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Dialogue with my muse |
| I have been carrying on a dialogue for almost a year. During this time we have discussed the progress of my writing, editing, and publishing efforts. Join in to listen to our conversation about my daily writing life and add your comments if you think of anything Calliope and I miss. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today? JOE: Quite well thank you. CALLIOPE: What transpires? JOE: I'm continuing to take stock of my writing and its place in my life. CALLIOPE: A big order. How are you going about it? JOE: I recalled that I had quite a few books on writing and decided to peruse them? CALLIOPE: Find anything interesting? JOE: Yes. Julia Cameron's book, The Right to Write. CALLIOPE: Oh? JOE: Years ago I read her earlier book The Artist's Way and found it quite helpful in directing my writing, focusing on its joys. CALLIOPE: Isn't this a book for beginning writers? JOE: Both books are actually. But I have learned that I am always a beginning writer if I approach it with a child's mind. CALLIOPE: I've heard that expression. What do you think it means? JOE: To me it means approaching a task with no preconceptions and being open to the experience on its own terms. Talk with you tomorrow. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. I wonder about your wisdom project and why you chose it. JOE: Good question. I think it sprung from my mother's recent ninetieth birthday. It made me stop to think what's important to me at this point in my life. CALLIOPE: What did you discover? JOE: First, I discovered what's not so important. I have been pursuing marketing as a way to make money. CALLIOPE: Something wrong with that? JOE: No, but to do justice to the Guerrilla Marketing I have been reading about as a path to making money, I would need to devote the bulk of my time and energy in the pursuit, pushing writing meaningfully to a secondary importance. CALLIOPE: I see. JOE: I am starting to see what's important to me. I think more money would be nice but would also distract me from my goal. CALLIOPE: Which is? JOE: To help other see the value of the collected wisdom of the ages and live in tune with our earth and its community rather than selfishly grabbing what we can. CALLIOPE: A tall order. JOE: I know. It's not one I can do alone. Others have gone before me in the effort, others are active now and I am sure others will follow. But I want to do my part. CALLIOPE: Sounds like you want to make your contribution to living meaningfully. JOE: Correct. Now to do it. Talk with you tomorrow. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. I've been scratching my head all weekend. JOE: About what? CALLIOPE: About the new project you alluded to. JOE: Oh, yes. It's about wisdom. CALLIOPE: You mentioned that Saturday. Tell me more. JOE: I haven't settled on a title yet although that might be better to decide later anyway. CALLIOPE: And the focus? JOE: It seems to me that each time of life has a store of wisdom. CALLIOPE: Do you mean from childhood on through old age? JOE: Exactly. Although our culture tends to focus on immediate gratification, Each season of life also has its own perspective and contribution to make to better ways to live. CALLIOPE: I can't argue with that. How do you plan to go about it? JOE: I have begun searching what has been written so far. Books on the subject don't look overdone. CALLIOPE: So that's where you are now? JOE: I am. After my research I will plan my strategy and develop an outline. Talk with you tomorrow. |
| JOE: Good evening Calliope. CALLIOPE: I had just about given up on you for today. JOE: We expect rain here for the rest of the week. I made hay while the sun shone. CALLIOPE: Doing what? JOE: Visiting the Apple Umpkin Festival in Wyoming. CALLIOPE: I'm glad you finally got here. You said something about a new project. JOE: Indeed I did. CALLIOPE: And? JOE: I have been trying to find a way to integrate marketing and writing. I think I may have found one. CALLIOPE: Go on. JOE: I am exploring the possibility of a series of books on wisdom, building on a theme I have followed for years. CALLIOPE: So you will not be starting from scratch. JOE: No. I already know my theme and also have become associated with it through my previous writings. CALLIOPE: A kind of platform. JOE: You guessed it. It's still in the infancy stage but I have started doing some research into what has been written in this area and will continue exploring it next week. Talk with you on Monday. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How goes it today? JOE: Other than a leaky faucet the day's off to a fairly good start. CALLIOPE: Did you tend to the faucet? JOE; I got it diagnosed. Next is surgery, but it's in the works. CALLIOPE: How about literary matters? JOE: I'm continuing to work through Guerrilla Marketing for Writers. CALLIOPE: What do you think so far? JOE: There's enough here to keep me busy for years. CALLIOPE: But? JOE: But I don't want to spend years marketing. CALLIOPE: So? JOE: My current thought is to make room for marketing efforts in my schedule but not let them take over my life. CALLIOPE: Sounds sensible. Back to balance. JOE: Indeed. Now to do it. Talk with you tomorrow. