Original Impulse Blog

Where It's At

If you're wondering where I'm posting these days, it's over at the Journey Juju blog. My summer project is a restructuring of my web site and blogs, so watch for the new, the exciting, the vibrant.

My upcoming blog subjects include:

• The Graceful Return: Coming Home and Harvesting Your Creative Inspiration
• 29 Gleanings from My Leap (continued from January 09)
• Travel
• Art
• Practice
• Denver Sketch Crawls News

Read more at Journey Juju.

FAQ: How to Stay Focused?

Question:

I don't seem to have a great attention span - I don't get lost in my work. Is that because I'm not confident in it, or not passionate about it, or just ADD? I would love some advice on how I might coax myself to be more prolific.

My Answer:

Who knows if you have ADD, but I know that we are living in very distractable times. I get distracted all the time. I bounce from one thing to the next. Like improv. I am currently working on an illustrated book that allows me to use collage, drawing, painting, calligraphy, writing…so I can play with many media.

Perhaps Nothing Is Wrong with You

I say quit thinking something is wrong with you. This is why I hate the idea that there is one way to create, and if you’re not doing it that way, or experiencing what others do, you’re wrong. That kind of thinking is gremlin fodder.

This is why I am so committed to helping creative people find, acknowledge and embrace their own process. What works for them. Shedding expectations and doubts. Playing in the creative zone freely.

Live Wrong-Free for a Week

Do what works for you. Give yourself a week to live in the land of ‘nothing wrong with me or what I’m doing.’ I can say this because I know you are unlikely to kill or steal or hurt anyone and say, ‘Cynthia said I could do no wrong!’.

Try it. Try a wrong-free week.

Find Your Creative Edge

Another thought. I still am not saying you have to be completely engrossed in your work for it to be legitimate. But if you are bored, that’s another thing. It could be that you need to challenge yourself more. Find your creative edge.

Look at one technical element to your work where you could buff up your skill level. For instance, I love doing calligraphy and I am CRAP at spacing. So I’ve been practicing spacing, playing with different ways to make sure the letters are evenly distributed on the page. No glaring white margin at the end.

This is a way to take a weakness and use it to be more fully engaged in my work.

So look to your own art. What’s an edge for you? What’s the next element of your work to be developed. Focus on that and see how engaged you become.

What do you think, reader? Does one have to be engrossed, in the flow, to experience satisfaction and progress? Or can we operate differently?

Where are you stuck creatively? Send me an email with your question, with Creativity FAQ in the subject line, and I'll post my answer on the blog.

Get the Daily Writing Habit This Year

If you're looking for a cheap and fun way to get writing into your life on a daily basis, you'll want to join the Free Write Fling.

Here's what one writer got out of the last Fling:

• My voice became more confident—ah, whatever! Just say it. If they don’t like it, who cares!
• I began to feel like a writer.
• Writing got easier.
• The just-do-it factor kicked in—other writing tasks became less daunting.
• I hesitate less when writing, less second-guessing.
• I even call myself a writer now.
• Yum. Thanks!

The Free Write Fling starts on February 1st and your only commitment is to write for at least 15 minutes for 28 days straight. The prize: a writing habit that sticks and that you enjoy.

Head on over and register before January 19th, when the early registration discount ends!

Oh, and if you write for all 28 days, you're eligible for two free coaching sessions with me to further your writing life. Sign up here. 

Design Your Creative Life Conference in London

I'm gearing up for London in March. Swedish writing coach Ann Ljungberg has organized a Design Your Creative Life, a conference for creatives. There are two parts to the conference: the weekend workshops - March 7th and 8th, followed the next week by a five day workshop - March 9th - 13th.

Over the weekend I'll be speaking about two topics very near and dear to the creative's heart: how to finish projects and how to receive feedback gracefully.

Also speaking at the conference is Eric Maisel, author of many books on creativity such as Fearless Creating and The Writer's Paris.

Jacqui Lofthouse, novelist and London writing coach, will be speaking, as well as Fay Weldon.

I'll be leading a Sketch Crawl through London Monday - Friday from 9:00 - 1:00. I know, you're probably thinking, crawling London in March? But I've planned some excursions inside as well, such as the Tate Modern and a ride in the London Eye.

When I did the Sketch Crawl in Lisbon, the participants loved the opportunity to slow down and see the familiar with fresh eyes. Using word or drawing sketches is a great way to refresh the creative well.

Find out more and register for the conference. I can't wait to create and learn in London with you!

Original Impulse Ten-Year Anniversary Sale!

