[Participants, please note: Please comment on the book giveaway post that matches the day. This is day 2 = May 2nd. Day 1 ended at midnight May 1 PT. However you can always comment late just to answer the questions, if you like.]
Why say wonderful things about Kelly James-Enger when I can just copy and paste my blurb from her latest book?
The words “total professional” seem to have been invented to describe Kelly James-Enger. I have been a long-time fan of her previous writing books and I will also highly recommend Writer For Hire. This may be the champion of all the writing books James-Enger has written because it contains her best advice compressed into short chapters that make for speedy reads. If you are a service writer looking for the secrets to success, they are all in here! It’s taken James-Enger fifteen years of hard-wrought effort to learn them, and now they can be yours. Read closely. Bring a highlighter. Apply what you learn. You’ll be so glad you did. ~ Christina Katz, author of The Writer’s Workout, Get Known Before the Book Deal and Writer Mama
And how perfect that my copy arrived via Fed Ex today. Hooray!
But it’s mine. You can’t have it. You are going to have either win it or order your own.
And I hope you will. Kelly’s advice has been instrumental to my career. Please help me welcome her!
About Kelly James-Enger
Kelly James-Enger has been a fulltime freelancer, ghostwriter, and author for 15+years. Her books include the just-released Writer for Hire: 101 Secrets to Freelance Success (Writer’s Digest, 2012) and Goodbye Byline, Hello Big Bucks: The Writer’s Guide to Making Money Ghostwriting and Coauthoring Books (CreateSpace, 2010). She blogs about making more money in less time as a freelancer at http://dollarsanddeadlines.blogspot.com, and lives outside Chicago with her husband, son, daughter, and golden retriever. Visit http://www.becomebodywise.com for more information about her.
About Writer for Hire
There’s no shortage of books on crafting book proposals, writing novels, overcoming writer’s block, and getting in touch with one’s muse. But what about a book for writers who simply want to earn a regular paycheck? Writer for Hire is just the wisdom full- and part-time freelancers need. Author Kelly James-Enger details:
- 101 secrets to success, organized into five overarching strategies. You’ll be able to implement what you learn immediately.
- Invaluable advice on managing deadlines, querying effectively, working with clients, handling taxes, invoices, and more.
- Strategies for getting more writing gigs, including networking (in-person and online), establishing yourself as an expert, working more efficiently under tight deadlines, and handling rejection with confidence
James-Enger looks at the “whole freelancer,” addressing both the craft and business of freelancing.
The Very Short Interview
This year’s author interview theme? The story of Kelly’s writing career in miniature! Here’s what I asked Kelly:
When did you know for sure that you were a writer and that writing would be a major energy focus in your life?
While I wrote as a child, I’d say it was in college (I majored in rhetoric) and afterwards. I pretty much quit writing during law school and the first year of practice, but then started writing (bad) short fiction again. Then when I realized I had a much bigger chance of getting published with nonfiction, I started writing nonfiction articles and selling them. Eventually I started writing (and selling) novels, too.
Who has always been behind your writing career and who helped pull you up the ladder of success?
My then-boyfriend/now husband was supportive from day one, even when it meant leaving behind a successful career as an attorney. My mom was also supportive. But I would say no one helped pull me up the ladder of success—I did that pretty much all on my own. It’s one of the reasons I started writing about writing, trying to provide the tools and support I wished I would have had as a new writer.
What is the most frequent comment you hear about your book (or books) from readers? Tell us a little story about the response to your work.
It depends on the book! For my nonfiction books on successful freelancing, the most frequent comment is that my book helped him or her launch and/or sustain a freelance career. With my fiction, it’s that my books are so relatable and funny. I just had a reader contact me out of the blue, reminding me that he had loved my first two novels. I told him I had a new one out and not only did he buy it—he published a glowing review on Amazon and Smashwords, which really made my day. 🙂
And Now, Your Turn
Now it’s your turn. You remember how this works right?
