My First Project 365 Photo

Images can greatly inspire writing. I’ve always loved photography. My first pictures were taken during a vacation to Whidbey Island with my Blackberry Curve 8330.

Blackberry Curve 8330

I was suprised how nice some of the photos turned out. Deception Pass Bridge is one of the most beautiful sights in Washington State.

In 2005, a photographer Robert Clark published a book consisting entirely of photographs taken with a camera phone. Interested in what I might be able to achieve if I applied the dedication and some acquired knowledge, I went to Barnes and Noble and found: National Geographic: The Ultimate Guide to Photograpy.

I was inspired to feed my passion for photography. There had to be some skills to back it up or else I would end up with a pile of photos that were either overexposed, underexposed, or just downright unappealing to look at.

I wanted more than just my Blackberry to tinker with. Professional cameras were intimidating to me. I’m not sure why. I quickly became profficient using and troubleshooting my computers. So why couldn’t I manage the workings of a real camera?

My first real camera, intimidating buttons and features included, is a Nikon D40 SLR

My Nikon D40

Now that I had my camera and learned a little about how to handle it, taken hundreds of experimental photographs, I needed something to encourage me to take photographs…often. Thanks to another friend on Facebook, I found “Project365“. I waited a week for a confirmation email for my account that never came. But after re-doing my account with another email address, I was finally able to open an account. So now, I have the jumping off point for 365 days of photographs. Let’s see if my photography skills can improve in a year.

My first photo published to Project 365 is of the last of the Christmas decorations to finally be taken down. The lighted garland isn’t quite down yet. It’s still waiting for me to find the box to put it in.

My First Project 365 Photo

A Novel Idea?

Tuesday, January 12th, 2010 

A Novel Idea? 

Hmm, the first chapter of the new novel. It’s…coming along. I think. Did I mention that Elise and I chose to start a brand new novel? No? Let me back up… 

You would think that completing an already half-written novel would be a wise choice towards the ultimate goal of publishing. Professional writers may agree or disagree. Since I’m a novice, I’ll have to follow my own instinct on this one. 

Completing what’s already half finished is a good idea. Right? Mostly. Maybe. In creative ventures there’s very little room for rights and wrongs, maybes and absolutes. For myself, I follow through as far as inspiration leads me. Sometimes writing progress slows, pauses, or comes to a downright, loud, skidding, leave-tracks-on-the-asphalt grinding halt. The dreaded writer’s block has your muse in it’s unyielding grip. Inescapable? Yes and no. Maybe you can’t budge your deadlocked idea. Move it forward in the path you know is there somewhere in the recesses of your fickle, creative mind.  

You can, however, navigate around this roadblock. These aren’t altogether useless metaphors in this instance: roads, asphalt, roadblocks. This is how writing feels sometimes. You can be happily cruising down the highway with your novel. The paradise of successful publishing is the destination.You even have the directions clearly drawn out on a map. But, alas, the roads of creativity aren’t always smooth and clear. One bump, and you lose your grip on your prose. Your novel flies in one direction. Your train of thought tumbles down an embankment into oncoming traffic. The wind caught your map and plastered it to the windshield. Grab it if you can. Better hurry! The semi-truck of a professional writer is about to breeze past you. It’s glossy, best-selling hardcovers will stare down at you with amusement and effectively deal your now fragile writer’s ego an embarrassing blow. 

Do not fret. You can get everything back. Merge them again. But it takes work, which is controllable, and luck, which isn’t. No matter the effort, creativity can not be forced to cooperate. It has to flow of it’s own accord. It’s a wonderful sensation when that happens. 

So, what do you do when your well-fed story has decided to take a sabbatical? My answer is to leave it alone and come back to it later. Sometimes all you can do is work on something else. We’ve all done it. We were thinking. The answer wouldn’t come. Once we stopped thinking about it, focused on something else…BAM! There it is! The answer you were looking for earlier. No matter the subject, that’s the way it can and does happen. It’s the way our complex and imperfect minds work. It’s much less frustrating if we work with it instead of against it. 

As for our new novel, this is why “State of Truth” has taken a temporary backseat. The ideas have been roadblocked and we’re being flagged in the direction of the detour. 

Elise and I discovered, quite a while back, that working on a new idea often awakens creativity. New ideas emerge, build, and sometimes refresh the old ones. We may need to come up with yet another new idea. The one we have isn’t quite working. I like the storyline. The genre is unfamiliar to me, but the setting isn’t which is why it’s both interesting and frustrating. We discussed the story, plot points, and action at length. We like what we’ve come up with…in our heads. It isn’t quite making it to written word. I saw the first scene course through my head in concise flashes. Dark, mysterious. Intriguing and scary. I wrote my part of the first scene. It doesn’t work. Yet. If I can get the visible word to correlate with my thoughts… 

…Well, I’m working on that. I like this story so I’m determined not to give up on it. 

On to the first chapter…again.

The Road to Accomplishment

State of Truth

Thursday, January 7th, 2010. 

The Road to Accomplishment. 

This morning, as with most mornings, I entertained the question I often ask myself: “What am I going to accomplish today?” Not the menial tasks we’re obligated to perform regularly. Some on a set schedule, some close to it, the rest being random or just whenever you get around it as long as it gets done, i.e., bills, household chores, doctor’s appointments. I don’t count those as accomplishments in regards to progress towards my life’s goals. In the process of asking myself this question, here, is where the aforementioned faulty memory bank did indeed fail me. 

