Before I get to this week’s list of links on creativity and writing I shared on Twitter and Facebook this week, let me request some advice on how to keep a tight leash on my new ward, Mr. Bacon. Days after I introduced him to the world he scampers off to the Milliver’s Travels web site. Did he ask me? No. He’s on a path to stardom, and he’s already forgotten that I gave him his big break. Sigh.
CREATIVITY
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Mr. Bacon tried to give me the slip during a hike in the Shenandoah National Park, but the hobbit who lived here wouldn't provide refuge. “Self-Care for Writers and Obsessive Creatives,” Janet Boyer, Renaissance Soul Ablaze: Stay hydrated and other good tips. Hmm, does this martini count? (Related: 3 Steps to Creative-Business Balance)
- “5 Ways to Stop Psyching Yourself out of your Life Goals,” Chris Smith, LifeHack: Another take on silencing the inner critic. (Related: Returning to Our Creativity)
- “An Intentionally Happy Life,” Melanie Spring: On setting a “goal of intentionality.” (Related: Living an Art-Committed Life)
WRITING
- “Steve Jobs, Inspiration and Why I Write,” Kate Arms-Roberts: One of my favorite writers is back from hiatus. With all of the digital trees killed this week to (rightly) honor a true innovator, this is a very personal and moving one, worthy of any amount of pixel-slaying. (Related: A Shooting Star, or the Story of a Life)
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Mr. Bacon makes a break for freedom, hoping to lose himself in the forest. Fortunately his legs are quite short, making him an easy catch. “Schtick Lit,” Kelly Kathleen Ferguson, Hunger Mountain: Given the focus of my WIP can be described as “humorous creative nonfiction,” I was pleased to come across this post about an author with a similar project who realized she was writing “immersion memoir,” or ‘schtick lit.” Like me, her narrative is built around a road trip, but she introduced her “schtick” by dressing on the trip as Laura Ingalls Wilder. (Related: Starting Down the Road)
- “7 Deadly Sins of Freelance Writing,” Susan Johnston, The Urban Muse: See how she frames a writing error around the word “lust.” (Related: 7 Steps to Writing Success)
- “The Real Story Behind Low-Residency MFAs,” David Jauss, 36 College Street: The VCFA Blog: This is a strong case for pursuing your MFA in a low-res format. The author does have a bias, being a faculty member with the Vermont College of Fine Arts low-res program, and I have a bias in posting this, being a student in that program. (Related: Sharing Without Fear)
Finally, a big thank you to fellow blogger Melissa Crytzer Fry, who after reading my recent post about going off the grid shared with me four other interesting posts in which writers explore the challenge of finding balance with social media, creative time and life obligations. I strongly recommend these posts by Nina Badzin, Cynthia Robertson, Natalia Sylvester and Julia Munroe Martin.
The Artist's Road 
Thanks for sharing my post on this list.
I’ve been considering a low-res MFA since following your journey. The kids aren’t old enough yet to make it feasible. The post by David Jauss made me want to go for it.
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You’d love it, and there are a lot of my classmates with young children. One aspect I haven’t blogged on; the one-on-one instruction is amazing. I had a section of my WIP that I was really pleased with. He agreed it was there, “almost,” and made some recommendations throughout for improvement. I’ve been working on those this week, and let me tell you, wow is it better. I needed his outside, experienced eye.
There are quite a few good programs in Vermont; that wouldn’t be too long a trip for you I wouldn’t think. (VCFA has students from around the world; one of my friends is Egyptian.)
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Thanks for including my post! The rest are really helpful!
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You bet, Melanie. I knew about Sisarina, just discovered your personal blog. I like it.
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Hey Patrick, great line-up of helpful posts, as usual. I especially liked the self-care and 7 deadly sins pieces. I sometimes get overwhelmed with all the articles out there on the web. So time consuming to filter through them all looking for gems. Your Friday links round-up helps a lot, because I know you drill down and post only the best ones. Thanks!
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Jessica, once again you’ve made my day!
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Thanks so much for the shout-out, Patrick. It just seemed like the past few weeks, the theme of “finding social media balance” came together on so many fabulous blogs!
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That’s so true. So what are we both doing online on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend? 🙂
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Thank you for the mention, Patrick!
Since I’m new to your blog, I’m curious, where did you and Mr. Bacon first meat…err, I mean meet?
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Hi Cynthia,
A good question and a good play on words! He was a recent birthday gift from my 16-year-old daughter. We learned of the site where we “adopted” him from via this link — http://ow.ly/4XzWF — sent to me by Kate Arms-Roberts (you see her in the comments above and in this week’s links). As you can see from my blog’s Category Cloud it’s not unusual to see bacon mentioned here, and Kate thought I’d like the fun stuff at that site. I did, and alerted my kids. Now as to how Mr. Bacon hijacked our family vacation photos, well, he has a mind of his own. A small one, but his own nonetheless.
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Thank you so much for the shout out! It’s so helpful to connect up with other writers looking for balance in social media… it’s kind of the irony of social media — that the biggest support for our writing is online but that can also be one of the biggest distractions. It’s so nice to meet you through Melissa and I look forward to lots more great posts from you (and also from Mr. Bacon — loved the travel piece at our mutual friend Milli’s travel site!).
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You’ve hit on the paradox, that’s for sure. I look forward to more posts from you as well, when I allow myself to get lost in my favorite blogs! (And yes, Milli’s a kick, was pleased she wanted to give Mr. Bacon a spotlight.)
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Mr. Bacon’s travel companion and photographer. That’s how I see you now ;~)
Thanks for the mention of Milliver’s Travels and for letting Mr. B do a guest blogger stint on my site. (Maybe I shouldn’t put it that way . . . he might get an even bigger head than he’s already got.)
Loved the captions on your very funny Mr. Bacon photos for this post. And, as usual, a treasure trove of great links.
~ Milli
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Thanks so much for the mention, Patrick! We do owe Melissa one for the intro. 🙂
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Agreed!
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Thanks for this round up Patrick! I want to enhance my creativity writing and been reading a lot lately including some of Nina Badzin’s work. Expect me to be here regularly.
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