I'm so excited to be celebrating ten years in business this year! To launch the new year, I'm hosting a sale on all of my e-products. Twenty percent off of every e-product in the Original Impulse online store!

In the last decade, I’ve learned a lot about what works to help get over the common obstacles to creating. In ten years of working with writers, artists, business people, coaches and entrepreneurs, I’ve gleaned valuable tools and tips to make the creative process easier. I’ve matched this wisdom with my coaching skills to help you start and finish your creative projects.

This isn’t common wisdom like:
• Write every day
• Set goals and work toward them
• Just do it

No. I respect you as a unique creative adventurer. You need help that speaks to your needs. In my e-books and programs, I give you tools to help unearth the processes and systems and insights that will allow you to customize an approach that works for you and your goals.

The sale goes from January 5th – 14th. My products are already affordable, so there's no excuse to not make your creative dreams a priority this year, with the help of my tools.

Welcome to 2009!

Welcome to 2009! from Cynthia Morris on Vimeo.

Making Your Creative 2009 Now

Last week I wrote about assessing the year to acknowledge your ups and downs as a writer. This week I   invite you to begin thinking about your future creative successes. This is a great time to set an intention for your creative life in the upcoming year.

Intention or Goal?

An intention is different than a goal. Goals are actions that have specific, measurable results. Intentions act more as markers for how you want to be, or areas you wish to focus on. For instance, last year my intention was to work on the revision process of writing. Over the year I got more comfortable and more familiar with second, third and fourth drafts of items I was writing. This taught me patience and schooled me further in the craft of writing. It paid off with several publications and a better sense of my writing style.

What would you like to focus on for yourself next year? It could be to hone your research skills. You may wish to delve into an element of writing, such as characterization, setting, or how to write powerful transitions. Writing is a vast pool to dive into and you will never run out of places to grow and improve.

Begin to brainstorm your intentions for your writing life next year. What would you like for yourself? With the learning from last week’s exercise, what will you do differently?

Go Ahead, Set Some Goals

You may also wish to set specific goals. If publishing in magazines is one of your big goals, you can set smaller goals. Set goals that are working goals, that is, goals that reduce to actions that you can control. For instance, if my big picture goal is to publish at least four magazine articles, I would break that down into working goals. They might look like:

• Revise and polish the articles I have already written
• Brainstorm two new articles
• Research and target 3 markets per piece
• Write and revise queries for each
• Gather any clips, SASES and other materials
• Begin sending out queries
• Enter queries into tracking system

I can’t control whether someone will publish my articles. But I can control how much effort I put into it, and the quality of my effort. My working goals reflect that.

Can you see the difference between intentions and goals? Take some time now or the beginning of January to envision what you want for your creative life in 2009. Think big and bold!

NY Times Shares Vision of Bailing Out Writers

Check out this hilarious article about bailing out writers financially. Okay, maybe not hilarious, but I thought it was funny. Imagine trying to stop people who want to write from writing. The determined will only keep tapping away at the keyboard and generating new book ideas.

Where Have You Been? Assessing Your Creative Year

The end of the year provides us with the perfect opportunity to assess our progress over the past months. Why not do this with a focus on your creativity? Take some time to look at where you have been. This will help you to acknowledge the progress you have made. Taking this step is incredibly empowering.

Whether you have done all that you wanted or not, your actions can show you where your commitment is, what got in the way if you didn’t write as much as you wanted to.

Be kind as you look at what you have given to your creative life. This is not an opportunity to beat yourself up for what you have not done. Take into account the other obligations you have committed yourself to. Be honest about where you could have done something differently, given your circumstances. Be grateful for what you did do.

Use the following questions to guide your inquiry, and jot your answers down in your notebook.

• What are the major accomplishments of your creative year?
• What are the minor accomplishments?
• What happened that you didn’t expect?
• What are you most proud of?
• What did it take to have this kind of progress?
• What have you learned?
• What was missing from your creative life this year?

Now that you have a sense of where you have been, next Monday I’ll share ideas on how to set powerful intentions for next year.

Writers' Success Group

Ready to make 2009 your best writing year yet? Join a group of committed and focused writers in my Writer's Success Group.

This group is for people who are working on one specific writing project, and who want to have extra support and accountability to stay on track. It's also a bonus to enter a community of positive people, led by a certified coach, to enjoy the writing process that much more.

We meet once a month, on Friday mornings, via telephone. You have the option of sending weekly check-ins to which I respond.

The best thing? It's so easy, completely affordable and after four months, you'll see progress on your writing.

Read all the details on my website. To apply, send me an email telling me about your project and what you want to get out of the Writers' Success Group.

Don't hesitate if you feel this is for you. There are only three spots open.