courtesy of Mark Hunter on Flickr

Creative resistance and uncertainty

This past week I've been having a lot of trouble gaining clarity on my current creative projects. I write blog posts, I'm writing an eBook, and I'm writing fanfiction (for the first time in my life). Needless to say, all these projects require me to think creatively.

And then, this past week, I became stuck. Stuck in my ideas and in my uncertainty. I have been constantly writing now for three months and I love it. I can also now recognize resistance when it rears its great, ugly head. And I recognized my uncertainty about my projects as my resistance to them.

So, how did I overcome my resistance and uncertainty? I had a focus session.

What are focus sessions?

My focus sessions grew out on my need to stop multitasking and to start singletasking. Research has shown that singletasking, rather than multitasking, is much more productive and less stressful.

It's so easy for me to get overwhelmed with all the projects I have going on at once. So, I've decided to start holding focus sessions, where I focus on one, and only one, creative project during a scheduled time.

In a focus session, you:

• Pick one, and only one, project to work on
• Declare that you will devote this time to only that project
• Find a place where you can concentrate (wherever that may be) 
• Establish a certain amount of time and set a timer 
• Disconnect from the Internet if you have to
• Work with other people if that helps you
• Listen to music if that helps you to concentrate 

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courtesy of Maria on flickr

Recently, I've gotten it into my head that I want to write an eBook for this blog. It will be the first eBook I've ever written and I want to share the lessons I've learned (so far) after two months of working on it.

Lesson 1: Know your blog/website 

This should seem like common sense but it's actually extremely difficult. When I started writing my eBook two months ago, I had no where near the clarity or vision for my blog that I do now. And writing this eBook has helped bring me clarity for my blog in many ways.

I know the changes I need to make and I've found a new vision for my blog. I've hired a professional web designer to redesign my blog to match these changes. In this sense, I'm extremely grateful to my half-written eBook for the lessons it's already taught me about my blog.

Lesson 2: Make an outline

I can't emphasize enough the importance of the outline. eBooks are so different from traditional print books in a number of ways. But the most important thing for an eBook is that it's easy to read. And remember, you're putting your eBook on the Internet, and you'll have no idea where it will end up or with whom.

To make my eBook matter to my blog readers, I needed to put a ton of consideration into the content and how I wanted to present it. This is where the outline became super handy.

Lesson 3: Accept that it's a process

Writing an eBook is a time consuming process. It will be full of both excitement and complete exhaustion. And there will be times where you just want to give up. I know I had many of these moments the last two months. I didn't know where my eBook was going and I was sick of writing in circles.

If you are writing an eBook, or want to write one, remember that it is a process that will take time and energy.  If you're feeling frustrated or stuck (as I was), seek feedback from other people. I'm part of a online writing group and they helped me to get unstuck and clarify my goals for my eBook.

These are the three lessons I've learned so far. I've included a couple of  resources at the bottom of this post that have helped me in writing my eBook.

As always, thank you for reading :)
Melissa

Resources

How to Write a High-Quality eBook in 30 Days from Copyblogger

eBooks The Smart Way by Pat Flynn (from Smart Passive Income)

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Courtesy of twentyfour students

I came across a podcast on Goins Writer last week where Jeff Goins interviewed with the author Robert Greene on Learning the Secret to Mastery, particularly as it relates to writing and creativity.

Mr. Greene gave many useful tips in his interview but the one that struck me the most was this:
That people know what they want to do when they're very young.

What if you're struggling to find your inner artist? What's the first step?

It's looking at your childhood.

First, look to when you were a child. What kinds of things did you like to do as a child?

Lately, I myself have been struggling with whether or not I'm a writer. Like, for the past month, I've been doubting myself. Was I wrong in my desire to write? Why is my writing not any good? Will I ever get better at it? Is writing not for me?

After listening to Mr. Greene's interview, I looked back into my childhood to see what I had loved doing. And I realized one important thing.

That even as a child I wanted to be a writer. 

I remember sitting at my grandma's house in her big tan chair with my black notebook and just writing stories in the lamplight while she watched westerns or the Andy Griffith Show.

I wrote stories about true love and my favorite beanie babies.  True, they weren't very good :). But they were written by me with all the innocence of a child. Which makes those stories very precious to me.

What memories do you have of yourself as a child artist? What did you love creating or doing? Was it writing, painting, sculpting with Play-Doh?

If you're struggling to find your inner artist as an adult or doubting your creative abilities, like I was, first look to your childhood. It may have all the answers you're looking for :)

As always, thank you for reading.
Melissa

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Happy Independence Day for those in the United States!

This week I want to review the blog/website Goins Writer, written and maintained by Jeff Goins

What this blog is about 

Goins Writer answers the following questions:

• How do successful writers make a living?
• What does it really take to get published?
• How do you pursue a passion?

This blog is ultimately about pursuing your passion for creativity, especially if your creative passion is writing.

