Category: Creativity
Creating something every day for 365 days
Ghosts
Very few alive have seen this:
It is the dot matrix (!) printout of the young adult novel I wrote back in the 1980s as part of my master’s degree in media education. It was the Adolescent Lit course, and the final project was either read and review 70 of the things or to write one yourself. Hmph, I thought to myself, if S. E. Hinton can do it, I can do it.
So every Sunday, sitting in the choir at First Baptist, I outlined a chapter during the sermon then typed it up during the week. Before I knew it, I had a novel. Odd.
It’s called Twelfth Night, New Day, and it is a completely unremarkable piece of work. It’s about a bunch of teenagers in a community theatre group—if you can imagine such a thing—and every character in it was based on the kids in my company at the time, all of whom are pushing 50 if not already past it at this point. (The plot was a poor thing but mine own.)
I had a good time writing it, and I even started a sequel, but if the truth be told I am not a fiction writer. I don’t think I even have a copy of that one, which was called I Love You in Earnest.
Anyway, I needed space in the filing cabinet for this year’s tax documents, and when I discovered that I actually had two complete copies of this it was easy enough to decide to ditch one of them.
Yes, I’ve flipped through it. No, it’s not worth dragging out and revising, I don’t think. And no, I didn’t find a copy of the suppressed Chapter 13.
WBI: 04/14/16
I’ve done another 5–10 seconds of visualization for William Blake’s Inn, hereinafter known as WBI.
So, yes, the stars are puppets, in the sense that they are held aloft by performers. There are probably stationary stars in the backdrop, but these are mobile. You’ll see why tomorrow.
Again, the music:
The event pictured above is from 0:10–0:15, approximately.
William Blake’s Inn: What might it look like?
So yesterday, in my ongoing efforts to do absolutely no work on Lichtenbergianism: procrastination as a creative strategy or any of my three musical compositions, I started a new project, an ABORTIVE ATTEMPTS notebook attempting to visualize what a staged production of William Blake’s Inn might look like.[1]
Using the ungodly amount of art supplies I have on hand, I just began with the Prelude, and before I knew it I had the first whole five seconds sketched. That means I now have o.2% of the entire work visualized. UNSTOPPABLE, that’s what I am.
Anyway, here it is:
Where it says “appear,” imagine “twinkle on.”
And here’s the music: mp3 Remember, it’s just the first five seconds—only 37 and a half minutes to go!
—————
[1] And remember, if you are looking for a charming, expensive piece to do for a world premiere, I am contactable.
Totems
Before we left for our trip last week, we paid a visit to Richard’s Variety Store in Midtown/Monroe Drive. Richard’s is one of those places that create a strain in a relationship if, for example, one’s lovely first wife had never disclosed that she knew of this chamber of wonders. One might accuse the other of holding out on him.
It’s a magical place, kind of a Woolworths for the hipster/hippie crowd, and if you haven’t been, go.
Here’s what I bought (among other things):
Yes, that is Icarus, the hero of Seven Dreams of Falling, coming eventually to an opera house near you. He’s to remind me that I do have a major theatrical work to compose. Which I’m not doing right now, because I’m writing this blog post to avoid finishing my tax returns.
If I were to link this to Lichtenbergianism, it would fall into RITUAL, as an object which represents a project or a goal and serves to remind me that it will be a beautiful thing—once I finish it.
Do not adjust your set
Back to work
Last week was an away game, so I got nothing done except a lot of Waste Booking. Now I’m back with a handful of (major) emails to deal with, plus all my backlog of work, plus my taxes are due.
But first.
On Saturday night, my lovely first wife and I went to the Isis Restaurant and Music Hall in West Asheville to hear a group called Harpeth Rising, a trio of young women who played cello, violin, and banjo.
You are wrong: this was one of the most amazing performances I have ever seen. The lead singer (violin) has a voice as good as anything you’ve ever heard come out of Nashville, and their songs are beautiful and incisive.
Some links, all of which I expect you to follow:
- Their webpage
- Songs:
- I am Eve
- Four Days More (not the best recording, but still…)
- Shifted
They ended their set with “Eve” and “Four Days More”, and I have to say that the tepid applause they receive in the video link above indicates brain damage on the part of their audience. The crowd at Isis went wild. I went wild. They are simply amazing, and if they ever perform within range again, you will find me there. And I will have dragged you along with me.
