Comments on: {creating dreams come true} changing your mind

By: The Craftaholic

The Craftaholic — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 23:33:12 +0000

I am still working on my list! I have had it as a draft for the longest! Is that bad? My dreams are constantly evolving tho.

By: Ginny Baker

Ginny Baker — Sat, 29 May 2010 12:54:49 +0000

Sounds great, Andrea! I’m looking forward to it! :-)

By: abccreativity

abccreativity — Fri, 28 May 2010 17:23:14 +0000

yah lee ann congrats!!!

ginny you ARE a writer! and we’re going to work on that some more in this sunday’s post – believing in ourselves and believing in our dreams no matter what.

By: Ginny Baker

Ginny Baker — Fri, 28 May 2010 16:39:23 +0000

Thanks Andrea. :-) The hard part now is not to listen to that OTHER little voice – the one that says, “Who do you think you are??? You’re not a writer! What makes you think you can write something anyone but your family and friends would care to read?? BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH”. But I’m doing my best to ignore it!

By: Lee Ann Monat

Lee Ann Monat — Wed, 26 May 2010 20:08:42 +0000

I got it! I’ll be writing about one of my summer guilty pleasure shows: Dr. Who!

By: abccreativity

abccreativity — Tue, 25 May 2010 23:23:41 +0000

way to go lee ann! i’ve got my fingers crossed for you to get the other show.

By: Lee Ann Monat

Lee Ann Monat — Tue, 25 May 2010 23:08:44 +0000

I took a risk today!
Our managing editor sent out an e-mail asking for submissions for our guilty pleasure shows. So I took a deep breath and returned it saying I’d like to take a stab at a particular show I like. I was freaked out but in a good way. She replied that my choice had been taken, but do I have any others? I felt a bit relieved and disappointed, but replied with another possibility. I’ll have to wait until tomorrow to find out if that one works. In the end, I’m proud of myself for taking the risk and feel bolder going forward!

By: abccreativity

abccreativity — Tue, 25 May 2010 12:52:26 +0000

hi ginny. oh yes i love the idea of giving it three months and i am so glad you are listening to that little voice! that’s your creative magic and your intuition! i am so excited about what is going to come of this romance novel. please keep us updated along the way.

By: Ginny Baker

Ginny Baker — Tue, 25 May 2010 12:47:04 +0000

Checking in. :-) I have to tell you that I really look forward to these posts every Sunday, Andrea. This week’s message really resonates with me. I agree that we need to give ourselves permission to change our minds, to alter our plans. I’ve been asking for clarity lately, and I finally feel like I’m beginning to get some. I kept asking myself what it is that I most want to do right now, and the answer I keep getting is to finish the romance novel I started about two years ago. The only problem is this little voice in my head that says, “Now wait just a minute. You’re not a writer, you’re an artist. And now you’re going to waste all this time writing something that probably isn’t even going to be read by anyone but your friends. Are you crazy??? You could be putting that time and energy into your artwork where at least you’ve had some success and have some credibility for pete’s sake!” That voice sure seems to have a valid point, and maybe I should listen to it.

But … I REALLY want to write this thing. I really want to finish it. I want that so much that it’s distracting me from the artwork anyway. I set a goal for myself to finish what I started there and I really want to do so.

So, yesterday morning, I started thinking, what if I gave myself permission to focus entirely on writing for the next three months? What if I put all of my available time and energy into finishing this novel? Then, I can decide what to do from there.

I could so relate to what Lis said about being an artist because that’s exactly how I’m feeling about being a writer. And the thing is, over 25 years ago, I felt the same way about being an artist! I was just a girl who wanted to learn to work with clay, to learn to sculpt. I started out with whimsical clay characters, and then moved on to teaching myself to sculpt dogs. And now 25 years later, I’ve had a book on creating polymer clay ornaments published, my work has appeared in several other collaborative books, and numerous magazines, I’ve been a freelance designer for both of the major US manufacturers/distributors of polymer clay, I’ve sold hundreds of whimsical clay figurines, and dog figurines, and ornaments, and pieces of dog breed jewelry, and so on.

If I’d listened to the naysayers back then, I’d never had done any of that. So, why am I now putting limitations on myself in regards to writing fiction? I remember reading a quote somewhere that said something like, “Don’t should all over yourself.” We get so caught up in what we should or shouldn’t do that we lose sight of what we most WANT to do. Thanks again for the food for thought Andrea, and thanks to everyone else who posted here because I get so much out of your comments too. :-)

By: abccreativity

abccreativity — Tue, 25 May 2010 02:42:26 +0000

lis that time of exploring is so valuable and important. i’m so glad you are giving yourself that gift. you most definitely are an artist!

helen i love that – “constantly updated menu” that is so delicious. also simply being open to poetry and fiction and yoga is delicious.