Check out my latest post on YorkScene.com – “Forget Professionalism, Remember Writing” – where I reflect on writing as a business venture, where each post becomes another page in your portfolio. This view is helpful and oftentimes necessary when art becomes public, but it can also be creatively crippling.
This YorkScene post is hopefully the first in a series of similar pieces written “Stream of Consciousness” style reflecting on the nature of writing. As always, please comment and review. Have you had a similar experience with writing? How do you balance the sometimes slapdash nature of creative inspiration with the methodical, meticulate needs of editing and reviewing? Let me know either on YorkScene or MiaHerrera.com.
August 3rd, 2009 marked a memorable occasion: The day Penguin acknowledged me on Twitter. At the time, being acknowledged by Penguin on Twitter was like shaking a celebrity’s hand for me. It gave me a euphoric, giddy high. Over the past couple of years, there have been a few other times where I have had the same exciting feeling of going out in the world and rubbing shoulders with people I admire.
I received a similar thrill a couple of weeks ago when I visited Diaspora Dialogue’s website. I’ve been an avid follower of this Toronto-based arts organization since I happened upon it a couple of years ago. Imagine my surprise when I visited their site and saw they linked to one of my YorkScene articles. I was shocked and giddy. I print-screened it and saved it. It made my day.
How awesome is it to admire an organization for so long, only to find your name on the top of their homepage one day? Very awesome!
To read the YorkScene article, check it out here. The article also appears on Live in Limbo and Nerd Girl Pinups, so if you’re into Ontario talent or like books as much as hot chicks who dig Star Wars, check the article out on those platforms, too!
Ever since posting about it on YorkScene, a few people have asked me how my 52 Book Challenge has been going.
I have a confession to make: Even after two years of participating in the 52 Book Challenge and publicly proclaiming my continued dedication to it in 2011… This year, I have read a total of 0 books.
How is it possible that I haven’t finished reading a single book in the past 3 months?
I have nothing to defend myself with except to say that life kind of just happened this year. In addition to a full-time day job, I am also enrolled in a post-grad course working towards my CAPM, and am enrolled in the Humber School for Writer’s Correspondence Course in Creative Writing. The day job takes up a good chunk of my time (at least 8 hours, of course), and when I come home at night my choice is to either complete Project Management or Creative Writing homework. Often I choose to do Project Management work because I feel guilty not acing something that could so benefit my career. As for reading, it takes the back burner because I feel foolish putting something so “impractical” first.
Halfway through February, however, I noticed something odd. I was dissatisfied and grumpy all the time. I couldn’t figure out why, except that I hardly had time to meet my deadlines, spend with my family and friends and, most frustrating of all, to read. Yet again, passion fell prey to practicality.
The practical matters of life seemed to choke out all sense of creativity. By the end of the day, after pushing paper and numbers and numerous cups of coffee, the urge to write was gone. It’s hard to justify giving time to creativity and books when other “more important” things are at play.
I realized things had to change. Even if I had a higher pay cheque, or the entire alphabet in certifications after my name, I realized I wouldn’t be happy if I couldn’t confront the awful beast of writing, and I could never relax if I couldn’t ease my mind with books. As a result, I decided to make the effort to read more. And I’m almost close to the end of my first book of 2011 (Ilustrado by Miguel Syujco. It really is as masterful as everyone says it is!).
How have your reading challenges been going? And how do you make time in your life for the things you love? Does creativity or passion ever take the backseat to the everyday and, if so, how do you find a balance? Give me tips, please. I’m still trying to navigate the fine line between art and real life.
As always, please comment and review. Are you affiliated to any local arts councils? If so, how has your arts council experience been? If not, why not check it out? Let me know what you think!
Check out my latest articles on Nerd Girl Pinups and YorkScene.com about the NaNoWriMo competition. Both are slightly different, with my YorkScene submission focusing a bit more on NaNo response from writer Laura Miller. Whether you’re an NGP fan or YorkScene reader, please read and comment. I’d love your feedback on the NaNo scoop.