So what’s on my plate? In no particular order:
updated to indicate completion… or not
- Emails:
- a couple of online references to fill out for former GHP faculty – √
- renew the domain registration for lichtenbergian.com — turns out this was not a legit email
- Mike Funt is nattering something something about Miss Ella’s song—a couple of video links to watch; I think he wants me to rewrite the song for a different feel. Will know more after I watch the videos. — still unclear
- several emails from the nice, energetic people who have conned me into steering the Carnegie Library Foundation’s end-of-summer reading program party, which revolves around the game of Minecraft. Oy. — replied to all; meeting tomorrow
- blog postings for the Euphoria Burn art projects (which I didn’t write but am responsible for getting online) — √
- from the Waste Book:
- new ideas for the structure of the chapter in Lichtenbergianism on RITUAL
- idea for storyboarding the Prelude from William Blake’s Inn (vid. sub.)
- note to sign up to be a speaker at the Carnegie on Lichtenbergianism
- todo: make garlic tahini dressing for LFW — √
- recipe for a cocktail called a Thai Orchid (full story: my favorite bar in the world is Sovereign Remedies in Asheville. We were there Saturday, and 1) the bartender Thistle, who has not seen me in a year, called me by name; and 2) another patron asked what I was drinking—it was a Molly 22A, one of my successes (I like to see what the guys at SR will make of my recipes)—and when I let her have a taste, she wanted the recipe to add to the menu at her restaurant, Fig, which was the first restaurant we ever ate at in Asheville. So I gave her the Quarter Moon as well.)
- notes for email to go out to the 3 Old Men crew today — √
- from my ToDo list on the phone:
- taxes — √
- design a bodkin for threading EL wire into the labyrinth — √
- water the houseplants — √
- sew the 2″ channel into the long walls of the 3 Old Men labyrinth
- complete a variance application to build an 8-foot wall in the back yard (current limits are 6 feet)
- type up instructions for getting a blogpost onto the Newnan Theatre Company website for those who need to be doing that themselves — √
- print the scene from Henry VIII for my fellow actors for the ULTIMATE SHAKESPEARE DEATH SMACKDOWN, coming soon on Apr 21 to a Historic Depot near you — √
- prep the labyrinth for a Lichtenbergian fireside tonight — raining, so unnecessary
- write that email to the 3 Old Men crew — √
- buy something called a “shark bite cap” for old pipes I plan to saw off in the basement
- stow the four 5×7 rugs we bought to lay under our tent so roots and stuff don’t poke through the tent floor — √
- test the EL lights on a 3 Old Men labyrinth wall segment
- do laundry — √
- start storyboarding William Blake’s Inn—on the way out of town last week, I bought a sketchbook to make myself visualize what a staged production of WBI would look like
- Otherwise:
- learn lines for HVIII
- volunteer at the Boys & Girls Club around the corner—my first day today! — √
- get my ideas together for how the SHAKESPEARE SMACKDOWN will actually work
- take some things to the cleaners
You will perhaps have noticed that nowhere in here is there anything about a) working on Lichtenbergianism; b) composing anything at all, up to and including Seven Dreams of Falling or my new secret project.
Lichtenbergianism: more competition
Today we have another book that I would want to include in any book proposal for Lichtenbergianism: procrastination as a creative strategy. It is Get It Done: from procrastination to creative genius in 15 minutes a day, by Sam Bennett.
This is a really good book, folks. The author delves into many of the same areas as Lichtenbergianism and in many of the same ways. She addresses structured procrastination, the impostor syndrome, RITUAL, ABANDONMENT, even STEAL FROM THE BEST, and she does it in a fluid, witty, conversational style.
One major way Get It Done differs from Lichtenbergianism, though, is that Bennett gives many do-able exercises to help the procrastinator move into a productive state. It is not my intention to be so prescriptive or so helpful.
Bennett also aims to show people how to become at least semi-professional artists, and I am so far from being able to help in that department that I shan’t even try.
Where I think I differ most significantly is in aiming Lichtenbergianism at more than fine artists: people can use the Nine Precepts in more than the creative life.
I do like the sidebar features, which has always been a part of my concept as well. Probably that’s where all the personal testimonials from my fellow Lichtenbergians will go.
Summary: a very good book on procrastination for artists of all stripes.
Some new music
In an admirable display of both TASK AVOIDANCE and ABORTIVE ATTEMPTS,[1] I have not worked on Lichtenbergianism: procrastination as a creative strategy today. Instead, I have forced myself to crank out about two minutes of abortive musical ideas for a new piece that’s been on my mind for a year and a half now.
What I’m posting today is a textbook example of ABORTIVE ATTEMPTS: it makes no effort to be complete or even good. What you will hear is multiple “false starts,” just plopping out some images and ideas without regard to whether they are any good or not. I put “false starts” in quotes, because the whole point of ABORTIVE ATTEMPTS is that there’s nothing false about them: they are just starts, period.
