Creativity and being out of touch.

It's been a little more than two weeks since I last wrote on this page, my plan had been to start writing a short story every week, starting it on Monday, and sharing whatever progress I had made here on the following Friday.

But you know what they say about best laid plans.

In addition to the sciatica that has been making it difficult for me to sit and concentrate on any one thing I got hit with a late winter bug that pretty much put me in bed for three days. I'm feeling much better now but the sciatica is still nagging at me, though not near as bad as when it first flared up. I've gone through MRI's and X-Rays only to be told that this is something I'm going to have to deal with.

When I remember to, I do my exercises. There is so much on my plate right now.  Dreadland chronicles book III, Legion of the Damned is in its final stages as we prepare it for a May 31 release date.

A Father's Love is pretty much finished but I haven't made the final decision yet as to whether I want to publish it myself or send it to a publisher. I know JournalStone is open right now and the story would dovetail perfectly into their line. The questions is am I willing to give up the control? Not to mention the potential earnings were it to take off.

I'm also working on the outlines for books four and five of the Dreadland Chronicles as well as a World War Two horror novella that I've yet to work out a title for.

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I'll even throw in a free copy of White Walker.

I want to get back into the story a week idea I originally had a couple of weeks ago. This week I want to tackle superstition. Check back Friday to see what I come up with.

Recently on The Passive Voice I saw a story about renting Emily Dickinson's room for an hour. The first question that came to mind was, who would do that? And why? I can understand a fan wanting to visit the place where the work they've enjoyed was created. After all anyone can visit the café in Edinburgh where J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter, or tour Ernest Hemingway’s house in Key West.

Who out there believes that staying in a room where a favorite story was created will somehow allow that same spark of creativity to rub off on them? I don't believe that's how creativity works. Or am I missing the point entirely?

The story about Emily Dickinson reminded me of the Stanley hotel writers retreat that was being hyped several years ago. Stay in the same room where Stephen King came up with the idea for The Shining. Did these writers believe that by paying an outrageous sum to stay in a room where a story was created would expand the horizons of their own creativity? That the same spark that inspired SK would somehow rub off on them?

What do you think?

The Power of Self Doubt

Anyone who is seriously perusing a career as a writer is familiar with the ups and downs that is the writer’s life. Some days you’re riding the top of that emotional wave as the words just flow from your fingers. Hanging ten from that proverbial surfboard of creation as the ocean of ideas washing through your mind batters itself against white beach of the blank page leaving in its wake the basis of what will become a powerful story.

For every peak in the creative process, where it seems nothing can stand in your way, behind or beyond lies a shadowy valley of self doubt. When that creative wave dashes you against the unyielding stone of cold reality, you tumble from that peak to land in the valley of the shadow of death for the creative process. 

Suddenly the words that had flowed so freely dry up and one is left staring at the blank page as blood begins to form upon their forehead. Who wants to read anything I write? Why do I waste my time doing this? Who really cares anymore?

Self doubt has silenced the muse. It has thrown a monkey wrench into the machinery of creation, clogging the gears, and stopping them dead in their tracks. Everyone who dares to believe they can create something another person wants to read faces these moments from time to time.

The greats have carried on their own personal battles with self doubt. Struggling in the years of anonymity before they became an overnight success. Stephen King threw away the original manuscript for Carrie believing no one would want to read it. His wife rescued it from the trash and convinced him to carry on. Great writers from the past were known to agonize over the placement of every word, never really believing themselves that what they were doing would ever be widely accepted. 

How many unknown greats have given up entirely, trashing their greatest works, and turning their backs on their dreams to accept second best? How many Lovecraft’s, Shelly’s, or Stokers have given up even before they started?



Here are a few inspiring quotes from some greats in the business to help inspire you.

Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.
- E. L. Doctorow

If you can tell stories, create characters, devise incidents, and have sincerity and passion, it doesn’t matter a damn how you write.
- Somerset Maugham

Any man who keeps working is not a failure. He may not be a great writer, but if he applies the old-fashioned virtues of hard, constant labor, he’ll eventually make some kind of career for himself as writer.
- Ray Bradbury