Caroline Starr Rose

picture book and middle-grade author

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Navigating a Debut Year: Steps to Protect the Creative Heart

10 Comments

Here are some ways I’m trying to protect my creative side:

  • I am in constant contact with both my critique partners and my debut group, The Class of 2k12. Both encourage me when I flounder and bolster me when I need support. Some of them have calmly told me again and again that they believe in what I write. When we can’t muster the strength to see our own talent, it is so good to have people whose belief in us we can borrow. 
  • For the sake of my creative health, I’ve decided that reading the School Library Journal blog, Heavy Medal, is something that doesn’t nourish me right now. As I watch people who love children’s literature analyze books I admire (in a professional, respectful, invigorating way), I’m finding I doubt my abilities more and more. No book is perfect. I know this to be true. But seeing the “faults” of books well-executed while I’m drafting my own new, unformed work is enough to make me think I’ll never produce anything of substance, depth, or worth. 
  • I need to extend to my writing the room to grow in a safe environment. For me, I’m learning it’s a place free of chatter and analysis and comparison. It’s a place my friend Val says needs to be quiet enough “to hear that small voice inside trying to remind you that you are doing something important, something special, something worthwhile. And that small voice is the voice you need to hear loudest right now, the one you need to be listening to. During the creation process, kick everyone else out of the room. Tell the critics, your editor or agent, the readers, the doubters to leave, kick them all out of the room and be alone with your story. You and the story. That’s all there is right now. That’s all that matters.”

What have you learned to avoid or embrace to foster your creativity?

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Filed Under: encouragement, publication, the writing life

Comments

  1. Caryn Caldwell says

    November 7, 2012 at 2:56 pm

    These are wonderful suggestions – ones I’m going to have to keep in mind. Writing is such a mental game, isn’t it? Which is why I’m so thankful for my writing friends, who help keep me grounded. They are amazing. And, yes, reading reviews kind of freaks me out sometimes. It can make feel like it’s impossible to please people. Good luck with your writing environment!

    P.S. Beautiful flowers. We have those where I live, too. Love them! They’re so cheerful, and they grow everywhere.

    Reply
    • Caroline Starr Rose says

      November 7, 2012 at 5:36 pm

      It is a mental game. That’s a perfect description. I’m heading to the Jemez Mountains on Thursday for an SCBWI writing retreat. No Internet. No phone. It will be wonderful.

      Are you in the southwest, Caryn? The flowers are chamisa. I’ve only seen them out my way. But if you’re not out here and have them, tell me more!

      Reply
    • Caryn Caldwell says

      November 7, 2012 at 7:54 pm

      We might be close to each other. I’m in the Four Corners area, right on the border of Colorado and Utah.

      Reply
    • Caryn Caldwell says

      November 7, 2012 at 7:54 pm

      P.S. Have fun at your retreat! It sounds amazing. I’ve always wanted to go on a writer retreat. Someday!

      Reply
    • Caroline Starr Rose says

      November 7, 2012 at 8:03 pm

      !! I’m in ABQ!!

      We have an author from CO coming down for our retreat. You should seriously consider coming sometime!

      Reply
    • Caryn Caldwell says

      November 8, 2012 at 4:27 am

      That would be so much fun! I’m about six hours away from you, due to the windy roads. (You know how those can be, especially with all the mountains and canyons in the area.) But then, everything is far so I’m used to driving.

      Reply
  2. out of the wordwork says

    November 7, 2012 at 6:03 pm

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    Reply
  3. out of the wordwork says

    November 7, 2012 at 6:06 pm

    Sorry for earlier double comment (which I deleted). But I did want to thank you for an excellent post that really resonated with me. Especially the words about listening to the small voice inside us that we need to listen to the most as we create. I’m trying to listen which is probably why I’m not ‘talking’ so much on social media right now. Have a fabulous time at your retreat!

    Reply
    • Caroline Starr Rose says

      November 7, 2012 at 7:53 pm

      Nelsa, I’m glad you tried again. Blogger has been duplicating comments, and when someone goes to cancel the “second” one, both disappear.

      So glad this spoke to you (as your post did to me). Though I love the contacts I now have in the writing world and am grateful for the connections I’ve made through the web, I sometimes long for those early days. I don’t miss the loneliness and general stumbling around I did for years, but I do miss the solitude. Nowadays, I have to make sure to create my own quiet space.

      All the best on your new project.

      Reply
  4. Kimberley Griffiths Little says

    November 12, 2012 at 8:35 pm

    Love, love, love!!!

    Reply

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