Weekly Something: Stippling is to Marketing....

Marketing isn't hard.
Really, don't think of marketing your book as being hard.
After all, there is a gazillion books on the subject all of them have some tried and tested methods of reaching audiences and selling your book.

Oh, it is challenging but more than that, marketing is repetitive. One of the best ways to market anything-without a lot of resources-is building relationships with people. Talking to people about your book.

Book Marketing is kind of like stippling-that technique in art that uses dots to form an image. If you've ever stippled as an art project, you know it can be repetitive and tedious.
It takes time, effort and energy to keep the multitude of social media updated, to make connections and network. This tediousness and repetitiveness can lead to a desperation.

Desperation, I believe causes people who I am sure most of the time are wonderful to do some pretty, well desperate things.

This week, I've had an offer to buy my contact list!, a demand for me to publicize an event as my contacts would be..ah useful to them, request for help-if I could give marketing suggestions beyond what was on the blog-suggested the first three things that came to mind and never heard back.

When you are marketing your book, be polite. Don't send emails that are blank with only attachments. If you are sending an email to someone you genuinely think might be interested in your book, start with a "hello".
People will always remember rudeness.


Keep on putting down those dots-eventually they form an image, a successful image.

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Thoughtful Thursday: Its All Timing...

Artwork Courtesy of Christopher Chamberlain, All Rights Reserved. Visit his site here.
Join the Art Stew here.

Time cools, time clarifies; no mood can be maintained quite unaltered through the course of hours.
Mark Twain

Observe due measure, for right timing is in all things the most important factor.
Hesiod

Defer no time, delays have dangerous ends
Shakespeare

Difficult times have helped me to understand better than before, how infinitely rich and beautiful life is in every way, and that so many things that one goes worrying about are of no importance whatsoever.
I. Dinesen

Love, all alike, no season knows, nor clime, nor hours, days, months, which are the rags of time.
John Donne

The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once.
Albert Einstein

The Future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of sixty minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is.
C.S. Lewis

Oh! Do not attack me with your watch. A watch is always too fast or too slow. I cannot be dictated to by a watch.
Jane Austen

And you would accept the seasons of your heart just as you have always accepted that seasons pass over your fields and you would watch with serenity through the winters of your grief.
Kahlil Gibran

Time discovers truth.
Seneca

Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love, time is eternity.
Henry Van Dyke

Reader of Authors Promoting Authors? Be Our Guest!

No, this isn't this week's Weekly Something, but I felt the need to take over an entire blog post anyways!

Isn't it amazing, this adventure we are all on? We are given so many ways to express and challenge ourselves.
And often times, if we are really lucky, we could almost be a cartoon character, walking along an empty street with a huge, shinning light bulb over our heads.

I just had one of those moments.

An, "Oh right". "Of of course!" "Ah, duh!" "Ding! DING!".

I think authors often make the mistake of promoting only in their niche (gods, I really wanted to use the word "breeds" but that kind of reads as being offensive).
Forgetting sometimes that: plumbers, stay-at-home-moms (Superwomen), interior designers, teachers, customer service reps, roofers, deep-sea-divers and conductors exist.

People are rather versitalize, for good or ill. Which means, they tend to have various interests. I bet some of the above grouped folks even pick up a book or two.

Actually, I know they do.
Authors Promoting Authors has plumbers, stay-at-home-moms (Superwomen), interior designers, teachers, customer service reps, roofers, deep-sea-divers and conductors as readers.
They read this blog. Some of them have been doing so from the very beginning.

I bet, readers, also have a thing or two to contribute. Thoughts on their mind they'd like to share with the world.
I bet, some of them, would just love to be OUR GUEST!

The Our Guest Feature is just not exclusive to authors. You don't need to be a author or a writer. If you feel you have something our versatile audience would enjoy or something you'd like to share, please feel free to participate in this feature.

Send the guest-blog to : apasuggestionsATgmail.com (please tell you'd like to be Our Guest), along with a bio and title of the article (guest post).
As long as it is not offensive or violent, I will gladly post it.

I think this could be really interesting and allow interaction between readers and writers.