About Jeff Goins 

Jeff Goins has written and guest-blogged for over 100 magazines, publications, and blogs. He is a speaker, creative coach, and consultant. He's published three eBooks:

• Wrecked for the Ordinary: A Manifesto for Misfits
• The Writer’s Manifesto: Stop Writing to Be Read & Adored
• You Are a Writer (So Start Acting Like One)

He also has a podcast, The Portfolio Life and an audio series called The Writer's Studio: Everything You Need to Know to Become a Real Writer.

He runs an e-course called Tribe Writers.

Why I love this blog 

This blog is just...amazing. I absolutely love the content; Jeff Goins covers all aspects of writing and creativity in the most practical and easy-to-understand way. It's just so straightforward.

I can't remember how I came across Goins Writer, but it has made such a big difference in my writing practice. I absolutely recommend his free eBook The Writer's Manifesto and his other eBook You Are a Writer (So Start Acting Like One). I also own his audio series. Can you tell I'm a fan?

Please, please, please, if you are a struggling writer or creative, check out this blog.

As always, thank you for reading :)
Melissa

P.S. I am not an affiliate for this blog or any of Jeff Goins's products. I just like mentioning blogs I have found helpful :) 

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courtesy of masspictures.net

Five Things I've Learned about Creativity

Since I stared exploring my creative passions these past few months, I've learned a few things about creativity. I want to share them with you now :)

1. All of use are creative - we just have to admit it to ourselves. 
2. Accept your inner child - this is hugely essential to creativity. Your inner child is not your critic but is your friend and mentor. Listen to her/him and accept what they are trying to tell you. 
3. Being creative takes work - sure, there are some out there who are extremely talented. But pursuing your creative passions takes determination and effort. 
4. Being creative is emotional - accept that exploring your creative passions will make you feel all kinds of things, from elation to despair. 
5. Perseverance is important - always, always persevere. You owe it to yourself to explore your creativity. 

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courtesy of polishmycrown.com

Lately, I've been looking into forming some new habits and I came across Crystal Moody's website Year of Creative Habits. And I thought, I could do this.

Leo Babauta of Zen Habits fame talks a lot about how slowly changing his habits helped him change his entire life. He wrote several bestselling books, has a very successful blog, and has done more than one marathon. I did a review of Zen Habits a couple of weeks ago.

How do you form creative habits? By doing them every day. Pick a time frame and then stick to doing that habit, whether it be writing, painting, etc., and do it for a certain amount of time. I'm going to start with a month and then go from there.

Always remember to start small and build your habit. If you start with a huge goal, you will feel too overwhelmed to make it a habit.

I plan on building my creative habits one day, one month at a time. And I'm going to join Crystal in chronicling my journey. The Year of Creative Habits works like this:

1. Choose one creative habit.
2. Do it everyday for one month.
3. Share your effort/progress with others.
4. Reflect on the month and make changes.

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courtesy of andi galpern

Having multiple passions and being a renaissance soul 

This past spring I came across the book The Renaissance Soul by Margaret Lobenstine. I even did a review of it on this blog a while back. The book helped me come to terms with who I am as a creative being. I am not a master of one thing but a jack of all trades. I have multiple passions that I love to do.

But most important of all, this book taught me that it is okay to have multiple passions.

Using focus points 

The book taught me about putting my multiple passions into focus points that can help me to make progress on my passion projects even when I'm feeling overwhelmed. The author recommends starting with four and then adding one more if you really need to.

Well, I went back to the book this past weekend to check in and see if I'm aligning myself with my focus points. And I was pretty much on target. I also decided to make my focus points more specific. My focus points look like this:

• Reading science-fiction and fantasy and books on creativity and writing 
• Writing good blog content and building my list 
• Writing a fantasy novel and becoming a stronger writer 
• Doing Zumba 

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The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressifeld

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courtesy of quotestree.com

For as long as I can remember, I've always wanted to write a science-fiction or fantasy novel. I've had the same ideas in my head for years and now I can't remember where the ideas even came from.

After I was done with graduate school and got my full-time job, I decided it was time to start writing. I knew what I wanted to write and who my characters were. But where should I start with writing a novel? Obviously by writing.

I decided to start with an outline. I'd always used outlines for writing papers in school and they work wonders for me. If I wanted my paper to be good, I always needed an outline first. Why would it be different for writing a fiction novel?

Why you need an outline 

There is no overall agreement in the writing world that you absolutely need an outline for writing a novel. Many writers like the thrill of not knowing what they're writing. For some, the outline is essential. It all depends on who you are as a writer. I recommend trying the outline before you completely reject it.

I need an outline for my writing. And, honestly, I have no clue why. My writing is just better when I have one. I guess it has to do with organizing my ideas before I start but rarely does my outline stay the same once I start writing. But I like having an outline to go back to when I get stuck in my writing.

When you start writing your novel, bring your outline with you on the journey. It's not an unchanging thing anyway. It will change as you start writing. I know mine definitely has.

The outline is a living and growing thing 

Treat your outline as if it is part of your novel. When you are writing and your story changes, take a break to put that change in your outline. This will help you to see if the other parts of the novel you outlined will work with your new material. I'm still working on my outline even now as I write my novel.

