Tag: creativity

About Me

Navigating Life Changes: Embracing Creativity Without AI

Autumn

My divorce came with the sense of being excommunicated for falling from grace. There’s something romantic about that, as if I were the servant of a petty god who found disfavor with me and cast me out to tread upon mortal ground, and now here I am picking my way along a rocky hiking trail as a warm October wind smacks me in the nose with dead leaves. Not every moment can be cinematic.

I hiked until my fear of heights kicked in, and while I’m logically certain that my feet were solidly planted on the ground, I couldn’t stop the light-headed notion that every footstep was perpetually sliding towards the edge and my inevitable death, so I turned around and headed home, much to my dog’s relief. He’s not a fan of windy heights either.

The thing is …

My AI art set up was dependent on that grace from which I have fallen. Unfortunately, my posts about how to generate AI art are the most popular, go figure.

The depressing part is that it’s not like AI art even meaningfully existed until a couple of years ago, yet now I feel the loss of it deeply. No more character portraits. No more setting the scene. No more visual supplements for my writing. At least not the same way that I used to.

I could download Stable Diffusion et al, but at the moment it doesn’t feel right. I’m too busy relearning how to be mortal … free from the gaze of my petty god.

Perhaps instead I’ll go back to my roots. I’ll channel the energy of that 17-year-old who’s Creative Writing teacher advised her to express all of her emotions through writing, and all she needed was a gel pen and a notebook.

We can save the fancy technology for the editing phase.

Meanwhile, I’ll have to figure out how to draw traffic to my blog without all the fancy keywords and visuals.

About Me

Social Media

Autumn

I found this to be an interesting video.

These days, creative sorts are essentially told that they cannot “succeed” without promoting themselves on social media. However, the crux is that the very nature of social media is toxic to creative minds, and is far more likely to kill artistic endeavors.

IE the comment section on that video.

I’m the sort that decided that my personal growth and expression through storytelling is more important than money or popularity. This blog is as close as I get to social media, and I personally don’t count it as such, because it’s mostly just me rambling at no one in particular. What can I say? I like the sound of crickets.

Not to mention, I’m rather limited on time, and I’d much rather spend it writing than on reading and replying to a boatload of comments. I’m introverted like that.

art

Butterflies and Stars Inkle loom pattern

Autumn

I accidentally misclicked and screwed up the pattern below the middle butterfly, but it’s supposed to be worked the exact same as the other two.

About Writing

Exploring Sci-Fi While Mothering: A Creative Journey

Autumn

Last year I decided to crochet amigurumi toys for the kids to help knock down my yarn stash, and they all excitedly picked out which ones they wanted from my pattern book. I got about three-quarters of the way through the third one when I hit burn out on the single crochet stitch, and decided to take a break.

I finished knitting my new baby blanket a couple of days ago, and decided that my next project should be catching up on the promises I’ve made to the older children. I finished amigurumi #3, and have started the prep for #4.

The fun thing about #4 is that I don’t have any of the requested colors on hand, but I do have plenty of cotton yarn and dye. So, I measured out some skeins and currently have them curing in dye.

Anyway, you can basically extrapolate from there what my daily life is like — a swarm of kids, and an adoration of creativity that goes quite deep.

Which is why I think it’s funny that I’ve started writing sci fi.

I don’t have any interest in owning “smart” soap dispensers or smoke detectors; I don’t see any use for them — aside from secretly hosting rogue AI hiding from human knowledge on the internet, anyway. But, you know, existing as a flesh entity, there’s no point in me owning a soap dispenser that runs on electricity when I can have more fun spending money on crafting supplies.

Heck, I’ve spent the last few months loving my antique spinning wheel. In terms of technology, I’m practically moving backwards with my personal habits.

Yet, I’ve been discovering that sci fi lets me explore more philosophical topics inside a world that is still very relatable to what we live in, and I’ve been discovering potential ideas that exceed what I felt capable of when I was writing fantasy.

As for the technology, I don’t have to expand that much outside of what we currently have — we all know it’s only a matter of time until Amazon starts using drones to make deliveries. The rest can easily be waved away with “technology magic, lol, :smiley emoji:.”

About Me

Homespun Yarn

Autumn

Sandalwood Merino Wool Roving from Busy Bee Fibers

I definitely spin yarn like a beginner, but the fun thing is that it doesn’t matter. Seriously. Once it’s knitted/crocheted, you can barely tell that there were any inconsistencies.

Normally I don’t go for earth tones, but that roving was too scrumptiously beautiful to resist. I don’t know what it is, but that combination of colors just tickles me.

Now I need to figure out what to make with it…

About Me

Baby Summer Dress

Autumn

Tie-dyed cotton sateen (orange sorbet and plum blossom), with my own machine embroidery design, satin ribbon, and rhinestones.

I know that I mention every now and then that I like sewing. For me, that often means taking plain white fabric and turning it into a colorful garment with various embellishments.

However, I do not identify as a “sewist”, because I am not a follower of “sewism.”

I just play with chemicals, computer programs, thread, and fabric to make stuff.

About Writing

In the Zone

Autumn

I wrote about 10,000 words of additional content for The Scion Suit in a week, which is *fast* for me. And, since the original was only 15,000 words, means that the VN is going to be *substantially* bigger (I’ve only added one alternate ending so far).

I definitely should have kept exercising over the winter, instead of letting myself get bogged down. But now I know just how important it is to my health (my blood clot resolved a few days ago, in case you were wondering).