I ask you a question. You answer in the comments for your chance to win a book each day.
Please just respond once, even if you make a typo. 
Answer in the comments in 50-200 words (no less and no more to qualify to win one of today’s books). Please read the complete rules at least once!
Thanks for participating in the Writer Mama Every-Day-In-May Book Giveaway! I hope to see you here every day this month. Bring your friends!
Q: List all of the times you have totally surrendered yourself to the creative process and what that experience was like.
Don’t feel limited to writing, any creative experience works, (however, please keep it rated PG).
Ready, set, comment!
Comments on this entry are closed.
I surrendered myself to writing a novel. I knew nothing about social media and author platforms, but I knew I wanted to write. It took my ten years (thanks to having three kids and four moves). I only wish I had known more about building a platform, etc. BEFORE I published. Playing catch-up has been really difficult. Still, I have learned so much.
Kelly’s book sounds wonderful. Thanks for having her and for all you do for writers!
I am in the regular habit of totally surrendering myself to the creative process, otherwise I wouldn’t get my work done. It is not always easy to balance, especially with a toddler. I first learned this habit in some of my creative writing classes in college. At this point in my life, I was self-conscious of my writing abilities, and completely letting go was scary, since I had to read everything I wrote in front of others. This was a pivotal point in my life because I learned about all of the rewards you gain when you truly let go, including both praise and constructive critiques.
One of the most emotional times I had surrendering myself was when I sat at my father’s grave site under a huge Oak tree. I had struggled for some time trying to write and put what I was thinking on paper and it just wasn’t flowing the way I wanted it too. Sitting under that tree, however, was peaceful and comforting. I felt the freedom I hadn’t felt in a long time and the words simply flowed. I wrote several pages that day and continue to visit the cemetery when I feel myself losing my way. Some will think it’s my imagination, but maybe my father is watching over me and guiding my hand as he continues to cheer me on.
I have purposed to create a scrapbook for each of my
children for their 18th birthdays. When my firstborn approached that
milestone, he was gone from home for several weeks. I took that time to record
18 years of life on a few short pages in a few short weeks. Littering our
dining room with bits of paper, photographs, stickers, and glue consumed me. My
younger children fended for themselves while momma snipped and glued away the
hours—sun up to long after sun went down. The process exhausted me. But when I
gave my son his book, and beheld the look on his face as he turned each page,
it was worth every minute.
Whenever I have allowed myself to totally surrender to the creative process without guilt, I always come away rejuvenated. I find I have to be creative daily, even if it’s in only a small way.
I had a revelation a while back. I realized that I don’t express myself creatively for the fame, the money, or approval from people. Those are nice perks but they’re not what drives me. Being creative is part of who I am and I need that creative fix to feel whole.
I subscribed to a web design email newsletter. Every issue offered expensive software as a prize for submitting an article they published. Did I write about HTML? How to control images on web pages? ASP? None of that. I took a different route and wrote about grammar rules for the Web (or was it “web”, email vs. e-mail, etc.). The newsletter published my article and gave birth to the start of a writing career.
Last year I started working and creating in my visual
journal. It’s easy to surrender to tearing our magazine pages on anything that
strikes me from gardening to canceled checks and notes about when I pay my
bills in full. The magical part has been when I go back through the pages. I’ve
come up with ideas for articles and products.
The first time I realized I was surrendering myself to the creative process was during college. As a double major in English and political science, I had a lot of big papers to write! (notice I didn’t say, “I wrote a lot of papers.”) 😉 When I couldn’t procrastinate any longer, and fully abandoned myself to my Muse, I (sometimes) was impressed with what I wrote. More recently, I find myself surrendering to the creative process by coming up with fun ways to expose my young children to everything (as much as I can, anyway) that this wide world offers. As I dive back into writing now, I can surrender for an hour or so (it seems like just minutes!) before I need to resurface to tend to my kids. But I am immensely enjoying the experience of writing again!
