When we were younger our romantic job was to draw people in, form a unit, protect it. Now that we are older our romantic job is to make room for those we love to be who they are where ever they may be.
This popped out of Navé the other day and a lot of people seemed to like it. Hope you do too.
This has to be one of my all time favorite TED talks. Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of Eat, Pray, Love talks about nurturing creativity and success. It’s well worth watching.
One of the things I found most interesting was that this best selling book was written after she took a year off. Hummmm…do you think there might be a connection? I think so. I am a firm believer in the power of down time. Taking time to rest and regroup allows our creative ideas to perk. I know for me it all comes out better when I have plenty of fritter and float time.
Enjoy!
Here’s another creative writing exercise from James Navé’s Writing…From the Imaginative Storm to the Creative Form.
1. Like a detective at a crime scene, investigate your environment and list 25 things that strike you.
2. Use some or all the things on your list to build a piece of writing.
3. For example…
• Old brown steps lead to the dark basement where bicycles and kayaks hang from hooks.
• Cherry and oak logs burn in the wood stove.
• Ice overhangs on the gutters.
• A dozen small stuffed bears sit on an oak shelf.
Please share your experiences below.
Photo Credit: topfer
A great video from Navé on performance…how to perform even when it’s reading what you write.
A couple of days ago, I was standing on the subway platform at Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn. The electronic sign above the tracks announced the train’s arrival in two minutes.
Since, I’d been thinking that performing naked made the difference between an exciting public reading/presentation and a boring one, I decided to synchronize the recording of my thoughts with the arrival of the train.
Enjoy!
Here’s another creative writing exercise for you…
1. Think of a place you know very well like the inside of your car, office, or home.
2. Spend a few minutes remembering all the details you possibly can.
3. Now take ten minutes and write about what you don’t remember. Begin with “I don’t remember…”
For example…
I don’t remember how many steps there are up to my third floor apartment on Union Street in Brooklyn. I don’t remember what I left on the desk beside the door. I don’t remember how many shirts I left in the laundry bag to be washed or what the name of the mystery book is I left on the bedside table. I don’t remember how many people came to the New Year’s eve Party.
Please share you experiences in the comments.
Photo Credit: engindeniz
