Author: A. L. Buehrer

Categories
Creativity

How I Reset My Goals for Fall

Here it comes, the unchallenged Best Season ™ in all it’s glory. If you know anything about me at all, you know I’m a fall person. My novel The Boy Who Called the Foxes is a whole testament to that fact. I love the cool clear air, the wind, the long nights, the changing leaves, the excuse to be quiet and take it all in.

But aside from simply soaking up the beauty of the season, I also like to reset my goals for fall. Actually, I like to reset my goals about quarterly. Preferably at the beginning of each new season. But with autumn being my favorite time of year, I try to go out of my way to make a particular effort to plan for it when the walnut leaves start to yellow in September.

How do I reset my goals for fall?

Typically, this involves a lot of list-making and leafing through notebooks, for me. I take a look at everything I’m currently busy with, the things I’m about to get busy with, and the things I wish I was busy with and start thinking seriously about all of it.

And by “thinking seriously” I mean I try to keep a very open mind about my possibilities. Things tend to get a little overwhelming over the summer. I don’t know why that is. Maybe I take on too much at the beginning and put it off too much due to the summer laziness that usually sets in.

Fall is a good time to make changes. And I find I’m quite ready to do that around the beginning of September. So, what are some steps I like to take?

  • Declutter my to-do list

You mean, give up on things?! Well, kind of. I keep a running list of goals for my year and around autumn, I get a strong urge to cut some nonsense out of it. I don’t like to cram at the end of the year. Often, I get a new burst of energy and a new mindset in January, so I prefer not to be hustling like crazy in November and December if I can help it.

  So, how do I decide what to cut? Usually, I’m able to find things on my list that are both unnecessary and boring to me. Busy work. Social media efforts that aren’t paying back. Projects I don’t find inspiring at all. Just shamelessly cut these things out. You’re not a quitter. You’re prioritizing.

  • Change something

You might want to switch up your main project. You may have one that you’ve been dying to focus on but have been holding back because it isn’t your official WIP. Time to make it official.

  Something I’m changing is my social media strategy. For me, Instagram used to be fun—back before I was trying to be so smart with it. Now it just feels like a lot of pressure, and I’m not seeing the ROI I want. So, I’m relaxing with IG and shifting my attention to what’s actually my favorite social media: Pinterest. (Please follow!)

  • Prioritize rest & family

Fall is the perfect time to get cozy and make a doubled effort to enjoy the people in your life. I may or may not have been working a little too much this year. Too often I find myself shut up in my room headaching at my desk when I can hear my family enjoying downtime together elsewhere in the house. That’s miserable. Why would I do that to myself?

  I’m a massively introverted person. I’m very independent and value solitude and hard work to quite an unusual extent. But too much of that can still be harmful. Humans, no matter how driven and introverted, need to connect with each other just for the sake of talking and laughing and chilling out now and then. You’ll cease to function otherwise. So, take some time for those things this autumn.

  • Find large immersive projects—minimize scattering yourself

I run in a lot of directions and lately I’ve felt like I’m losing touch with my main thing. I’m writing a six-book series right now. I’m supposed to be working on book five.

  Nothing quite beats spending a whole afternoon and evening clicking away at a keyboard, completely immersed in another world. I miss those five-thousand-word days. I miss those ten-thousand-word days. Well, those are a little crazy, but they sure feel awesome now and then. I’m going to make myself some wordcount trackers and focus on my big projects for a while. I want to make some major progress on the things that make me feel the most accomplished at the end of the day.

  • Choose one more thing to finish this year

We’ve only got a few months left at this point. Time to be realistic. What can we finish in that amount of time?

  Try to find a larger goal, but one you’re fairly close to checking off. Put it first. This is the homestretch, and I typically want to finish the year with a bang of some kind. Even if this is the only thing you finish in the next few months, you should feel proud of it. I hope to get the first draft of book five finished before the new year. If that’s all I achieve before January, I will still be pleased with myself.

All this shouldn’t be done in one sitting. Take some time to think about it, pray for direction, take a walk in the woods, etc. There’s no real rush—and that’s a key point to remember. You have to ease into new routines and reorient your mind for new goals. That’s why seasons don’t change all at once.

Take your time. Enjoy the process. Let yourself hope for the best and find the most rewarding ways to get there. Fall is a refreshing and energizing season. If you’re enthusiastic about your goals, you’re not likely to spend it burnt out.

Happy Autumn!