Last night, with Elise’s help, I had set a goal for the year. Small steps lead to a big goal. Or rather, a goal of substance; one that I would count as an easily formulated but often elusive, progressive accomplishment that when completed I could be able to say: “Yes, I got something done.” 

Unfortunately, I couldn’t remember what it was I had set out to do today…

…until I read Elise’s blog, Write View. Elise, my dear friend, collaborative writing partner, and fellow blogger, with the assistance of a little mindful nudge, updated her blog. The subject: Publishing in the new Year. The gist of it: Nothing is accomplished without action. 

Ah hah, my memory has been jogged. Thank you, Elise. I needed that. 

My novel. More specifically, the publishing of my first novel is the goal, but not the accomplishment. Not yet. My accomplishment for the day will be to dust of a recently started novel and complete the outline for the story. 

Elise and I recently collaborated on a novel for submission to National Novel Writing Month: State of Truth. We’ve been happy with our plotline, characters, and potential for a continuation of the story as a series. As with any novel, there are details to see to, organization to refine, edges to smooth. This, we admit, will take work, dedication, and cooperation…and fun. Fortunately, Elise and I have enjoyed a successful collaboration in our writing efforts for two years now. Ahhh, I can see our book on the shelves. 

On to the first chapter…

New Year’s Resurrection

Tuesday, January 5^th, 2010

New Year’s Resurrection

“No, Matthew. Not ‘resurrection’, it’s New Year’s ‘resolution’.”

Since early December, I’ve had to repeat this to my son about a dozen times. Children often mix up words. I have a clear memory of sitting in my 7^th grade Science class, in Rockdale, Illinois, and instead of saying ‘acquired taste’, I said ‘required taste’. It’s one of those seemingly useless memories you have apparently no useful reason for retaining in a memory bank that will fail you tomorrow and you’ll end up walking into a room and immediately forget why you walked in there.

In this case, that memory may have a use. It depends on your perception. Since this blog is about my perception…let’s go with that. I had no intentions for making a New Year’s resolution this year. Most often, it ends up being something with the purpose for self improvement. The excitement is there. You can’t wait for New Year’s to start. It’ll be the start of a new and better year circling around a new and better you.

Well almost.

The resolution lasts for about one month before it loses steam, you lose will power, or real life intervenes. My record is two months.

My son’s misuse of the word ‘resurrection’ had me thinking. The word isn’t too far off the mark in terms of the purpose of a New Year’s Resolution. Resurrection: the state of returning to life. Or however it’s worded in whatever dictionary you’re googling. Ten years ago, I had no idea what “Google” was. Now, not a day goes by without me using it at least five times.

I find, in myself, looking forward to making changes for the New Year has always been very much about returning to life. At least my life the way I envision it and strive to find because I know it’s in me.

Unfortunately, the self improvements that seem easy to accomplish, are worked for initially with such enthusiasm, they are also easily worn out to the point of exhaustion.

Look, there’s another dead New Year’s resolution on the side of the road. How sad. Killed by chores, bills, family obligations, work, etc. Killed along with it was the A+ me that I could have been this year. Oh well, there’s always next New Year’s.

With the loss of hope in a New Year’s resolution, I’ve felt loss of hope in myself a little at a time. The eternally youthful part of my soul that still clings to humor, playfulness, and hope…is dying.

It’s in desperate need of resurrection.

This year, as with all years, my resolution is on life support. In attempts to keep the plug from being pulled or accidentally tripped over…Oops, I shouldn’t have had that slice of cake. One isn’t gonna hurt my diet. Right?…I’m holding on, with firm claws, to my creativity.

An avid reader, in 2004, I stumbled upon a thirst for writing. The circumstances are interesting…to me…so maybe I’ll explain that later. All of my musings were basically fantasy and were born to the pages of a worn out spiral notebook I hid under my bedside table. I will admit my writing lacked. I knew I could do better. In college, I had churned out honor roll-worthy research papers. Certainly I could write coherent and interesting fiction. Right?

Well, creative writing is subjective. I’ve read better. I’ve read worse. My writing is somewhere in the vast expanse of grey area between bad romance novel trash, and sublime Pulitzer Prize material.

 Since 2004, I’ve browsed the net for stories. Fact. Fiction. Good. Bad. I’ve found them all. I’ve made good use of my keyboard and word processor in pursuit of improving my storytelling skills. My typing speed has increased. Some of the often-used letters are no longer visible, having been rubbed off the keys from repeated use. And for some reason my once flawless spelling skills have taken a nose dive. I blame it on the ‘inspirations’ for some of my characters. More on them later.

I have, however, improved. In my own opinion of course. After re-reading some of my first writing attempts I have to wonder what I was thinking. The improvements are too many to name. So I won’t. I’m merely thankful for the change and happy to say all of my time spent in my creative writing endeavor has not been in vain.

I write on a regular basis now. Daily, in fact. I have a message board nearing it’s two-year mark. And, in my third year of National Novel Writing Month, I finally passed the goal of 50,000 words. All of this was with the help and encouragement of my best friend, and writing partner, Elise. If you continue to read this blog as it’s posted, you’ll hear a lot about her.

Writing is not yet a career, though it may be in the future. But it is, and I believe always will be, a passion. I will strive to submit interesting thoughts, particularly about writing, to this blog. It’s both for me, and for anyone who enjoys reading other people’s rantings. I could list the things I won’t do during the course of this blog. To make it easier, I’ll just say; “I won’t be perfect.”

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