I made something today.
The name? Rocketship.
Is it particularly special? No. and that's what's so great about it.
I've never quite looked at this type of art in the way I look at writing; which is to say, anything is better than a blank page. For that reason, I haven't used a paint set in years. My drawing endeavors go about as far as looking up tutorials for cutesy animals to draw on our chalkboard wall for my nephew.
Last year, during NaNoWriMo, I decided that every few days, I'd take a day off from writing 1,667 words, and make something artistic in a different way, like taking pictures or drawing or playing with clay. But I fell behind pretty quickly (I always do) and I just didn't have time for that. I felt guilty doing anything else when I should've been writing. Today, I'm 7,283 words behind schedule, and to top it off, even if I catch up, I'll be leaving town and away from my computer starting Monday, up until the day before NaNoWriMo ends.
And I was frozen. I needed to write, but I mostly wanted to mope about how hard my life is, and then wanted to mope for being so pathetic as to think my life is hard.
So I grabbed a few of the cheap paint sets Walmart sells, and got to work.
The thing I've been noticing more and more about art lately, is that you don't have to have any particular skill in order to make it. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, either. In fact, I love it. I loved taking the brush and throwing it around and making dots and waves and a little scary face up in the corner. It felt nice, and free, and also felt pretty much like what NaNoWriMo is supposed to be. Throwing things at a page fast. Being open to mistakes. Telling ourselves not to go back and edit or judge until we're done. And remembering that the only bad page is an empty page.
So I was telling James about how kids throw together Legos or playdoh or anything and ask you "Can you guess what this is?" and you're like "Uhh. . . Elephant?" and they say "No! It's a Rocket ship, duh.". James said "So that's your rocket ship?" I told him yes. So that's where it got it's name. After all, this is a lot like what Chris Baty says in No Plot? No Problem! and even what Chuck Wendig said in his recent NaNoWriMo Pep Talk.
So I'm behind, a lot. Does it really matter? I don't think so. I think maybe it's just as important, if not more, to have an openly creative mind and giving your story permission to suck.
One thing that goes through my mind a lot is how some of us try so hard to make what we like and end up forgetting to like what we've made.
So as we enter the last week of NaNoWriMo in just a few days, try doing something besides writing that you don't think you're particularly good at, but approach it in a different, more NaNoWriMo style way. Bad at cooking? Start throwing ingredients together and see what happens. Bad singer? Try singing with a different accent. Math? 2+2 does always have to be 4 (Unless you're taking a test or doing something else important, in which case you should probably follow the rules :( sorry)
These aren't particularly good ideas, but hey, something I'm terrible at could be thinking up ideas, in which case, I might just be proving my point.
I've never quite looked at this type of art in the way I look at writing; which is to say, anything is better than a blank page. For that reason, I haven't used a paint set in years. My drawing endeavors go about as far as looking up tutorials for cutesy animals to draw on our chalkboard wall for my nephew.
Last year, during NaNoWriMo, I decided that every few days, I'd take a day off from writing 1,667 words, and make something artistic in a different way, like taking pictures or drawing or playing with clay. But I fell behind pretty quickly (I always do) and I just didn't have time for that. I felt guilty doing anything else when I should've been writing. Today, I'm 7,283 words behind schedule, and to top it off, even if I catch up, I'll be leaving town and away from my computer starting Monday, up until the day before NaNoWriMo ends.
And I was frozen. I needed to write, but I mostly wanted to mope about how hard my life is, and then wanted to mope for being so pathetic as to think my life is hard.
So I grabbed a few of the cheap paint sets Walmart sells, and got to work.
The thing I've been noticing more and more about art lately, is that you don't have to have any particular skill in order to make it. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, either. In fact, I love it. I loved taking the brush and throwing it around and making dots and waves and a little scary face up in the corner. It felt nice, and free, and also felt pretty much like what NaNoWriMo is supposed to be. Throwing things at a page fast. Being open to mistakes. Telling ourselves not to go back and edit or judge until we're done. And remembering that the only bad page is an empty page.
So I was telling James about how kids throw together Legos or playdoh or anything and ask you "Can you guess what this is?" and you're like "Uhh. . . Elephant?" and they say "No! It's a Rocket ship, duh.". James said "So that's your rocket ship?" I told him yes. So that's where it got it's name. After all, this is a lot like what Chris Baty says in No Plot? No Problem! and even what Chuck Wendig said in his recent NaNoWriMo Pep Talk.
So I'm behind, a lot. Does it really matter? I don't think so. I think maybe it's just as important, if not more, to have an openly creative mind and giving your story permission to suck.
One thing that goes through my mind a lot is how some of us try so hard to make what we like and end up forgetting to like what we've made.
So as we enter the last week of NaNoWriMo in just a few days, try doing something besides writing that you don't think you're particularly good at, but approach it in a different, more NaNoWriMo style way. Bad at cooking? Start throwing ingredients together and see what happens. Bad singer? Try singing with a different accent. Math? 2+2 does always have to be 4 (Unless you're taking a test or doing something else important, in which case you should probably follow the rules :( sorry)
These aren't particularly good ideas, but hey, something I'm terrible at could be thinking up ideas, in which case, I might just be proving my point.