Tag Archive | creativity

Author Confessions: Understanding Needs

Jul14
Reading Time: 3 minutes

Author Confessions: Understanding Needs

I was surprised that I never wrote about needs as I’ve always loved Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs and find it contains easy to understand, and biblically sound ideas.

If you’re not familiar with Abraham Maslow, he was an American psychologist and he studied human motivation. It’s probably what he is most famous for. He came up with five basic needs that support the needs above them for a person to be living lives as full as possible.

Hierarchy of Needs

Physiological Needs

These needs we see even in infants. We all need to breathe. If you suffer from asthma like I do, you can appreciate that even more. When you’re hungry you realize how important that need is. Shelter is important to protect us from the hazards that can come from our environments: cold, heat, sun, snow, rain, hurricanes etc. We need clothing as well to protect our bodies. Winter coat in subzero weathers vs shorts and tank tops when it is hot. Sleep is also a need. It messes with our body and our minds when we do not get enough sleep.

Safety and Security

When we break a bone, get a disease, or even a cold, we are reminded how much our health impacts our overall well-being. We need something to do. Now in our society it seems that being online and pontificating and even bragging about not working is the norm but a well-adjusted individual needs employment. Paid or volunteer there is a built in need to contribute to something bigger than ourselves. Property is important, whether you rent or own we need a place. Even gypsy’s have property, they just take it with them. Family is one that is so in danger in our world but is a deep need God has built into us. Having social connections are also important to help us develop and be whole.

Love and Belonging

Friendships, family, intimacy and connection are again, built into us by our amazing God who wants to be in those kinds of relationships with humans. Denying the need for connections and belonging can deeply hurt an individual’s development and very existance. That is why isolation can be so hard long term in prison or for those who are held captive. The lack of connection can be devestating psychologically.

Self-Esteem

We long to be confident, to feel like we matter and that others like us. When that is denied a child, or an adult, it can be devestating. We long for respect for who God created us to be, as unique creations of a loving, and amazing God. When that is withheld it can have a horrible impact on a person’s emotional health.

Self-Actualization

We all have some version of morals, we have different levels of creativity, we desire acceptance, purpose, and to know our life has meaning. We long for the ability to make choices and take actions on our own.

Summary 

Getting our needs seems so simple in a pyramid. Due to sin it can be hard for us to find our needs met in the world around us because it often requires relationships which can be messy.

Next week I’ll be looking at how this connects with motives. Understanding human needs can go a long way to understanding ourselves which is necessary before we seek to understand others. God of course, is already there and calling us to follow Him and grow to be people who can serve Him, even if our needs here on earth are not fully met. Ane while we need these things from other humans, because He designed us for relationships, He also promises to help us with all of these as we seek His face.

Author Confessions: Why Authors Hate Marketing

Jul29
Reading Time: 4 minutes

 Author Confessions: Why Authors Hate Marketing

Maybe it’s an exaggeration to say authors hate marketing. We’re expected to do it. I’m sitting here writing in a blog as part of a larger marketing plan. Gone are the days where an author can squirrel themselves away in a lovely little cabin and pump out book after book. Maybe a book signing here and there to meet their adoring public. Back in the olden days (before I ever started writing for publication), publishing houses did all that work.

The advent of the internet and those who are self-publishing has created a lot more content and choices for readers. Some publishing houses are struggling to stay afloat in a highly competative industry and authors are making less money as a result. It’s only a tiny percentage of published authors who write more than one book  who rise to the top as far as popularity and book sales. Those with big names don’t need to be all over social media to get readers to purchase their next best-seller. If you are already famous and write a book, they might do a few interviews on national television and then that’s it, voila, best-seller.

Now this isn’t about book sales, per se. But the reality is we live in a noisy world. I admit to getting sucked into social media, reels, videos, and posts. Sometimes I think life was better before I ever joined Facebook, and I’m not on there as much as you might think. I hired a virtual assistant for a time to help with some of that and I learned a lot. The goal was not to need him anymore. I still have one helping me for the moment with this blog, but she doesn’t write the posts. She does all the back door stuff and offers a ton of encouragemet (I love you, Bonnie!)