This was my lightbulb moment of the night.

Book Give Aways!-Updated

Is there any doubt that giving your book away is good promotion?

This year, Authors Promoting Authors wants to give away books. A lot of books.

Alongside with the famous Book Features, authors will now have the option of giving away their book with their Book Feature.

Interviews-A new feature, which we fully expect to blast off. Authors who are interviewed, will also have the option of giving away their book. Information on the new authors-interview feature will be appearing this coming Monday.

Comment Contest-Every month, I want to give away a way a book. Leave a comment, your name goes into a drawing for a free book. This is totally random, hence the "surprise book", from the book box.

What's in the book box? It could be a new bestseller, or a book a couple years old.
It is a surprise book.

If you are an author that wishes to give away a book to a comment-leaver in the monthly draws, please send me an email.
I'll keep a list of all authors who want to participate in this and to eliminate high-shipping costs, I'll let the author know where to send the book.
Instead of sending it on out to my "Igloo".

apasuggestionsATgmail.com


While we are on the subject of giving away books, please do not forget about Books For Fiji; Check them out here.

Art Stew-Art Improv Contest-Week One-Choose The Setting

Artwork provided by Christopher Chamberlain, All Rights Reserved.

The Art Stew - Art Improv Contest -Week One opened yesterday.
I believe there are many readers who are not part of the Authors Promoting Authors Facebook Group (oddly, I find that refreshing, these readers know APA is more than a group on Facebook) and I really wanted to share the information about this contest to the masses.

It is self-promotion but it is very creative and allows people to be interactive. It also draws people to the Facebook Group.
Yes, its a good promotional idea. Yet, it is so much fun! Remember the "Choose Your Own Adventure" Books? Ever been to an improv show?

This is like those, except in art. Here's the scoop:

Join in on creating an improvisational illustration! The final piece will be on 11"x17" bristol board and drawn in pencil.

Best part of this is that after one month there will be a random draw to determine who gets to own the artwork!

First things first, you have to join the Facebook group - Many Faces Art. Secondly join in on the discussion. http://www.facebook.com/groups.php?ref=sb#/group.php?gid=35251338001

There are four stages to this event. Members of the group will offer suggestions to pick the setting, the antagonist(s) and the protagonist(s).

Starting with week 1 (which begins on Monday July 27th and runs until Sunday August 2) the discussion will be to pick the setting. This could be anything from a library to the moon and anywhere in between. A random draw will be made from the suggestions for all stages.

Week 2 runs from Monday August 3 through Sunday August 9 - and the discussion will be to choose the antagonists. This one could be anyone from feral smurfs to ninja accountants.

Week 3 runs from Monday August 10 through Sunday August 16 - and the discussion will be to choose the protagonists. Again this could be anyone from the Cheshire Cat to the Batman.

At the end of each stage I will post some sketches of the setting, the antagonist(s), and the protagonist(s) to offer a glimpse of the creative process.

Fourth week will see me announcing the winner of the illustration by random drawing and posting the image on the group page.

* Multiple comments from the members result in multiple entries. Comments for each stage will be taken into account for the draw for the final artwork.



See?
Interactive, fun and easy.

Go join in the Art Stew!

Our Guest: L. Sue Durkin, How to Approach A Publisher

How to Approach a Publisher
by L. Sue Durkin

As a writer I was in a world all my own.
Becoming a traditional, small-press (house) publisher knocked me out of that world. It took the blinders off.
Mainly new writers wear those blinders, though there are some old-timers who need to take them off, too.
Even with all the reading and studying about publishing I had done as a writer, I was no way prepared for what I experienced as a publisher.
The two worlds are so different, yet reaching toward a common goal.
If I knew then as a writer what I know now as a publisher, my book, Life is Like Making Chocolate Chip Cookies, would be different.

So I am going to share a little of what I have learned with the hope that other writers can avoid the pitfalls that others before them have fallen into.

Before you even consider sending a query letter, proposal, or manuscript to an agent or publisher, do your homework! This is very important.
An agent/publisher can tell if you have been diligent with this or not. It reflects in what you send them. It can determine whether you get a response or end up in the dreaded slush pile of letters, emails, and manuscripts.

