Subject: Writing as Controlled Chaos

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Writing As Creative Chaos


May 10, 2019
Oakland, CA

Hi Friend,
A friend of mine said to me, "Being on a golden hamster wheel is still being on a hamster wheel."

I don’t want be on a hamster wheel anymore. 

I recently postponed a big event that would’ve benefited lots of writers, and myself and my partners. But there’s been delays in the project, on my end and on my partner's end, that were unforeseen, including family and health issues, all important things that needed our attention. 

We were off the timeline, and without a massive push of time and energy I couldn’t have been ready in time to get the word out.

I just wanted off the hamster wheel. 

In a fit of inspiration and at my limits, fatigued and overworked, I postponed the project. 

As soon as I shared that request, really an assertion, with my partner, I immediately felt better and knew I made the right decision.

But then I doubted myself. Did I make the right decision?

I was second-guessing myself. 

Yet the thought of pushing so hard to make this project happen when there had been so many delays didn’t make any sense.

Projects, all creative work, have a life of their own. If we don’t honor the creative process and where the flow is actually going, it's really hard to do anything.

My partner and I are in conversation to run this special training on the 21 senses in the spring of next year. I feel like I have space now. I feel like we can do a really wonderful job preparing and marketing this training to her community of memoir writers.

True, my example here is on the business side of my work, but the same applies to my creative writing. And I see this creative flow (or stoppage of creative flow) in my writing students and clients all the time.

When you're stuck in the writing of your story, it may because you're trying 
to fit the creative process into a nice, neat box. 

But creativity is actually messy, doesn’t follow the rules, and seems to have a mind of its own.

Instead of being on a hamster wheel, I want to be free to move about in whichever direction I want -- up, down, all around, to run across the field, skip, hop, lie in the sun.

What do you want your creative flow to feel like? What does it look like, smell like, feel like, taste like?

When you daydream the feeling of your creative life, then you can recognize it when it shows up. Then you can ask for it, from yourself, from others, from the universe.

I want flow, leisure, space, noodling, play, bitter and tasty like coffee, bright and pungent like orange and mint, chocolatey and its happy unexpected combination with nuts. I want focus, enthusiasm, clarity, trust in the flow. 

I want to be the flow.

What is your creativity like in all its glory senses? How do you experience it? How would you like to experience it? I would love to hear.


Hit reply and let me know.
Have a happy and creative week! Happy writing!

Best,
Beth

PS. In my creative work, while I want freedom and flow, play and whimsy, I do show up for it as regularly as I can. 


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BTW, I'm a working novelist too, with two series published in two genres, and more on the way. :)


ABOUT BETH BARANY

Beth Barany is creativity coach for writers, a teacher, workshop facilitator, and speaker,
 who helps fiction writers experience clarity, so that they can write and polish their novels, and proudly publish them to the delight of their readers.

Owner of the Barany School of Fiction, an online training hub, Beth takes great interest in how humans learn, create, and grow, and includes all her students’ life experiences, including the ancestors, into the moment. 

Along with her husband, Ezra Barany, she offers a year-long group program to help novelists edit and publish their novels. See more here.

Want a course to help you prepare to write your novel? Check out the comprehensive Plan Your Novel course here, co-taught with award-winning, bestselling thriller author, Ezra Barany.

She's also an award-winning novelist and writes magical tales of romance, adventure, and mystery to empower women and girls to be the heroes in their own lives. 

Check out her Henrietta series here (YA Fantasy) and her Touchstone series here (Fantasy/Paranormal Romance).


beth@bethbarany.com

Barany School of Fiction

Writer's Fun Zone blog


Photo Credit: by c. 2018 Arianna Golden

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