I was reading a blog this week that made me a little disheartened. Then it made me angry! The blogger, who will remain nameless, was giving advice on how to come up with a plan to write a book that will be profitable. She recommended following all the steps that you would do when setting up a small business such as looking at competition, setting up focus groups, and analyzing the market. Now that is fine if all you want to do is write a formula book, and while I agree that you need to be smart about the business side of things I am also forced to ask, "What about the artist!"
I would love to make a million from my book sales but I would much rather put out a project that I believe in and that is a part of myself and really try to say something with my work rather than rehashing another persons work just because they were successful with it. Look at Hollywood. They keep remaking the same movies over and over. Then they rely one the film making all it's money back on it's opening weekend, after weeks of hype. Because, in my opinion, they know that after the film opens and word gets out most of these films will tank at the box office, and all because they were made with a formula and by committee.
Don't get me wrong I am all for making money and making a living at want you want to do, but when making money is the only focus art is lost. Art comes from the heart and a passion to create something that will touch and affect others and when you try to make something that everyone will like, no one really loves it. So to the unnamed blogger you can keep your focus groups and I will keep putting out work that I believe in.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Sunday, January 22, 2012
3:00 am
Early this morning, at 3:00 am, I finished my last photo shoot for my current project that is a holiday children's story and I have had so much fun creating the new characters and sets to be photographed over the past year. I struck the last set this morning after getting some sleep. Now comes the hard part for me. Beginning the editing process and finishing the writing of the story. I have never categorized myself as a writer. Instead I call myself an artist who likes to tell stories. So the writing process is sometimes difficult for me.
I allowed myself to take some time off over the holidays but now that the holidays are all over it is time to get back to work! It is so easy not to write and say I will start tomorrow, but all that does is prolong the process. I have always found that I do my best work at night after the sun has gone down and distractions are at a minimum. So while we are still in day light savings time I need to push through this project. I have heard of all the tricks to help with writing, such as having a clean space set up a dedicated as a writing space or setting aside time out of each day just for the purpose of writing, but none of these things work for me. It might make it easier but it does not motivate me to do more writing.
The only thing that can make me write is me! I will find myself thinking about a section of the story all day until I have worked it out in my head then I need to commit it to paper before I lose it. That's right I still write out all my stories in long hand on paper before I put it into my computer! Just like the process that I use to do all my photo illustrations I starts out with old world techniques and then I bring the work into the 21st century with all the technology at my disposal for a final polishing. During the creative process this makes it all that much more real for me and I hope that comes through to you, my audience. I like the feel of a pen and paper, it seems more personal, like I am writing someone a letter. With all that said, I am still the only one that can make me do the work and many days that is exactly what it is, WORK. I enjoy many aspects of the work but with all work some of it can be laborious.
So it is time for me to get back to work because I have several projects in the pipeline right now and I want to be able to get my next book out to all of you so that you can enjoy it as much as I have so far.
P.S. I would also like to thank Tara for sharing with me how her child asks her ( she said bugs her ) every night to tell him all about Cuddles again and again. ( Cuddles is one of the creatures that lives in The Deep Black Pond. ) Thanks for the Photo too.
I allowed myself to take some time off over the holidays but now that the holidays are all over it is time to get back to work! It is so easy not to write and say I will start tomorrow, but all that does is prolong the process. I have always found that I do my best work at night after the sun has gone down and distractions are at a minimum. So while we are still in day light savings time I need to push through this project. I have heard of all the tricks to help with writing, such as having a clean space set up a dedicated as a writing space or setting aside time out of each day just for the purpose of writing, but none of these things work for me. It might make it easier but it does not motivate me to do more writing.
The only thing that can make me write is me! I will find myself thinking about a section of the story all day until I have worked it out in my head then I need to commit it to paper before I lose it. That's right I still write out all my stories in long hand on paper before I put it into my computer! Just like the process that I use to do all my photo illustrations I starts out with old world techniques and then I bring the work into the 21st century with all the technology at my disposal for a final polishing. During the creative process this makes it all that much more real for me and I hope that comes through to you, my audience. I like the feel of a pen and paper, it seems more personal, like I am writing someone a letter. With all that said, I am still the only one that can make me do the work and many days that is exactly what it is, WORK. I enjoy many aspects of the work but with all work some of it can be laborious.