Categories
Creativity

How to Recharge Your Creativity with Hobbies

You know what’s wrong with a lot of people anymore? They don’t have real hobbies. Too many people when I ask them what they do in their spare time say things like “Netflix,” “YouTube,” “Shop online,” “Listen to music.”

Not that any of that’s bad. Those are nice things to do for entertainment and relaxation when you don’t feel like doing much else. But I wouldn’t really call any of them hobbies. At least, not the type of hobbies I think creatives in particular benefit from.

If you’re like most artists, boredom is a serious issue. Under-stimulation is a villain that can often leave you feeling dull, depressed, and uninspired. But art is a lot of work, and we can’t do it all the time. Rest and downtime are important. Hobbies can be a form of active-rest that can bring fun and variety into your day-to-day life.

The trick is to find one that works for you. Here are a few things to consider when you look for a hobby.

What to look for in a hobby:

  • The right learning curve Everything requires a bit of a learning curve. Acquiring a new skill is part of what makes engaging in hobbies fun. But you have to know how much learning you’re willing to do. Don’t choose something that overwhelms you. That would defeat the purpose. A good option is to start with activities you’ve done in the past. What did you do as a child that might have some slightly more advanced version you would like to try now?
  • Mental engagement Yes, you probably want your hobbies to be fairly easy, but if they take too little brain-power, what’s to keep your mind from wandering to all the other things you think you should be doing when you’re trying to enjoy yourself for once? Look for something that requires you to be mentally present. Let yourself shamelessly focus on something “unimportant” now and then.
  • A chance to connect with others A lot of hobbies are solo pursuits, but not all of them have to be. Sometimes it can help to do something that other people join you in. Weather it’s one-on-one time with friends or family members or joining clubs or groups, hobbies can be a rare chance for us solitary creative types to interact with other humans. And if you have something you actively do with other humans, you can avoid some of the painful small talk, which is a huge bonus.
  • Relaxed expectations Let’s face it: we creatives have extremely high expectations for ourselves. We can get very hung up on our goals and always seem to end up dissatisfied with our own performance. With hobbies, we can actually get some practice in not being so hard on ourselves for a change. Look for something you find enjoyable even if you aren’t any good at it.
  • Fun Yes. Hobbies should be fun. Don’t do anything just because it’s popular or impressive or seems like something you should enjoy when you don’t enjoy it. Find something that’s actually fun for you.

Okay, so you want ideas. Here are my ideas. Feel free to start here.

Hobbies to Consider

  • Gardening

I dove into this one this year and I don’t regret it. It gets you outside, gets you active, and lets you exercise your artistic mind with design and planning for landscaping and plantings. I built a goldfish pond with a mini waterfall earlier this summer. I also planted a couple of flowering cherry trees which will be awesome if they survive the deer.

What if you don’t have that kind of space? Try container gardening or terrariums. Get into houseplants. (Get a snake plant if you’re afraid you’ll kill it. They’re basically immortal.)

  • Art journaling

Every time I think about multimedia art journaling I wish I did a lot more of it. Go get yourself a sketchbook with good heavy paper and start right now. I don’t care if you think you’re visually artistic or not, you have to try it. Look up some inspiration on Pinterest and start ripping things up and gluing things down and splattering paint and writing aesthetic quotes over it all in your messiest hand lettering. Trust me.

  • Inventing games

Have you ever tried this? I feel like everyone makes some ambitious attempts when they’re kids. I certainly made up quite a few. I still do it now and then. If you have a playful side in your creativity at all, you could try inventing a board game a card-game or some active game if you have the energy. (If you have the opportunity to test these on kids, all the better. You can get your hands on free or cheap programs for creating computer games if you have any technical inclination. Both of my younger brothers do this occasionally.

Honestly, what I really want to try someday is writing escape room games. They fascinate me. I love the combination of puzzles, storytelling, and in-person participation. I’ll probably try that someday.

  • Cooking

I’m a bit of a disaster in the kitchen myself, but some people have a lot more patience for cooking and baking than I do. Honestly, if you’re one of these people, or think you could be, please spend some of your free time adventuring in that department. Not only are you doing something creative and fascinating, you’re also doing a service for humanity by bringing more great food into the world. That’s something everyone can appreciate.

