Was chatting to a friend about poetry and novels and our love for them recently. During our conversation, she gave me one of the best compliments I have received in a long while….
“When I talk with you about writing or read your posts about writing, you remind me of Jo March from Little Women – Genius Burns. Strong fierce beyond talented and stubborn – but always a lady.”
Thanks Apryl…you have no idea how much these words mean to me 😀
Was discussing poetry and other forms of artistic expression with one of my younger friends who “gets it” and during this to and fro, introduced her to one of my favorites which she’d never heard of before and I shared why I loved her and what called to me. During the conversation I brought up how she took her own life like a few of my other favorite writers and realized most of my favorite artists have suffered from the big black dog.
For those of you who are artists of any kind – take hope there is more of us than you realize and even though you feel alone, you’re not. Dont give up! Using art to express what you are going through is beneficial not for your own sanity but for those who drink from the water-bowl of the big black dog.
I came across this list on famous artists who struggled with the black dog’s barking and its a pretty good one. I do however feel they should of included some of my other favorites like Dylan Thomas, Anne Sexton, Tennessee Williams, Virginia Woolf and Emily Dickinson.
This surrealist’s art has always made me wonder at the “characters” within his art. They speak to me of places I’m too wary to travel to, whilst giving me insight into the complex nature of his perception of life.
This is my favourite Dali piece which is titled “Woman Aflame” .
It helps me momentary escape and explore infinite possibilities as a woman as I compartmentalize my responsibilities and dreams…I might be held up to society’s standards but that is just a crutch which I use to propel myself forward.
The first book I recall from my earliest memories as a child, is learning to read using Aesop’s Fables. I loved the simple story telling full of allegory and re-read them over and over again. Filled with moral and ethical lessons I feel this is the book which shaped me the most.
I truly believe that whatever you write will have an affect on others so this quote rings true with me…
“the only end of writing is to enable the reader better to enjoy life or better to endure it.” Dr Samuel Johnson
The only way to write regularly is to make it a habit.
The only way to make it a habit, is to set yourself a daily goal.
Set yourself a target of several hundred words a day and build from there.
It doesn’t matter what you write – as long as you do it everyday!
Make sure you always have your writing tools on hand whether it be a pen and notebook, smartphone or ipad/laptop/desktop.
Most importantly I suggest you pick a time of the day you prefer and schedule it into your diary.
I’ve set myself a target of 500-1000 words a day and I have been following through with it….granted my subject tends to jump from fiction to non-fiction but I am still writing every day and that was my goal 🙂
I’ve been away for a long vacation which I haven’t had in years. I travelled to some beautiful places filled with nature which always inspires me.
I wrote everyday and continue to do so, focusing on my fiction as well as non fiction.
Its triggered a new story in me which is a completely different genre and so I look forward to seeing it bloom.
Love Wordsworth and this sonnet which to me sings of a writers freedom yet being trapped…
Nuns fret not
Nuns fret not at their convent’s narrow room;
And hermits are contented with their cells;
And students with their pensive citadels;
Maids at the wheel, the weaver at his loom,
Sit blithe and happy; bees that soar for bloom,
High as the highest Peak of Furness-fells,
Will murmur by the hour in foxglove bells:
In truth the prison, into which we doom
Ourselves, no prison is: and hence for me,
In sundry moods, ’twas pastime to be bound
Within the Sonnet’s scanty plot of ground;
Pleased if some Souls (for such there needs must be)
Who have felt the weight of too much liberty,
Should find brief solace there, as I have found.
W. Wordsworth
I have a slight obsession with some antiques – usually the ones which are from early to mid last century.
Looking and touching these items, I ponder who bought it, why they bought it and what they did with it.
It enables my imagination to run wild and imagine the various time periods and the kinds of lives these items touched.
What I desperately miss in this age of digital communication is sending and receiving handwritten letters or cards to family and friends.
Its such a shame we’ve lost our art of writing to one another as not only is it a memory filled keepsake but its personal and can be seen as a work of art.
I recall my mother writing lengthy letters to friends and family overseas when I was younger. What stuck with me was the time and effort she put into writing these letters to her loved ones. She had the most beautiful handwriting and I fondly recall the look of joy on her face when she received one in return.
My obsession with the written word also manifests itself in the form of greeting cards. I love sending them and receiving them so I always have a big stash near my writing desk and I keep the ones I receive.
I want to be able to expand this love and write more letters like I used to when I was a kid. Through my research, I’ve discovered there are plenty of pen-pal services available which you can use to practice your written letter skills as well as help someone. There are various organisations online in which you can write letters of support to people around the world (from soldiers to inmates) and you will be doing a great service to them as well as yourself.
So my love with writing peaks in another way and I look forward to engaging with others with the added bonus of polishing up my interpersonal writing skills.
tinaaltman.com 