Thank you for this opportunity!
Thanks for doing this! There have been a very few isolated times when I’ve been writing when in process, all these brilliant ideas came to mind that worked beautifully and it all just flowed onto the paper. Like I said, it doesn’t happen very often! I suppose “the muse showed up”. It’s wonderful and completely fun! I probably self-edit too much that prevents that from happening more often. Also, if I’m not writing consistently, there’s no opportunity for it to happen!
Since I started writing in 2006, I’ve engulfed myself in my
writing. Whether it be PBs, MG, my kids
columns or the manuscripts I’ve written that I have come to call novellas, I
surrender myself to the keyboard. I’ve learned so much these past years, I’ve
went from knowing nothing about writing to enjoying the process so much that it
is all I want to do. It is time consuming yet exhilarating.
To submit to a creative process, too many to remember-let alone list, has always been worth the leap. I fight with myself: I should do this first, or that…on and on. But once I just “do it,” retreat to my office/writing room or sewing room, I am done for. Away I go. When I return to my less creative, get ‘er done, world. I am at peace with my progress, no matter how minute.
Total surrender in the writing process happens rarely in my
current life season. When I can make it happen, it’s usually short-lived, but
almost always spurs me to keep the writing-every-day-habit, even if it is only a
few hundred words. For non-writing activities, I can get totally lost
creatively when cooking, painting along with my children (just watercolors—nothing
fancy), and trying to solve a problem around the house without actually having
the knowledge or tools of a professional home-repair person.
I think I totally surrendered myself to the creative process when I started writing the first draft of a novel. I did the Nanowrimo challenge, and, though I didn’t make it all the way through, I certainly dived into the experience with both feet. I also do some freelancing, so I’ve seen Kelly’s name lots of times in my readings. I’d love to win a copy of her book!
I surrendered to creativity on an Alitalia flight from Rome to New York City. I was moving away from Rome, and it was like a horrible break-up. I was heartbroken. I wrote exactly what I was feeling, what I would miss, and allowed myself to grieve. It was a long eight hour flight, but by the end, I had said good-bye. I still read that journal entry, 12 years later.
Surrendering myself makes me drop my defenses, my pride, and my fears. I began Morning Pages a la Julia Cameron. This is my third go at this process, each lasting a few months over the past year. Planning to do these pages daily for life but sure I will miss a day here or there.
Morning Pages are one of my tools to surrender myself to the writing process…no deadline, no expectations, and no editing! What could be better? Ideas and a running start at the day’s writing? I’ll take that any day…
Other times I did and do this? The first time my trio went out to sing at a venue that was totally outside our box. The exhilaration of a standing ovation when the audience is relieved you can sing? Priceless. It makes you want to do it again and again.
I am just learning how to do that now. I always *wanted* to, but I kept pushing that creative urge out, telling myself that there were more important priorities. Still, that Burning Desire To Write never left me. It’s like an itch that needs to be scratched. I hope that now that I’m taking Christina’s class (finally!) I can learn to surrender to and accept my creative talent. The process will be at times scary but I think I will feel much free-er as a person.
Oh boy! When I first read the question of the day, I didn’t think I would be able to come up with at least 50 words to answer! Most of my professional writing has been all about the business of writing. But I do surrender to the creative side of writing in my personal life. These times include ramblings on my blog, the scrapbooks I make for the kids (which are more like photo-journals than scrapbooks) and in my own journal. Since I primarily write for newspapers, I admit that it is sort of hard for me to not edit when writing creatively and even in my personal journal.
I love to surrender myself to creativity when my daughter (who is 2.5) is making art. She loves to paint, color with markers, decorate everything with stickers, and every now and then I join her in the fun of creating. It’s a very different experience than surrendering to the creativity of writing, but I think we all need some non-verbal inspiration from time to time, too.