What do I mean by homework? Choose your genre carefully. Make a list of only the agents/publishers that deal in that specific genre.
If in doubt, send an email asking if they accept a certain genre. Just ask the question. Don’t tell them about your book or you. At this point they are not interested, and it could hurt your chances later on with that publisher. Just ask the question with a nice salutation and closing. Nothing more. Nothing less.
Once you have ascertained this is who you would like to publish your book, check their website for submission requirements or contact them to find out.
Follow those requirements to the letter! If you don’t understand, then ask.
Nothing will get you rejected faster than an inappropriate submission.
Here is a case in point.
A publisher verbally told an author that sample chapters and proposals were to be in hard copy: meaning printed out and sent through regular mail. This was also stated on the publisher’s website.
After a couple of days the author emailed the publisher stating she was finishing a few last minute edits. She added she would be sending the sample chapters via email, not by regular mail, as she was green.
This was an insult and a total disrespect to the publisher. Needless to say, this author didn’t get published through that publishing company. As far as I know as of this writing, she hasn’t been published at all.
Publishers don’t care if you are green or not. They don’t care that it costs a fortune in ink to run that many pages, double-spaced, or about the amount of postage that entails. They want things a certain way. Give it to them, especially if you want them to publish your book.
Moral: Don’t mess with the publisher’s submission guidelines!

In a query letter or proposal don’t say how much you think they will like the book. Unless you have a celebrity in your field that has read and commented on your book, don’t state how others have liked it. An agent/publisher doesn’t care if your family, friends, or co-workers liked it. It only shows them how inexperienced you are. Plus, you have taken valuable space away from your pitch.
Make sure you address your queries/proposals to the person handling that aspect in that particular company. If you don’t know, find out.
You could hurt your cause if you don’t. It could end up on a slush pile, never to be seen again.
Most publishing websites tell you how long the process is when they receive something from you. Pay Attention to the timeline!
If you have to, mark it on your calendar. Don’t send a manuscript out on Monday, and then call or email the agent/publisher on Wednesday or Thursday to find out if they received it. You could be considered as an annoying author.
This is another sure way to end up in a slush pile or buried in an inbox. You could wait for three or four months before you hear anything from a publisher. Don’t push it!
Make sure your manuscript is crisp and clean. Have a new ink cartridge installed. If the manuscript can’t be read or it appears the printer was running out of ink, the slush pile receives another casualty.
There was an author who sent out a manuscript where only the top part of the type could be read. Needless to say, that manuscript got set aside. The author had to send a whole new one. The cost of sending it once was high.
Twice, was not necessary. Save yourself time and money and do it right the first time.
Make sure it is your return address on the envelope that holds your manuscript.
Your name should be prominently displayed. This seems trivial. It isn’t.
An author had someone else print and send out his manuscript. The return label was in the name of the helpful person. She turned out not to be too helpful though, because the manuscript went into an unsolicited manuscript slush pile for a month. That was until the author starting calling and bugging the publisher about receiving the manuscript. This one ended well. Most don’t.
I still don’t advocate calling and bugging a publisher.

Whether you believe it or not, your personality comes across through emails and phone calls. If an agent/publisher suspects you are going to be difficult to work with, chances are you will be rejected, even with a good manuscript.
I don’t believe an author needs to kiss an agent/publisher’s feet, but if you want to get in the door be respectful, not demanding. Don’t tell them how to run their business or what to do. Don’t tell them another agent/publisher does it differently.
If you don’t like the way they do business then you can always walk away and not sign a contract with them.

Speaking of contracts!
Everyone tells you to read the contract.
I am telling you to understand the contract! Ask questions on the areas you don’t understand. Take it to a lawyer. Negotiate it. Too many authors enter into contracts they don’t understand.
Then they blame the agent/publisher when it is themselves they need to blame. If an agent/publisher won’t discuss the contract then walk away. Better safe than sorry.
I could tell you horror stories of authors who have either not understood their contracts or not entered into one in the first place. Don’t be one of them!

