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Hi folks, I am writing a summer long series. It's called Publish and is in conjunction with my TEENSPublish workshop at the Ringer Library in College Station, Texas. The tribe is working hard. We had a committee meeting this week about the title of our book and here it is: A New Generation: TEENSPublish 2015 Anthology. We also picked a trim size for our book. Now on to the topic.
This week we dove into theme. I think some of this will relate to any creative life. We created word clouds through Wordle.net. First we wrote a list of topics. These topics were used to create our cloud. The word cloud image has to be posted somewhere and stared at on a regular basis as you create your work. In other words, don't mess with theme while you are writing. Be aware of it but don't touch it. You will end up on the road of didactic and moralistic. Avoid at all cost.
We talked about how theme works. You take a topic and then you say what the author is trying to say about that topic. Here are two examples. In Star Wars, a topic is destiny. The road to destiny will show up when your pining for it, it won't be what you expected, it will rip you away from everything you have ever known, it will be harder than you ever dreamed, and it will be better than you ever expected. In Finding Nemo, a topic is fatherhood. A father will go to the ends of the earth to save a beloved son; nothing will stand in his way.
Finally I mentioned some of my theme tricks. I drop quotes around to inspire me as I work on a book. I put them in junk drawers, tape them to the bottom of lamps, and tuck them between the pages of my favorite books, and when I stumble on them, I think about them. I also pick out a list of inspirational songs and play them before or while I am working. I also chose inspirational images and then stare at them when I get stuck. These activities feed my theme. I don't know how and I don't want to know. The journey of writing a book is saying what you want to say and it something of a mystery, just like you.
I hope you enjoyed this little trip into theme. I hope you never think about and create it anyway. Dig into your soul and you will share what your theme. I will be back next week with revision.
Here is doodle for you:
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A quote for your pocket. This is some inspiration for one of my books.
“The past is never dead. It's not even past.” William Faulkner.
Hi, folks, this is a meandering post, but maybe I've said something that resonates.
Where do we fit? There is a day we all come to, at least I hope so. On this day we allow ourselves to be ourselves. We embrace the fact that we are whatever we are-- animal, mineral, vegetable, you know whatever. We embrace our contradictions and our harmonies. This is awareness began to grow in me when I wrote my Rembrandt book. Van Rijn's message was so clear. He was after capturing the shadow and light he perceived in the world. His self-portraits speak so much to me. He drew his face over and over, recording the ravages of time, the gifts of wisdom, and the emerging soul, His art stamped the idea of capturing the world as it is into my artistic vision.
I tend to be on the edges of the party of life. I like to find a corner and a good conversation, The rest of time I hang out by myself. In groups, I like to sit up front, in the back or along the edge. I'm only a mild introvert; this edge thing is something else. I march to the beat of my own drum. It's not something I want to do. It something that I do whether I want to or not. I'm out of step with the times. Sometimes that is a good thing and sometimes its unfortunate, but at the end of the day it is me. Rembrandt opened my eyes to just being what I am and being comfortable with that.
One decision that I've made over last few years is to read what interests me. There are entire movements in the book world that just go right over my head. You know whatever shadows and lights draw me in, I go after them. I don't have to read the rest of it. It makes me a really eclectic reader. I'm good with that. I've given myself permission to skip books that I don't connect with , even if everyone loves that book. I also get to read whatever cheesy popular read that I want to. I have freedom. It's alright be out of step.If you are out of step with world, embrace it. Stylizing yourself to fit in just doesn't really bring out great art in my opinion. The space to be yourself will help you bloom.
If you are a wallflower in the world or have been picked last more times than you can count, don't worry about it. Watch the world from your corner and do something amazing with the knowledge. Put that "picked last" into perspective. I mean, folks on the edges generally have big imaginations. I find that they have schemes percolating within. That's a good place to be. Stay away from the myth that you must find your place. It may not exist yet, and you may be carving it out.
Will be back next week.
Here is the doodle:
Here is a quote for your pocket:
The finest clothing made is a person's own skin, but, of course, society demands something more than this. Mark Twain
