New Tools
Posted: September 25, 2011 Filed under: Goals, Writers Write | Tags: 10000-Hour Rule, artists, Malcolm Gladwell, Outliers, Trusting Your Instincts, writers, writing Leave a comment »In his book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell calls the time it takes to be good at something the 10,000-Hour Rule. That’s how long it takes. 10,000 hours. That’s twenty hours a week for ten years.
Cherry’s been taking classes at a community art center for over a year. This week, when she tried to enroll for fall semester, every class she wanted was cancelled. The choices were: repeat a beginning class or enroll in a medium that isn’t her thing.
From writing a novel, I’ve learned there is no substitute for time. I’ve also learned to trust my own judgement, to make the story mine, and to keep writing until it’s something I want to claim.
With her tuition money, Cherry bought art supplies. Real artist supplies–acrylic paint, a pallet, calligraphy pens, canvases, books on technique. This week, she started logging her 10,000 hours.
- Cherry, the artist with her subject, Jasmine.
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The Seasons Change and So Do I
Posted: September 23, 2011 Filed under: Goals, Writers Write | Tags: change of seasons, Trusting Your Instincts, writers, writing Leave a comment »
Target had mittens on sale today. The high was ninety. Granted, ninety is an ice storm compared to a line of never-ending days over a hundred. But mittens? The sales department in Minnesota should take a road trip.
I started to title this post, How I Spent My Summer Vacation. But when you write full-time, you are never on vacation. You write. All the time. Which brings me to the point.
I finished the book.
That’s scary. I’ll say it again.
I finished the book.
Typing those words is like getting off the roller coaster and getting back in line. Seriously. I sent it to my Beta readers, and while I tap my fingers in anticipation of their comments out of habit from pounding the keyboard, I’m lost. Between worlds.
I’ve never been good at transitions. I’m a full-out kind of girl. I’ve written a query. I’m stumbling through the synopsis. But it feels a little like watching the out-takes from the end of a Mary-Kate and Ashley video. I know there’s something better to do, but I haven’t gotten off the couch to find the remote.
I’ve been so immersed. I’ve developed a social anxiety about blogging. That thing where I avoid something so long, I’m intimidated–afraid of over-sharing. I have two choices: A.Quit B.Write every day. I’m going with B for a while, but I’m turning off the comments for the time being. I’m crazy enough to keep checking back to see if you’re reading. And, I can’t handle waiting on the Betas AND the blog readers.
At the Sound of the Bell
Posted: August 4, 2011 Filed under: Noxious Evils, schnauzer follies, Writers Write | Tags: Trusting Your Instincts, writers, writing Leave a comment »The thing I hated most about school, as a student and as a teacher, was the clock. Instinctively, I fight it. I fight the deadline, the list, the routine. I have this inner James Dean, who says, “I won’t be controlled.” The defect extends to every corner of my life. I waste a lot of time asking myself: do I have to floss? put gas in the car? load the dishwasher? finish the day’s pages?
I know the answer, and I don’t like it.
In the summer of my discontent, brought on by global warming–you deniers out there should check the thermometer–and the unemployment rate, I find myself as rebellious as my dog on a leash. She resists, even when she wants to walk. For the dog I found a solution, a nifty device called the Gentle Leader. It’s a head collar that points a schnauzer’s nose in the right direction. I slip the loop over her muzzle, and she follows me everywhere.
For me, the solution is painful. I succumb to a schedule. From 7 to 8, coffee. From 8 to 9, exercise. From 9 to 10, journal and blog. At 10, the alarm on the laptop will tell me to work on the book.
It’s 9:55. Time to point my nose the right direction.