If an agent/publisher agrees to read an excerpt of your work, ask them what they want and how they want it. Don’t send it unsolicited either. Make sure you know what you are doing.
A publisher asked to see an excerpt of a manuscript to be sent via email. Imagine the publisher’s reaction when a single paragraph arrived. In that paragraph was description combined with dialog between two adult males.
It wasn’t broke down at all!
The publisher emailed her back showing her how to break down the paragraph and recommending some books on writing. The poor author stated she had no idea the dialog was to be broken down like that.
So what must have the rest of the manuscript looked like? Last I heard the author took the critiquing to heart and is in editing mode.
This doesn’t happen very often: an agent/publisher taking the time to show mistakes to authors. So don’t count on it happening to you.
Make sure you know what you are doing before wasting the time of someone else.

Books on grammar, punctuation, syntax, etc. are a must.
There are many out there. Some are better than others. Ask other writers what books on writing they have in their library. You will find that a lot of the same ones keep cropping up.
Here are just a couple to get your started.

The Elements of Style by Strunk and White
The Everyday Writer by Andrea A. Lunsford
On Writing by Stephen King
Formatting & Submitting Your Manuscript by Cynthia Laufenberg

I would love to have you leave a comment with the names of the books you use.

Bottom Line: If you want a traditional publisher to publish your book, do your homework, be courteous, be knowledgeable, and be the person a publisher would want to work with.


[L. Sue Durkin is the author of Life is Like Making Chocolate Chip Cookies and has a small, traditional publishing company, Weaving Dreams Publishing. She does writing and publishing presentations. In the Fall, 2009 she will be teaching courses on writing/publishing for her local community college and park district. She can be reached through her website at http://www.weavingdreamspublishing.com ]

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Would you like to be Our Guest on Authors Promoting Authors? email: apasuggestions@gmail.com

Come Join the Art Stew here!

Weekly Something: Book Features, Keep or Toss?

So far, my Weekly Somethings have all been about Authors Promoting Authors.

Which is great because this is a wonderful way to update people about what is going on behind the scenes, especially during the summer where the renovation is continuing on at full strength.

The original concept (the Book Features) of Authors Promoting Authors was you send an email with your book info. then it is posted on the blog. Then you take the book info. before you and post it on your blog.

There has been a lot of success with this concept, but it has met with its pitfalls too.

And I still have not made a decision on weather or not to keep the Book Features as they have been or change them.

What do you think? Jump in with the comments here and let me know your thoughts on the old way of the Book Features. Your suggestions and ideas are important as they will help what direction APA takes in the very near future.



Pressure, I believe goes hand in hand with trying to be an author, so I don't have to write on that topic too much, other than to say, I've been feeling it lately, on all levels.

With the slew of new interest and new people who have discovered Authors Promoting Authors, I feel the pressure to make the renovations and have it up and running on an on going basis once more.

Many thanks to all the authors, readers and supporters of Authors Promoting Authors.

APA will continue to grow and flourish even farther, but how we get there depends on what you all want to see.

If you have a suggestion that you do not want made public, feel free to send it on to: apasuggestions@gmail.com

Happy Friday!

Thoughtful Thursday: You're How Old?

Artwork Courtesy of Christopher Chamberlain. All Rights Reserved.http://manyfacesart.weebly.com/

Experience is a revelation in the light of which we renounce our errors of youth for those of age.
A. Bierce


The years teach much which the days never knew.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of the child into old age, which means never losing your enthusiasm.
Aldous Huxley

Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.
Mark Twain

To know how to grow old is the master-work of wisdom, and one of the most difficult chapters in the great art of living.
Henri Amiel

Old age has a great sense of calm and freedom.
Plato

Age wrinkles the body. Quitting wrinkles the soul.

