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| They say the loneliest number is one. How many of our songs speak of the lonely man or woman jilted or unattached? Why do we expend enormous energy and effort to be with other people? It is because we have a need to be part of a family. We create those ties between friends and lovers, husbands and wives, children and extended family members because we were made to want to be part of something. When we no longer have a family, we seek friends or create our own. From the primitive to the advanced, societies rise and fall based on the strength or weakness of families. Why is it then that we have this concept of the lonely, struggling artist and even at times celebrate it? |
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I am discovering how difficult it is to do things that I am not good at. Of course, that is a no brainer, really. Why would I be good at them? These are the things I like to keep hidden in the dark, to be lousy at something is a reminder of my need for others. But, as a creative type, I am to eschew the presence or help of others at certain points along the process, no? Too many witches spoil the brew, right?
It isn’t brew that I’m making but processes and thoughts rolled up in experience and intuition. These are solitary acts. No one can help me with any of these things. I have to decide upon myself if they are relevant to the project or not. I am the creative person in these projects, no one else. Ergo, I need to create alone and hidden away from the rest of the world. It is this way as God intended it to be, right?
What is it that I’m discovering? I’m discovering it is very difficult to create in a vacuum. At times I have the presence of fellow creatives to critique my work or view it with appreciation. But, this is not togetherness. It is not family or even loosely confederated cooperation. It is still I, alone, against the world. My novel and home school curriculum on the Civil War is showing me the level of cooperation needed to publish something. Because I’m a control freak (ask anyone who knows of my directing experiences) I’m going to self publish the novel and study guides. But, there have been times when I’ve thought that a traditional route would be easier. Finding illustrators, deciding on jacket covers, forwards, afterwards, acknowledgments, quiz questions, pictures, and timelines … I have to find people to do the things that I have no talent for. I have to collaborate. I have to describe my vision to someone else and hire them to do what I need them to do. I have to delve into theories of marketing and education. I have to have my wife on board.
I thought this was supposed to be a singular, moody, and depressed activity. Are not all of the greats misfits? Is there something wrong with this picture? What is wrong is that it is born of misperception and incomplete information. We all start out our writing and art-filled dreams assuming that we have to make it on our own. We only see the singular names in the business and assume since they wrote by themselves they must have made it by themselves. We don’t stop to find out if they really did create from absolute nothingness. We assume and we try to emulate that which we understand to be the truth. For some, it is as we assume. They are paragons of the American dream and made it by pluck and determination with a wellspring of talent and genius.
We have this community of peers to measure ourselves by and to sharpen ourselves on. But how often do we call upon this collective collaboration while we write? We seek it after we’ve created. We do not seek a kitchen full of cooks all with their own ideas as to how the soup should be spiced. If you have ever listened to a DvD commentary of the Simpsons’ you learn quickly that each episode is a collaborative effort. One writer may get credit for the episode, but it is the staff writers and producers who pitch ideas into that script until it resembles a patchwork of ideas and jokes. All television shows have a similar MO.
What we can learn from this is that we need not rely solely upon ourselves by keeping things close to our chest. Our rate and review system does a part of this. But, we don’t often think of it as collaboration. We view it as a way to gauge our writing style or how well/poorly we’ve written something. We use them to decide if something was worth our effort. Collaboration can take us places we’d never think of going ourselves. I’ve collaborated on several stage plays. I do the writing and the other fellow is the idea man. This works for me. We both have a stake in the outcome and we both fight for our ideas but we have our roles. I’m freed up to take an idea and expand upon it and he is free to write music and do other things that come with putting on a stage production. Apart we are only the sum total of ourselves. Together we can make something neither of us would be able to separately.
Success isn’t always about personal glory and at times that seems to cloud more than it clears. Look for ways you can collaborate with your fellow Writing.com members. Lay your ego aside and find people who are willing to buy into the success of a project. Get together with others to generate ideas or work to make someone else a success. Whatever you tackle, everyone needs to have an equal stake. If you are stuck, pick up on something else with others to experience creative synergy.
Have you collaborated on things in the past? What was your experience?
Collaboration lends itself to some mediums and not so to others. What ways can you think of to collaborate with your writing?
phil1861
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Here are a few collaborative efforts I've found on the site to give you an idea of what others have done.
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Question from the 2/22 NL.
How have your own words come back to haunt?
How have they come back to comfort?
Elisa: Snowman Stik 
Submitted Comment:
Don't you mean collective effect? As for my words in my journals (as my "blog" is reserved for anger management feedback), my words tend not to anger nor comfort, which rather bothers me. Then again, my reader base isn't gigantic, and those who do read my blog on a (fairly) regular basis do conscientiously avoid the herd mentality. That very mentality gives me nothing but a headache when I visit some offsite blogs and even read the comments section of articles in online publications. *shudder* That said, from what my audience has said to me, my words are more sobering than anything. I guess it's because I write to make people own up to things, perhaps the most difficult journalling/blogging task to achieve.
Strange Wulf 
Submitted Comment:
Heh. Never expected to see someone quote the Bible in a newsletter. It's a bit unexpected, but you do use it well to make your point. Speaking (or typing) without thought for the consequences can sometimes lead to disaster.
I found my own words coming back to bite me after a bad break-up just a few months ago. I posted something to my Live Journal, a type of blog, without realizing that I'd given her the url for it! She read it and was pretty hurt by it, and wrote her own scathing post in her LJ.
*sigh* Aren't relationships fun?
i_am_so_gonna_b_famous
Submitted Comment:
Hey,
I have always wanted to do u know a 'Dear Abbie' type of thing, and I think that is what you need in ur newsletter
From amy
Laurali_VonGryphon
Submitted Comment:
I try to edit as I go most of the time. I'll spell check, but my wp doesn't have a grammar check that I know of. I tend to rely on myself for that, well that and my former english teacher from high school who had a novel invention called "sentence patterns" that I remember (most of them) to this day.
If I finish writing a section where I'm not happy with the content usually I will go over it until I'm happy. Do not move forward; do not use other ideas for further in the story until you fix this. Not that that's a useful technique. Sometimes I make myself ignore it and move onto something else and come back later. That way I can get on to another section before I forget where I was headed and I can deal with the problem I left behind later when I might have better ideas.
Laurali
lethomson
Submitted Comment:
Oh yes, my old words have haunted me. Old blogs, old poems, old stories, all of them haunt me. Some are only from the last few years, and some stretch back ten years. Some surface from friends randomly searching, some are in the bottom of a drawer or in the back of a closet. Very haunting, very chilling.
spazmom
Submitted Comment:
Great newsletter...and totally on. I've had the same experience with them. I personally have three, one of which I am a part time contributor because I knew I wouldn't be able to do it every day, or even every week. Blogs have become the 'iffy' medium. People think that they can type whatever they want, and it won't matter. Slander and Libel and all the other things you worry about in a newspaper or magazine (sometimes) wouldn't haunt you in a blog. Au Contrair...(or however you spell it...lol) As those two found to their chagrin. I know that not very many people read mine...so I'm not too worried. I also try not to post right after writing, especially if I've been very passionate. I usually find I'll change my words after a day or so. Calmer brain prevails...usually. Good job. |
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For Authors: March 21, 2007 Issue [#1615]
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