Well, somehow I managed to complete the novel for NaNoWriMo, and a day before the deadline. I attempted to do some writing while at Thanksgiving, but no, that wasn't happening there, so I had a lot of catching up to do. I don't think I did anything on Friday & Saturday other than write with breaks taken to eat.
I mainly did it as a creative exercise, to try and use my creativity in other ways. I'm real happy with the results, in that I went into it with the vaguest of ideas and characters and somehow made a story out of it. I don't know how far I'll take this one, I'll certainly try some revisions, but I don't know if it's worthy of shopping around for publication. I'm already thinking of next year, of perhaps finishing the story I didn't complete last time, unless that's "cheating" to have a head start? We'll see.
It was good but also exhausting to focus on nothing but that for a month. I got to know the local Starbucks stores and libraries real well, used mainly for their WiFi, and just getting out of the house. I'd like to try and keep this sort of momentum, if not so intense, for my other creative pursuits.
I'll certainly return to look at shots from the October photoshoot, to see if there are others to work on. I've already got ideas for my next one. I'm pretty sure it'll be all black & white for starters. The shot below has proven to be the most popular one so far in the places online that I've posted it to.
Also finding creativity in music, both in DJing and making a mix for an upcoming party that has been an annual thing amongst people I know since I moved to Boston. Ever since I was younger making cassette ones, even if it was just for myself, I'd go all out on the packaging. That's something I think we've lost in the digital/download age. I certainly grew up dreaming that I'd be making album cover art. Nowadays it's usually not much larger than a CD cover, even with the resurgence of vinyl, so they probably aren't designed with much detail if they're going to be so small. But I still do it:
Another thing I found different, was in selecting songs for the mix, it's different than scanning your collection, reading the spines of them on shelves or seeing the cover art than reading a list of songs on your computer. I'll admit it's easier to preview the songs, but something was missing. And considering how large my collection has gotten, it's overwhelming at times, just trying to figure out what song should be next.
Congrats on winning Nanowrimo, first of all. That's fantastic!
ReplyDeleteI do wonder how much we are losing in terms of a physical experience as we move from tangible to digital libraries. I empathize with you on making mixes from digital collections and NOT making cover art for the mix--those are elements i loved as well.
And i feel the same way about books. As convenient as e-readers are (and i'm an avid e-book reader), i do also still love reading paper books--seeing the cover art every time i close the book, the position of each page on the left or right of the open book, the heft of how many pages i've read or how many are left to go. And it's a cliche but "books do furnish a room."