Month: July 2022

How to Survive a Creative Dry Spell

Post author By A. L. Buehrer
Post date July 25, 2022

Sometimes terrible things happen when you’re barreling through a piano piece. You hit a sudden snag, you’re fingers trip, your hand shifts, your brain scrambles and all of a sudden, you’re literally playing every note on the keyboard except the one you were looking for, and that’s that.

That happens now and then in everyone’s creative life. Something goes wrong somewhere and all of a sudden you can’t hit any of the right notes. Call it burnout. Call it a dry spell. Call it not feeling it anymore. It’s discouraging, but it isn’t permanent and it shouldn’t last as long as it often does.

In this post, I’m going to give you a three-step strategy to survive and escape a dry spell. Keep in mind that none of these steps should be rushed. The most likely cause of your burnout is overwhelm, so trying to check off a lot of boxes too quickly is going to defeat the purpose. So be very patient with yourself and take it easy.

And before you start, you’re going to need to stop.

Step one: stop and assess the situation

It pays to be self-aware, especially as creator. Creativity takes a whole lot out of you and requires your mind to be functioning at capacity. If something’s dragging, it’s going to show up in your ability to create.

Pay attention to your intuition, here. If something feels off, don’t ignore it. Keep an eye on yourself for a few days and note how well things seem to be going. It’s normal to have bad days now and then, but if something is actually going wrong, pay attention. Stop and observe what you’re having trouble with.

At this point, try making a list of your WIPs. You are probably working several projects at once right now. List them on paper. You might be doing a lot more that you realize.

Once you’ve got the list, go through the points one by one and note:

Anything that has an absolute deadline
the projects you feel most stuck on
the ones you still feel excited for
anything you are nearly finished with

Step two: refocus and organize

My first piece of advice for anyone experiencing burnout is, give yourself as much extra time as possible. There’s not much you can do about the projects that have actual unmovable deadlines, but you may be surprised how few of them actually do, if you think about it carefully.

But you might be thinking, “aren’t you just suggesting I procrastinate? How in the world is that going to help my overwhelm?” No. It’s not procrastination if you’re doing it intentionally. You are in control of your time. In many cases, as long as you’re not working for someone else directly, you have every right and every reason to choose not to rush something.

Next, you’re probably going to realize you need to re-prioritize your projects. This could be hard, but you need to be really honest about which projects you actually need to finish soon and which ones you really care about. You might find certain projects are simply giving you no joy. As long as they’re personal projects not for someone else, you might want to let them go, or at least set them aside for a while.

Now, you need to think about all angles of your projects. You might be struggling to write your next chapter because you need to go back into the outline and rework some mechanics there. You might even find your brain is ready to do that kind of work, even when you are struggling to write a cohesive sentence.

Redefine what it means to make progress on your WIP. Maybe wordcount should slide to the backburner while you focus on adjusting some plot or character work. Maybe if you’re stuck on a drawing you need to break it down into some studies so that you can clean up the details confidently.

Step three: gradually start working again

The former steps hopefully will have prepared you to approach your projects from a new angle. When you feel like you’re ready, or maybe a little before, try returning to your work.

Start with the easiest task. Something you can do in a day or less. Don’t dive in and try to accomplish something huge right away. Give yourself motivation with small accomplishments and move up.

Try working on different aspects of your larger projects, as you considered in the previous stage. Set small goals within larger goals. Stay patient with yourself and don’t start pushing your limits until the idea of doing that sounds exciting instead of exhausting. You’ll bounce back sooner than you think. Be patient!

So, here’s a quick recap for you:

Step 1: stop and assess

notice and acknowledge what you’re struggling with
list your WIPs
make notes on the status of each, and how motivated you are

Step 2: refocus and organize

be realistic about deadlines and give yourself as much extra time as possible
reprioritize your projects
redefine progress on you WIPs

Step 3: start working again

start with your easiest task
break larger projects into smaller pieces
be patient

And here’s a final note of encouragement from me to you.

Creative dry spells are really difficult. For a lot of artists, our whole being revolves around what we do. Creating is what makes us feel alive and joyful and useful in the world. When something happens and we become too exhausted or dull or overwhelmed to do our thing, it’s easy to start feeling like a walking shadow. I know this.

But it happens from time to time. And when it does, we need to have both a plan to recover and get back to it, and an understanding that, even without our creative powers functioning, there is still beauty and purpose in our day-to-day lives. We have a reason we’re here that goes beyond what we do. I know it’s easy to say when you’re feeling good about your output and energy-levels, but it’s true even in our lowest times.

This isn’t an easy thing to grasp. I certainly don’t have it figured out, yet. But you have to fight the mental demons that come around when you’re dealing with burnout. It’s one of the many unique spiritual and emotional struggles artists face.