I’m
fairly horrible at surrendering to anything, perhaps especially the creative
process. I fight it. When I do have moments of surrender, it’s like I’m outside
of time—I’m so immersed I have no idea how much time passes. It’s a great
feeling, and when I have surrendered, I’m able to write a lot—it’s not all
great, but I have more to work with, and am not nitpicking each word as I write
it. Why do I fight so hard to keep myself from this surrender?
Oddly, I found it quite easy to surrender to the creative
process when I took a beginner drawing class a few years ago. Likely because I
had no drawing experience and no expectation I was not censuring myself as I
went along. I felt pure joy in creating something I had never imagined I could
do.
The first time was waking from a tween dream including my best friend, I wanted it to be a gift to her for the fun we have dreaming and awake. The next time I wrote with such freedom come years later in my twenties while I followed the Artist’s Way as I removed blocks from my life. Since then I have participated in several literary abandon events like NANO and Frenzy and all day writing workshops. The next stop for me – applying for an MFA to have years of abandoning myself to craft. Wish me luck!
When I surrender myself to the creative process, time no
longer matters and inspiration flows freely. This is usually easiest when the
outcome doesn’t matter—decorating an envelope for a friend’s birthday card or
making an elaborate costume. It’s often harder with writing because there’s so
much conscious effort involved, and so much second-guessing. Is this what the
editor will respond to? Is this what the reader can’t resist? But once the
assignment is granted and the research done, when I’m sculpting the content
into its final form, it gets easier. The hard work is done and the creative
process takes over, and time slips into the background.
While my heart is in creative writing, I realize that I’d much rather be writing non-fiction than spending my non-creative-writing time doing anything else (in terms of work). This book sounds like the perfect addition to my growing collection of books for writers. And I can see myself turning to the section on handling the business side (taxes, invoices, etc.) first!
All the times
I’ve totally surrended to the creative process, hmmm.
I write freelance, and every once in a while, I’m totally absorbed. Most of the
time, I get on a roll and an interruption derails me. That’s what having kids
does, but I’m happy to report you get used to it. It’s almost too hard when the
house is silent.
I wrote a first
draft of a novel and there were times when I was sucked in completely as I
wrote. Now I’m revising that first draft and all I keep thinking is: Oh my
gosh! I can’t believe I thought that was great and I was completely sober while
writing it, yikes.
The best part
of surrendering is the feeling of accomplishment. I know I’ve totally
surrendered when my pulse picks up and tunnel vision kicks in. The downside is
coming out of the tunnel. It takes a moment to get back in real world mode.
I think there are too many times to count. Everytime I sit down to write I completely surrender myself to the creative process. For me, it is like an out of body experience. Many times I go back and say to myself, “I can’t believe I wrote that.” Writing puts me in a trance which I think comes from surrendering myself.
Maribeth:)
I’ve surrendered to creativity too many times to list while
writing. One time that stands out,
I was working on a short story and felt stuck. I went for a walk and vivid
scenes flooded to me, so I raced home and typed feverishly. It feels like magic
when that happens. Since I started writing articles, I’ve found that deadlines
can actually be helpful in forcing me to surrender.
I’m reading Imagine by Jonah Lehrer right now, and he
explains what’s happening in your brain during those moments of insight and how
you can aid the process. Hints: surround yourself with the color blue, watch a
funny video, and relax.
Thanks for the contest! I love Kelly James Enger.
Is the clock lying? Have I been working that long, far into the wee hours?
Those are the hours that being “in the groove” or “in the flow” change time more than Einstein imagined. The compression and expansion of time, of course, are all wrapped up inside our skulls—all of those dendrites chattering not about time, but about the connections we’re retrieving that magically land on the page.
For me, that magical state now happens more frequently in writing poetry than when I’m working on my book. A rather recent poet, I find that getting inside poetry’s compression, multiple relationships, and music make me a better nonfiction writer, but—observe the warning—it’s obsessive. Well, I suppose a state of obsession is precisely the experience we’re describing.
