Ice Maiden: Sounds a bit heavy metal when I wanted it to be ethereal and conjuring up a sense of magic.
I've been writing about elves all week for NaNoWriMo. I should be there now - I left my travellers recovering from an attack by stinking trolls. They are about to make a new acquaintance. My lead character, provisionally named Fila (which makes her sound like some sort of pastry) has a silver streak running through her hair - the result of a powerful magical encounter.
She's a lovely thing with a binding destiny to fulfill. When I saw that this week's Inspiration Avenue challenge was 'frosty', she begged me to give her visual as well as written form. So meet Fila - as her skin is so pale, perhaps she earns the surname pasty!
Fila Pasty - frost maiden, is a mixed media creation formed magically from scrapbook papers, acrylic painting, old book (you may have noticed a slight obsession with me and bits of old book in my artwork), ink, pastels, mica and some silver stars I found in my bits & pieces pot. The mica looks much more silvery and frosty in real life, the scanner seemed to intensify the colour somehow.
"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up."
Picasso was a chap who wrote a lot of terribly useful quotes about creativity. Apparently he also knocked up the odd canvas or two but I'm not sure if he was terribly successful in those endeavours or matched the success of his perfumier daughter.
Thinking on the same vein, Martha Beck in the Joy Diet, argues that 'play' is something we as adults should ensure we don't forget the value of. Play is how a child learns. Rolling the ball teaches that round things ... well, roll. Simple stuff. Play is what differentiates us from our animal cousins. They stop playing and just get bigger and stronger. We keep playing and learning and forming our minds. We get clever. What we mustn't do though is ever stop playing.
You know she's right and I've had the perfect experience of this. I've been playing at writing a novel. Yes, you are permitted to pick yourself up from the floor. I have finally begun what I've been wittering on about all year. I am taking my barely formed novel concept and giving it some substance. I'm switching between modern day London and LA to a magical land that exists (somehow, don't ask for exact details please) in parallel to our own. My characters are dusting off their cobwebs, pulling on some fine clothing and getting to know each other (they don't all get along too well just yet). The shock of the whole experience has even seen one poor Elf's hair be shot through with a silver streak!
As participant in NaNoWriMo I have been instructed to banish my inner critic and get words onto pages. I'm not to worry about it being any good. I just have to write a 50,000 word story. It's about play. It's about practice. How can I ever expect to write a publishable piece, let alone Pullitzer Prize winning novel with my first attempt? I'd have to be some kind of freak genius which I am well aware I'm not. So, we don't worry about publication. We don't even have to show anyone else what we've written. We just play.
And do you know what? It's actually rather fun! Take away your inner critic, the voice of reason, the need for a market, possibility of a multi-million dollar screenplay and a film starring George Clooney and just let go and write a story. Takes me back to primary school where we wrote stories for the fun of it and illustrated them with little bunnies and squirrels dressed in pinafores!
No animals in costume so far in my book (but I wouldn't rule them out - you never know what direction my imagination might choose to head in).
NaNoWriMo, aside from being an intensely irritating acronym to type, is my route to finding out if I have the bones of a novel in me and more importantly the real desire to become a novelist. As Martha so wisely writes "when we know we're playing a game, we're less attached to the outcome". If this novel turns out to be a D minus then so be it. I'll learn from it and move onto the next one. I know I love writing, we'll just see if that actually extends to novels too. Stay tuned and we'll find out.
OK, to finish up a little something for British readers of a certain age - check out that Playaway poster up top, team portrait below and the names starring alongside the legend that is Brian Cant... They didn't amount to much did they?
Woah there! I am officially feeling very strange. I'm at home - on a work day. I don't currently have a job. It's great!
I finished up at lunchtime today - the world is now my oyster. But right now I'm sitting at home on my own feeling a bit lost. Part of me wants to dive straight into setting myself up as a freelancer, investigating opportunities, putting out feelers... Another bit says "hey chill woman, go and hide under the duvet for an hour". Well, I confess I tried that and it lasted about 5 minutes. I am in no mood to relax. This is good. I've already written a to-do list for the rest of the week which is getting longer by the second.
I have PLANS. I am back to being me the professional internal communications expert. I'm not a part of that dull company anymore that was sucking me dry. It's amazing when you tell people you're leaving how you suddenly discover how close to going they are too, how depressed the place makes them feel, how resistant to change.
Well, enough of that now. Moving on. I'm free and tomorrow is another day. In fact, as far as I'm concerned, this afternoon is another day.
You know what else I could crack on with today? Why it is what I affectionately refer to as Na-Nu-Na-Nu - national novel writing month (NaNoWriMo - what a mouthful!). This could be the moment that my book finally sees the light of day. My characters are all packed and ready to head off on their adventures. I wrote 500 words yesterday, only another 45,000 to go! The beauty of Na-Nu is the simplicity of the concept - write a 50,000 novel in 30 days - but don't worry about how good it is - just get it out. Inner critics are bound and gagged and left at departures. Authors and characters are at the boarding gate about to head on the trip of a lifetime!
There's still a few seats left on the plane if you want to join us, though you might end up sitting next to one of my egomaniac baddies - they don't wash very often so frankly its no surprise there's a free seat (naturally though they bagsied the one by the window, being egomaniacs and all that). Before you get too excited, the Unicorns are travelling in the hold - you'd think they'd be willing to fly themselves but it's all about health & safety these days and equal rights for mythical animals...
Right I'm off to do .... exciting stuff!
PS: Did you know that Mork was originally in an episode of Happy Days? It's amazing what google can teach you...
I am a writer, an artist and a dreamer, a Creativity Coach and maker of meaning. I am on a journey following my heart. It promises to take me to some incredibly exciting places. Won't you join me?
I am a writer, an artist and a dreamer, a Creativity Coach and maker of meaning. I am on a journey following my heart. It promises to take me to some incredibly exciting places. Won't you join me?
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