being an individual

To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.   e.e. cummings

This is equally true or perhaps even more true for creative people where publising houses, galleries want more of what they have already sold. That makes sense. They are operating a business.  The creative person can turn to operating a business also-- duplicate what is already out there. It can be tempting.

As a creative person sees other writers/painters/sculptors/photographers being more successful in sales, or getting nicer reviews-- or any reviews, one of the hardest things is to not want to do what they do. Cummings nailed the problem, but it doesn't make it easier.

Predictability or manipulation?

In the midst of the ranch's fox chronicles, I've been trying to think about my books-- the ones already out and those yet to be published. My thought right now is that the first Arizona historical will come out the end of July. It's mostly then because we have a trip planned for the middle of July; and I want to be around when the book is published. I also hope to bring this one out as a paperback which takes more advance planning.

This week I came across an interesting article for writers. Ginger Simpson mentioned it in the MOA, and I thought it was worthy of linking here.

Is your plot predictable? by Rita Karnopp 

What she writes about is an issue which I think most writers debate with themselves. My exploration of predictability and unpredictability in writing follows:

What have I learned?

For one thing--

you never stop learning. You'd think at some point you'd get it all but you never do. It's the one thing about life. Unless you purpose to shut yourself off from new information, refuse to assimilate anything you didn't learn at 13, you will never learn it all-- and that not even for those people who go out of their way to be perpetual school students.

never try to outguess a fox. I swear the fox family has literally driven me nuts not to mention at times depressed as I try to do what will be good for them but us also. Never works. Where that story is heading is beyond me and this is why I never liked Disney animal movies. An animal always died to work up the teary audience. Caring for wild animals is asking for a Disney movie in your own backyard.

trying to outguess readers is about the same. I had some time between starting the new book, research, and having a kind of health issue, so I tried reading other people's romances. This is something I don't do very often for obvious reasons-- not wanting to be influenced. What I read was top of the line. Why do readers want the same plots regurgitated with new settings and characters over and over? They want 'surprises' but predictable and often manipulated surprises? I've decided the secret to this knowing is beyond me like with the foxes and I should just understand people read what they need. I write what I need and maybe that isn't going to be the same but it is what it is. So maybe I've learned something there... maybe not.

doing videos has a big drawback if information can change. Back up to the fox story. For my other blog I did a two several videos intended to tell the story of the foxes as it was to date. Before I could ever use the videos, the story changed and (see above) in a not good way. When you write something, you just change the words before the due date. when you video tape it, there is only one thing to do-- delete. A major drawback to videos. Maybe I should stick to making them for the books.

Finally I thought this was interesting as this lady (who has quite a few videos on YouTube) took viewers through her home and studio to show her work. Neat-- a studio tour