TIME

I don’t hate marketing. What I dislike is the time it takes away from writing. Part of this is as I’ve learned new things I’m dipping into my back catalogue of content to put together my media content. That takes a lot of time as I’m skimming books to get quotes, or looking on line for reviews to use to help people perhaps take interest in a particular title. And I can’t be all about sales either. Who wants that? So I search for cute images with quotes about reading, books, faith, or sometimes something silly to post to encourage my audience. Eventually I won’t have to do all that again, except for new titles, so getting it organized right now is the big investment. If I were to line up interviews or books signings that takes even more time (and money). Thankfully, if I plan well, I can post all of that in advance. Still, it takes time and planning.

INTROVERTS

The majority of authors are introverts. We are not necessarily out for attention. I’m supposed to do videos to promote my books and I’ve done a few, but I hate doing them! They are short, sure, but they take more time than you think and I can be pretty critical of my performance. I can do live videos and be fine with them if they are less scripted but it still is not a comfortable thing to do. I don’t want this to be about me–but about the stories. I write fiction so I have to try to show you, the reader, the value there is in reading my made up tale. That takes time and creativity to put together in something that’s only 30 seconds to a minute long with a moving background. As you can guess, I’m not on TikTok. My life is mostly private. Sure I share some stuff on Facebook, and maybe if I think of it, on Instagram, but that’s about it. I want to live a life away from a computer screen as much as possible.

MONEY

I have paid marketing experts to help me but in reality it wasn’t just paying someone to do the job, it was paying them to teach me how to do it. It’s not cheap and doing the job myself I can see why. It takes time and that is a valuable asset. So is money. My husband spent his life in marketing and sales but it was for a physical product and he would do the sales at a home with an appointment. It’s as different thing to sell content like a book. So I invest money (and time) and it might be years before I see a real return on my investment. It’s a step of faith to do that and many authors do pay others for the help, but even with that assistance they often have to pitch in by providing content to the assistant. Those assistants work hard. Book signings can come with a cost as well for the spot at a craft fair, and maybe goodies for those who come whether it be snacks or give-aways.

The reason why authors hate marketing is because it’s outside of our wheelhouse and takes away from our primary craft of writing. I don’t mind doing images and posting or playing around to creat my own unique images, but it takes time. My publisher does some stuff to help market books but the primary weight of this for most authors, falls on their shoulders. And if you want to be published, you need to have that audience already established, even without having a book to sell. Crazy, right? Unfortunately, that’s the reality most authors face as they try to get a book ready for publication.

Author Confessions: It’s All Been Done Before

Jul8
Reading Time: 5 minutes

Author Confessions: It’s All Been Done Before

Ecclesiastes 1:9 famously states: What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun.

This collides horribly with our desire to be unique or feel like we are special or that no one has ever gone through what we have gone through. It’s a tightrope to walk between realizing the truth of that as not minimizing the struggles, challenges, traumas, that we all go through at one time or another on a world cursed by sin. Ouch.

In writing a story we are told to try to be unique, yet when it comes to marketing we are to compare our stories to similar authors or tales, while at the same time explaining why our book is different and the world needs this manuscript to be published. While this is more for non-fiction, it is sometimes applied to fiction as well.

As we learn and grow as humans we have “Aha” moments, right? Moments when we discover a truth or a unique hack that makes life make more sense or better. Often we don’t share those things because it may be foolish to others because “I was today-years-old when I learned….” Have you been there? I sure have!

Like when I found out that the best way to dry out my children’s wet shoes was to stuff them with newspaper. By morning they were dry. Amazing!

Social media has exposed us to so much information, so many “hacks”.  Lots of stories of personal triumph and tragedy. It can be overwhelming. But after a while it all starts to sound familiar, doesn’t it? People get sick. People die. Someone is grieving putting down a pet. Someone has a cancer. Someone is struggling financially. Someone has to move or is looking for a job. The list goes on but if you spend any time on social media you are familiar with pain and struggles. And the sales pitches.

