Morning Pages - Inspiring Creativity

 

I started writing a journal at the start of the lockdown in March 2020. In fact, I wrote several journals, and I expect I have written about that time before in this blog. I continued journaling for nearly two years before it tapered off. Since then, I have restarted more than once.

For the last two weeks, though, I have been creeping downstairs early in the mornings, 

'What have you been doing?' I hear you ask, well perhaps not.

What I have been doing for the last two weeks is writing Morning Pages. In my new notebook, free writing, clearing the subconscious mind and writing it down longhand, three pages, non-stop, each morning.

Morning Pages are essential to Julia Cameron's book The Artists Way. Written in 1992, this multi-million bestseller has inspired many to unblock and find their creativity.

I first came to the concept of Morning Pages via the YouTube Channel and Blog of professional writer Martin Sketchley. Martin has a YouTube community and is a Royal Literary Fund Writing Fellow working with university students one-on-one to improve their academic work. He has many YouTube Vlogs about how writers can benefit from Morning Pages.

Morning Pages is not only subconscious journalling but, in a unique way, a form of meditation. And it is also only about writing. It is of benefit to all the creative arts.

The idea is to get up in the morning and, before doing anything else, sit down with a notebook and your favourite writing implement and write. Writing about nothing, in particular, just continuous writing for about three pages of B5 paper, or larger if you're feeling somewhat inspired at the time. It is to unburden you of those subconscious thoughts and clear your mind for more creative productivity later in the day.

Writing Morning Pages is a relaxing start to the morning and something I can see myself doing for a long time. Julia Cameron has been writing them daily for over 40 years, so I have some way to catch up with her.

The Artists Way is a 12-week course, and the author suggests reading through it before commencing the workbook. That is where I'm at right now, and I'm looking forward to having a go at this course alongside all my other writing activities.

Morning Pages and the Artists Date are the two bedrock activities throughout the 12 weeks of the course. I will probably blog further about the Artist's Date when I attempt them.

I'm already starting to feel the benefits of Morning Pages, and it can only add to my writing creativity. The coming week is going to be busy with two workshops. I will finally break through a milestone in my novel this week. I spotted a possible pitch to a magazine on a trip to the library the other day, and I have a few ideas for short story competitions. Gosh, I could be too busy writing to have to go to work; now there's a thought.

I will post a few links below for you to look at. 

Next week, Did the Pandemic and Zoom transform writing and book clubs?

Links:

Julia Cameron - The Artists Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity is available on Amazon

Martin Sketchley on YouTube - https://youtu.be/22vd7lYhqA8?si=e7Q4qwwdR6NXzbzP

https://martinsketchley.com/

Characters - Do You Know Yours?

Every story has a named or unnamed character; you'll always find one. But how do writers go about writing them?

I have a character in my novel that may be very recognisable to my work colleagues. The first time I met this person, I felt they could be a character in my book. It took some time to write them in, but they are, and they will have an interesting time. There are also a couple of other colleagues in the novel, although in more subtle ways. Often, writers will take someone they either know or have scribbled down a description into their notebook whilst sitting somewhere observing and having a coffee.

After reading the book and watching the film Black Hawk Down, I was intrigued by how the scriptwriters wrote the characters. It is the story of an American operation against Somali warlords in Mogadishu in 1992. Black Hawk and MH-6 Little Bird helicopters flew US Rangers and Delta Force Operators into the city's centre. The resulting crash and rescue of the Super Six Four crew form the book's story. 

There was a lot of criticism from those who were there about the character Staff Sargent Matthew Eversham in the film, portrayed by actor Josh Harnett. The screenwriter had condensed several participants down into this one character. They even had to change the name of another character because the original one went on to commit a rather unsavoury crime. In all, the screenwriter condensed 100 critical participants in the book down to just 39 characters in the film, which kept it to a manageable length.

Two characters kept in the film were Delta Operators, Sargent First Class Randy Shugart and Master Sargent Gary Gordon. Shugart and Gordon are credited with saving the life of Super Six Fours pilot Chief Warrant Officer Mike Durrant. Both posthumously received the Medal of Honor and, at the time, were the first recipients since the Vietnam War.

You can tell I liked that film.