They all suck. Badly. And surprisingly, they don’t seem to know it.
Over the past year, I’ve gotten increasingly involved with various online and print publications and have really enjoyed it. This type of writing, however, is not what I ultimately wanted to do. I love to write, but I don’t want to spend all my time writing about other people’s books. I want write my own books, too.
Recently I decided to leave shift work to focus more of my time on art. This included applying to Humber’s School for Writers Correspondence Course – a renowned course, but one that cost a tiny fortune. I knew that if I got accepted into the program, I’d have to pay up, so I began looking into grants and scholarship programs.
One of the grants I applied for belonged to the York Region Arts Council. Silly me thought that my chances of landing a YRAC grant were pretty darn good. I had a pretty good portfolio and I’d agreed to write for the YRAC’s new YorkScene website, too.
Months passed and the deadline to hear back about the grant came and went. I took to checking my mailbox every day. People say that a watched pot never boils. Well, a watched mailbox never fills. On Thanksgiving Day, after hearing nothing in the mail as I was supposed to, I was included in a mass e-mail sent out to all rejected Grant applicants. “Thanks for trying. Sorry you didn’t make it,” was the gist of the thing.
I was devastated, of course, but it wasn’t about the money. It was about the above. It was about American Idol contestants who suck and suck badly. When people watch American Idol, they watch it as much for the success as for the failure. The above video has been viewed over 6 million times! These awful singers are just hilarious to watch. How do they not know how bad they are?
Over the years, after that first bout of curl-up-and-cry rejection from grad school, I’ve harboured a fear of what I term “tone-deaf writing”. What if I’m just not good enough? What if I just can’t see how awful my writing actually is? What if I’m one of those sad, sad people who pursue a dream to death to the point where it is no longer inspiring, but shameful and a tad depressing?
Being rejected for the grant -not even through snail mail like I was advised I’d be, but through a mass BCC – reinforced all my fears about being a tone-deaf writer. I found myself thinking, ‘Gee whiz, good thing I didn’t quit my day job, and thank goodness I signed up for courses in Project Management too.’
Of course my relationship with writing didn’t end there, but it certainly was a low point for me. Feelings of insecurity and uncertainty are normal, but what do you think of these feelings in relation to art? Of course it’s only natural for every artist to experience a certain degree of insecurity. Then again, what if you’re a “tone-deaf” artist? It’s naive to believe that a certain degree of talent isn’t needed to succeed in art. Some people just don’t have an affinity for certain arts. I can’t sing for beans and I know that. What if I can’t write for beans, either, but I just can’t accept it? What if you’re a tone-deaf artist? How would you ever know? And when, in the pursuit of art, should you accept your limitations and stop?
Check out my article on the relevancy of reading in contemporary society on either Nerd Girl Pinups or YorkSccene.com. Don’t forget to comment please!
Also, if you’re already going to be there, may as well check out my NON-PIXEALTED profile pic on YorkScene.com. Enjoy it, folks, because this photo took many takes with my dad behind the lens, who is the person I know who is most competent with the camera. Needless to say it was awkward.
Pardon my last minute notice, but if you’re somewhere near the Town of Newmarket tomorrow afternoon, come drop by and celebrate the YRAC Grant Recipient Announcement and YorkScene.com launch with the York Region Arts Council from 4:30-6:30pm in the York Region Municipal Offices.
YorkScene.com is the York Region Arts Council’s inaugural website featuring What’s On in our local arts, culture and entertainment scene. In addition to the main website, we have a whole host of bloggers from across the arts scene, from literary artists and visual artists to graphic designers and fashion designers. It is with great pleasure that I am one of the bloggers for the new YorkScene website, which is super handy and cool looking, just FYI.
Come out and celebrate the site’s launch with us tomorrow afternoon, or at least check out the new site after tomorrow’s 6pm release. We love reader feedback, so I hope to see you guys there!
