Reasons for writing - what is your writing why?

One of the things that has always fascinated me is the question of what makes a writer write. Something everyone seems to agree on is that writing is good for you.  But no one seems to  have explained their reasons for writing 'why' more intriguingly than Octavia E Butler:

"Every story I create, creates me. I write to create myself."

Does writing cause schizophrenia?

I have been finding it rather delightful being the puppeteer for a set of characters in my story as I might have mentioned before. However, I usually have enough trouble remembering where I need to be and when, not to mention keeping track of what my children are supposed to be doing. Being in charge of every move and breath of a whole lot of other people is exhausting. Hard to believe I'm only 5 days in to my NaNoWriMo challenge - I already feel like these people have always been part of my family.

It leaves me wondering... does writing cause schizophrenia or is it in fact a job requirement for the aspiring novelist?

"Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia" E L Doctorow

Just start - the muse will be along shortly

Sometimes the best way to begin is just to start. Too much priming, preparation and research can be immobilising.  It opens the door to the inner critic before you have even made your first move. Whether it is a writer facing a blank page or a painter in front of a blank canvas the feeling is the same.

What if it turns out to be terrible?

What if I can't think of anything?

What if I don't do my idea justice?

What if I am actually no good at this? 

You have to give yourself permission to try - and give your creative product the chance to be however it is going to be. Good, bad or otherwise.  But as Louis L'Amour tells us, nothing happens unless you open that faucet. Don't be waiting to be 'ready'. That may never happen.

Don't wait around for inspiration. You have to get going, the muse will follow. Elizabeth Gilbert has a heart felt TED talk on this - check it out here.

Whatever it is that you are planning to do... go ahead - just start! You will never find out until you begin.

Does everyone have a novel in them?

Yesterday I began my Nanowrimo 2015 challenge of writing 1667 words every day. I have to say it was a blast.  That's something of a relief because I obviously have 29 more days to go.

It was more fun than I anticipated. I have had these characters swimming about fuzzily in my head for the last few weeks. I have felt a fair bit of concern about what I would do with them when I finally started writing. Now I can happily report (yes, I know... its only day one!) that it is tremendously fun being the puppet master moving them about, controlling their every word and breath and relationship. Such power! You have to try it.

I met a lady at a local writers group who said she is always writing stories which contain versions of the people around her. She dealt with her marital breakup by throwing a fictional representation of her husband into a science fiction tale and wreaking merciless havoc upon him. I totally get it now. And that chap she had a set to with in the car park over a parking space? Met his doom in the chapter she wrote that night, of course.

They say everyone has a novel in them. For a long time I wondered if that was indeed true and worried that if I actually tried I might discover the answer to the question if I gave it a try. And not the answer I hoped for.

More optimistically though, there are those who say we do not have a novel in us. We actually have many many novels in us. Story telling is a natural thing all humans do. Sure some are better than others, but every one of us has recounted a past event or experience. Every one of us has already told many a tale.  The rest is deliberate practice.

I can't think of a more encouraging way to start than with hundreds of thousands of other people all over the world this November.

Whether for fun, catharsis or the simple joy of tap, tap, tapping away at a keyboard , you might want to give writing a try.  As Stephen King says,

You can, you should, and if you are brave enough to start, you will.

A new perspective

Sometimes a new perspective can make all the difference. At the start of the week I was finding it hard to keep drawing cats. So I decided to change things up a little - but still keep within my theme for the month.

One of my favourite parts of any painting is the eyes.  Today I drew a close up of a cat's face giving me a chance to draw bigger eyes, with more scope for the details I love so much.

Happily I can report that I loved every part of this painting process. Sketching was fun because it was a little bit more of a challenge to try and get all those important proportions right. And a new angle means you have to look harder - even at a familiar subject.

Painting was fun too. A new angle meant different brush strokes would work better as shapes and details were all larger. I must admit I experienced the same sort of delight when I painted an unusual pose earlier in the series - do you remember this one?  A small adjustment like a change in angle, light, distance or pose can make a big difference.

It is funny how a new perspective can be all  it takes to breath new life and enthusiasm into a tired project or problem.

What do you think? Has a new perspective worked for you before?

Wouldn't you rather be reclining like a cat on a mat?

If I am honest, I am getting a little bit tired of painting cats. But I am persisting. What good is a self imposed challenge without a bit of self discipline? It is always quite fun once I get into it, but I am finding that I seem to have a bit of reluctance to face the page at the moment and put another cat on it.

The beginning of a project can be a bit easier. There is a bit of novelty, it's all rather exciting. But once the initial excitement subsides you have to decide whether you have the determination to keep going. If the 'why' behind your project is still clear to you, and still important, that will help you keep going.  If you sit around waiting to feel inspired, or to just 'be in the mood', your project's chance of success diminishes drastically.