  • Photography

I’ve never taken a single photography class. I don’t even have a working camera besides the one on my phone right now. But I love photography. I really enjoy going out on a hunt for subjects, perspectives, and lighting to capture and bring home. Then there’s the editing part which is also quite satisfying even if you’re not a pro. Overall, I feel like photography makes me look at the world differently, which is something I always find exciting and worthwhile.

  • Pen-Paling

Why did we have to stop writing letters? Sending and receiving letters is a unique experience. Weather you enjoy it for the chance to improve your handwriting, a way to deepen friendships or an opportunity to create intricate mail-art, getting a pen-pal makes for a unique hobby in this fast-paced Snapchat world. And you know you need to talk to your friends more.

  • Anything that gets you outdoors or active

You’ve got to get away from your desk, you know? Start familiarizing yourself with the area hiking trails. Stargaze, birdwatch, beachcomb. Take square-dancing classes or taekwondo. You get the idea.

Tips on Making and Protecting Free Time

But you’re so busy. I know. You probably have a job, maybe school, maybe kids. Maybe for you, your creative work already fills the need for a hobby. In which case, you’re probably doing fine—as long as you make the time to do the unimportant things now and then.

The whole point is, you can’t always be in survival-mode. Sometimes you need to play and have fun, even as a busy adult driven to accomplish your goals and take your work, creative or otherwise, seriously. Fight for a bit of free time now and then. Artists need it. Actually, all humans need it, but artists particularly will suffer if they can’t get a moment to breathe.

How do you make sure you get free time?

  • Track how you spend your days—find out where you’re losing time
  • Get off your phone
  • Don’t mindlessly consume—don’t waste time on entertainment you don’t even like that much
  • Say “no” to things sometimes
  • Don’t overbook yourself—keep your to-do lists reasonable

Do you have any hobbies? What do you wish you had time for?

Categories
The Artist & The Audience

The Rise of “Gritty” Christian Fiction

If you’re reading this post, you probably know what “gritty” Christian fiction is. You might even write it yourself. In fact, there’s a good chance you consider yourself a gritty Christian author.

We all know the story. None of us were satisfied with Christian fiction growing up. No variety. Cookie-cutter stories about cookie-cutter people with cookie-cutter problems. In the end, there was always a cookie-cutter solution. Boring.

Then we grew up and became authors. Now we take matters into our own hands and write the books we needed when we were younger. As a result—with the help of the explosion of indie and small press publishing—we now are living in a world with rapidly diversifying Christian fiction. Fresh tropes, rare genres, unique characters—there’s literally a whole press dedicated to Christian speculative fiction, which was once a rarity. Horizons expand every day.

One particular horizon is the world of “gritty” Christian fiction. These new books don’t shy away from the tough issues. They’re not afraid to show evil as it truly is or address the ugliest problems society has to offer.

But there are some myths circulating in the gritty Christian fiction community. I’d like to tackle them first off.

Myth #1 Gritty Christian Fiction is More Realistic

Actually it isn’t. If you think about it, all fiction has things it cuts out and things the author chooses to focus on. That selective focus is a major part of writing a cohesive story. Real life is overloaded with elements you could be paying attention to—and yet you only look at so many things at one time. Otherwise, you start to go crazy and will probably end up in a coma from overstimulation.

What an author chooses to focus on and how much detail they decide to portray it in is entirely up to them. In the end, it doesn’t have anything to do with the realism of the story.

What actually makes a story feel believable or unbelievable are things like chains of cause and effect, character actions and motivations, and pacing. A reader can forgive the omission of certain details as long as the author has a good grip on those things. Unfortunately, I’ve read too much fiction by Christian writers claiming they added grit to be realistic, but bombed out pretty badly on actually writing a realistic story.

Myth #2 Gritty Content is Deeper and More Meaningful

This one gets implied a lot, and it bothers me. Just because a story includes depictions of alcoholism, abuse, eating disorders, mental illness, or sexual assault doesn’t make it meaningful.

“But it’s raising awareness.” Most of us are already aware, so it has to do a little more than that. I’m sure the definition of “deep” and “meaningful” is relative and subjective, but factually a book with all the gritty issues covered could be a total farce if it’s executed badly. The grit isn’t going to save it.

Whereas a book that was “squeaky-clean” by most people’s standards and had no content warnings could actually be an intensely moving, life-changing, world-shaking story. The argument that a story has to be dark to be deep is usually a strawman that relies on claiming anything else is “fluffy” and “watered-down.” And we’ll get around to how handy this rhetoric is later.