Rules of living:
1. Stay hydrated
2. Keep moving
3. Magnesium

Anyway

I decided to write in my normal 3rd-person narration style since that’s what I’m most comfortable with, to be converted into a script later. And, in lieu of numbering each section, I titled them instead.

Highlights include:

Learning to Cuss
Kinky
My Girlfriend is an Alien
Actions Have Consequences
That Didn’t Go Well
Have I Gone Mad?

I’m probably going to eventually publish this stuff as a choose-your-own-adventure novel, since it includes events from Lambert’s perspective that aren’t going to be part of the VN … I got a little caught up in the story, lol.

I’m more than likely not going to be able to keep up that pace (I promised my kids a banana cream pie today), but dang it sure is nice to know that I’ve got it in me. But who knows, maybe I’ll be able to get this out faster than I originally thought.

About Me

Time Management

Autumn

I often think to myself that I ought to treat writing more like a part-time job than a hobby, and make some adjustments to our routine so I can write in the mornings when my mind is sharper. The benefit is that I’ll be able to work much faster than I currently do.

I’ve given myself the goal of publishing a new novel every year, which is a perfectly respectable pace all told, and in that regard I think that I’m doing just fine. But I’m also interested in exploring creative writing in different formats, and that’s going to take up more time. A lot more.

Which means that I need to manage my time more efficiently.

Which is a bit of a trick with a 10-month-old crawling all over me. >.<

So, in addition to writing novels, I’ve decided that I want to turn The Scion Suit into a text-based game.
i dunno why im such a nerd.
That means writing a multi-pronged script, and learning basic programming (which has my husband tickled). You’d think that I have enough going on, but writing the script for a video game is one of my bucket-list items, and there’s no time like the present.
We’re probably not going to be spending every weekend at the pool this summer anyway.

Besides, as long as I stick to the adage that “Progress is progress,” even just an hour a week will eventually add up. I’m pretty certain I do everything in 10-20 minute increments.

So I plan on starting off with a “choose your own adventure” format, but I want to get stats worked in as well.

I’m also looking forward to when the New Pokemon Snap comes out at the end of the month, so I’m probably going to have to quit watching movies and youtube. Frank James will just have to continue on without me. XD

About Writing

Thoughts on creative writing

Autumn

I took my first creative writing class 18 years ago.

Technically, I guess I did three years of creative writing as a teenager, then majored in the subject for two years in University before dropping out.

Anywho

It rather leaves me speechless at how creative writing has “modernized” since then. Absolutely no one talks about literary devices, story organization, or how to utilize punctuation. Instead you get an onslaught of articles promising to teach you, “How to write an emotionally manipulative villain”, or, “The best way to avoid burnout” — not to mention, the standard attacks on adjectives, and the word, “said.”

(That’s like painting a picture without using any shades of green and blue. Yes, it can be done, but it’s pointlessly limiting. If the words exist, don’t be afraid to use them.)

The other day it occurred to me that I’ve developed my own style of writing to the point that I could publish a how-to book on it. Then you, too, could be a famous author like me!

Except not really.

Because if there’s one thing I’m really bad at, it’s marketing — which has more to do with popularity than quality does.

And, well, it’s my writing style. Even if I listed everything I do out with bullet points and detailed explanations, you would still never write like I do. Could I even reduce it down succinctly? Is it possible to teach others how to talk to people who aren’t real?

Not to mention, some of my most poignant lessons happened while my husband and I were living out of a car, and that has been a major influence on what I write. You can’t teach that through a book.

I’d much rather encourage people to develop their own process that makes them happy. Ultimately, that’s what writing should be about.

But I’m really starting to think that literary devices need to make a comeback, and someone ought to give that push.

About Me

Creative Self Promotion

Autumn

When you’re a creative sort, the number one advice is always, “Use social media to promote yourself.”

I don’t.

(I have nothing good to say about social media, so it would be rather hypocritical.)

This blog is the closest that I get to that sort of thing, and instead of trying to encourage any sort of ‘community’, I’m content to post my musings to the void. Lurk as much as you want — it’s fine by me. Personally, I miss the days when I could sit down in a private corner and read something entirely for myself without having to taint it with everyone else’s opinions, so I like to imagine that I’m recreating that here. Feel free to not leave any likes or comments. You don’t have to share if you don’t want to. What you experience when you read my blog and stories belongs 100% to you.

Note: If you are interested in helping me build a community, then join us over on Discord! We can chat in a more intimate setting, free from the pressure of garnering ‘likes’ or looking cool. Not to mention, I share my plans for my stories over there before posting anything about them here, so you, too, can be among the first to know.

Of course, I can’t be too well kept of a secret, because then I might as well stuff everything in a drawer for all the good it does. Writing is my form on self-expression, and I have some idealistic notions about being a positive influence on the world. I know, I know, but my north node* is in Pisces, so I can’t help it.

So, the question of how to reach people is always on my mind.

I’m trying to be creative about it, especially because I have a very rich real life that demands an enormous amount of time.

I’m still very much figuring out what I’m doing — because it’s very much my own thing. I’m not going to get myself into something that’s going to end up sucking out my soul and destroying my creativity.

How would you do it? How would you promote yourself without using social media?

XD

*In astrology, your north node is your overall life purpose/goals. In this context, Pisces represents empathy and healing.