A few years ago, I was able to spend a week at a friend’s house writing my WIP novel. No meals to cook, no kids to answer and no distractions. I lit a few candles to invite my muses along. It was a wonderful, freeing creative experience. The characters came alive and joined me in my distraction-free zone.
My most creative work seems to grow out of sitting down early in the morning, after the crazy aging dog wakes me up at the ungodly hour of 4:30 a.m., with a fresh cup of coffee and a spiral notebook. Writing my three pages by hand really does work (a la Julia Cameron). From there, when I have time, I can go back to my “real” writing project at the computer. There is something so freeing and personal about the morning pages. They’re like magic. Don’t even have to read them ever again. In fact, usually don’t. They work like meditation to clear your mind. Simply magic. If I don’t make time for them, the rest of my writing either doesn’t get done or gets bogged down so much I may as well have not tried. My suggestion: give it a shot (don’t have to be done in the morning, btw, just before you get started).
When visiting someone who is gravely ill/dying, I need to surrender everything in order to be fully present. Because I have always found music to be my most powerful connection to the Divine, it is at those moments when I open my mouth and song pours forth. It’s not orchestrated or predetermined. It is a reflection of my own raw experience as I tend to the needs of the family and the dying.
***********
Along similar lines, when singing with the right person. If that makes sense… I recently had a rehearsal with someone who I just knew would be the right singing partner. She had the same suspicion. And we were right. Within minutes, we were harmonizing and improvising with sheer abandonment.
***********
Finally, the birth of our third child. There was something so fantastic about that process. I knew what to expect. I was in complete control. I had amazing nurses. And there was a point when I thought to myself “this is just so amazing and I could totally do this again.” I was in the moment. And it felt like I had created an entire world.
The hardest part of surrending myself to the creative process is that it always has to end when my family duties call. The best part is that when I can surrender I get so much accomplished, the best, of course, is when I know what I’m writing is good, not the times when I’m just getting the words in.
Unfortunately, I don’t surrender myself completely to the
creative process enough because of my lack of organizational skills. However, I
am lucky to have a very supportive family and they are great about letting me
shut myself off with just my computer and iTunes when they need to. When I
surrendered myself to finally getting my novel down on paper, it was an
overwhelming, yet beautiful, experience. With no outline and just a rough idea
of the story and characters, I let the story guide me, and not vice versa. I
was taken back to the small town where I finally felt at home during my
childhood as well as the friends who welcomed me with open arms there. I truly
believe there is nothing better than watching two characters fall in love, and
for the tone of the story to change from gloomy to hopeful. Now, if only I
could get those revisions done . . .
1. During a writers’ retreat I finally hit a stride after a couple of days of settling in there. The words just flowed when I had the chance to clear out everything else from life and focus on just that.
2. It happened when I was teaching many, many times. I found the “zone” where I was interacting with my class and we were ALL learning about the subject at hand together.
3. Whenever I give myself a little head space to just free write, and then I often manage to write myself into that creative zone. Time passes and you have no idea that it has. You don’t think about being hungry or tired or anything else. You are just 100% in THAT place.
Surrendering myself to the creative process is liberating,
exhilarating, and fulfilling in so many ways. With three little guys underfoot,
it can be difficult, though not impossible, to do. I’ve found that the following
three different aspects of my life provide daily opportunities for me to be
creative and enjoy the process while I’m at it: motherhood, writing, and
cooking. I have the choice to approach each of these as a creative challenge
that can be exciting and fun or I can approach them as drudgery. Needless to
say, when I jump into it wholeheartedly and fully surrender to the creative
process involved in each of these aspects, fireworks go off. 🙂
Thanks for hosting this giveaway, Christina! I look forward
to reading everyone’s posts each night, even if I don’t make it online in time
to participate.
And thanks to all the amazing authors who participate and
share their wisdom – and books – with all of us!