Myth #3 Gritty Christian Fiction is Daring and Unique

This is my favorite myth. Most authors I have noticed branding themselves as “gritty” seem to think they’re a rarity. The truth is, they’re really not. It’s kind of like the “not like other girls” complex. Everyone has it.

Quite possibly every work of Christian fiction I have ever read includes some dark, serious or unsettling element. But then again, I haven’t read a lot of those feel-good clean romances off the mainstream Christian market. But that’s for the Hallmark audience. They have the right to exist, too. Still, it’s simply not true that grit doesn’t come up in Christian fiction quite frequently.

In fact, I’d say including big issues like the ones mentioned above is almost a trend right now. I see a lot of authors use hashtags like #mentalhealthrep #disabilitiesrep and #enddomesticabuse in posts promoting their books. It’s a quick way to draw attention to the themes of your book. (And I’m not knocking it. It’s a good shortcut to getting people to care about your story when they’re too lazy to read a blurb.) What I’m saying is, these authors are not outliers. There’s quite a community.

The Problem with Branding Yourself as a Gritty Christian Author

In spite of the apparent advantages of branding your work as “gritty,” there are actually some major problems with leaning too heavily on that image as a brand-identity.

First of all, it’s too subjective.  How gritty are you, really? Everyone is going to come in with different expectations when they start reading a gritty piece of fiction. (This goes for “clean” Christian authors too. No one is going to have the same standards.)

The second issue is it can actually start a little drama within your would-be community. Being particularly vocal about your opinions of “clean” vs.. “gritty” fiction can wind up with you, intentionally or unintentionally putting other Christian authors and readers down. That’s something you probably should avoid if you want any friends.

Lastly, and I’ll repeat myself here, no, it really isn’t that unique. You have to find what truly gives you your own inimitable flair when it comes to branding. If you put all your emphasis on something too many others in your community are emphasizing, you’re going to blend in.

Putting in the work of finding your true brand-identity as an artist is very important, and actually a lot of fun. I’d recommend you check out this post to get started.

If You Want to Write Gritty Content

So, am I against writing about tough issues and including gritty content in Christian fiction? No. Definitely not.

By all means, tackle the tough issues. Hey, some people might even consider my work gritty. It’s entirely up to you what you write about, and God definitely wants Christians to address the hard things in life. But I do have a few quick words of advice if you’re going to write gritty fiction.

Respect your reader’s right to object to your content. Some people are going to be uncomfortable with some of what you write. They might give you bad reviews or DNF you. Never lash out at readers. You’re not a politician. You don’t need to argue, explain or publicly defend yourself. You’re an artist. It’s okay if you’re not universally liked or understood. You’re not here to win people over to your side and score points. Your real readers will find you.

Here’s one more thing to consider: You may or may not want to brand yourself as an “issue writer.” I’ll do a whole post on this sometime. But You might have to decide if you’d rather be an artist or an activist. If the issues you’re trying to bring to light become the point over and above creating great fiction, it might end up hurting your development as a creative. This is happening in a lot of western mainstream entertainment right now.

I guess what I’m saying here is, don’t become a propaganda machine. This is the real reason a lot of Christian media crashes and burns. Not because they’re not talking about real-world problems, but because they’re preaching about them instead of telling stories.

“Clean” or “gritty” it has to be about the story.

Categories
Creativity

How to Find Your Brand as an Artist

Sometimes I’ll admit I don’t know what I am. Sometimes I don’t feel like a whole person—just a creative void that somehow manages to produce art. But nothing can truly come from nothing. The art we create comes from who we are. In less words, you need to find your artist brand.

Art is very much wrapped up in the individuality of the artist. You would never create what you create if you were someone else. But sometimes it’s hard to find the foundation of who you are as an artist. Exactly why do you do what you do? What’s your inspiration? What’s your goal? What’s at the heart of it all?

These questions matter when you are in the process of creating art.

Why is it so important to know who you are as an artist?

Your personality and character will come though and shine if you stay true to who you are, what you want, and what you believe in as you work. To put it simply, to live up to your full potential as an artist, you have to find yourself.

Now you might be a little critical of the idea of “finding yourself.” Maybe it sounds kind of vague or cheesy, or maybe, as a Christian creative, you have a negative reaction to the whole idea. After all, it sounds self-centered. It sounds like you’re focusing too much on yourself instead of on God, who should be the center of your creative life and your mission.

