition.

You’re an artist even if you only have a deviantart account.

You’re a musician even if bar chords hurt your hands.

You’re an artist if you draw fan art.

You’re a writer even if you’ve self-published.

You’re a writer even if you’ve not published anything yet.