There are also many different kinds of outlines and I'll write more about them as I continue to experiment with different ones.

Thank you for reading :)
Melissa

Do you use an outline when you write? 

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The Renaissance Soul: How to Make Your Passions Your Life by Margaret Lobenstine 

courtesy of powells.com

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Budokai Dojo

Hi everyone,

In an effort to re-brand myself, I've given this blog a new name, one that I think fits more with the message I'm trying to get across.

My blog focuses on the role that information and technology play in creativity and lifestyle design. And I felt that Nerdy Mindful Librarian just wasn't getting that across.

Why The Information Dojo? 

A dojo is a Japanese term that means "place of the way". And I wanted my blog to be the place of the way for learning how to manage information and technology to design a creative and fulfilling life.

Finding the right information has played such a huge part in my life that I wanted to share that with you guys, my readers, to help you design your life and pursue the activities and projects that you love. Life is too short for anything else!

Again, thank you for joining me on this journey and I hope you like the new name :)

Melissa

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Courtesy of ewritersjourney

In this post, I thought I'd share the tools that I use for being productive in my creative projects. Every artist has their own tools, right?

My Planner

Yes, I definitely still use an actual planner. I have yet to find a digital equivalent that can replace the experience. Mine is Kimberly Wilson's Tranquility du Jour Daybook. I love this daybook because it separates your projects from your to-dos. Highly, highly recommend!

Evernote

I use Evernote to collect information on the web. I love dividing all of my projects into notebooks. The free version is awesome and there's always the option to go pro. Check out Michael Hyatt's series of post on using Evernote. I'll be coming out with my own tutorial soon!

Trello 

Oh Trello, how I love thee. This online platform allows you to organize your projects into boards, which you can further break down into cards. I put absolutely all of my projects on Trello, even if they are just ideas. I can then put what my progress is for each project.

My Project Board 

See my post from Monday. You may be asking, what is the point of having a physical project board when you already use Trello to organize your projects? I like having the physical aspect of my project board, where I can see what I'm doing in a month and how many projects I have going on at once. I use my project board solely for concrete projects that I know for sure I'm doing. For any ideas I'm just brainstorming, I put them in Trello.

And those are my four tools I use to be productive in my creative projects. Thank you for reading, and as always, until next time :)

Melissa

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Hello all! Today I thought I would look at how making and using a project board can help you in your creative process. They actually have many names (inspiration board, visual idea board, etc.) but I'm calling mine the project board.

Check out my project board!

My project board is a simple cork board with note cards organized into categories. If you decide to make one too, you might make yours a little more fancy or arrange it differently, but the point is to make it so that it works for you. And this definitely works for me :)

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A couple weeks ago I was went home to visit my family in Illinois and my parents treated me to a night at the Art Party Studio. There I was able to paint a picture of a lily in just two hours!

Now, I don't usually have a talent for painting..but I managed to do it in this class. If you're ever in the Champaign-Urbana area in Illinois, you HAVE to check it out!

walking into the studio

fun decorations

these are all Post-it notes!

my April 16th class

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Courtesy of speedofcreativity.org

I can't draw. Not even a stick figure. Even when I was younger I had no talent that would magically appear in my elementary art class. And because of this, I always thought that I wasn't creative. Art is known as creativity, and if you can't do art, then how can you be creative?

As I've gotten older, the best thing I've learned about art is that there are so many different kinds of it. So my talent wasn't drawing or painting. I found it was writing.

There's no wrong way to be creative or to be an artist. The most important thing is that you love doing it. Explore different kinds of art to find your niche.

There's also no magical talent that goes into being creative. In fact, being creative takes a lot of practice and a lot of work to polish your skills.

Don't be afraid to practice and fail. Failure almost always happens at some point but don't let the fear of failure keep you from pursuing your creative interests. Learn from your failures and allow them to build you up.

Look for my later posts on building your creative confidence :).

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Looking at the title of this blog, the word that will probably stick out the most is "librarian". Yes, I am a librarian and I deal with information constantly. It's my job and I absolutely love it. And I want to share my love for information.

Why did I start this blog? 

Because I have some topics that I'm really passionate about. My blog looks how to explore information at the crossover of five main things: personal information management, lifestyle design, technology, creativity, and nerdy stuff. I want to help you find the right information and resources for these topics. I also want to talk about my passion for manga, anime, and science-fiction (just to spice things up).

Join me on my journey!

I have been in school for the past 20 years of my life (and I'm only 25). This blog will chronicle my adventures as I begin to develop my life after not having much of one :). I'm going to explore personal information management, lifestyle design, technology, creativity, and all things nerdy.

I hope my information will be useful to you and please connect with me!

Welcome to Nerdy Mindful Librarian!

Topics on my blog include:

Personal Information Management

Lifestyle Design

• Wellness 
• Career/Entrepreneurship 
• Blog of the Week 
• Mindfulness
• Minimalism 

Technology

• Tutorials 

Creativity

• Writing 
• Blogging 

Nerdy Stuff

• Manga 
• Anime
• Science-Fiction and Fantasy 
• Book Reviews

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