Feeding the Muse

On any given day online, there are hundreds of posts, tweets and blogs about the art of marketing your writing. And it seems to me they all reach one conclusion: No one knows what, or even if,anything works.

So if all the hours of promotion have questionable results, what's a writer to do? I beleive that the only thing we can do is to capitalize on the core of success: writing a wonderful story. If that's correct, then the building of a writer's creativity becomes critical.

And yes, I believe creativity can be nurtured.

Below are my suggestions. Some I've tried, some are still on my writer's bucket list.

* Take one session of acting classes a year. It'll teach you the basics of that art and give you insight into your own character portrayal.

* Take one session of visual art classes a year, i.e.: painting, drawing, sculpting etc. Concentrate on the act of creating and how it transfers to writing.
* If you can afford it, pay a counselor or therapist for a series of six sessions, once a month for six months. Your goal is to get help in accessing your buried uniqueness that is uninfluenced by media and curltural expectations.
* Pledge to yourself to have a weekly art date, time alone to experience something new and different. (This is from Julia Cameron) Use your insights for writing.
* One week a year, do your own writer's retreat. Not a conference with networking and seminars. And not a week long get-away where you finish up that novel that's on a tight deadline. What I mean is to retreat from the world and renew. Go to someplace where you are ALONE and you actually use the time to let your mind to explore and foster your creativity. (Did you know there are monasteries that offer this for a very reasonable price? Search online to find one in your area.)
* Learn to meditate and practice it daily. Yoga teaches meditation techniques. Transcendental meditation is good. That quiet time is like letting the well fill from a silent, underground stream.

Who knows what masterpiece will emerge?