music to create to

Hey 5x5 buddies,

I thought I would continue my string of multimedia posts with a write up about music. It is almost required that I have some sort of sound playing in the background if I sit down with the intention of really working on some art. I know that some people can only listen to a specific genre - be it gregorian chants or new wave - but I like to keep my soundtrack varied. My favorite art-makin' tunes keep my ears entertained but generally don't get too loud or quiet. Interesting vocals and some cool sounding instruments are a big plus, too.

Here are some of my greatest hits, in no particular order:



I adore Andrew Bird - his lyrics are strange and beautiful and he can whistle like a champ!



Fiona Apple was never really my thing... until, that is, my boyfriend introduced me to the unreleased version of her Extraordinary Machine album, which features the handiwork of Jon Brion. It's so great, I seriously listen to this album half of the times I decide to sit down and draw. It's girly and bitter, but not overly so.



Also: raps! I kind of like listening to rap when I need to wake my brain up, or if I want to dance around at my desk a little. Kid Cudi has the added bonus of featuring Ratatat on a bunch of his songs, a great combination! Songs with great music videos (like this one) usually get special treatment from me.

Charlotte Gainsbourg - Heaven Can Wait from Charlotte Gainsbourg on Vimeo.

Oh, Charlotte Gainsbourg. Such dreamy, lovely music - and really, anyone who has worked with Beck and is the daughter of Serge Gainsbourg is immediately awesome.

Time to Write

How do you find time to work on creative projects?  I'd like to know.  Do you work on it every morning?  Every evening?  One day a week?

I recently started working more hours at my day job.  I had already put my novel on the back burner; I haven't written a single word since I started my blog back in November.  I rationalized, telling myself that at least I was writing every day, and people were reading what I wrote.  But my passion is the novel.

Since I started working more hours, I've stopped posting every day on my blog.  Now I shoot for once a week. What I won't cut back on is 5x5.  I guess that means I'm more passionate about it than I am about my own writing.  This is something I've only recently realized.

So, amongst working fifty hours per week, editing 5x5 and maintaining a weekly blog, how do I fit my personal writing into my schedule, especially since I also want to spend time with my wife and exercise and simply relax my body and my mind from time to time?

I ask you because I honestly want to know.  How do you do it?  Are you satisfied with the time you spend on creative projects?  Do you have a routine, or do your creative impulses come sporadically?  Do you give yourself deadlines?

Please leave a comment below and let me know how you handle it.

On another note, our Summer issue is in the works.  We're narrowing down our final choices.  It's always very exciting when we get to watch a hodgepodge of creative works come together into a compact printed magazine. Your copy will be in the mail shortly.

Morning Pages

We all have an internal editor, which is very important in most situations—at work, discussing things with our significant others, most public activities. However, when we sit down to a blank page, the last thing we need is the critical voice of our personal filters stunting the flow of our raw creative force.

I have to admit, I have not read The Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron, but her idea of writing “Morning Pages” was passed on to me by a friend during the first year of my creative writing degree. Morning Pages are a simple discipline—write three pages a day (ideally first thing after waking), stream of consciousness, without stopping. These pages are not meant to be read by anyone…even yourself. And they aren’t meant to be brilliant, so don’t expect them to be.

At first, I had a difficult time not reading my entries, and not expecting them to be brilliant. I often leafed back through my journals, looking for little nuggets of genius to work from or turn in to class—and with absolutely no success. In fact, because you are to write three pages without stopping, many of my entries ended up repeating one or two words: so so so so what so what so what so what what what what. And nearly all of my journaling started with an account of my dating troubles and feeling terribly sorry for myself.

Those are things that you should find in a regular Morning Pages. The real process of writing without thinking and without stopping gives us an opportunity to voice all the terrible, horrible, wonderful daily distractions that bring us out of the creative mindset, and move us to a place of un-judged creativity. The act of writing Morning Pages safely moves us from the logical, critical mind to the deep, abundant subconscious.

Morning Pages are for visual artists as well as writers, so those of a less verbal nature should definitely try this out. More info is available at this website: http://www.theartistsway.com/pdfs/basictools.pdf

What I Know About Readings

I had the fortunate experience of giving a poetry reading with my friend and fellow poet David K. Wheeler on Wednesday.  He and I met in a poetry writing class at Western Washington University several years back and both worked for the same independent bookstore in Bellingham, although not at the same time.

Giving a reading (and royalty checks) are what us aspiring writers dream about.  There you are, book in hand, reading your favorite passages to a standing room only audience.  They hang on your every word.  The audience laughs in all the right places.  You get a standing ovation.  The reading energizes you and inspires you to continue writing.  You are doing it for the throngs of people who adore your work.  Right?