When it comes to writing however, familiarity also rings true. While the exact combination of words and characterizations might be unique, there are similar story lines. The term used for them is plots. The more a readers consumes fiction, the more he or she will understand that there are some overarching plot lines. There is not a definitive list but here are some I’ve come across:

In Romance there are a few, called “tropes” that stand out as well and many overlap with the above plots:

I’ve put as many of my books into some of these categories but as you might be able to tell, there can be overlap and more than one “trope” in a book! This is not an exhaustive list by any means. There is a reason that some people love Hallmark books and movies, because they have a formula for their plots that works and for many that similarity is a comfort.

All that to say, hopefully the writing, in spite of any tropes, is good enough to keep the reader engaged to enjoy the journey even if it is perhaps similar to one someone else has read. As an editor I’ve had to reject books that were too similar to other books I was aware of. One especially was too similar to another by a famous author, and while I can’t accuse her of plagiarizing the work it was too similar for me to be comfortable with, which was sad because the writing was great.

There’s nothing new under the sun, yet as creative people, authors are still trying to create something fresh within the reality that it’s all been done before in some form or fashion. It is gratifying when a reader will tell me how a book surprised them. Even if something’s been done before I hope my readers will find enjoyment and perhaps learn something as they read my stories. If you find that an author has surprised you and you really enjoyed a book, please help them out by writing a review on Amazon so others can enjoy it as well. It really does help!

Author Confessions: Imagination and Creativity are Reflections of God’s Character

Apr29
Reading Time: 3 minutes

Author Confessions: Imagination and Creativity are Reflections of God’s Character

It would be lovely if I could claim that my stories are masterful works of art. I’d like to think they are good, and I’ve applied as much excellence as I have within me to write them. Awards and accolades (and money) would be lovely validation but in a deep field of other authors who are also doing their best to labor to write well, it’s hard to rise to the top of the heap in any way at all.

Creativity is a gift from God. He after all is the ultimate Creator of everything and any faults in them are not accrued to Him, but to our sin nature. I won’t go into the theology of sin but whether you have read Genesis or not, I doubt anyone can state that humans are innately good or perfect in any way. Even the physical world, including our bodies, are prone to the effects of sin including diseases and malfunctions.

I am a creative person. Now I would argue everyone can be creative in some way, shape, or form as we express that part of God’s character in our own lives. We paint houses, plant flowers, perhaps have a favorite color and it’s hard for anyone with vision to deny the beauty of sunrises or sunsets. My husband didn’t think of himself as creative, but he likes to fabricate things and fix things using the materials he has. It’s a challenge and he enjoys the process of trying something new to see if it can be done. That’s creativity. Maybe it isn’t as pretty, but even function can be a worthwhile aim. He has painted classic cars so there is that creativity for the purpose of beauty as well.

I mentioned that creativity is an attribute of God but it’s not one that we often think about. Without creativity we wouldn’t have innovation or try new things. There would be no music, no books, no art, no masterful gardens to walk through and enjoy. Buildings would be bland but functional, or would they? Even functionality requires creativity, doesn’t it?

Creativity is central to life and as an author who also enjoys other creative endeavors, I fully recognize that I cannot do any of it on my own. The imagination that helps me write stories is a gift from God and I have to believe my writing is an act of worship. When I go back and reread stories, I’m often amazed, not at how great I am, but at how God used my fingers on a keyboard to craft and weave through the stories all the threads that are there. They form a beautiful tapestry on the page. That’s not something I can do. Not without Him guiding me.

I also mentioned imagination. We daydream. We make up little songs. We converse with words that we somehow select and put together to tell others our life stories. Another gift from God. How did God possibly imagine us before He created us? Then He made every one of us so unique even to our fingerprints? Our DNA? There was no template for anything that exists on this planet without the imagination and perfect execution of that by our Creator God.

Obviously there are creations out there that do not glorify the Creator. God gives us these aspects of His character and holds us responsible for how we use them. Someone who writes erotica is misusing a powerful gift and will be responsible for how those words impact someone else. The same could be said for many aspects of life. Imagination is holy when subjected to the One who gave that to us. Then it can do amazing things.

Stop today and think about how creative life really is. How God has enabled you to express creativity. Whether you read a book, listen to music, watch a movie or television show, or even play a game. Stop for a moment in wonder and thank God for giving us such a marvelous gift because imagination and creativity are reflections of God’s character.