If you’re in a dry spell right now, I hope this post is helpful to you. It will get better, so don’t give up. The world needs your art.

P.S.

This post was actually written as a bonus for my prompt journal, The Burnout Journal for Artists and Creatives. The Burnout Journal contains 101 prompts that could be used for art, poetry, or writing and space for you to explore each one.

The prompts are richly detailed with a lot of opportunity to take them each your own unique direction. Plus, the limits of the two-page spread, and the comforts of the journal format are designed to take the pressure off your creative process and encourage you to have fun.

Check it out if you want a little extra help recovering from burnout.

Writing

How to Write an Excellent Book Review

Post author By A. L. Buehrer
Post date July 21, 2022

One of the most prized things in the indie author community is a good review. We’re always hoping for one. Checking our Goodreads and Amazon pages periodically wondering if somebody found our book.

We’re always asking for reviews from anyone who picks up our books. From the amount of authors out there begging their readership for reviews, you might be tempted to think a book review is a gift to the author. A little payoff for their hard work. A few stars for their months or years of effort.

But what if I told you reviews aren’t for authors?

I’m an indie author. I also really appreciate reviews. But here’s the thing: books are just like any other product. If you bought a set of deluxe bath towels, and you decided you would highly recommend them, you might leave a review. But who would you be writing that review for? The manufacturer? Or the potential customers who might be looking for some luxurious new bath towels?

Who Are You Writing For?

Now, it’s definitely true that not all book reviewers are writing with the potential reader in mind. I would group book reviewers into three categories according to the apparent intended audience:

Author-centric Reviewers

Often, these reviewers are friends or colleges of the author—or people who consider themselves to be. When a reviewer is reviewing a book for the benefit of the author, it can show up in several ways. Some reviewers will literally format their review as an open letter to the author. They are addressing the author, by name, either praising them to the skies or yelling at them for being some kind of monster. There isn’t usually much in-between with this kind of review.

Other times, the reviewer just seems to be giving a rather generalized “this book is amazing, everyone should read it” kind of summary. Though these kinds of reviews sound, on the surface, like they are aimed at potential readers, at the core, they were written to benefit the author. These reviews are styled after celebrity endorsements rather than reader reviews. They tend to come across as what they probably are—promo material, not actual recommendations to readers.

Another kind is the review written by a reader who considers his or herself a constructive critic—telling the author what they could do better in the interest of “helping them succeed.” These reviews honestly come off pretty condescending and tone-deaf and are actually some of my personal least-favorite to read. Seriously. If the author didn’t pick you to be an editor or a beta-reader, mind your own business. This is not a good way to set yourself up as an authority in the industry—but then again, apparently you already consider yourself an authority, so you’re probably not listening to me anyway.

Self-centric Reviewers

You’re going to run into a lot of this on Goodreads, if you hang around. There isn’t necessarily anything wrong with it. Freedom of speech, after all. People should feel free to express their feelings. But these kinds of reviewers aren’t actually that useful for someone trying to decide whether or not to read a book. Let me explain.

Basically, a reviewer who writes for their own benefit is just venting. It can be positive, negative, or dead in between, but this kind of reviewer is speaking very specifically from their own point of view and not trying to give an objective evaluation of any kind. They’re strictly comparing a book to their own tastes and expectations. Typically, they star a book according to their enjoyment of it—not how well it was written or executed. This makes their reviews entertaining, but practically useless to anyone who doesn’t have precisely the same tastes in fiction.

Reader-centric Reviewers

The reader-centric review is the only one potential readers are going to genuinely trust and consider before buying or borrowing a book. A reader-centric reviewer is actually thinking about potential readers’ interests as they write the review. They’re thinking about the kind of reader who would enjoy the book vs. the kind that probably wouldn’t. They’re recommending or not recommending the book based on a set of important and fairly general criteria, and taking the time to explain what was solid and what seemed off.

This is what you want to shoot for if you want to write a review that is actually useful to potential readers.

So, what should you include in your review? What should you talk about and focus on? The easiest way to decide is to think about what you’re looking for when you read through reviews of books you’re considering picking up. As the reader, what do you want to know?

What to Include (some suggestions)

Some systematic types who read and review dozens or hundreds of books a year use a kind of rubric to evaluate a book. Things they tend to consider include:

Plot
Character development
Pacing
Worldbuilding
Theme

Some reviewers will use star-rating systems for each element. Some will even give letter grades (which annoys me and gives me war-flashbacks.) However you choose to do it, it’s important to explain (with as few spoilers as possible, of course) why you rate things the way you do. Pick things apart a little but try to be fair about it. Readers can sense bias.

