Creativity

I am back to writing again with the help of my writing buddies. We have an informal book study group reading Julie Cameron's "The Artist Way at Work". I would recommend this book to anyone who needs to recover their creative spark. I do.

Although the book centers on "work" as office work, outside of the home work, I'm reading it with a different slant. I'm reading it and doing the excercises with the slant on my writing as work. Since writing is very solitary with no office mates, some things don't apply, but the majority of the book dovetails nicely into the writing career.

We are only one third of the way into our journey of releasing creativity and I can see changes already.

I am writing. I am going to finish my novel.

Although I have been trying to write, I would sit at the computer and nothing would come out. It was easier to read the chapters I had already written than write more. What had happened? Was I just lazy? What about the commitments I had made in the prior months? I could sit at my computer all day and nothing would get written. I envied Rene and Melissa. How could they write so much? Dammit, it's not fair! I'm trying!

But, I have been saved. I needed outside help. All the discipline in the world was not going to bring words out of my head and onto paper.

Daily, I e-mail a book study writer friend and we share writing experiences. Somedays it's how much we've written, somedays, how much not. But always, we have the shoulders of each other to lean on. I sometimes feel I'm in therapy. And that's a good thing.

My journey is no way complete. We have many chapters to go. But, I feel a turning point, a change. I feel the book and group has given me back. . . . me. I am finding my inner source of creativity and bringing it back out to my writing.