photo ©S.L.Reay          sign ©DebEwing

A Cow

Do Three New Things Each Year

Don Quixote Now

How to Write a Haiku

Inklings Meme

My Recipe
     You don't think recipes can be creative? Think again.

Plot Holes Meme

Prime the Pump

Procrastination Meme

Writing: Creation or Discovery?

What do you do to inspire your creative self?
Please contact Sandy.

Creativity

Creativity in one area can promote creativity in other areas. If you're having writer's block, you can still be creative. Think of it as priming a pump: it needs water to successfully pump water. What can you do?

• try something new: a recipe, a restaurant, a road to work, TV shows
   
• plant flowers in the garden, build a rock cairn
   
  
• do something new: make jewelry, learn to play an instrument, paint a wall, or throw a piece of pottery
   
• listen to new music, read a book in an unfamiliar genre, or watch a how-to video for something you'd never do—get outside your comfort zone
   
• hang out with creative people
   
• rearrange the furniture or change the artwork
   
• watch home remodeling shows, baking championships, or cooking contests
   
• write down your strange dreams
   
• go for long drives on empty highways, take a shower, or do something repetitive that allows your mind to wander
   
• play with words or pretend you are an animal, a plant, an insect, a rock, or a river; create your own language
   
• use all your senses: describe what you see, hear, taste, smell, what you touch, what touches you, how your inner body responds, what movements you make

Sandy Reay Author #Creativity

A Cow

I gave away a signed photo of a McCavity, the Mystery Cat, which inspired me to tell the story of McCavity in multiple texts to the recipient of the photo. Of course, I had to write his story here.

As the song goes, "One thing leads to another." I needed photos of McCavity and dug out old photo albums, which reminded me of other anecdotes to add to his story.

I had planned to scan the significant photos and toss the rest someday. Apparently "someday" was yesterday. After I added photos to McCavity's page and did another edit pass on the text (Always do another edit pass!), I cleaned out photos in two albums. Now I have another partly-done time-consuming chore, an inch-high pile of photos to scan and sort into folders, and several more albums to clean out.

But I found a photo a friend sent me decades ago. On the back, she wrote a story to go with the photo.

"This is a picture of Mrs. Flebby Fanortney our next door neighbor and she needs a pen pal. She wanted to know if you knew anyone that might be interested. Her only hobby is collecting turtle turds and she is presently looking for a large Batman costume - to disguise herself so that her husband won't know that she's stepping out ..."
(pre-emoji smily face)

Thanks, Joanie, wherever you are.

Do you know creative people? If so, what do they say or do that is out of the ordinary?

Do you want to share those stories?
Please contact Sandy.

 

 

 

How many new things do you try each year?
Please contact Sandy.

Do Three New Things Each Year

When I lived on the horse ranch, I met a man who was 70.  When he retired from his job, a few years earlier, he promised himself that he would try 3 new things each year.  He learned to scuba dive, jumped out of an airplane, rode in a hot air balloon, among other things.  Some activities became hobbies.  Some he did only once.  He said that trying new things helped him stay young.  We were delighted to give him his first ride on a horse, help him with private lessons, and later, sell him our beautiful sorrel Arabian school horse, Tai. 

I promised myself I would be like him when I got older.  Some how I forgot about that. Was nice to remember him on the drive home tonight. 

This memory made me smile. I wondered how many firsts I had last year.

1. Colonoscopy w/ surgery
2. Didn't get sick from anesthesia
3. Sold Mom's house long-distance with mobile notary
4. Used $ from Mom's house to bully people at the new bank to wait on me that day instead of making me come back the next day (because I didn't feel well—thought it was a sinus infection and/or allergies)
5. COVID. Tested negative. Still thought it was a sinus infection and/or allergies. Silly Wabbit.
6. Car accident that destroyed 2 tires on way to get retested for COVID (not injured)
7. Accidentally discovered that sunshine cures COVID (waiting for tow truck)
8. Canceled studio work with two amazing songwriters and musicians (just in case)
9. Cataract surgery
10. Sprained ankle
11. Ankle re-injured by a friend
12. New dish at a local restaurant
13. Strange diarrhea (yes, related)
14. Bladder infection (see above)

I think I'll try for fewer new things next year.

Don Quixote Now

What would happen if Don Quixote returned today?

Artist Lynn Kopelke, of Open Crown Productions, drew his idea.

What if your favorite historical person came back?
Please contact Sandy.

Inklings Meme

How many inklings are in a clue? – SRA

I love wordplay: puns, putting captions on well-known pictures, jokes about words. I love writing songs and novels more, though. My novel (work in progress), The Sinister Umbrella, was named from a description in a book, an unusual combination of two words that piqued my imagination.

Have you ever stopped reading because the author wrote a phrase or a sentence that you had to savor?
Please contact Sandy.

What old expressions intrigue you?
Please contact Sandy.

Prime the Pump

Have you ever heard the expression, “Prime the Pump?” Before central water systems for towns, people drilled wells and used a pump with a handle to pump water up and into a bucket or trough. If the pump was allowed to go dry, the flexible seals in the pump hardened, and the pump failed to work. Water from a jar sat by the pump, and when poured into a dry pump (to prime the pump), it softened the seals.

I have a safe space to write. I don't mean a locked office or a tree house with a ladder I can pull up after me to eliminate distractions. I write in a journal that no one will ever see (I hope). It's where I can swear, vent, let off steam, rewrite reality, dig up my deepest secrets, give names to feelings I've suppressed, and write anything I want to write. It's also where I can list the good things that happen, without feeling like I should be humble, and remind myself that I have things to be grateful for. I work through a lot of issues in my journal (and it's cheaper than a shrink).

If I don't feel like I'm ready to work on a song, poem, short story, novella/novel, or my memoir, I write about writing it in my journal. I can explore new avenues, consider potential character changes, invent plot complications, and explore fixes to plot holes. Because it's my safe space, and my subconscious mind knows it, I'm free to be as creative as I want to be.

Songs, poems, stories, novels, and memoirs have rules and constraints that we must follow. There are no boundaries in my safe space. My fingers must type what comes out, but my mind is free to explore.

Writing: Creation or Discovery?

Another good day. Wrote 4 chapters for the book, finished a web site and had lunch with a friend. The story is following the idea I had, but it's going some places I didn't expect. It's as much fun as reading a new book, but it takes longer. It seems more like a process of discovery than creation. I want to write more so I can see how the story turns out.

Are you a pantser or a plotter? Do you write to find out what's going to happen next?
Please contact Sandy.

How to Write a Haiku

Lyrics shouldn't rhyme
And they should be sung like this:
Moonlight in Vermont

Check out Sandy's poem How to Write a Poem

Have you written a poem, song, or story about writing that you'd like to share?
Please contact Sandy.

Procrastination Meme

I believe I was put here for a reason, and I don't get to go home until I'm done. That's the best reason for procrastination I can invent. – SRA

What is your favorite life advice?
Please contact Sandy.

Plot Holes Meme

I used to work for the highway department; I can find plot holes. –SRA

Puns are fun. Do you like to play with words?
Please contact Sandy.