Why It’s So Hard to Find Your Mission as a Christian Creative

Post author By A. L. Buehrer
Post date July 14, 2022

“Gospel-focused,” “Faith-centered,” “Based on sound doctrine.” That’s what some people are looking for in Christian media. Others are just looking for “clean,” “family-friendly,” or “positive” content.

There’s a lot out there advising Christian creatives on what they should and shouldn’t create. A lot of people out there think they know what the mission of the Christian artist should be.

It’s like they pick up a Christian book or turn on a Christian film and—instead of sitting back and being immersed in a great story, they sit at the edge of their desk chairs and whip out their pens and clipboards. Let’s see if this one hits all the right points. Let’s calculate the relevancy score and see if we can check all the Romans Road boxes in the correct order.

Should every Christian novel be a “How to Get Saved” guide? Is doctrine the highest priority in art? As Christians, we know leading people to Christ is probably our highest calling on Earth. But exactly how are we supposed to do that with our creativity?

Is Art an Evangelism Tool?

Pop quiz: who consumes Christian media?

This is always the first question that comes into my head when someone suggests the prime directive of Christian media is evangelism. I think you will find the vast majority of people consuming Christian media are…Christian.

Which raises the question, who are we trying to evangelize, here? We’re preaching to the choir.

But maybe you argue that the basic Gospel message bares repeating. Maybe you want to remind and reinforce what your audience probably already knows. Maybe you want to explore some of the details of doctrine.

With all due respect…go write a sermon. Go study the Bible and some commentaries and works of scholarly theology and write a thesis. Get it out of your system. Then come back and we’ll talk about art.

What is Art For?

We have a weird approach to art in Christian communities, sometimes. Nobody would ever tell a Christian dentist, auto mechanic or airline pilot that the first priority in their career should be evangelism. We would never look down on them if they spent the majority of their time learning to better seal teeth, repair radiators, or navigate the sky.

But we know the artist’s influence is unique. Our voices are extremely powerful. It doesn’t matter how famous or popular we are, either. Our potential to affect people’s hearts and minds is enormous. That’s the nature of art. It moves people. It can connect people and create empathy. It can heal, inspire, and enlighten those who consume it in unexpected ways.

I’m not saying you can’t present the whole gospel in your work—or even that you can’t use your work to bring attention to some real-world issues. That’s between you as a creator and God. But too many Christian artists and people who take it upon themselves to instruct Christian artists seem to assume that is the only right way to use you gift.

But in choosing this informational, educational approach where the goal is to more or less tell our audience what to think—it’s quite possible that we’re abandoning the very magic that makes art uniquely powerful.

Where Does Art’s Power Come From?

Art is different from other forms of human communication. It tends to be subtle, unpredictable, and a little ambiguous.

And it doesn’t seem to matter which soapboxes you get up on or how important the message is. A great message can’t save bad art. There’s no substitute for being good at what you do.

Creating art is an act of trust. You have to do it with an open hand, not afraid of other people’s interpretations or reactions. As a Christian creative, you’re not going to be able to harness the full potential of your artistic process until you let God do the speaking. And let your audience do the thinking. Exactly what the audience gets out of your work isn’t your responsibility.

Your responsibility is to pour your all into creating something you love and let God use it as he will.

So, How Can You Find Your Mission as an Artist?

It’s going to take time, and you’re going to have to ask yourself a lot of questions.

It’s alright to not know for certain why you do what you do. In fact, if the only answer to your “why” is “because I love it” right now, that will do. But eventually, if art is a big enough part of your life, it’s likely to become a ministry.

What do you want your art to do for people? What do people need that you can create for them? Sometimes we forget that acts of service are one of the most powerful forms of evangelism. You can serve people with what you make. You can lift spirits and heal wounds. You can lead people through dark times and dark places. You can make people feel seen, loved, and understood.

My advice is that you find your voice, enjoy the process, don’t stress, don’t preach, and don’t worry about checking boxes. Invite God to speak through you and trust that he will use your work.

I thought of this final tip recently, and it revolutionized how I think about creating. I’d often asked myself who I was writing for. Who’s going to read this? What will they get from it? It’s impossible to really know that. But I wanted my spirit of wanting to give something to come through.

So, my last tip is, always create for someone you love.

You don’t have to worry about the masses or the message most people need. All you need to worry about is one person you care about. Do it for them.

Because, as a Christian creative, whatever your mission may be, your motivation will have its roots in love. That’s a good place to start.

Tags Christian artists, Christian creatives, creativity

Writing

Why Beautiful Prose Still Matters

Post author By A. L. Buehrer
Post date July 11, 2022

I don’t read much fanfiction. I get a little nauseous slogging through what’s out there. There is just so much, and so much of it is just…wow.