So it is time for me to get back to work because I have several projects in the pipeline right now and I want to be able to get my next book out to all of you so that you can enjoy it as much as I have so far.
P.S. I would also like to thank Tara for sharing with me how her child asks her ( she said bugs her ) every night to tell him all about Cuddles again and again. ( Cuddles is one of the creatures that lives in The Deep Black Pond. ) Thanks for the Photo too.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
One reader at a time.
This week I was thrilled to find out that my book, The Gray Garden; Aunt Nancy's Garden, is being used as a teaching tool by one of my readers, Olga.
Olga told me that her son is having trouble with his cognitive skills, and so she is having him read one page of my book every night and then she quizzes him on what he has just read. Also when there is a word that he does not know she asks him what he thinks it means by reading the rest of the sentence or page. In every case he is able to figure out the words meaning, and this is helping him with his other school work.
In early drafts of the book it had been suggested to me that I might be using too sophisticated of a vocabulary for the age range of the books target audience (8 to 12), but I have always believed that you should not talk down to kids. Children are naturally inquisitive and when presented with something that they do not know they ask questions. I feel this is a quality that should be exploited because it encourages the learning process and opens that dialogue between student and teacher. After hearing the story from Olga about her son I am so happy that I did not dumb down the language in my book.
Thank you so much for your story and feed back Olga! It made my week!
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Finish and move on.
I saw an article this week that explained how with the new e-book technology an author could conceivably never finish working on his/her book. With the ability to easily make countless revisions to one work should you? To answer that I think you only have to look at the iconic films of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg and the huge public backlash that the directors received when they chose to alter their original works.
Can you imagine if the opening lines to Moby Dick or A Christmas Carol were lost to the delete button because the author had a change of heart or received a suggestion from a critic that they liked. Or if Leonardo decided that the Mona Lisa would look better with a more dramatic smile. Now I know these are extreme examples but I believe that all works of art, be that film, books, paintings, or even theater, are the encapsulation of a period of time in which they are created. Only the artist knows what influenced them during the creation of any particular work but I believe that those influences come through to the audience in the end and that is why some works resonate with some people more than others.
I don't think that I know an artist out there who would not like to change something about the work that they have done but if they continue to change and alter their work after they have put it out there for the public to see it will begin to become muddied. In strengthening one section, another could become weaker and so on and so forth. I also don't think it is fair to the public to change something once you have given it to them. Because once an artist unveils, releases, or debuts anything it is a gift to the world. Whether the world chooses to see that way or not that is what it is, a gift.
If we as artist are able to say, "Finished!" about one of our works and feel that it is time to place it into the public consciousness, then it is also time to move on to the next project. Take the feed back, criticism, and praise, apply that to your future projects and learn from it. Never stop learning or growing as an artist, but how can you do that if you are always looking back? So I say it does not matter if the technology exists or not. Finish your work. Put it out there. Learn from it. Then move on.
Can you imagine if the opening lines to Moby Dick or A Christmas Carol were lost to the delete button because the author had a change of heart or received a suggestion from a critic that they liked. Or if Leonardo decided that the Mona Lisa would look better with a more dramatic smile. Now I know these are extreme examples but I believe that all works of art, be that film, books, paintings, or even theater, are the encapsulation of a period of time in which they are created. Only the artist knows what influenced them during the creation of any particular work but I believe that those influences come through to the audience in the end and that is why some works resonate with some people more than others.
I don't think that I know an artist out there who would not like to change something about the work that they have done but if they continue to change and alter their work after they have put it out there for the public to see it will begin to become muddied. In strengthening one section, another could become weaker and so on and so forth. I also don't think it is fair to the public to change something once you have given it to them. Because once an artist unveils, releases, or debuts anything it is a gift to the world. Whether the world chooses to see that way or not that is what it is, a gift.
