How Maori carving taught me something about writing

(c) Dawn Meredith Te Puia workshop, New Zealand

This workshop in New Zealand was stunning. In this room apprentices work for years, perfecting the art of totem carving, learning the styles, symbols, family histories, Maori mythology and respect for their ancient culture.

It's not a job for the fast paced, hyperactive person. It takes care, love, skill and one more thing - Tenacity.

Michael Hauge, one of Hollywood's most successful screenwriters, mentors and novelists says the same of successful writers - 

"Every successful screenwriter or novelist I know possesses one outstanding quality:    Tenacity. The difference between working writers and wannabes isn't talent or age or gender or geography or connections or the industry or the economy or sunspots or anything else writers tell themselves to avoid facing this awful truth: writers write.

They write every day, they started their current book or script as soon as they finished the last one, they think in terms of career and not a single sale, and they look at every unsold story as a necessary step toward improving their craft."

[To read the rest of this article, please click here...]

As I look at these intricate and beautiful designs carved by hand and patience I begin to feel a new sense of spirit,for my own work. Good things take time and persistence.

cheers, Dawn

Be good to yourself!

local artist, Queenstown New Zealand

We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have already done.

-- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) American Poet

 
Sometimes, in our quest to achieve, we focus solely on what we want to do and forget to look back and see how far we've come.

It doesn't help that we live in a world where everything is up-to-the minute and has to constantly prove itself relevant. We might start to wonder if we have been left behind.

That's where friends are so important. They remind us that we are dedicated, talented, persistent and that we will succeed, because we've proven that we have the gumption to keep pushing through obstacles and self-imposed mental/emotional barriers. We think outside the box. We re always looking at things from a unique perspective. As writers, artists or musicians we have already achieved a level of success most people would find amazing. Just reaching out to an audience through our work is a risk. It's deeply personal and we wonder if its worth anything to them. But we have a gift and others rely upon us to express what they cannot.

Here's a really interesting article about the the personalities of creative people in general, not just artistic types. Gary Davis says they are risk takers, enthusiastic, curious, analytical, persistent, confident, intelligent and have a 'tolerance for complexity'.

So, keep pushing forward, but allow yourself to indulge, just for a moment, to pat yourself on the back for what you have already achieved. You're among friends.

cheers, Dawn