35 Day Blog Challenge - Day 4: That creativity thing: myth, magic or something else entirely

I will not give myself out as an expert on creativity, but this subject is close to my heart (it is my blog theme for this year). It describes the essence of what we as writers aim to achieve: a creative life. Creativity comes in many forms, but for a writer the words are our paint brushes and the computer screens our blank canvasses.

If you are fortunate enough, to be able to either write/paint/design or do some other creative activity full-time, count your blessings. On the other hand, if your daily slog is as non-creative as mine, the time I spend writing becomes that much more of a blessing. Like the quiet of a country garden after hours of listening to the grind of heavy equipment.

I don’t need particular quiet, or a specific kind of music to be playing while I am writing. In fact I do prefer some background noise, as it helps me to focus and think. Some people prefer music, others want complete silence around them, but I think we all want the same thing from our inner self – a chance to the creativity flow.

For some it comes easier than for others, but in that I have a firm belief: the more you practice, the easier it will become. You have to keep your hand in, in a matter of speaking. While I love writing, I also like to paint and sketch. I take a break once a year from writing, but never from doing something creative. It is then that I dig out my pencils and paint brushes. For the first few days I feel rusty and stiff, as if I have never held a piece of graphite in my hand. Then the door springs open as the skills return and the lines or brush strokes flow as if I had never stopped. Yes, I do prioritize my creative activities, but time does not allow me to do much more than write at any given time.

Is living a creative life a myth? I don’t think so. Neither does it require a magic wand to make it happen. I feel that a creative life is a deliberate choice, whether as a paying job or as a serious after-hours activity. Writing for me it is not a hobby, because I make sacrifices to write. I have hobbies, but I only indulge in those when I have time or an opportunity with other people to enjoy them.

See you tomorrow!

If you want to see what the other participants are blogging about, you can find their blogs here. Why not pop on over and leave a comment?

35 Day Blog Challenge - Day 3: A picture says more than a thousand words

Photographs and graphic images play an important role in a self-published author’s life. While you may not be a photographer, it is important to understand why these requirements must be met. Let’s start at the beginning.

As a self-published author you have control over all aspects of your brand and you need to make sure that the quality of your brand is of the highest standard. When it comes to photographs of yourself for profile pictures on social media sites, or author biographies for blog posts, make sure the images are of high quality and give you a professional image.

It does not matter if the photographs you use are not posed, but they have to be full face on, and not your dog or cat. Yes, we are all sensitive about the way we look, but your audience would rather see you, than your pet pig’s face.

And no, selfies do not qualify. Get a professional photographer to take a handful of images of you that you can use. If you don’t know a professional photographer, or cannot afford one, ask a friend with a good camera (a digital SLR or bridge-SLR) to take the photographs of you. Remember these are not happy snaps, so ask a friend that understands the basics of lighting and composition of portrait photography to take them.

The same applies for your book covers. High quality images. In most cases the publishing site will also specify the minimum and maximum size that the book cover image has to be. Make sure you read these rules before you use any images from the web. Beware of copyright infringements. Just because the image is on the internet, does not imply that you have the rights to use it for commercial purposes. Even if you make the book free of charge, it is still a commercial application.

There are many sites that sell images of the right quality, so investigate those and buy from them. They are not as expensive as you might think.

See you tomorrow!

If you want to see what the other participants are blogging about, you can find their blogs here. Why not pop on over and leave a comment?

35 Day Blog Challenge - Day 2: Measure Yourself

image © Dana Rothstein | Dreamstime Stock Photos

Do you set goals for yourself? In your job? In your hobby or sport? You should do the same for your writing. It is easy to come up with excuses not to write, sometimes it is so easy it is shameful. But it doesn't have to be that difficult to write if you set means to measure yourself. There are several ways to do that and many applications to help you do that. Don't have one of the apps available? That is another excuse!

Set yourself a target for every day. If you choose to set a minimum word count target, and it has to be the minimum, then write with software that helps with that. All the word processors, and some other more simple applications, will do that for you. It is a matter of one or two mouse clicks and you know how many words you have written.