After reading the book, the characters are not just a name but a living person. That is a skill needed by creative writers. A lot of background work has to be put into characters by writers.

I have character sheets for every character in my book, or at least I should have. ( I need to catch up on those, they will come in very useful for the rewrite in a few months, if not now) and I also have a sheet with twenty questions about each character.

My novel has several characters, and the main character may change as I write further. Is it where the story has got to that is causing this slight problem? I still expect my intended main character to ride in and metaphorically save the day.

The bottom line with writing and describing your characters is that you've got to live with them and know their every move and emotion. How tall are they, their weight, their shoe size? You might only use some of them, but you will have a rounded character for your story.

Next week: I have been writing Morning Pages this week and will aim to do the same this coming week. A journalling technique that could benefit you too.

You've just gotta love Notebooks, don't you?

 

Everybody loves a notebook, don't they? Ok, I ought to fess up from the start. 

   I love notebooks. 

There I've said it. I have quite a few. Some are partially full of writing, some are not, and some are full of my musings. Most reside in the annoying piles, as my wife calls them, of notebooks, magazines and research books that live on, in and underneath the table next to my armchair.

Yes, I must tidy my writing stash, but I would like to explore this week the many different types and styles of notebooks I now have in my 'collection'. 

I have your standard A4 hardback cover notebook. I thought I might get on with that one, but it was disappointing, so I now have a pile of them in our spare room. I might have to take them to the office, where we can use them for work.

Then there is the notebook that Murphy, our very clever WestiePoo, gave me for Father's Day. Excellent cover, which reminds me of what I do for him daily, and there is another one, but I'll have to check through my book piles for that one.

During the pandemic and when we were locked down, I wrote a journal daily. I have several notebooks from that time. They are nothing spectacular although, amongst the plain A5 ones, there were a couple of interesting ones. A history of Boris's cock-ups, one might say.

This beauty was given to me by our lovely next-door neighbours. I have several ideas for

stories in this one. If I'm writing in public, I always have this one on show.

Now we get to the real reason I came up with this subject. About a month ago, on a writer's channel that I follow on YouTube, I was challenged to write something humorous about Japan. My last trip was to Tokyo before I retired from the Royal Marines Band Service. I could recount a funny story from that trip, for which I received a Travellers Notebook Passport-sized one. 

At this point that I have to say it wasn't William Gallaghers 58Keys channel. William is a self-confessed scribbler and considers pens and pencils the spawn of the Devil. 

To cement my place as a proper notebook spotter, I bought a full-size Travellers Notebook.

What is it with these Travellers Notebooks, I hear you say or not?

The thing with these two notebooks is that the expense is with the leather covers. You can tailor the notebook via several elastics and a selection of inserts. They are real journals/diaries/notebooks all in one. And with all the accessories, pen holders, card holders, clips etc., they are the stationary lover's perfect gift.

I will be set up for our Rugby World Cup trip next month with these two notebooks—lots of notes to report back to you for upcoming blog posts.

I've saved the best to last. The best thing about these notebooks is unpacking them when they arrive. Extremely cathartic.

Summer Holidays in the 1970s may have made me what I am today!

 

August is the time for family holidays in this and other countries. France has a public holiday period of about two weeks, where most of the country shuts down en masse. 

When I was school-age, I lived in Abingdon, Oxfordshire. It was Berkshire when I was born, and it wasn't until the boundary changes of 1974 that it became part of Oxfordshire. I digress; many children my age at school had a Father who worked in the local car factories, MG in Abingdon or British Leyland in Oxford. The factories used to have an annual summer shut-down which happened to be the last week of the school term and the first week of the school holidays. Only a few were in the class for the last week of the term.

In the late 60s and early 70s, we had many happy holidays in Weymouth and just up

the road from us here in East Devon at Charmouth. We stayed in static Caravans, and the one in Weymouth, if I remember correctly, was owned by one of Dad's Post Office colleagues. I remember being fascinated by the gas lamps. I'm sure that the safety inspector would have something to say about them today.