Of course, God should be at the heart of your mission, but here’s what you need to remember: anything you want to do for God with your art he could have done himself with no help from you at all. But he didn’t leave you out. He wants to use you. And he wants to use you specifically—as a unique individual. Exploring and examining the person he made you to be isn’t self-centered at all. It’s a way to find clues to how he wants to use you.

What elements of your identity come into play when you create?

The best of your work will probably lean hard into your personality. When your art grows up from your deepest roots, it will be alive with originality and rare beauty. In order to find your artist brand, you need to find what makes you different and study it. I like to analyze this uniqueness this way:

Your inspirations are the other artists who have influenced your work. Everyone is drawn to different artists for different reasons and as an artist yourself, you have probably picked some things up from other creators you love. This isn’t copying. This is one of the things that makes your work unique.

Your heart—the things you value at the core of your being—will also influence your identity as an artist. What you love and what you consider to be the important things in life will probably show up in your art sooner or later.

Your mission is the reason behind what you do. Why do you create? Who and what do you do it for? You’re bringing art into the world—what value do you want that art to carry with it as it reaches out into the hearts and lives who come in contact with it?

Your aesthetic and your irony or contrast are the more concrete elements in your artistic personality. The aesthetic is your themes, your subject-matter, the genre and tropes and motifs your fall back on. The contrast is the effect that you get from juxtaposing elements of your aesthetic in unexpected ways, and is an often overlooked part of artistic voice. Don’t overlook it. It’s going to help you stand out once you discover and develop it.

How can you pin down what makes you a unique creative artist?

So, that’s a lot to think about and I know I just barely touched on it. That’s why I recommend you sign up to get the key to the Secret Library and grab my Artistic Identity Workbook, where I take you through a simple but thought-provoking questionnaire to help you explore and define all those elements listed above. I designed it as an easy first step on the journey to find your artist brand and explore it.

That’s just a starting point, but I hope it can help you feel more focused and inspired to continue to do what you do best. You are a fantastically unique person—and once you tap into that in your artistic life you’ll never have to worry about being boring or unoriginal.

So go find your artistic identity.

Categories
Writing

7 Ways to Fall Back in Love with Your WIP

Sometimes the spark dies. You take a long break. You put your book on the backburner for some reason. Then you have to figure out how to start writing again.

Maybe you’re coming out of burnout or have simply been too busy with other things to write your current book. Whatever the reason, when you open up your document it hits you hard—you’ve fallen out of love with your WIP.

Some people would give it up at this point. Maybe it’s kind of a lame story after all. It just doesn’t interest you anymore, so why keep torturing yourself over that blank page? It was just a phase. Maybe I’m not really a writer at all.

But you’re here because that isn’t you. You want to start writing again and finish that WIP. You’ve poured too much into it to abandon it now. So, what are you going to do? It’s up to you, but here are seven possible strategies that might help you fall back in love with your WIP.

#1 Make and listen to a playlist

For a lot of authors, music can really get the imagination going full-sail. If you haven’t tried making a playlist for your WIP, maybe you should blow some time doing that now, since you feel stuck anyway. You can go with instrumentals and soundtracks, or try hunting down songs with vibes and lyrics that line up with your characters and themes.

Once you’ve got your playlist, spend some time listening to it while doing other things. You’ll probably start daydreaming which could lead to brainstorming, which could lead to actually wanting to write.

#2 What do you love about the project? Write some of that

Go ahead and write some scenes you’re looking forward to. Write the things that excite you about the story. You know which characters you enjoy the most—write some interactions between them or throw them into a fun action or humor scene you may or may not actually use.

Don’t try to do a good job or fit these scenes into your manuscript. You don’t even have to finish a scene if you don’t feel like it. Skip around to different scenes until you find one you do feel like writing.

#3 Write letters, journal entries, etc. by your favorite characters

You need a deep connection with your characters. Getting into your main characters’ minds and immersing yourself in their hopes struggles and views of their world is a powerful exercise. Writing letters from one character to another, from yourself to your characters, is one way to do it. Journal entries are also great.

Feel free to pick any point in your story to write from. It can be from before the beginning, after the end, near the climax, or exactly wherever it is you’re stuck right now. Grab a notebook or open a new document and start writing. (Plus, this could potentially double as fun bonus material to help promote your book later.)

#4 Re-read your favorite parts

If you feel like your writing as terrible right now, try going back to some scenes you’ve already written and rereading them with an open mind. You might even be able to remember some scenes you actually enjoyed writing, or felt good about once you got them down. Check those out.