Author Confessions: Life Gets in the Way of Art

Feb26
Reading Time: 4 minutes

Life Gets in the Way of Art

I have so much work I need to do before I can write another book and it’s frustrating. I had to get the taxes together for our LLC, my personal business and of course just our home. It’s complicated. I think I’m on top of it now. Then a family member needed someone to take them to the emergency room. I work from home – and of course, even if I didn’t I’d have done what I could to be there by their side. Our dog became increasingly sick, which meant more time to care for him, clean up after him, and then finally make that awful decision to put him down. My husband was due to have surgery but a subsequent injury meant that it was pushed up several weeks earlier with another to follow. That also means accompanying him to all of the appointemnts and physical therapy. My daughter moved back home. Time was spent on cleaning out two rooms and part of the basement. Now I want to finish the basement and purge, purge, purge! After we put down our dog, we adopted a rescue puppy the very next day. Add potty training to my to do list!

I’m also doing physical therapy for an injury and doing the daily warmup and exercise can take an hour minimum. Must be done if I’m to be pain free.

I don’t know how I would live if I had to work full-time outside the home. As a self-employed writer I control my schedule.

Or does my schedule control me?

Real life: caring for loved ones, pets, family, maintaining relationships, preparing for our bi-weekly small group, maintaining my daily time with God, brushing teeth, showering, cleaning house, doing dishes, doing the laundry and actually putting the clothes away, grocery shopping, paying bills… all take time. Not a lot of time individually, but they take time and energy and effort.

I still don’t know how I managed to do all this with three kids underfoot. Sometimes I think I’m busier now with my retired but active husband.

Part of it is I would often work at night, or write while the kids were at school which meant everything else was done when they were home. That probably resulted in less fun time with them. I remember homework wars and the exhaustion of helping a strong-willed incredibly stubborn child to do his work. It took so much more time and mental energy than it should have. But I did it.

I did the best I could with what I knew then. Just like I’m doing the best I can with what I know now. Sometimes projects and work have to wait. If I don’t fold the clothes, eventually my husband will. He’s a busy man as well and we are committed to relaxing in the evenings. No work. That means sometimes things fall through the cracks.

The big lesson I’ve learned though through all of this over the years is that people are more important than tasks. Sure I feel bad if I forget to pay a bill, so maybe it’s late (usually it’s early) but it’s rare and I need to give myself grace. When I tell a friend about all I have going on they often respond with how exhausted I made them.

We all have our own burdens to bear and challenges. Creating a story won’t happen unless I make it happen. It’s not like a mythical muse actually taps me on the shoulder to say “Write! Now!” Not that I won’t have ideas or dreams of what I want to write but often things won’t start to flow until I make the space and time to actually do it. Sometimes that may mean saying no to something else that’s really good.

As I write this I’m sitting in a hallway at a medical center while a family member has some tests run. So I’m getting some needed work done while not being home but when that individual comes out of their testing, I’m done and my focus will be on them. Thankfully, the two hours I have are being productive because I invested in a smaller laptop for travel so that I could do such things. This same laptop allowed me to do National Novel Writing Month (nanowrimo.com) in November even though we were gone, having traveled for 9 days! I wrote in a car, early mornings before friends woke up, in the airport, and on the plane. I had a goal and I made it happen and as a result I had a short novel to send to my publisher for this coming Christmas. Maybe they won’t like it because I tried something new! If not then maybe I’ll self-publish it because I love it so much. We’ll see.

Life gets in the way of art but without real life there would be no art. That is a truth I embrace and live. I’m doing more now to actually live a fuller, more well-rounded life, than when I wrote those first two dozen novels. So maybe I won’t write as many books in a year, but I hope and pray the ones I do write will be  better because I’m living and enjoying the life God has granted to me right now.

Art is important, but people are even more valuable and I need to treasure as much time with those God has placed in my life as possible. Our souls are for eternity. Sure my words will live on after I’m gone, or at least I hope so.  And I pray they have an eternal impact on the ones who read them. Ultimately, that’s in God’s hands.

If you can relate to life getting in the way of art of anything in your life, you'd love the book, Donuts & Detours.