I knew I was a writer at age 12. I wrote through high school, but when I studied English Lit. in college, I stopped writing. I went to work as a full-time copywriter after college. When people would ask me if I ever wrote my “own stuff” I made excuses about lack of time, ideas, etc. 3 kids and 10 years later, I guess I finally ran out of excuses. I was browsing in Borders one day and came across a copy of Writer Mama (thanks Christina) 🙂 I read it in a couple of days and knew immediately that I wanted to write my own stuff again. It’s been a year and I have faithfully surrendered to the creative process every day. The best part of this experience is that I finally feel like me again. It’s as if a part of me was dead and the words on the page are bringing me back to life. Thank you!
My 7-year-old son has been in the hospital for seven months now. I wanted something he could keep with him when I wasn’t there so he could still feel connected to his family (he has Asperger’s). So, I decided to make a scrapbook of sorts for him. I wanted to use things I already had in my home, since money was limited. I found an old binder and then used craft supplies to create a special binder just for him. It has different sections that include all of his favorite things and all of his favorite pictures. Each time that I visit him, I bring another section for him to add. When I surrendered myself to the creative process my mind exploded with so many creative ideas I never could have imagined before and my son is benefiting exponentially from them 🙂
I surrendered to the creative process when I went through a divorce 20 years ago. I said good-bye to my dream of a white picket fence life married to a doctor with two beautiful daughters. And I said hello to a new life with the promise of freedom from alcoholism and emotional abuse. I learned to set my mind and behavior on making my life look like what I wanted instead of allowing another person to do it for me.
When you get into a good place with writing, it is a complete surrender. Then you look up and realize four hours have gone by and you haven’t taken the time to go the bathroom, because you had stories you had to tell and they were more important than your bladder. That’s how I’ve felt working on the book I just submitted to my publisher. It comes out in 2013. The subject matter felt too important to take potty breaks. Or maybe it was my looming deadline? In any case, my favorite part of that process is the feeling that your brain is on fire and you know you’re doing good work. It doesn’t happen very often but when it does it’s the best feeling in the world.
I love the feeling I get when I totally surrender myself to the creative process. In looking back on the moments I remember that happening, most of it has occurred in classes. I remember being totally absorbed when creating oil painting in high school and pen and ink drawings in college. After graduating from formal education I kept taking community education courses in art. For me, there was something so inspiring about being in a room that smelled of linseed oil and turpentine, surrounded by others who were totally absorbed in getting an image down on paper or canvas.
When writing, I feel much more creative and productive when I am in a workshop surrounded by others who are also writing. Again, the sensory input plays a big role. Listening to the scratch of pen or pencil across notebook paper drives me to scratch out my own words that I would be proud to share.
It was fun thinking about this. Thanks for offering Kelly’s book in a giveaway.
I don’t know if I’m totally surrending myself to the creative process, but when I’m focused on my writing, really focused without any distractions and writing really about anything I am working on I can feel lost and swept up in the process. I can even be writing journal or morning pages to get warmed up, sometimes I can totally lose myself in that and time goes by in an instant. Then when I’m done I feel so energized by the process of writing, even if what I’ve written is not very good or at all polished.
All the times? It’s hard to remember them all. Sometimes I find myself in that groove when I’m sewing – I just disappear into a zone as the needle clicks up and down and I put pieces in place. Or when I’m creating a scrapbook page or a card. My creative instincts make the world around me blur and the project at hand become the total focus.
Of course my favorite times are when I’m working on a writing project. The words on the screen pull me in and I lose track of time, my family, eating. The writing becomes everything. It doesn’t happen with every project, but when it does, it’s sweet!
And I’m excited to see you featuring Kelly’s book. I had the wonderful privilege of sitting in her class on writing magazine articles at the community college a bunch of years ago. Congrats, Kelly on the new book!