The first time I went to Dartmouth was on a Summer tour organised by the Brass Band I was playing with. My family arrived for the second week of the tour as our Father was a Postman and therefore didn't get the same holidays as the factories. Conveniently, the first week of the tour was the last week of the school term. We holidayed in a chalet park in Dawlish Warren, which is a place that my wife and myself visit quite regularly as her brother lives there these days.

On the first evening of our holiday, we travelled from Dawlish Warren to Dartmouth, and the first view of the town that we saw was as we crossed over on the Lower Ferry. We played on the Bandstand; it was 1973, and little did I know that in less than ten years, I would be back in Dartmouth, living and serving in the Royal Marines Band at Britannia Royal Naval College, and forty years later that I would meet and marry Kathy, who lived in Kingswear.

I spent most of my adult lifetime and Royal Marines career living in Dartmouth. Despite drafts to Plymouth, Northolt ( only for two days) and Portsmouth, I still used my base as Dartmouth. Not the wisest of ideas, but all came good when I met Kathy. By then, I was working for BAe Systems Surface Ships, running a yard for them, maintaining Sea Boats and Crafts to 20m, including the boats for the Naval College. That all ended when they couldn't secure an extension to the lease of the yard, and the workforce was made redundant, bar a few who stayed behind to maintain the college fleet without supervision.

There was not much meaningful work in South Devon then; the country had just battled out of a recession and a banking crash (sound familiar). I found a job in East Devon, and we boldly decided to move up to East Devon. I was never convinced that the job would work, and nine months later, I was jobless again. Brief dabble with a yacht company in Plymouth followed, another horrible experience, before I started with a company in Newton Abbot. I was with this company for three years before looking for more money. I started with a Nutrients company. That lasted only three months, and Brexit or the lack thereof finished that position.

It took one more job before, at last, I settled with the NHS, and there I will be until I'm able to retire, but it will take a General Election to be able to even think about retirement.

I started this piece to write about holidays and quickly ended up writing about my holidays. It shows you that you can very easily get distracted whilst writing and go off on a completely different track from the one you started on. The next piece may be a holiday success.  

The Weather - What's it Doing?

Temperatures in Southern Europe have been almost bursting the thermometers. US scientists have confirmed the commencement of an El Niño weather event, fearing it could push the world through the 1.5-degree milestone. In the meantime, our moderate climate has produced nothing but storm clouds and rain. It's not fair. Isn't it?

The jet stream is the cause of our mid-summer woes here in the UK. After one of the hottest Junes on record, the Jet Stream has been stuck in the same position, and we cannot see that changing in the coming weeks.

The Jet Stream is what gives the UK and Ireland our moderate climate. Should you draw a line through the middle of the UK on a globe, you will find that we are on a similar latitude to Moscow. We have seen the sort of winter weather that Moscow had. If we had that weather here, it would bring the country to a complete stop for months.

During our summer months, we get warmer weather courtesy of the Jet Stream. 

Temperature differences in the atmosphere cause weather patterns. Those lead to pressure differences and, when combined with the rotation of the Earth, move air around the globe, which we perceive as wind. The prevailing jet stream runs from West to East and shifts North to South according to the seasons. High and Low pressures are what cause our weather. Unfortunately, recently, the weather depression has meant that a low weather depression has dominated our weather system. Hopefully, they will get moving soon to bring better weather to us.  

With the confirmation of the El Niño event, we can look forward to many strange and unsettled weather events in the future. Australia could experience more significant drought risks, more rain to the southern US states and a weakening of subcontinental monsoons. All of which will affect economies.

It's a British tradition to talk about the weather. I'm sure other countries talk about it too, just about different problems with the weather. 

Still, I'm optimistic; I'm taking my bathers and sunnies on holiday. 

Do we need a 'Dig for Victory' campaign in the 21st Century?

A gentle knock on our front door at home causes Murphy, our Westie, Poo, to create such a racket; it would drown out a Black Sabbath concert. He then dashes upstairs and takes post on his usual perch, a sofa and that's another story.

This time it is our lovely neighbour opposite our house, Jack, who has popped around with a box of veggies and fruits from his allotment. Murphy is his friend and soon gets his obligatory tickles at the front door. Jack is a talented gardener and is pleased to share the results of his labours despite struggling with his dodgy hip, now thankfully replaced and pain-free...ish. We have had all sorts of beautiful vegetables, and they are so full of flavour and so much fresher than you can buy at the supermarkets.

