All:
A happy full (blood) moon, Halloween, Samhain, or Fall Festival…to all of you. I’ll be giving out spooky books to those trick or treaters who venture into the quiet environs that is my neighborhood.
While they are busy grabbing loot from the community, I’ll be working on trying to figure out what the heck my NaNoWriMo is going to be. Likely, it looks, as if I’m going to be a bit of a rebel and continue working on what I’ve been working on. It’s one of the reasons this will be my last NaNoWriMo as M/L, certainly, and even, perhaps, as a participant, for the foreseeable future. I bascially live NaNoWriMo every month, ever week, every day now. But I believe that NaNo is one of the reasons I’m here today. It is a worthy endeavor and teaches you so much about your own personal writing life. So, if any of you have been thinking of taking the NaNoWriMo M/L reins, 2013 is your year. However, this year, I’ll be happy to give it my all and make it a great experience for all — including myself.
Kick Off Party is at The Black Dog, 6 p.m. tomorrow (Nov. 1 – All Saints Day). Arriving in sugar-skull costume is optional, but always appreciated and enjoyed. (I’m kidding…but if you want to, I’d love it!) This is more of a meet-n-greet event; however, writing is more than allowed. The Black Dog has free wi-fi, so if anyone still needs help getting signed up — we’ll be there to assist you. I did all the Swag Bags and raffle gifts yesterday. Very exciting. Hope to see many of you there.
Also, I’ve been asked by The Office of Letters and Light to not call our Nov. 16th dealio the Night of Writing Dangerously, as they want the big dealio in San Francisco to be the only thing called that… So, I’m taking suggestions on creative things to call it. Then I need to post that in the forums.
Alright, let’s get to our tasks as far as The Artist’s Way is concerned. If you didn’t come to the workshop on Sunday, you missed some great exercises, tips and tricks to get you thinking like a total professional writer. But you also missed some great exercises, prompts and the like to recover that creative self. But no time like the present to get back into it…
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Like I said, we’re in week 8 and were’s working Recovering a Sense of Strength. (I know I’m going to need strength to get through November — it’s a busy month for me regardless of NaNo.)
So here’s your Task:
1.Goal Search: You may find the following exercise difficult. Allow yourself to do it anyway. If multiple dreams occur to you, do the exercise for each one of them. The simple act of imagining a dream in concrete detail helps us to bring it into reality. Think of your goal search as preliminary architect’s drawing for the life you would wish to have.
The Steps
a. Name your dream. That’s right. Write it down. “In a perfect world, I would secretly love to be a _____________.”
b. Name one concrete goal that signals to you its accomplishment. On your emotional compass, this goal signifies true north. (Note: tow people may want to be an actress. they share that dream. For one, an article in People magazine is the concrete goal. To her, glamour is the emotional center for her dream; glamour is true north. For the second actress, the concrete goal is a good review in a Broadway play. To her, repsect as a creative artist is the emotional center of her dream; respect is true north. Actress one might be happy as a soap star. Actress two would need stage work to fulfill her dream. On the surface, both seem to desire the same thing.)
c. In a perfect world, where would you like to be in five years in relation to your dream and true north?
d. In the world we inabit now, what action can you take, this year, to move you closer?
e. What action can you take this month? This week? This day? Right now?
f. List your dreams (for example, to be a famous film director). List its true north (respect and higher consciousness, mass communication). Select a role model (Walt Disney, Ron Howard, Michael Powell). Make an action plan.Five years. Three years. One year. One month. One week. Now. Choose an action. (Reading this book is an action.)
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And now your moment of Writing Zen:
“Your desire is your prayer. Picture the fulfillment of your desire now and feel its reality and you will experience the joy of the answered prayer.” ~ Dr. Joseph Murphy