Does that feel like too much pressure? Not sure how many words you can write each day? Maybe you are a slow typist and it feels like a mountain to climb if you set a target that you think everyone else can achieve in a matter of minutes. Then set yourself a time limit - not a word target.

Take an old fashioned egg timer, no fancy mobile phone or computer app to distract you, and set it to fifteen minutes. And then you write! The number of words are not important. The time you sit and write - and you have to write - is your target for the day.

See you tomorrow!

If you want to see what the other participants are blogging about, you can find their blogs here. Why don't you pop over and leave a comment?

35 Day Blog Challenge - Day 1: My Challenge

I don't consider myself impulsive, in fact as an engineer I am one of those people that tends to overthink rather than jump in. Upon occasion, I do step out of character and boom!
I did that about three days ago when I saw the link on Facebook, and two minutes later I enrolled into the 35 day blog challenge. You would think considering my ten-hour workdays, freelance commitments and working to finish a non-fiction book, I would have thought twice about taking part. Second thoughts did come though, but not to withdraw, instead I got a brainwave. Rather like that little light bulb you see popping up in cartoons when a character gets an idea.
I have a blog post list which I drew up early in the year, but have done only a few of the posts I had planned. Thirty-five posts are a lot to manage for someone who barely makes the one post per week schedule. While I was staring at a blank page (yes, I do my blog planning on paper) that light bulb moment happened. Why not do two things at the same time?
I have to finish the book - it is aimed at the writer and in keeping with the theme of the challenge - and I have to write the posts. Since this thought happened, I had often wondered why I had not thought about this before. The creative brain seemed to have been constrained too much by the rational brain of late. I say, no more.

So here we go! Challenge accepted! Thirty-five days of posts and thirty-five days of writing to complete Indie Author: The Good, the Bad and the Hard Work.

See you tomorrow!

If you want to see what the other participants are blogging about, you can find their blogs here. Pop over and leave a comment!

Reading and Writing...away from Home

Instead of posting in Linzé's Mischief today, I decided to add a post to show you some photographs. Enjoy!

Sunday 30 August 2015 (21h05):

Boesmansberg Guest Farm - our home away from home

Being away from home isn't always easy, especially if it for work. The travel, the long days, the difficulties when things don't go as planned. But sometimes there is a weekend in-between the work days where you can recharge your batteries, like we did this weekend.
Yesterday, a few of my colleagues and I went to a local church fete. It has literally been years since I had been to one of these things, especially in a rural area. Back home our local fetes in a big city, are not the same as I remember from being a child in a small town in rural South Africa.
Prieska, in the Northern Cape province is as rural as you can get. It is the closest town for many of the farmers in the area, and while it has no mall (local joke) it has three of the major supermarket chains represented, the major banks and a co-op or two, everything a farmer needs.


Not the heat they had predicted!

I had a good chuckle when I Googled 'Prieska mall' and actually got four hits! Trust me, there is no mall in this town.
On our way back to the guest farm, we had a good laugh. We cruised the CBD of Prieska, had to search for the venue of the fete, and drove all of 2.6km in the process! Back home the closest shop is 2km from my home, and the closest mall (yeah, a real one) 5km away.I love small towns, but living in a big city sure does have it benefits.

The Orange River flows past Prieska

The closest city is Kimberley, and an almost four hour drive away. Local businesses, such as the guest farms of the area, get their products delivered from Kimberley, since it is more cost effective.

The week ahead sees the second stage of our testing that is planned. While the weather prediction says high temperatures are on the cards, we have been having cold and rainy days. We can still test if it rains, but it's not comfortable working outside, especially when it's cold and windy on top of that.
I finished reading the third book in the Antique Mystery series by Eileen Harris. The review of books the last two books will see the light of day, once I get back home.
Today had been a quiet day, although the wind is howling like mad at present. I spent the day writing, and it was good to get a few hundred words done. I haven't been able to do that the past week, and will probably not have a chance to write again until I am back home. Such can be the life of a writer with a full time job!
On that note, I wish you a successful week.