Creating something new is hard. Don't get me wrong - it's fun too. But when it is hard, you need to remember that the only way to get beyond that beginner stage is to keep going, whether you feel like it or not. Steven Pressfield calls this 'Turning Pro'.

There comes a point in your creative endeavour when you have to make a decision to stop approaching your project as an amateur and treat it as a professional practice. Even on days when you would rather just be reclining like a cat on a mat (as opposed to painting one).

"I write only when inspiration strikes. Fortunately it strikes every morning at nine o'clock sharp." W. Somerset Maugham

A graceful leap

I love the grace of cats, especially when leaping and bounding. Cat no 11 in my watercolour series for the month is making a graceful leap over a wall.

Hope she brightens your day!

A new adventure called Nanowrimo

Cat no 10 in my watercolour cat series for this month is a happy little chap out exploring the world.

I can relate - I am exploring too. In fact I'm off on a bit of an exciting adventure next month. I say next month in a casual sort of way, but I realise that is only a week or two away. And I say 'off' like I am going somewhere but there is no travelling required. I decided to sign up for Nanowrimo. Have you heard of it?

Nanowrimo is the National Novel Writing Month. It happens every November and it is totally free to join. The deal is that you sign up to the website and then commit to writing 1667 words every day for the month of November. If you manage that, you have a 50 000 word draft of a novel by 1 December. Now doesn't that sound fun?

I always wanted to write some sort of fiction but I worried because I never managed to get a working plot idea. In fact, that is exactly how I found Nanowrimo in the first place. My solution to everything is to do a bit of research (hazard of my former occupation). My research led me to a book written by the founder of Nanowrimo, called No Plot? No Problem!

The author, Chris Baty, describes it as a "low-stress, high-velocity guide to writing a novel in 30 days".

Low-stress, Chris?... hmm... we will see.

Worst case scenario I will just be doing extra drawing and painting to calm myself I suppose. I have already had to do a bit of that, since I only have Chris's word so far, that embarking on novel writing without a plan is not a problem. Feels like flying blind to be honest, however to me, that still seems preferable to tediously cranking out a plot beforehand. Frankly, I feel quite relieved that someone has give me permission to attempt it.

I'm mad for a creative challenge (as you may have already gathered) and this one definitely has my name written all over it. How about you? Will you join me?

Go on... you know you want to. Chris's book might tempt you - it is very encouraging...

A watercolour kitten

There is something irresistible about kittens. Even those who are not so partial to cats can't help but succumb to their charms.

In choosing a playful subject like a watercolour kitten I am hoping to remind myself to keep an attitude of play in the painting process.  I think this is really important for many reasons, and feel strongly enough about that to  have written about it before!

I have been enjoying painting cats more than I actually thought I would. I think that has made me want to paint them more skillfully. Consequently I am finding it harder and harder not to be disappointed with the outcome.  So playful kittens as subjects are my current solution.

I think it works quite well. How can you not feel happy after staring at cute kittens for an hour or so?

Painting with watercolour is glorious

I saw a picture of a very regal looking grey cat, sitting in a lovely natural setting.  I was looking forward to drawing him. Sadly, I can't say I liked the finished painting. Ah well... another day, another cat.

It has to be said that even though I didn't love the painting I ended up making, I always love painting with watercolour.  The process of pushing paint over textured paper and watching pigments flow and mingle in the water is undeniably glorious.  You really have to try it.

Don't let the inner critic with her harsh judgement spoil the whole experience in the final moments. And if you can, try to let go of attachment to the results before you begin. Oddly enough, the less one cares about creating impressive output, the better it turns out.

Try it for yourself. (Please don't forget to let us know if it holds true for you!)

Cat no 7

I wanted to paint this cat as soon as I saw it. I love the playfulness - nice to see she is still in touch with her inner kitten.

It was hard to know when to stop when this one. After much fiddling and adjusting I finally made myself put the paintbrush down and declare it done. So this is it for Cat No 7.

Getting past the 'ugly' stage of a painting... or not

I painted my first cat today without my Crazy Cat class - which I am rather missing, to be honest.  Actually I also painted my second cat without Miriam's help. And the second is the one I am showing you. The first one is beyond redemption I fear.

All paintings go through an 'ugly' stage as we like to say. Usually you can get past this stage if you just persist. However, I think it is also wise to know when to quit. Let's call it letting go and moving on as opposed to quitting, shall we?