You might even end up re-reading several chapters—or even the whole manuscript so far. This is actually a good sign. That means you’re more interested in your story than you might have thought.

#5 Tell someone else about the project—tell them what makes it good

This is a great project. If it wasn’t you wouldn’t have started it. Try talking to someone—anybody who is nice and will listen. Tell them your premise. Tell them why you love the characters and why you wish you lived in their world. You started writing the book you wanted to read, didn’t you? Why did you want to read it?

Recommending your book to other people is a skill you’re going to need to learn anyway. If you don’t want to bother an actual person with your rant, try just writing it out. You might come up with some good loglines or material for your blurb that will come in handy later, so be sure to save it.

#6 Make fan-art or write fan-fiction of your own stories

Be your own biggest fan for a while. If you draw, crack open your sketchbook and start drawing some of the best moments from your story. If you’re not inclined that way, just try writing. Write some alternative universe pieces. Drop your characters into the modern world, or Narnia, or swap them out with the crew of the starship Enterprise and see what happens.

These fan-works can be as lazy or as elaborate as you’d like. The point is to shake out the creative stiffness and have some fun with your characters again. This will give you a chance to develop their personalities and might even give you some idea for plot twists that could liven up your actual story.

#7 Find what’s making you feel stuck and fix it

If you feel up to it, maybe you want to get down to business and find out what’s really making you feel stuck. Is there something you’re actually struggling with about the project itself? Do you know what it is?

Put some thought into it and then start brainstorming. Treat it like a puzzle with an answer you want to find. But don’t put pressure on yourself to solve it too fast. Remember—this is part of the writing process. Not all writing is putting words down in a document. That’s the easy part. This is the part where you have to use your brain and do what only you can do for your story. Don’t be afraid to work hard on it and take your time.

What If I’m Still Stuck?

Did you actually try everything? Have some hope. I doubt you can really stay uninterested in spite of all your efforts to start writing again. There’s a reason you started this WIP. You’re going to find a reason to finish it. There will be hard parts. It’s probably going to take a lot longer than you expected. But if you are truly meant to write it, you’ll fall back in love with it eventually. Trust the process and give yourself grace.

Categories
Creativity

How to Survive a Creative Dry Spell

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.

Categories
Writing

How to Write an Excellent Book Review

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.

Other things many readers want to know when looking for something to read:

  • Content ratings and any sensitive topics or disturbing imagery
  • Approximate age of the target audience
  • Any tropes included and how well-executed they were
  • If there’s a cliffhanger, HEA, or a ton of character death
  • If the chapters are very long or very short
  • How much the story fits into a genera or strays from it
  • The message or worldview that comes through
  • If the dog dies

So, in conclusion, just be aware of the mindset of people who are looking for a good book. You’ve been there. You know how to help someone find something they’ll enjoy. Just write your reviews from that position, and you’ll probably come up with something people will trust and appreciate.

P. S. Speaking of appreciation, I do want to add an endnote from the perspective of an indie author saying how much we really do appreciate your reviews. Positive reviews are extremely important to indie authors. I won’t downplay that. If you’ve ever enjoyed an indie book, by all means, give it a review. It’s not about giving the author an ego-boost, though. What we really need is a review that’s directed toward potential readers, so that you can help the right people find the right books.

Because that’s what great reviewers do.

Categories
Christianity & Creativity

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

“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.

Categories
Writing

Why Beautiful Prose Still Matters

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.

Categories
Uncategorized

The Bright Side of Having No Audience as a Lonely Creative

At some point in the career of every artist, literally no one is listening. There is no audience waiting to appreciate your work.

People don’t notice things right away. And these days, people have trouble noticing anything at all. People are exhausted from information overload. Everyone everywhere is dumping information down everyone else’s throats constantly. It’s harder than ever to capture a focused audience. It’s nobody’s fault. It’s everybody’s fault. That’s the way it be.

In fact, you’re probably considering clicking out of this post even now, because your head is a flurry of other possibilities. You could be scrolling through socials. You could be watching funny ferret compilations on YouTube. You could even be doing something offline, but you might not be able to think of anything like that right now.

What you should be doing is working on one of your many creative projects. But there’s a chance you’ve been avoiding them lately. Because you’re discouraged.

Because you feel invisible and ignored.

