Category: Creativity (Page 20 of 20)

February Writing Life Update

February 10, 2016 / Katie L. Carroll

February has historically been my least favorite month. It’s a low part of the year for me for some reason that I’ve never been able to adequately pinpoint. I think the weather is part of it. Here in southern New England, the days are short and cold and spring feels a long way off. (Although we did have a nice stretch of warmish weather last week.)

This year I think I’m going to be too busy for the late-winter blahs. In addition to reading a lot, I’m deep in querying mode for one project; looking forward to carving out some writing time for a new project that has yet to move out of the “rumination stage,” as I like to call it; and excited (and nervous!) to have a bunch of school visits booked up for the second half of the month. (Not to mention hanging out with the boys!)

The nerves are because I’m feeling a little rusty as I haven’t done any youth writing workshops since last June, and because some of the upcoming workshops are for students that are a little younger than I’ve worked with before, and because it’s a lot of visits in a short amount of time. But I love working with the students, so I know once I practice a few more times and get going with the first one, I’ll be fine.

It’s the change of mentality I think that’s tripping me up. I spent a good deal of the second half of 2015 in writing and then revision mode (very internal acts), so it’s required a brain shift to move into the more external acts of querying and workshop teaching. Both are important parts of my creative life, but as I get older, I feel like the transition from one to the other has gotten harder.

One of these school visits I’ll remember to have someone take a few pictures of me teaching a writing workshop so I can share it here. What’s in store for all of you this month and the rest of winter?

Time to Fill the Creative Well Again

January 18, 2016 / Katie L. Carroll

I finished the big revision I had been working on and then made it through the holidays. Now I find myself on this side of the New Year with a need for a creative recharge. This isn’t the first time I’ve been here, and I’m sure it won’t be the last.

The creative life can be draining when you’re constantly putting words, thoughts, and ideas out there, so I tend to go through periods where I’m in need of replenishment. I’ve written about the idea of a creative well (see the full post here) here on the Observation Desk before. Here’s a snippet:

The well is where ideas come from.

Some ideas are a tiny trickle dripping from the bucket. Others a deluge as the bottom of the bucket falls out, gushing water over my head.

I’m not the only one with access to the well. An intricate labyrinth of tunnels connects other writers, artist, dreamers, and musicians to the well. But it’s not only for artsy types. Mathematicians calculate numbers and equations there; astrophysicists explore the stars and galaxies; doctors find cures for disease.

The well connects us all.

I mistakenly think I write to make connections, take the thoughts and stories in my head and share them with readers, giving them thoughts and stories of their own. I actually write to explore the connections that already exist through the well.”

I feel like I’ve been putting a lot into the well lately. So it’s time for me sit quietly and soak up all the well has to offer. I’ve been reading a lot (something I didn’t do as much last year), watching TV (sure some programs are more mindless than others, but it does help to fill me up creatively), and paying attention to life and nature.

And thinking…lots and lots of thinking. Part of my writing process is to think about a new project for awhile before I dig into writing it. More than thinking about what I’m working on next, though, I’ve also been pondering my career as an author and where I’m headed next. Part of that depends on other people as I’m currently querying agents with a manuscript, but much of it is internal.

Speaking of querying, this part of being a writer is one of the hardest for me. It’s makes me feel intensely vulnerable, and I really, really, really hate feeling vulnerable. I’m in need of lots of tea and chocolate, and maybe some hugs!

Hopefully soon, I’ll have a better sense of this next book I plan on writing and I’ll be able to immerse myself in it, which helps to desensitize me to the querying process. A new project brings excitement, direction, and hope.

What have you all been up to lately?

Nuggets of Writing Wisdom from SCBWI L.A. 2010 Conference

August 28, 2010 / Katie L. Carroll

As promised here are some nuggets of wisdom from the SCBWI L.A. conference. They are pretty much all writing related, but many of them have universal wisdom as well.

M.T. Anderson:

- Books take us away from home, so we can actually see our home.

- Literature restores a sense of unknown to what we already know.
- Understanding the past is just as much about forging ahead to the future.

Gordon Korman:

- What do you use more as an adult? Your sense of humor or your ability to recognize foreshadowing.

- Kids are more subtle than you think they are. It’s not that stuff is going over their heads; it’s just the stuff we think is important, they don’t care about.
- Kids are not an exotic subspecies. When we are writing for kids, we are writing for ourselves.

E.B. Lewis:

- We spend so much time scratching to get some wealth that we miss out true wealth: our children.

- Sometimes we don’t scratch deep enough to find the true value of our kids. It’s more valuable than gold. We scratch them too deep sometimes and destroy our children.
- As artists, we need to fill ourselves up to flowing and give it all back.

Rachel Vail:

- The trick to being a good listener is to actually listen.

- Spying is key to being a writer. Put on your headphones in a public place, but don’t really listen to music.

- How can two people in same conversation have such different experiences of what happens.
- When I get stuck, I make some tea and force myself to remember.

Gail Carson Levine:

- When you make a list, no idea is stupid.
- The magic and joy of being a writer is learning about yourself in your writing.

Carolyn Mackler:

- By standing out, you put yourself out there for a fall.
- Be proud of what you wish for and stand by it, even if it’s harder than you expected.

Gennifer Choldenko:

- Human beings need stories; we always have and we always will.

- Harness the energy of your dreams.
- Give yourself the right to take risks; you’re not making real risks if you haven’t risked and failed.

Paul Fleischman:

- Research should be like slip; it should be there but never show.

- Laughter gives you a sense of control.
- There’s now way around but through–that’s the writing life.

There’s not much left to say after reading over what these heavy-hitters in the kidlit world had to say, so I’ll leave you with my own ridiculous mid-conference quotation: “I just don’t think I can listen to one more stranger and pretend to care about they’re saying.”