Check out Donuts And Detours on Amazon

Lessons Learned while Writing: Omniscience vs Free Will

Mar21
Reading Time: 3 minutes

This might seem like an odd thing to learn about while writing fiction but hang in there with me. My master’s degree is from a seminary. I have taught theology and studied the attributes of God. His omniscience vs out free will is an issue people have been arguing about for centuries.

I don’t really have the answer to that debate although I fully believe in both. God knows everything which should terrify us. EVERYTHING. Every thought and intention of our hearts, our motives, the words we don’t say out loud but think. Our wants and desires. Our deepest fears. Amazingly enough, He wanted His human creation, dependant upon Him for every breath we take and every beat of our hearts, to have the freedom to accept or reject Him.

He didn’t want puppets to worship Him. He wanted people willing to give their all to Him because He called and we chose to respond.

Now we could debate about how could God, who knows everything we will do, give us free will since He already knows we will do it?

I can’t answer that. Some thoughts are far too lofty for this mere mortal.

But I came to a place of peace with this because of my writing. It is not a perfect illustration because again, as a writer, I’m a mortal, not eternal like God is.

When I write my story I have an idea of what the journey for my characters will be like and who they are. (Remember, these people don’t really exist even if they seem to in my mind).  I have a general concept of my ending. Since I write happily-ever-afters it will be a happy ending. There will be love. Maybe a kiss or a wedding, and regardless of where my characters start on their journey, they will have grown emotionally and spiritually. Because I’m human and haven’t written the book yet, I’m not sure of all the details of those journeys to love and greater wholeness.

Whether a writer is a panster (write by the seat of his/her pants) or a plotter, planning out general points of the story’s plot, our characters sometimes surprise us. I can have in-depth interviews with these imaginary people but they sometimes throw me for a loop with a memory, or an issue I wasn’t expecting. Sometimes they make a choice I didn’t anticipate. However, I get them to my desired end for the book.

Once the book is written I am fully aware of their choices and decisions and the precise ending.

God knows my beginning and my end. He has a plan and a purpose for my life but I still make choices. Unlike me as an author, God is never surprised because He’s already read the end of my story. He read it before I was even born. That doesn’t mean He dictated my path.

I’m not even sure if that fully makes sense to you, but it does to me. I can’t understand just how it really works with an all-knowing, sovereign Lord, only that I can listen for His voice and maybe I’ll make mistakes, but He will get me to my desired end and use me to fulfill His purpose here on earth. Maybe I’ll sport some bruises from my failures, but He will never stop loving me on the journey through my story.

And He is also the One who leads me as I write. How else can my characters surprise me if my God-given imagination didn’t let that happen? An imagination designed for me combined with my history and past experiences to create a story out of nothing because I am an image-bearer of the Creator Himself.

Maybe this is too lofty, but I’ve found peace in not understanding how it all happens. It is a holy mystery beyond my ability to grasp but His omniscience doesn’t negate free will and there is wonderful security in that truth.

Making Cards

May27

Reading Time: 3 minutesYears ago I attended a Stampin’ Up! Party and learned how to do all kinds of fun and creative stuff with stamps. Cards are my favorite and it had been awhile since I’ve done this and with a depressingly long winter, even the first day I tried, I didn’t enjoy myself and wasn’t  impressed with my efforts. After awhile though, I started to have fun again. I don’t often let myself play and this was play time. Here are some of the cards I made.

This first trio are done with colored pencils – by my daughter Joy (age 8).

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This next set I had fun using browns, which is not a normal palette for me but was fun. Hey, there was till pink in there…

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And then there were the happy, hoppy frogs… they were fun and I used watercolor pencils for those and some I even cut out and used pop-ups under so they “jump” out at you a little more.

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But I wasn’t done… Some more masculine brown/green/gold but then more cheerful pinks and oranges and lime greens.

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These were fun mixing textures and patterns.

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I have plenty more that I made in about a week (I did about eighty cards). I don’t mail out cards as much as I used to, but now when I do they will be ones made by me and hopefully cherished a little more for the time and effort that went into making them along with putting them in an envelope with an old fashioned stamp and sending them snail mail.