But the truth is, the world has the memory of a goldfish. If you’re quiet for a day or two, most people will forget your work exists, and you’ll be back where you are now. You’ll always come back here, to the loneliness of your creative mind, to a world only you can see. You want to bring other people to this world. Of course, you do. But why the hurry?

The Anxiety of Starting at Zero

It’s hard to start anything when you aren’t sure you’ll ever have anyone willing to support what you do. It’s hard to create when you’re not sure if anyone will ever appreciate what you produce. But you have to be willing to throw your bread on the water.

I’m writing this post long before I intend to publish it. In fact, as I’m sitting here at my desk, listening to the crisp September wind and the birds and the soft notes of the windchime in the garden below, this blog, as you see it now, does not exist. I have no followers. I have no email list. I have less than 150 followers on Instagram and no followers on Pinterest.

I don’t know who will come or when. But you’re here now.

That proves that—in this noisy overcrowded world—people somehow find each other. If you found me, someone will find you.

What to Do in the Meantime

But at the end of the day, you have to find some other motivation besides likes, pageviews, comments or applause. You have to love your work and enjoy progress that has nothing to do with follower numbers. There’s so much you can do with no audience at all.

Here are some things you might want to focus on while you’re languishing in obscurity:

Practice, self-critique, and make plans to improve

Let’s make something clear: whether or not you have fans and followers has nothing to do with your skill-level. I’m definitely not implying that you don’t have an audience because you’re not good enough. There’s apparently no correlation, there.

But one of the very best uses of your time when nobody’s expecting you to perform for them is to focus on improving. Put some serious time into practicing, finding the areas you would like to strengthen and leveling up. Whatever this looks like for your particular art form, it will definitely be worth your time.

Research

Ha. Here it is—my favorite form of procrastination. Especially when enabled by Pinterest, I spend tons of time researching my craft. I’m always hunting down any scrap of information on fiction writing, art, blogging, etc. searching for anything I might have missed that turn out to be magic for me.

Of course, this can get a little out of control. It definitely does for me, sometimes. But if you figure out how to stay focused and pay attention to how much time is passing, research is a great way to make use of your obscurity. You might not have as much time to do it when you have an impatient audience waiting for you to produce something amazing all the time.

Find your voice/style

Another great thing to work on when nobody’s watching is developing your voice or your style. It’s kind of like what they tell people who are all impatient to get a significant other. Why don’t you stop worrying about looking for somebody else and see if you can find yourself? Who are you, as a creator? What matters to you? How do you want to express yourself?

This is going to take some experimentation. Play around with your genera, your tone, your media and techniques. You have no audience to worry about confusing, so you’re free to do whatever you want. There are no expectations. No one’s there to walk away if you completely weird them out. This is about the relationship between you and your work. Worry about that first.

Try crazy things

This is closely related to the above. Now is the time to try stuff you might not want to try in front of a thousand, or ten-thousand followers. Don’t hold back launching or publishing something until you’ve got x-amount of subscribers. Do it now. Get some experience while it’s still safe to flop.

Get started on a big weird project you may or may not actually finish. Try to write a novel in two weeks. Paint an eight-by-six foot self-portrait. Form a garage-band and go around performing in every garage that will let you in. Have some fun and don’t take your work too seriously. Besides, you’re going to have some funny stories to tell when you’re all grown-up and respectable, later.

Make a bucket list

You know, I’m glad I thought of the dating analogy, because I think that successfully reframed the situation for myself. I really like being single but I whine a lot about my lack of audience. But hey, this is the fun part. There’s freedom in obscurity. Make a bucket list. (This is kind of random. I just like bucket lists, okay?)

But really, do it. Make a bucket list of things you’d like to do in your creative life that have nothing to do with whether anybody appreciates them or not. Fill a sketchbook in a certain amount of time. Write a short-story a day for a week. Record an album where you cover a pop song from every decade from the past century. Recreate a classic novel in comic-book form using only cutouts from modern magazines. (That actually sounds awesome. Somebody needs to do that one.)

Here’s the point: It’s not all about the audience. You’re doing what you do because you enjoy it. As important as it is for artists to be heard and move other human hearts with their work, that’s not all we do. We have different seasons in our creative journeys. Sometimes, it’s just us and our art.

And that’s cool, too.

But don’t give up on your future audience. Keep putting in the work, and you’ll eventually reach them. It could be months from now, or years, but you get closer every day. Keep creating, everybody.

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