writing from the heart

Pouring Yourself into Purity

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Tapping into the Creative

All of our deep work comes directly from our unconscious mind.  It bubbles up and pours out into many forms.  Our job is to decide what form this work will take.

I used to work in the field of natural resources, and I was involved in a program concerning groundwater.  My job was to educate people about groundwater and how to protect it.

Sometimes people like to call groundwater springwater.  It’s the same thing, but it sounds fancier.  Fancy water can be bottled.  Pick up one of your favorite bottled water brands.  It’s fancy, isn’t it?  It’s the same water you get from your faucet.  Someone is getting rich from selling simple groundwater in a bottle.

It never ceases to amaze me what people will sell.  Or buy.

Right now I’m selling you purity.  Will you buy it?  Will it solve all your problems and make you a happier person?

Yes and no.  Yes, because you will be relieved to bliss out in the great stream of your creative unconscious.  No, because once you find your voice, or have tapped into your creative well, giving it form entails hard, disciplined work.

How can you continually keep the well of your unconscious pure?

Authentically Sincere

To be true to your voice, you have to listen carefully to what comes out of your mind – you have to be authentically sincere.  The definitions, according to Websters:

au-then-tic: adj. 1 that can be believed or accepted; trustworthy; reliable

sin-cere: adj. 1 without deceit, pretense, or hyporcrisy; truthful; straightforward; honest

Darren “Daz” Cox takes up this issue in a post on his blog.  I would argue that in order to be authentic you must first be sincere.  And in order to do this you have to write out the contents of your mind, learn the light of photography, or turn your charcoal drawing of a landscape into a horse.

It is great fun spilling out all of this stuff.  You fall in love with the brush strokes of your own genius – the colt kicks of your creative mind.

In order to paint or write themselves a mind map of where they would like to be, many writers and artists take up journaling.  A journal is a great way of charting the ups and downs of your mind stuff.

And then they may get into the business of selling their work, which entails a whole new outlet of knowing their sincere selves.

Will they dissolve into hypocrisy when the marketplace rejects their authenticity?  Will they parody themselves or simply emulate others?

When you bottle yourself into any form that you wish to sell on the marketplace give yourself the freedom to fail.  I have a novel out right now making the rounds of agents and publishers, and I may never be able to sell it.

Should I quit writing?

Never be afraid to try new things and see what comes out of it.  Then you will always remain pure, fresh, and true to yourself.

But you must at first know the contents of your mind before you can guide this creative stuff into authentic shape and direction.

And if you do not intimately know the capabilities of your creative unconscious someone will come along and give you an instant recipe for wealth, fame, and happiness.

Aquafina, anyone?

Photocredit: © Ellen Wilson

Why Good Writing Matters – Case Study, “Stuff White People Like”

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There is this blog called Stuff White People Like.  Have you heard of it?  This blog got a $300,000 advance for a book contract.

Of course, this could all be racist, or could all be about social stereotypes, or it could all be satire.  Or, it could be all three.   You decide.  But the point is is it gets our attention.  So why does it get our attention?  Let’s discuss…

The writing draws us in.  It talks about upper middle class whites and values.  No, you won’t find people driving rusty pick-up trucks with fishing licenses hanging our of their back pockets here.  Unless, perhaps, they are carrying $800 Orvis fly fishing rods.

It walks a fine line between what we register in our in unconscious minds and what we usually, politely, don’t articulate.

This person found a way to articulate it.

An Aside…

William Faulkner worked at the post office.  No one listened to what he had to say.  And the mail was always late.  Why?  ‘Cause Willy was always to busy writing, that’s why.  So they fired him.

Faulkner has written some of the best stuff about social stereotypes and undercover urges.  He knew the racist South and why it was the way it was.  Because of this he wrote The Sound and the Fury.  He was later awarded a Noble Prize in Literature.

70 Years later…

Toni Morrison is working her job.  She works at night, during the day, and whenever she has a chance.  She also knows about the racist South and why it is the way it is.  She writes Beloved which wins a Pulitzer Prize and is a kick ass story of slavery and redemption and the by product of its psychological despair.

20 Years later…

(Fill in Your Name Please)  Because you know something we don’t and you need to tell us about it.

What am I getting at?  Write something close to home;write something that hurts. And who will be waiting? We, of course, and the famed Literary Agent.

Christian Lander, author of Stuff White People Like, received a $300,000 advance. Gee I wonder why. That is every writer’s dream.  Need I say you can then quit your job at the post office?

As a short story writer and novelist, I like to hear these things.  It inspires me.

What would you do with $300,000?  Would you quit your day job?  Would you quit blogging?

So that is why good writing matters.  Impress us.  Flamboozle us.

Just keep at it baby.  And we’ll do lunch…

*Psst…Literary Agent – I’ve got a hot ecothriller just waiting to be published.  Wanna read it?*

Photo Credit: © Ellen Wilson

Writing the Wild Within – Part 1

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Red Fox, copyright Ellen Wilson

 

Sooner or later you will have to get wild. You will have to shed your skin, and find the writer within.
Skin Keeps us Safe

We hide within a realm of things. We hide within society, and what we think our place is in it. We hide within ourselves, and who we think we are.

Sometimes we hide within our egos, or within our pain.

I’m sure you can think of many reasons to hide.

And although hiding can serve a purpose, it can also hold us back from being true to ourselves.

It is a constant balance between what we need as individuals, and what we need as a society.

Learn the Way of the Wild

I started out as a wildlife/nature photographer. I spent many hours crouching in the mud, and standing perfectly still while being consumed by black flies. How else would I catch my prey?

I was shooting pictures, and not game, but it is, and will always be, the same.

What I have learned is this:

There is a certain rhyme and rhythm to nature, and the creatures who dance in it.

Although we have seemed to have forgotten this flow, we can get it back.

The natural world can teach us much about conserving our energy, and giving it back to society. It can also teach us how to hide, and how burst out in full flame.

Perhaps we have lost these traits due to too much domestication. Too much civilization.

We can get it back…

Care to join me on the journey?

Thank you very much.

Photo Credit: © Ellen Wilson