Douglas MacArthur



We turn not older with years, but newer every day.
Emily Dickinson


The great secret that all old people share is that you really haven't changed in seventy or eighty years. Your body changes, but you don't change at all. And that, of course, causes great confusion.
Doris Lessing



For age is opportunity no less than youth itself, though in another dress, and as the evening twilight fades away, the sky is filled with stars, invisible by day.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow


Dreams are renewable. No matter what our age or condition, there are still untapped possibilities within us and new beauty waiting to be born.
Dale E. Turner

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To see more of Christopher Chamberlain's Artwork visit here

For inquires about Authors Promoting Authors, email: apasuggestionsATgmail.com

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Our Guest: Jeff Bennington

In keeping with the theme of Authors Promoting Authors, I want to be sure to compose this according to the all-important mantra of promoting other writers. Seems simple enough, right?

Now, to throw in a little twist, I would like to attempt this while writing what I’ve learned about book marketing. So regardless of how this turns out, your grace and/or sympathy is much appreciated.
As a newly established writer, I have to say that blogs like APA and the literary relationships I have made these last few months have been extremely impacting on my view of marketing.

It seems that my naïve and inexperienced mind viewed marketing as an independent and self-disciplined endeavor that paid its dividends according to the amount of effort I alone dispense. Boy, was I wrong!

What I have learned about marketing is that selling books has less to do with my effort, although effort is certainly critical, and more to do with Networking. In fact, it is through networking that I have learned the few things I know about book marketing.

For starters, I’ve learned that putting other author’s names on your books is a simple and much appreciated way of promoting other authors. Why would you do that? Well, because people believe what they read, and if another author writes a positive review about your book, readers will believe that the book is good. Also, using other writers to edit and including them on the cover is another way to promote other authors.
I have experienced this first hand. Published author, Dory Maust, author of Blood Stained and the Benn Mac series liked my book Killing the Giants so much that she invited me to join her editing team with the promise of putting my name on the jacket as editor of her current project, Letters to the Savior.
I mean, Wow! That was incredibly flattering and a marketing blitz for both of us. You see, her main character in the Benn Mac series is…your not going to believe this…Jeff Bennington (that’s me). In return, I have put her name and information on the cover of Killing the Giants. You can learn more about Dory, our books, and how all that came together at www.dorymaust.com. See, that is how you network and promote other authors. It’s kind of like the old adage, what goes around comes around, or you get what you give. Not that I want to over do the cliché thing, but I think you get the point.
But wait there’s more! There are other great ways to network and market that are cheap and easy. But to keep this short, I’ll just post some links here that you can go to for free, accessible marketing. Also, never forget the value of public libraries, your alumni association, press releases, bookstores, and your local newspaper. Your contacts with these folks are absolutely invaluable. Finally, note how I use my email signature at the end of this blog. Trust me, people will look at your site just by including it in all your emails.
· Free web hosting - www.Yola.com (used to be synthasite.com)
· Free Promotional videos - www.animoto.com (look at my web page. It’s fun and easy.)
· Free networking… Facebook.com, myspace.com, & Authors Promoting Authors.
To see how I use these tools, you can friend me on Facebook or better yet, go to my webpage, www.chasingthegiants.com. Happy Networking!


Jeff Bennington
Author – Killing the Giants: The Road to Nihilism
www.chasingthegiants.com

This Guest Post is by Jeff Bennington. All Rights Reserved.

If you would like to be Our Guest on Authors Promoting Authors email: authorspromotingauthors@gmail.com

Thoughtful Thursday: Climbing On

Artwork courtesy of Christopher Chamberlain. All Rights Reserved. http://manyfacesart.weebly.com/

For a tree to become tall it must grow tough roots among the rocks.
Nietzsche

I am not judged by the number of times I fail, but by the number of times I succeed: and the number of times I succeed is in direct proportion to the number of times I fail and keep trying.
Tom Hopkins

Perseverance is a great element of success. If you only knock long enough and loud enough at the gate, you are sure to wake up somebody.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Often the difference between a successful person and a failure is not one has better abilities or ideas, but the courage that one has to bet on one's ideas, to take a calculated risk - and to act.
Andre Malraux

We seem to gain wisdom more readily through our failures than through our successes. We always think of failure as the antithesis of success, but it isn't. Success often lies just the other side of failure.
Leo Buscaglia

Even after a bad harvest there must be sowing.
Seneca

Failures are finger posts on the road to achievement.
C.S. Lewis

A professional writer is an amateur who didn't quit.
Richard Bach

For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream.
Van Gogh

Just keep swimming
Just keep swimming
Just keep swimming swimming swimming
Dory, Finding Nemo

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Enjoy Thoughtful Thursdays' Artwork?
Check out ACEO's by Christopher Chamberlain, here

Art and Publicity

Do you need a bookcover? 
Character designs, drawings? 
Promotional art? 
Pages illustrated? 