I used to think that moving beyond the ugly stage with a watercolour painting was impossible. In that regard acrylic is much more forgiving as the paint dries fast and is opaque, so it easily covers whatever it is placed on top of. Watercolour is transparent, and some colours stain so lifting out colour can be harder in some instances. Considerably more patience (or a hair dryer) may also be necessary as watercolour paint behaves differently on dry, damp and saturated paper. Not only do you need patience - you also need some experience to know how the paint will behave in each of those instances. The only way to gather that experience is to get on with making more paintings, whether they be good, bad or ugly.

I have learned that you can experiment, tinker and correct watercolour paintings far more than I once believed possible. But sometimes all you need to do is take a deep breath and find a new sheet of paper.

Ok, I know I have now made you more curious about the painting I 'let go of' than the one I posted up here. The question is... am I brave enough to show you....?

... oh alright... here it is.

Sigh.

Let's not speak of it again.

My last cat with Miriam

my last cat with Miriam arttally

Today I painted the fifth cat in Miriam's online art class Crazy Cats. This is Victor, a cute little tuxedo cat.

Victor is the final cat project in the class, which has been tremendous fun. I highly recommend it. That means tomorrow I am on my own, painting cats without Miriam's helpful tips.. I'm going to miss that!

Learning to draw is good for you

This is Redford. He is my fourth project in the Crazy Cats class with Miriam Schulman.

This project felt a little more daunting than the others, somehow. It felt like it required a lot more drawing. I procrastinated a fair bit before I started this painting, and I think it was mostly because of the drawing aspect. That's the thing with watercolour, isn't it? Most of the time you really need to be able to start with a decent sketch, so if you are uncomfortable drawing it makes watercolour painting really hard.

Funnily enough, the part I enjoyed the most with this painting was the drawing.  Having to spend a little more time on the sketch gave me a chance to remember that I really love the process of drawing.  It is one of the most relaxing creative pursuits I can think of. If you can stop worrying about how it is going to turn out, and surrender to the process of careful observation and mark making, time slips by.  You can escape the world for a moment and just be in the present, enjoying the tactile experience of marking textured paper with graphite.  Taking the time to appreciate lights and shadows, shapes and lines.

And then as an added bonus when you are done you get to splash colour and water all over it. Can't think of a better way to pass an hour or two...

Watercolour cat number 3

This is Tommy. He is watercolour cat no 3 in my series for the month. Tommy is the third project in the class I am taking - lots of fun!

I have two more cats to do following Miriam's step by step instructions and then I am on my own.

Painting white cats

Today, I am painting white cats.

Painting anything white with watercolour can be a little tricky. Essentially the idea is not to paint the white object, rather to paint its shadows, with the palest of greys and blues and purples. The last time I did this it was for daisies, and the whole thing got me quite philosophical.

Today Miriam is helping me again. This particular cat is Frosty. He (or she?) is the subject of the second project in the online class called Crazy Cats. Still haven't quite got the hang of the fine white whiskers... but I'm working on it!

New month, new series.... cats!

It's the start of a new month, so it's the start of a new series. This month is going to be all about cats. I am doing another class with Miriam Schulman over at the Inspiration Place, called Crazy Cats.

This month I am going to paint a daily cat in watercolour on 300gsm paper. I am going to miss painting flowers, but at least I get to paint eyes again this month - one of my favourite things!

If you are interested in taking Miriam's class, it starts out with some very well thought out drawing lessons using various drawing materials. Don't think cats are too hard to draw - Miriam makes it easy. The next part of the course involves drawing cats from reference photos and then painting them in watercolour. Step by step instructions for everything. Fun!

The last in the watercolour flower series

I couldn't resist my favourite colours for the last in the watercolour flower series. For these happy little wildflowers I was able to use my beloved turquoise and purple combination along with my favourite pinks and violets.  Throw in some cute white daisies and I could barely stop myself drawing some tiny fairies under the flowers.  Perhaps another day.

No 14 completes the watercolour flower series for the month.  Would you like to see them all together? Here they are...

In the meantime, I'm off to think about the new series starting tomorrow...

Watercolour flowers no 13 - Lilies

I have to be honest - this one is not my favourite painting in the series. One of my favourite flowers, yes, but not quite the painting I might have hoped for.

Yesterday I was feeling a touch of sadness to be moving on to a new series at the end of the month because I have loved painting these  watercolour flowers.  Today however, I am quite happy to change subject in a day or two! So perhaps that is the natural order of things restored.

Everything has its time.

Happy hydrangeas

Hydrangeas are such happy flowers I think. You can't help but love those big generous heads made up of an abundance of tiny simple flowers. I can't help but admire the versatility of a flower that can be pink, white, blue or anything in between. Perfect flowers as a painting subject and perfect cut flowers for a simple glass vase.