Yes and no.  Yes, you want to share your work with people for the sheer joy of it.  You also want to sell books.  Authors and bookstores hold author readings to advertise and sell a product.  In today's market, you as a writer are also going to have to be your own press agent and PR person.

First, you have to find a place to read, which can involve paying money.  Hopefully you will be reading at a bookstore who is selling your books and they give you a space for free.  But some bookstores do charge authors to do readings.  Even if you don't pay for it, you are at the mercy of the person who owns or manages the space.  They may not return your calls or emails.  The space may be double booked for the same night.  It happens.  More than you would think.

Now you have a venue in which to read.  How do you get people to come?  In the days before social media sites, it meant spending a great deal of time on the telephone.  I would argue, that a good author will still spend large amount of time calling people in the area to either come to the reading or help spread the word.  Facebook event pages and e-vites are great, but really how much of a draw to your event do they create?  I don't have any statistics to back up my claim, but I think that these sites bring in far fewer people than we expect them too.  Honestly, I get invited to five to seven events a week on Facebook.  It is easy to be overwhelmed and click No. No. No. all the way down the screen.  An e-mail doesn't have the force of commitment behind it.  Do send e-mails, especially the day before the event, but don't rely on them as your only form of advertising.

Another way to spread the word is through posters.  When Dave sent me the poster he created, I made copies on obnoxious goldenrod colored paper and hit the streets with thumb tacks and tape.  I live in a town with a small downtown core.  Since this was where the event was being held, I focused my attention to putting up posters near where the event would be taking place.  Putting up posters blindly won't net very good results.  Have a plan for where you are going to put up posters.  Have a reason for putting posters where you do, otherwise you are spending time and money (and deforesting America) without real cause.  Make every thumbtack count. 

One thing about putting up posters for an event that no one talks about is etiquette.  Don't be rude. 

If at all possible, don't cover up events for other people.  Usually bulletin boards are festooned with paper like a porcupine in a Post-It note factory, but try and make an effort to be conscientious.  If you cover up someone else's event, you may get an earful from someone, or worse, the venue where you are holding your event will get angry calls about trying to "ruin" someone else's event.  It also happens more than you would think.

Another thing to do is to make an effort to take down the event posters that you put up.  Your mother was right when she said, "Pick up after yourself."  Ideally, no one else should have to suffer the stab of a thumbtack from taking down your poster or look at your advertising in a coffee shop weeks and weeks after the reading has passed. 

Don't forget about the newspaper and community event spots on the radio.  People do indeed read the newspaper, especially in smaller towns.  Getting a write up in the local paper or even a list in the "Today's Activities" corner catches people's attention. 

Don't also be afraid to use the connections you have.  If you are in University town, contact and poster the English department, just be sure to get the approval of the administrative personnel first.  If you attend a church or social organization of some sort, let people know about your reading--but do it in an appropriate way.  The weekly newsletter or bulletin is great, but  make sure you don't hound people about an event. If you come on too strong, they may start to look the other way when they see you coming.

The most important thing to remember about holding an event is to be grateful.  Only eight people came to your event?  Fantastic!  You only sold three books?  Amazing!  Treat every single person who comes to your event with warmth and gratitude.  They may not purchase your book, but they will remember your smile and your name the next time they hear it. Sincere thank yous go a long way in creating fans. 

Readings are hard work, but they are rewarding for both the writer and the audience if you take the time and effort to do them well!

now and then

I've found myself looking back to my roots as an artist more and more in the past couple months. There was a long span of time, mostly in high school, when I would look back at my old sketchbooks and scoff at what I had done. "I'm so much better now" was generally the thought. Now, however, I can look at those same sketchbooks and think "I am where I am now because of this." The drawings of cats and horses from elementary school, cartoon versions of my friends in middle school, and (embarrassingly) a whole lot of anime things all informed my art today.

This drawing is Emma Trithart circa 5th grade. Check out those super fashionable hairdos! When I look at my work now, though, I can still see that hair is one of my favorite things to spend way too long on. I also still love drawing clothing.

I'm guessing I made this in 2004, right after I started attending the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. Though my art used to have much more of a cartoonish and strangely elastic look to it (this lady must be Stretch Armstrong's sister), I can still see a lot of things that I've carried over to my style today. Thankfully I've dropped watercolor, as it is the most unforgiving medium in the history of the planet.

A lot of artists in their twenties (unless they're really lucky) go through a phase of feeling like they've lost their spark - especially ones a few years out of art school like myself. What if we all reach back to ourselves at 8 years old, when we didn't have to worry about student loans or whether or not we'd get into that gallery show? Perhaps that's the key to finding oneself again in any situation. I'm challenging YOU dear reader, whether you are a writer or a visual artist, remember what got you excited about your chosen medium so long ago.

And then submit the results to 5x5, of course.