Miranda: Bloggerly housekeeping

The whip-wielding muse advised me that a Monday Page update is due from Jenny (how is that research coming along? We want to know!). Kudos to Christa, Bethany, Brittany, and Jenn–goals accomplished, and in several cases, surpassed!

I know that when I wrote my own Monday Page update this week, I was glad to note that I’d met my goal, but quickly realized that I’d given NO thought whatsoever to creative work for the coming week. If I hadn’t had to write it down, I probably would have left my writing time to the fates (and it would never had happened). So for me, stating my intentions regularly is a very good thing. (Sounds like Brittany had a similar experience!)

On the other hand, last week, I had to force myself to work on the two chapters I’d intended to revise. I really didn’t want to, but seeing as I’d committed myself via this blog, and wanted to send the chapters to another reviewer, I managed to get the files open. I then had that wonderful experience of being drawn into a project that already has legs, simply by virtue of all the hard work you’ve already put into it. Within minutes, I was fully immersed, chugging along, making important improvements. The point of this vignette is directed toward those of us who procrastinate and make endless excuses about NOT doing our work (I know this applies to Kerry, among others): Remember, there is a point at which your project hits critical mass. Suddenly it has a life–and an urgency–of its own. The more time you spend being creative, the easier is gets. One day you realize you have nothing to fight against after all: you’re doing it.

As it was, this week I felt so connected creatively that I even finished a painting that I’d let sit for months. Sure, I was supposed to be cleaning the basement in preparation for our open house this Sunday, but after ten minutes of grunt work while Toddler played happily on his older brother’s drums, I realized that I knew exactly how to finish the painting. I whipped out the acrylics and painted straight from the tube, using paper towels to clean my brushes rather than go upstairs to fetch water. It all came out organically and I’m pleased with the result. (For the record, I am not a painter, but I enjoy painting during and between writing projects. My expectations for creative brilliance are low, which allows me to really enjoy the process.)

Unrelated Creative Construction updates: we now have 11 authors (not everyone has posted yet), which is wonderful. I’m so happy you’ve all joined our community. In our first month, we had nearly 1,000 page views–all from word of mouth. (We’re now up to an average of about 50 page views a day, which leads me to believe we have many “lurkers”–please do join us!) Note that I’ve just added a section of links to our other personal blogs; I’d intended to do so at the outset but wanted to keep our own links separate from general external links. An e-mail from Lisa D. prompted me to get the new link box up. So if you have other links you’d like to include, please send them to me.

All best wishes for a creativity-filled week!