Jack was proud earlier in the season when he bought us some asparagus, his first time growing them. They were delicious, and they are a vegetable that we quite often have when they are in season. And therein lies the secret, Jack's produce is in the season as it should be.

At the moment, flood inflation for the weeks to July 9th 2023, is 14.9%. That means anything bought for £1 last year will cost you almost £1.15 now. The Government tries to temper that by claiming that food inflation has slowed over the previous four months. However, that still equates to roughly a yearly increase of £300 for your food shopping alone this year. It's still incredibly high.

My Father, throughout his married life, was a gardener. Dad always tended the vegetable garden in the 60s and 70s, an extremely tight time for our family. Mum rarely had to buy many vegetables during the weekly shop; everything was seasonal and tasted terrific. Dad even supplemented our protein input by breading rabbits at the bottom of the garden that were undoubtedly not fluffy pets.

Those memories also bring to mind the wartime years in this country, and, no, I'm not that old before you ask. 'Dig for Victory' was the well-known cry. Food production and encouraged in all available spaces. The Public left behind after mobilisation dug gardens. The Government ordered that all available land be turned over for food production. Even then, there was a significant reliance on imported food, especially grain from North America. The Battle of the Atlantic was an immense problem for shipping. Rationing improved the country's health, a statistic kept quiet for some time. By the end of the war and rationing, food prices had risen by 20%. Considering five years of war and the rebuilding of the economy afterwards, it puts to shame the effects of barely three years of Brexit.

This summer, we have had a couple of troughs of salad leaves, which has saved a couple of trips to the supermarket. When I lived in Dartmouth, I did manage, one summer, to grow a large selection of vegetables in containers on a veranda outside of my flat. That kept me going all through that summer. Although an amusing story, one day, I found that my dog Molly had buried her bone underneath my onion sets. 

I'm sure that the ground in our small back garden is nutrient rich enough for a good crop of vegetables, but if things don't improve, we will all be considering containing growing next spring.

There's so much writing...I'd better get on with it

 

I wrote back in April about the demise of a Writers Forum magazine. That magazine was my favourite of the two that I was subscribing to. 

The remaining magazine took up the 'slack' for the Writers Forum subscribers. I was a little upset by the editor's column the following month as it was a little triumphal, in my opinion.

In this month's edition, which I received this week, it is interesting that they have run several articles about freelance writing. It is an attempt to open up the opportunities available for writers. 

My writing focus of late had been towards my novel (more later), and my efforts for magazine and website articles have taken to a period of purdah. These articles have once again piqued my interest in pieces, and I already have some ideas in mind. I need to dig around for places where I might pitch these ideas, so that's another writing task to put onto the productivity spreadsheet.

Getting to Thursday evenings with an idea of what to write about for this blog has become a habit over the last month. I must sit down and list subjects for the coming weeks. I need to write two further blog pieces this week and schedule them for publication whilst I am on holiday, in case I don't have sufficient internet access.

My novel Beasting Dartmoor is coming into a critical phase, for me at least. I'm in the middle of the final word count I aim to achieve. A floppy middle of the story is something that I don't wish. I'm writing slower than usual because I'm trying to achieve the correct pace for the story and inject more intrigue and excitement.

There's still no light at the end of the tunnel just yet for the story. However, I'm starting to think about what I need to be doing towards the end of the year when, hopefully, it's the editing and proofreading stages getting ready for publication. And there's lots more to do too!

I started this year by promising to move this blog across to a more suitable blogging platform. I want to be able to start using the Mars Edit app to write and publish a blog each time. Unfortunately, it doesn't work with Blogger. My current bedtime read is SEO for Dummies, also for this project.

After a Three Biscuit post by William Gallagher last week and an online chat with him, I'm considering producing a Youtube promotional video for my novel.

There we are. That's my writing thoughts this week. I have a lot to do in the next week. My first target is to get through an exciting bit for the middle of the story and bust the 35k word count. One way I can do that this weekend is to join William's Write-in hour on Sunday. Then I've got those blogs written. I'd better get on with it.