AND 


Publicity for your book? 
We can help with art and publicity. 
apasuggestions@gmail.com 

Our Guest: Ken Weene

People in church, or synagogue or mosque. People listening to a sermon, praying to a God. What does it mean?

How does God fit into our lives? How do we fit into God’s infinite timeline? Once people spent a lot of time on those questions. Now, not so much. If we go to house of worship, we seldom take the words as a source of meditation and soul searching. Our lives go on without a personal relationship with God.

Sadly, many of us tell ourselves that we have to follow certain rules without understanding or caring what those rules mean, how they might help us to be better people and to lead more purposeful lives. Some of us even want to impose those rules on others as if they personally spoke for The Almighty. True to such arrogance, these people often pick and choose the rules they will impose.

In the process the dialogue between the believer and those who doubt gets lost. God has given us the challenge of life, which has to include the challenge of sharing life with those around us. The dialogue which makes that sharing possible is so often lost in a flash of dogmatic truth.

My novel, Widow’s Walk, is coming out in a couple of weeks. In it I try to explore the interplay for good and ill between faith and life. I hope it will get a few people to think about their relationship to God and God’s relationship to them. As a psychologist, minister, and especially as a pastoral counselor, this has always been the central issue in my search for personal meaning.

If you’d like more information about Widow’s Walk please visit the website: http://widows-walk.webs.com/ and don’t forget to look for it on Amazon in a couple of weeks.

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This guest blog post is by Ken Weene. All Rights Reserved.

If you would like to be Our Guest on Authors Promoting Authors, drop an email to: apasuggestions@gmail.com

Thoughtful Thursday: Missing You...

Artwork courtesy of Christopher Chamberlain http://manyfacesart.weebly.com/
All Rights Reserved.

Gone - flitted away,
Taken the stars from the night and the sun
From the day!
Gone, and a cloud in my heart.
Alfred Tennyson

Life is a series of experiences, each of which makes us bigger, even though it is hard to realize this. For the world was built to develop character, and we must learn that the setbacks and grieves which we endure help us in our marching onward
Henry Ford

Parting is all we know of heaven and all we need to know of hell.

Emily Dickinson

Where you used to be, there is a hole in the world, which I find myself constantly walking around in the daytime, and falling in at night.
Edna St Vincent Millay

Love is missing someone whenever you're apart, but somehow feeling warm inside because you're close in heart.
Kay Knudsen

Can miles truly separate you from friends.... If you want to be with someone you love, aren't you already there? Richard Bach

When you are sorrowful look again in your heart,
and you shall see that in truth you are weeping
for that which has been your delight.
Kahil Gibran

Don't grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form.
Rumi

The bonds of love are eternal ~ they never die. Karen Anderson

Weekly Something

You might have noticed that Authors Promoting Authors is starting to look just a little bit different.
The transformation isn't complete yet, but I have to say I am very happy about how its shaping up.

The new features as it stands now are: Author Interviews, conducted by volunteers who leaped at the chance to interview a fellow author, Book People Profiles, if there is enough interest this will fill the Tuesday slot. Added to the mix is Our Guest (guest blogging, perhaps weekly) Thoughtful Thursday and of course the regular Book Features, which I am still trying to figure out what to keep and what to scrap.

If you are interested in any of these features and would like to participate, just shoot me a line at: apasuggestions@gmail.com and let me know what one you'd like to be involved with.

Thank-you to everyone: the readers, the authors, the naysayers for your opinions and suggestions. I've listened to them all and as we go forward, I believe Authors Promoting Authors will really stretch into a community.

