Grimby’s Gratitude – New and Unexpected Glory
the E-Newsletter of Goldeen ogawa • Issue 11, October 2018
Originally posted for Patrons on October 5 on Patreon
What have I done?
- Written: The first draft of Driving Arcana 29/4.2: “One-Half Arcana.”
- Art: Witchy-Kitty and Pluto & Charon for the Planet Horse series!
- Published: Apsis Fiction: Mesohelion 2018 (eBook)
What am I doing?
- Writing: Professor Odd 18/3.6: “The Last Voyage of the Odyssean”
- Art: Small pieces for the WFC Art Show
- Publishing: Apsis Fiction Mesohelion 2018 (print edition).
Where am I going?
- No conventions in October, I will be focusing on making new art and stories! Next convention is Anthro NorthWest, where I’ll be in the Artist Alley Friday and Saturday nights!
New and Unexpected Glory
When I sat down to write this issue of Grimby’s Gratitude I had no idea what it was going to be about. That was fifteen minutes ago, and now I have too many. So I am going to write about ideas—how they happen to me, what I do with them, and how I get more when I need to. Specifically I am referring to creative ideas, but the underlying principle can be applied to any instance where someone is in need of ideas.
Ideas come easily to me these days. So easily, in fact, that any problems I have usually stem from the handling, sorting, and storage of said ideas. But it was not always so.
Once upon a time, when I was very young, I’d get stuck in stories with no idea where to go. Or, more accurately, I knew where I needed to go, but not how to get there. It didn’t happen a lot, but when it did it was very frustrating.
Something clicked when I watched Robert Rodriguez’s commentary on Spy Kids 2, in which he talked about his creative process, and the “many clay pots” approach he took to ideas and concepts.
In brief, the theory goes that if you tell a person to make one perfect clay pot, it probably won’t be that great. However, if you tell a person to make a hundred clay pots, among those hundred will probably be a few that are as near-perfect as you could wish.
Anyway, the whole commentary is stellar and I highly recommend everyone watch it. But this is essentially how I treat my ideas. They are my clay pots, and I make as many of them as I can—no matter how many I actually need.
Having ideas is something I practice. It’s a skill, like I talked about last month, in which I already possess some talent. But I’ve been actively cultivating that talent—both consciously and subconsciously—for the majority of my life.
Having ideas doesn’t drain my brain of ideas. Instead, it inspires it to create more. Part of the reason it works this way is because I treat the idea-generating part of my brain like a well-meaning but insecure puppy. Lots of positive reinforcement. Lots of “that’s great—give me more!” Sometimes I consciously think these words out, especially when I come up with an idea I don’t much like. Then there is the temptation to go “oh no that’s rubbish” but nothing gets the idea generator to shut down like being told it creates rubbish. The harshest I ever get is “this isn’t the right idea for this story, let’s put it aside and save it for later. More, please?”
More, more. Always more. It was scary, at first, not only accepting the ideas I had but then writing them into stories or drawing them down. I worried that I would run out. I worried that I was “spending” ideas too quickly.
I worried this for less time than it took me to form the worry into a coherent shape, because I was so deluged with ideas.
Ideas are not like money. I don’t have to earn them. I don’t think anyone does. I just have to say (and not even out loud), “Thank you, brain. That’s great. Let’s make some more!”
And they come and they come. In variations and evolutions and in strange, exciting new shapes. They can come on demand (well, more like encouraging request), and they can explode when I’m exposed to inspiring content. One reason I can be reluctant to read a new book or watch a new movie: I can just tell it’s going to give me lots of ideas and I’m just not ready to handle the flood.
Because managing my ideas effectively (so ones not in use do not fade and my idea-generator is not discouraged) does take some mental energy. But that, like everything else, is a skill to develop, and a topic for a different newsletter.
The thing to remember is that ideas are not just sparks in the night that will inevitably fade. They are seeds, and if nurtured properly, will grow and blossom into new and unexpected glory.
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What’s coming in October?
Patrons can now look forward to:
- Saturday updates to the Sparks Gallery
- Sunday updates to “Travels in Valdelluna”
- Exclusive sneak peeks at upcoming projects AND
- Hopefully another eBook!
ProTip
Are you registered to vote? Do you need to update your voter registration address? Do you know where your polling place is, or if you’re signed up to vote by mail? Now is a good time to get these things sorted out! Above all: VOTE on November 6th! Vote like your life depends on it—even if you don’t think it does!
This post has been generously sponsored by my Fellow Traveler patrons.