Recharging My Creative Batteries

Enjoying The Energy of Spring

This has got to be my favorite time of the year. I love spring! It is probably not my most productive time when it comes to word count, but its still valuable just the same. After the drabness of winter, the peaceful greenness and  pastels of  spring as well as the warmer temperatures draw writers along with everyone else out into the sunshine. A couple days ago I bought a new lawnmower for the church where I pastor. I had to get a friend of mine to help me get it working, but getting out and mowing the lawn has done a lot to restore my creative juices.

Dismantling the Clutter

In addition to the increased energy level of spring, I sold my travel trailer so I had to removed all of the stuff that I had stored there. In addition, I had to help the couple who had the church before me moving stuff they had stored at the church. Now there’s the work of going through all the stuff that I had stored in the travel trailer. Every book, every piece of clothing every paper every chockee is being scrutinized and evaluated to determine whether it is a keeper, whether it should be thrown away or whether it should be sold in the yard sale that we are having here at the church at the end of this month. The other day I realized that I have moved four times in the past two years. That’s a lot of stuff to be hauling from place to place. I realized that I need to clear out what I really am not using. The more I get rid of, the less I will have to move the next time that I move. Hopefully that won’t be any time soon. Clearing the clutter from my environment is important for keeping the energy in my creativity.

In addition, I have been going throw things on my computer trying to clear out some of the clutter in there as well. I had recently made up a bunch of covers for my upcoming book Book Iv of the Locket Saga: Sailing Under the Black Flag and there are a number of photos and book covers that I have stored that really have no purpose at this point. Clearing my computer files (including emails) is a project that I would like to do every month at least for a while.

Not only does going through and clearing away clutter on my computer help me find things easier on the computer, but it also gives me a chance to see what is on my hard drive. I haven’t really done this for about a year. Reorganizing materials that I started writing but haven’ published might help set up things so that I can perhaps write another nonfiction book or two based solely on what I have already written but for some reason left unpublished. .

Getting Away

Another thing that I have done recently was to get away from my normal life and went with my daughter. She and her choir ensemble made it to the state choir competition and the competition was in Columbia, Missouri last weekend. I went with her and watched them perform. Afterwards, we went out to eat and then drove back to Springfield where she stayed with me at the hotel. While at the hotel, both the night before and the night after the competition, I took advantage of the change of scenery and did some writing. I don’t know exactly what it is about staying in a hotel that encourages me to write, but it seems get my creativity moving. I feel like a professional writer when I write from a hotel room. I am a writer “on the road”. I imagine myself the professional writer that is traveling the country selling books and speaking. So far, it is just my imagination working, but I can see where that may soon change. I am preparing my productivity for my future as a more successful author.

I am making it a point to write despite the distractions of life. A little time here, a little time there. Stolen moments at the computer are sweet, but time away right now is important because without it, my time working on my writing projects would seem more like drudgery than a labor of love. Recharging my creative batteries is just the ticket to keep my honeymoon with writing fresh and new.

Donna Brown is pastor at Faith in God Church  1 1/2 miles south of Brandsville, Missouri on Hwy 63. Sunday services are at 10 am and Wednesday night Bible Study at 6:30 pm.   As Author Cygnet Brown, she  has recently published her first nonfiction book: Simply Vegetable Gardening: Simple Organic Gardening Tips for the Beginning Gardener

She is also the author of historical fiction series The Locket Saga. which includes When God Turned His Head and Soldiers Don’t Cry, the Locket Saga Continues, and most recently, A Coward’s Solace, Book III of the Locket Saga

Her most recent publication were two booklets Help From Kelp and Using Diatomaceous Earth Around the House and Yard. Available in paperback

.For more information about Cygnet Brown and her book, check out her website at http://www.cygnetbrow.com .