Yes, there was talk of a website but I have decided to suspend that movement for now and work on building the blog up. It'll also give me a chance to see what works and what doesn't.
Don't you all feel we are living experiment?

Oh! A brand new feature, unveiled today, called Weekly Something.

This is where the creator of Authors Promoting Authors gets to take over an entire blog post once a week and patter on about anything that might be on her mind.

So what is on my mind today?

How lack of sleep can really cause us to act. Or write things we might not have written had we been fully conscious. Okay, emails we might not have sent if we were fully awake and conscious.

Inner truth, does not deck below the sleepless mind, given that it all worked out for the best.

Also, excitement about the new Authors Promoting Authors and how great all the lovely authors are that have contributed to the blog over this year.

I hope you all have the book-sales of your dreams.

Our Guest: Unblocking Your Writer's Block

“Oooooh” My college roommate moaned.
“What’s wrong with you?” I asked, standing in front of her bedroom.
She was under the covers in bed, paper and books strewn everywhere.
“I have writer’s block”, she proclaimed, sitting up from her nest of blankets.
“Bull”, I said.
I went into the living room and started tidying up the place. Props of her malaise had taken over the entire apartment. This was somewhere during the sixties where everyone was some kind of artist.
My roommate was no exception to this.
She had been trying for about a year to write a screenplay that was going to catapult her to fame and fortune. Not to mention, seriously piss off her academia parents.

Why was I so unsupportive of my friend’s creativity?

First of all, writer’s block is something of your own creation. I’ve heard this term used for and wide and glorified. My roommate, when she proclaimed it was smiling. Writer’s Block is not a rite of passage one has to endure.

I understand frustration and being stalled on a project. I don’t understand clinging to this “block”.
If you suspect you have writer’s block, go do something. Garden or baby-sit or buy some fish. Shift your energy field and your focus by doing something different. Then come back to it.
If you really can’t get anywhere with it, then put it aside and start on something new.
If that doesn’t work maybe its time to stop writing and find another creative outlet.

I said as much to my roommate at that time. She ranted and raved that I did not understand her aspirations and I wasn’t being supportive.

My roommate, by the way was brilliant. She was majoring in biochemistry. She felt a little confined in these areas. She truly loved people and talking to them. Not only that she was a drama queen.

A week later she came to me.
“You know, I think your right.”
“About what?” I asked having forgotten all about last week’s drama.
“I’m not a writer. I’ve decided to take acting classes.”
As the years went by, my college roommate not only took acting classes but teamed up with other creative people and started acting workshops for kids.

This for my roommate, filled her need to be creative, while still working away with her brilliant mind in her field.


If writing is what you love to do, then realize like everything else it is going to have moments of where it isn’t working.
Try not to force yourself to write.
Find some writing exercises you can do-this is another way of shifting your energy.
Sometimes we become really tangled in what we are creating and the creation takes on its own energy.

Over the years, I have helped many creative individuals work through their own blocks and aided them to be successful.

Can I help you in your creative endeavors?

-Article by Lilly from Tending Flames Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Lilly has been untangling energetic knots, helping people be free of trapping patterns, guiding people to awake their intuition and being a spiritual catalyst since 1974, when she first opened a business in intuition guidance.
You may contact her at: tendingflames@gmail.com
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A Little History

(THIS WAS HOW APA STARTED)

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Thoughtful Thursday: Feeling Creative?

Art courtesy of Christopher Chamberlain http://manyfacesart.weebly.com/
All Rights Reserved.


The world is but a canvas to the imagination-Henry David Thoreau

The creative is the place where no one else has ever been. You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you'll discover will be wonderful. What you'll discover is yourself-Alan Alda


Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will-George Bernard Shaw

The imagination imitates. It is the critical spirit that creates-Oscar Wilde

The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources-Albert Einstein

But, if you have nothing at all to create, then perhaps you create yourself-Carl Gustav Jung

Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity-Charles Mingus

Happiness is not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort-Franklin D. Roosevelt

Every act of creation is first of all an act of destruction-Pablo Picasso

You need chaos in your soul to give birth to a dancing star-Nietzsche
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