Re-post: Extra-curricular Activities for Creative Writers

ne of the things I love best about calling myself a writer is that absolutely anything can qualify as "research." People watching, movie watching, book reading, game playing, music listening, grocery shopping, etc. It all counts, because it can all inspire and generate creativity. In fact, I think ever writer kind of needs something extra to keep the juices flowing and the blocks from staying.

Think of 'Julie and Julia.' Julia Powell accomplished her goal of becoming a published writer through the extra-curricular activity of cooking. J. R. R. Tolkien developed Lord of the Rings out of his love for studying languages. Shakespeare was both a writer and an actor, and I bet both activities fed into and inspired each other.

In my case, as an example, I'd say my primary "extra-curricular activity" is theater and film. This is a little easier to tie in to writing because both theater and writing are creative, artistic fields, but it works well as an example. You can meet people who inspire certain characters. You can practice inhabiting a character, which is essential for both actors and writers. You get to practice being rejected over and over again until you finally get a yes. You experience stories in a new and exciting way. All of this can apply to theater and writing.

But there are lots of other activities with more lessons to teach. Extra activities can help you heighten your emotional sensibilities, connect with other people, relax and expand your mind, refresh your bank of characters and plots, inspire a specific story, refresh your mind and body physically, keep you up to date with the modern world, teach you about the ancient one, find creative ways to market your work, and the list goes on and on. Find activities that work for you and derive your own lessons from them.

Here's a very incomplete list of extra-curricular activities that may help inspire you. It may be useful as a starting point:

-Theater/Film (acting, directing, reviewing, costume/set design, cinematography, dramaturgy, etc.)
-Dance
-Gardening
-Cooking
-Photography
-Painting
-Improv (improv groups are a GREAT source of creative inspiration)
-Pets (breeding, training, loving, etc.)
-Mothering (this is a huge one)
-Carpentry
-Sewing, knitting, crocheting, quilting, etc.
-Theology
-Sciences (biology, psychology, astrology, chemistry, etc.)
-History
-Music
-Design (interior design, fashion design, ad campaign design, etc.)
-Physical training
-Collecting
-Anything else you like to do

What extra activities do you do for inspiration?

Sarah Allen

America and the Struggling Artist

Ok, so this may have been a more timely post two days ago, but better late then never, right? This is kind of whats been on my mind lately, in regards to the higher ideas about writing. What influence does living in the United States of America have on writers and other artists?

It seems like the stereotype is that great writing comes from a traumatic life. Many writers have lived through wars, poverty, etc. Writing was a fight for them, not just something to do everyday.

Maybe we shouldn't lose that sense of fight. We are incredibly lucky to live in a country where we have both the freedom and the means to do with our time basically what we want. We can't let that make us lazy. We have enough to eat and a law-protected roof over our heads; use those as enabling things.

Maybe this just means that the fights in our lives are a lot more personal rather than physical, and I think thats a good thing. For me at least, personal stakes are much more intriguing than physical stakes anyway. Everyone has problems, though they may not be fear of starvation or family safety. Don't be afraid to use your own emotions and experience to make your writing hit your readers in the gut.

Sarah Allen

Ready, Set: Going from Planning to Writing

This is point I'm pretty much at for all three pieces that I'm working on, and I'm finding it sort of a difficult hurdle to overcome. The planning stage is so different from the writing stage, and mentally its hard to jump from one to the other, at least for me. Sitting down at a desk and typing out words is much harder than laying in bed daydreaming about how awesome your book is going to be.

I think whats difficult is going from abstract to concrete. Its fun and easy to have abstract ideas about your characters and plot lines, but putting them down on paper is a whole other thing.

Besides, how do you know when you've done enough planning? Obviously the planning can't go on forever, but how do you know when you have enough information to fill a book?

This is the general frustration I'm feeling about my projects right now, and I'm thinking/hoping that I'm not the only one who goes through this. Its something you just have to swallow hard and write those first few pages. Once thats done, then you've switched gears and have a little momentum behind you. How much planning is needed is up to each writer, but don't let it go on for too long. I have a bad habit of doing that. I constantly have to remind myself that I can always go back. So take a deep breath, pull up a fresh page and just do it.

Sarah Allen

Writing Without Stability

As this scantily upkept blog no doubt shows, there has been little to no stability in my life for the past while. By that I mean I have been involved in a large number of things like school and shows, family reunions and summer vacations, things like that. I've barely had any time at home, let alone time to write. I'm sure you have all experienced times in your life such as this, where you are struggling just to make it through the day without dropping too many of the balls you have in the air, and for a while time for writing just kind of doesn't exist. Here are some ideas I've thought of for how you can still be writingly productive during the insane times.

Write on the run. I've found that for me its hard to do actual writing of a piece while I'm on the run. But something that does work for me is bringing around a bigger notebook and using it for outlining and planning. I'm in the process of starting a novel, a screenplay and a short story, so for the past while I've just brought around that notebook with me in the car, to rehearsals, etc, and jotted down scene ideas and stuff. Now I've almost got outlines enough for me to get started on the actual writing.

Read. While waiting in line, in the car, for a meeting, any time, have a book with you and pull it out and read. I didn't think it was possible, but in the past week or so I read The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, mostly at rehearsals and waiting in the car. You can't be a good writer without being a good reader, so use your waiting time to your advantage.

Marketing. Crazy busy times often include meeting a bunch of new people, and these new people are all potential help for spreading the word about your next book. Make friends, make connections, add people on facebook and twitter, talk about your writing. You never know what these people can do for your writing career. Plus making new friends is always awesome.

It seems that my life is stabilizing itself a little bit, so hopefully I can get this blog back up and running at its best. I hope this helps. We all have busy times, but if you are serious about being a writer, you need to always be working at it, no matter what else is going on in your life. Trust me, you'll be glad you did.

Sarah Allen

Movie Review: Toy Story 3

For my 100th post, I wanted to write about something special, and this movie definitely qualifies. This blog has been a fun journey for me so far, as has the Toy Story universe. That's pretty much the only connection I can force on why Toy Story is an appropriate 100th post marker, but here goes anyway.

To start bluntly, Toy Story 3 is the best movie I've seen in theaters this year. All the characters, witticisms, and humor that we love from the old movies are back in abundance, plus some new awesomeness. If you haven't seen it yet, you're missing out.

Despite, or perhaps because of all this, Toy Story 3 needs to come with a warning. Without giving too much away, you can't go expecting a light-hearted, easy movie. On the contrary, it was pretty intense, very poignant and at some points flat-out scary. They took the story and the characters to a much deeper, more profound level than not only the other two Toy Story movies, but most animated movies in general. I would say that its up there with Up and Monsters, Inc. in its emotional intensity/poignancy level. I, for one, really appreciated the thought and depth of this particular movie, and I think its wonderful for kids (and everyone else) to experience stories and characters at that level. I will admit that I got teary eyed multiple times.

While still a movie that anyone can appreciate, it was definitely geared towards people who grew up with the Toy Story movies. There are subtle references that just make you smile. We've all kind of grown up with Andy, and there's a bitter-sweetness in seeing him move on in life and realizing that we have too. Though, I will say, since I'm admitting things anyway, I still sleep with a teddy-bear.

Sarah Allen

p.s. The preview for Despicable Me looks freaking hilarious. Check it out, if you haven't already. There's another one I want to see the day it comes out.