When I’m in novel-writing mode I totally live and breathe the book. I pick out music my character would listen to and it becomes my soundtrack-even when I’m not writing. I put together a playlist for my iPod and listen whenever I have the opportunity. I know I’m in the groove when my character appear in my dreams at night. And usually they are contradicitng something I wrote them doing.
In writing my unfinished memoir, I’ve surrendered. When I
first started, I was driven, I had a goal, to write and publish the book. I had
a fleshed out outline and a date by which I’d finish it. But the more I’ve written,
and learned from classes, reading, and talking to fellow writers, the more I’ve
felt that it will be done when it’s done. I’ll know when that is because I’ll
be able to feel it, not because a date on the calendar has arrived.
I love being in the creative zone, although it doesn’t happen as often as I would like. I find I truly block everything out, so much pours forth unedited and surprising. Coming out of it is similar to waking from a deep restful sleep, only I’m awake and my energy has been honed, lost in the process. I do NOT like being intercepted when I’m in this zone, as my family can attest to. It takes me awhile to re-engage with the present outside of my zone.
I don’t know that this is ALL 🙂 but times when I have
surrendered to the creative process include: Creating a wall quilt for our
local fair’s fundraiser with my own pattern; writing short stories on a
deadline, something about the need for speed shuts up the critical and worry-wart
part of my brain; creating costumes for
a skit; creating dolls for a game; and many times when one of my kids has
asked, “Mama, can you draw/make me a ____?”
That was a fun trip down memory lane. Thank you. 🙂
I surrendered myself to writing after my son was born. It was when I suddenly had little to no time that I realized just how much I want and need to write! These days, I surrender to the muse when my little man is at preschool. It used to be during naptime, but he’s decided to forgo any sort of daily siesta. I’ve tried to squeeze writing time out of the evenings, but find I am horribly useless then. Much more of an early bird scribbler.
I don’t feel it as “surrendered,” more as carved out the space for creativity. I’m always amazed that when I do that, I can still meet the basics of life, and so I should do so a lot more often. One of the most powerful sections of engaging in the creative process for me would have to be writing a novel while my newborn and two-year-old napped in the first year of my daughter’s life. Ok, I didn’t finish it until the following year, but still, I made progress every day, felt charged up & connected, and that was amazing.
Because I’m a rule-follower and a non-conformist at the same time, I’m going to answer in list form.
I totally surrendered myself to the creative process when…
I wrote parodied lyrics to popular songs for my university’s Broadway-like variety show. I loved other’s reactions to my ideas, and watching the show morph from the idea stage to the final production felt so rewarding.
I prepared for and sang at my senior voice recital in college. As I poured my heart into my interpretation of the songs, I felt connected to each audience member.
I learned how to change my teaching style to share health lessons and Bible stories with illiterate women in Togo, West Africa. Finding ways to make them laugh or to think was a challenge as I myself was learning their language and culture.
I spent hours and hours (and hours and hours) collecting letters, stories and pictures from my parents’ friends and former students to put together a memory book for their 50th wedding anniversary. I felt honored to receive each person’s piece of my parents’ story and to find just the right picture to go along with it.
These days, as a mom, I totally surrender myself to the creative process when…
I menu-plan and cook. (I almost love the creative process more than the actual carrying-out.) I love putting together main dishes with colorful and healthy sides, and the challenge of finding a recipe with only the ingredients I have on hand makes me feel accomplished.
I brainstorm ways to improve the moms’ group I lead. Putting together our program of topics for the year always excites me for the potential of what’s ahead (and gives me great ideas for articles!).
That exclamation point was just for you, Christina. 🙂
Oh surrender. I’m not the best at surrender. The most significant time I have surrendered to the creative process was after the birth of my son when I heard about NaNoWriMo. It was the perfect thing for the moment and I just turned myself over to it. I’d had the loose frame of a story in my mind for years and that was just the nudge I needed to find an outlet for it. The experience was so gratifying and I wish I could recapture it.
I’m really enjoying learning about these writer Mama’s! Thanks for putting this together.