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Did you sleep in? JOE: No. I was busy writing and doing my yoga. CALLIOPE: I see. What news? JOE: Yesterday my son and I lunched at the Mennonite bulk food store in Warsaw (NY) and stopped by W.G. Handyside Gallery of Fine Arts in Wyoming (also NY) to visit with the owner Diane Burnham. CALLIOPE: Learn anything interesting? JOE: We chatted quite a while about running an art store, the state of art and public resp0nse. CALLIOPE: What did you discover? JOE: Her opinion was that people are not as interested in owning art in rural areas as they are in big cities. CALLIOPE: Does that have to do with income? JOE: It seems to be more a matter of values. Folks here would rather visit art than own it. CALLIOPE: Does that apply to books too? JOE: Hard to say. She does carry a few books, mine included, but has not done as well with them as with art, supplies and lessons. CALLIOPE: Did she have any suggestions regarding writing. JOE: She thought there was more market around here for audio and video materials than written ones. I had been thinking of exploring putting some of my writing on CD's and DVD's. I'll give this more thought. Talk with you tomorrow. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you coming with the column about your mother? JOE: It's done and ready to post. CALLIOPE: No trouble writing it? JOE: None. I had a good idea what I wanted to write and wrote it. CALLIOPE: Were you able to incorporate major historical events as you planned? JOE: Yes. It flowed easily with a little help from Google. CALLIOPE: The things we take for granted. JOE: Right. I recall hours of library research to find anything useful when I attended college. CALLIOPE: Did you get a chance to interview your mother? JOE: I did. CALLIOPE: Any surprises? JOE: Just one. When I asked her if she had any regrets about her life, she thought a bit but couldn't think of any. CALLIOPE: I wonder how many of us could say that. JOE: Precious few I would guess. Certainly not me. That's one thing that makes her her. Talk with you tomorrow. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today? JOE: Full of ideas which flooded me throughout the night. CALLIOPE: Such as? JOE: My column is taking shape for this Saturday. I decided to write about my mother's ninetieth birthday. CALLIOPE: How do you plan to approach it? JOE: As usual I have only 500 words. My greatest challenge will be to contain myself to the allotted space. CALLIOPE: What about content? JOE: At first I thought of writing what I know of her life. Then I recalled the secret lives of some of my relatives of which I was not aware until after they died. CALLIOPE: Do you plan to change that with your mother? JOE: Yes. I will interview her and, rather than making it a tribute to her, I will tell her story in her own words, or at least the highlights. CALLIOPE: Sounds good. Anything else? JOE: I thought of including some of the things that have happened in the world since she was born. But this will depend on whether I have room for them. We shall see. CALLIOPE: Sounds like a good plan. JOE: I think so. Talk with you tomorrow. |
JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today? JOE: Ready for another week. CALLIOPE: What's on your plate today? JOE: Continuing to plan my future. CALLIOPE: How much of that do you think you have? JOE: Obviously none of us knows. My mother's ninetieth birthday yesterday reminded me that I don't have forever to live. CALLIOPE: Unless you are a muse. Have you come to any decisions about marketing? JOE: No, but I did find Levinson, Frishman and Larsen's book Guerrilla Marketing for Writers on my bookshelf as I was perusing it for something to help me. CALLIOPE: Did it? JOE: Yes. They present quite a few approaches which cost little or no money and don't involve spending your whole life in the pursuit. CALLIOPE: Where does that leave you? JOE: I'm still reading it but it suggests to me that I can incorporate marketing tasks while keeping my focus on writing. CALLIOPE: Sounds like you're working toward a balance. JOE: I am. I'll let you know how it's coming when we talk tomorrow. |
| JOE: Good afternoon Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. Where were you this morning? JOE: Carol and I walked to the farmers' market and then drove to Batavia for my grandson's Pop Warner Football game. CALLIOPE: A busy start. JOE: Yes, but fun. CALLIOPE: Did you think about your priorities with business and creativity? JOE: Yes but I didn't reach any conclusions. CALLIOPE: How will you approach it? JOE: Hard to say. It's not something I can quantify. Making a list of the advantages of each does not seem like it would help. CALLIOPE: So now what? JOE: I recall Napoleon Hill talking about a man he once met who took time each day sitting for ideas. Maybe I'll try that. CALLIOPE: You're not in any rush? JOE: No one will starve to death or go homeless based on what I decide. CALLIOPE: I guess you don't have to force a decision. JOE: No I don't. If you feel like dropping me an inspiration, please do so. Talk with you on Monday. |
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Hope they like snow! 
I just tell them to go get a life...
It's a sunshiny 24 here at the moment; 19 in Buffalo.