What the fanfiction universe has to offer is a very interesting cross-section of amateur writing. There are a lot of levels of seriousness and dedication. You can tell who is interested in actually writing and who is mainly interested in uh…toxic relationships between questionable character pairings.

And a lot of the writing is absolutely horrible. I won’t slam it too hard, since I know a lot of the writers are young and we shouldn’t expect too much. But when you’re browsing Wattpad you can tell right away when a story is going to be unenjoyable to read. You can tell by the first sentence, typically.

But every now and then I come across something shocking. I come across something stunning—something that sounds like it came out of a published novel. And not just any published novel but a good one. A turn of phrase that’s memorable, emotional, quotable, iconic. It’s a piece of art.

Does that mean I want to read the rest of the story? Does it mean the character development is powerful with a deep transforming arc? Does it mean the plot is well-paced and intriguing or the theme is subtle and meaningful?

No. But does it make me, just for a second, kind of wish I could read it anyway?

Believe it or not, for a second, it does.

For a while now, writers have kind of looked down on prose.

Now, it’s absolutely true that prose can be overdone. You can use way too many words to describe something that could have been evoked in two or three. Sometimes the fancier world is less specific. Not every sunset is worth a whole paragraph.

But some sunsets will be. More on this later.

There’s something I’ve got to tell you. It might be hard for you to hear, but here’s the fact: if you’re reading this, there is a one-hundred percent chance you are not Earnest Hemmingway. How do I know this? Because Hemmingway is dead.

Sparse is not always better. I almost think a lot of the advice the fiction-writing world has adopted is academic writing advice. Clear and concise, brief as possible, only saying just enough to relay the necessary information. If you really love minimalism, I won’t knock it, but sorry, that doesn’t sound like art to me. And fiction is supposed to be art.

I have read professional published novels that sound like eighty-thousand-word outlines because the author was afraid of prose. Is that really what people want to read? Because I don’t actually find it that satisfying.

So, what makes good writing?

I’m going to stick to four main things:

Character development
Character-driven plot
Well-handled theme
Beautiful prose

Let’s look at these one at a time.

Character Development

This one is huge. There is no story without character arcs. This is easily the area I have put the most study into because, first of all, I love it, and second, your characters and how they change and respond to the events of the plot literally is the story.

If you want to learn more about building characters and crafting powerful, satisfying arcs, I highly recommend Abbie Emmons. I’m pretty sure I’ve watched every one of her videos at least once and her free worksheets are incredibly handy. She’s been a game-changer for my character work.

So has K. M. Weiland’s Creating Character Arcs. I really appreciated how well this book tied plot-structure and character development together, which leads into the next point.

Character-driven Plot

Plot and character development are intrinsically linked, and really shouldn’t be separated. The plot should be driven by the characters’ decisions, which in turn are driven by the characters’ inner changes. This keeps the plot from feeling like an awkward series of disconnected events strung together.

Oh, my tip for this is study three-act structure and always bring it back around to who the characters are and what they’re seeking. That will put you way ahead of a lot of writers already.

Well-handled Theme

I didn’t used to think much about theme. I just kind of let it happen. You can do that as long as you don’t neglect getting into your characters’ heads and finding out how they think. But you shouldn’t be afraid to use theme in your fiction. As long as you keep it grounded in the complexity of your specific story and your characters’ circumstances, it won’t come off too preachy.

Prose

Prose is the medium you’re working in when you write. It’s your paint, your clay, your graphite. You have to use words to write. Without prose, your story can’t materialize. Everything else on this list is just an abstract idea. When you begin to write, it finally condenses out of that haze in the form of prose.

But why is prose important?

For one thing, it ties back to character. Whether or not you write in first-person, your prose is the voice of your point-of-view character. On the most basic level, it shows us what they see, hear, feel, smell and taste as they move through the story.

It also shows how they perceive it all. Prose gives us a look through their lens—it’s effected by their emotional state, by their understanding of their world, by their preconceptions and assumptions and fears. It’s not security-camera footage that just flatly shows what happened.

And beyond that, prose is about pulling a reader into a moment. Some moments need to be highlighted and lingered on. You might want to describe that sunset after the city burns. You don’t need action at that point. You don’t even need characters at that point.

This is for the reader. They need a second to take it in. Your reader is a human too. Humans need time to feel.

Writing is probably the most complicated art form that can be wielded by one person. Film takes a team. Operas and ballets enlist whole companies. But when you sit down to type out a novel in the solitude of your room, you have a whole universe at your command—and you can’t skimp on anything. Readers will notice.

Tags fiction writing, prose writing

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