If we as artist are able to say, "Finished!" about one of our works and feel that it is time to place it into the public consciousness, then it is also time to move on to the next project. Take the feed back, criticism, and praise, apply that to your future projects and learn from it. Never stop learning or growing as an artist, but how can you do that if you are always looking back? So I say it does not matter if the technology exists or not. Finish your work. Put it out there. Learn from it. Then move on.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Why I write.
I would like to start the new year off right by writing! Since my children's books were published last year I have been on an amazing adventure. One that I started to believe I may never have had. Now with my minor success I am more determined than ever to make a bigger splash in the world of children's books.
Over the past several months my book, The Deep Black Pond, has been reviewed and blogged about by numerous people. Some good and some not so good, and I realized that the one voice missing out there was my own. I would therefore like to remedy that by explaining why I am writing children's books and offer a philosophy behind my individual style.
When I was a kid, many moons ago, I use to love books but I hated to read. Now I realize that that is a strange thing to say but it was the truth. I was considered to have a learning disability because I disliked reading so much that I just would not do it. Now my brother was an avid reader and being the younger brother I always seemed to be in toe. So, on Saturday afternoons I would find myself being taken to the Reading Public Library because that is where my brother wanted to go and my parents thought that it would help me with my reading. During these visits I discovered that many books, beside being filled with words, had pictures in them; weird, wonderful, and colorful pictures! These pictures and photographs fed my vivid imagination and allowed me to wonder far from my seemingly dull life and dream wild and wonderful dreams for my future. Visiting places I would love to go and exploring the possibilities of what I wanted to do with my life. In fact Leonardo DA Vinci became one of my most powerful and influential childhood hero's because of the art book section I discovered in the library! Being able to hold these books and examining them in every way became an important pastime, and low and behold when I found a picture that fascinated me enough too want to know more about it I would find myself reading! Well in a nut shell that is the influence I have used when designing my children's books.
The photo illustrations I create to accompany my stories do not, in themselves, tell the story. Instead they support the story and inspire a child too want to know more about what is going on in the pictures. Thus, giving them the desire and opportunity too want to read the story, and in some cases create their own stories to accompany the photographs. So my goal in all of this is to produce books that will fascinate and fuel kids imaginations no matter what their age.
I value peoples feed back and opinions so I encourage you to contact me and share your thoughts and feelings about this blog.
Happy New Year!
Morgan
Over the past several months my book, The Deep Black Pond, has been reviewed and blogged about by numerous people. Some good and some not so good, and I realized that the one voice missing out there was my own. I would therefore like to remedy that by explaining why I am writing children's books and offer a philosophy behind my individual style.
When I was a kid, many moons ago, I use to love books but I hated to read. Now I realize that that is a strange thing to say but it was the truth. I was considered to have a learning disability because I disliked reading so much that I just would not do it. Now my brother was an avid reader and being the younger brother I always seemed to be in toe. So, on Saturday afternoons I would find myself being taken to the Reading Public Library because that is where my brother wanted to go and my parents thought that it would help me with my reading. During these visits I discovered that many books, beside being filled with words, had pictures in them; weird, wonderful, and colorful pictures! These pictures and photographs fed my vivid imagination and allowed me to wonder far from my seemingly dull life and dream wild and wonderful dreams for my future. Visiting places I would love to go and exploring the possibilities of what I wanted to do with my life. In fact Leonardo DA Vinci became one of my most powerful and influential childhood hero's because of the art book section I discovered in the library! Being able to hold these books and examining them in every way became an important pastime, and low and behold when I found a picture that fascinated me enough too want to know more about it I would find myself reading! Well in a nut shell that is the influence I have used when designing my children's books.
The photo illustrations I create to accompany my stories do not, in themselves, tell the story. Instead they support the story and inspire a child too want to know more about what is going on in the pictures. Thus, giving them the desire and opportunity too want to read the story, and in some cases create their own stories to accompany the photographs. So my goal in all of this is to produce books that will fascinate and fuel kids imaginations no matter what their age.
I value peoples feed back and opinions so I encourage you to contact me and share your thoughts and feelings about this blog.
Happy New Year!
Morgan
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