Some of these bits are way wrong. But they exist. Some may find their way into the finished piece; most won’t.
Here’s what you’re listening to.
I have an idea for a programmatic orchestral (maybe concert band) suite inspired by series by one of my favorite young adult authors, who shall remain unnamed here for copyright issues obviously. There are two ideas I’m futzing with here (in a piano score): 1) a landscape of surreal majesty; 2) a theme for our hero, a 1930s radio serial style whiz kid. (If you have tumbled to the secret, keep it to yourself, thanks.)
Each abortive attempt is only a couple of measures, followed a measure of silence.
- landscape ideas: just harmonies, to be fleshed out later + fragments from an earlier attempt, also landscape related
- sketch for our hero theme
- another hero theme
- chase music motif, mostly harmonic
- another hero theme
- a landscape sketch
- a chase fragment
- one more hero theme
You will note the appalling unfinished sound of nearly all of it. But that’s how it begins. Check back when if I’ve finished the piece.
—————
[1] see Lichtenbergianism
Lichtenbergianism: Chapter Three, part 3
As I work my way through the text of my putative book on the creative process, you might like to read the rest of the text so far here. Also, the rest of my meditations on the process here.
There are many ways to manage TASK AVOIDANCE.
xxx <— this is my place holder for “needs more cowbell,” in this case some examples of structured procrastination before I get to kanban. (You can leave your system in comments if you’d like me to include it!)
My favorite way of making sure that my TASK AVOIDANCE is productive (and not just laziness) is the Japanese system known as kanban.
Kanban was originally developed at Toyota as an inventory control system and has been adapted for use in other areas, such as software design. Jim Benson and Tonianne Demaria Barry have developed a “personal kanban,” and I highly recommend their website (personalkanban.com) and their accompanying book.
Kanban involves writing down your tasks and subtasks on cards or sticky notes, then subdividing them into workflow stages such as Ready, Doing, and Done. (Benson/Barry emphasize that the system is ultimately adaptable to your workflow, terminology, and needs.)
This first key concept is called “visualizing your workflow,” and the first time you do a kanban dump it’s scary: all those sticky notes with all those things to do! But take a deep breath and remember: you’re going to procrastinate on most of this. You’re just getting organized about it.
The second key concept is “limit your work-in-progress.” Decide on how many of the sticky notes you’re going to actually work on at a time. The usual number is three, certainly no more than five.
As you complete a task, move the sticky note over to the Done column.
That’s all there is to it. (Of course there’s more to it, but that’s it for the basics.)
As Benson/Barry describe the process, the rest of the value of kanban manifests itself through these two key concepts. You’ll begin to get an idea of the tasks you’re avoiding and why. You’ll begin to examine your work practices as you watch the flow of sticky notes.[1] You’ll begin to adapt the system to your needs.
There are a lot of ways to implement a kanban. The easiest way is simply to take a white board and stick sticky notes on it. (The important thing to remember is that your kanban has to be where you can see it as you work.)
There are of course software versions, including free add-on apps for Google Drive.
For a while, I used my laptop, creating a desktop image and using Apple’s Notes app to create sticky notes there.
Let’s take a look at this for a moment and see how I modified the three-phase model for my own workflow.
Across the top are the three standard columns: To Do, Doing, and Done.
Across the bottom are the modifications I made to the kanban to fit my workflow: Holding, Daily, and Future.
Holding is where I’d put the tasks in the Doing column that I couldn’t work on until someone else did their thing, e.g., budget figures or travel plans or something they had to get done before I could finish the task.
In the Daily section, I put things like blogging that I did on a daily basis, stuff that it didn’t make sense to keep creating in To Do and then move across the screen every single day. Notice the small vertical line: the Daily section was like a mini-kanban loop inside the Doing column. I could move my blogging sticky from one side of the line to the other to check it off—then move it back.
The Future area was stuff I knew I needed or wanted to work on—just not right now.
Your mileage may vary. It should vary.
Note that kanban is not a to-do list. I still have my to-do’s on my phone: mow the lawn, do the laundry, prep the labyrinth. My kanban is for MAKING THE THING THAT IS NOT and keeping my TASK AVOIDANCE on track.
XXX… <— some kind of conclusion
(Each of the chapters on the Nine Precepts ends with a SO… summary.)
Task Avoidance- SO…
- Use “structured procrastination” by alternating your projects—avoid working on one project by tinkering with another.
- Kanban[2] your projects—know what you’re putting off and why.
- Don’t be afraid to let projects simmer.
- Don’t grind your gears: give yourself some slack.
—————
[1] see RITUAL
[2] Start with http://personalkanban.com