Taking Time Out
Waiting for the print-publishing world to settle down and start buying again a a real downer. You can start to spend way too much time trying to read the minds of editors and publishers. You wonder if you should change your style. Switch subjects? Do a complete rewrite of the manuscript you love? And surely if you mind-read long and hard enough you’ll discover the magic marketing strategy that will bounce you onto center stage.
It all makes my head spin, so I decided to set aside blocks of time in the studio when I’m free to do anything except obsess about the marketplace. All the outside stuff is banished. I’m unplugged. I get to play with colors, try new media, improve old skills, write nonsense, whatever, with no other purpose than to amuse myself. Thoughts about turning any of it into something to sell are Not Allowed. (Amazing how hard it is to keep them from popping in!)
So far it has been a heady experience. The other day I was leafing through an “unplugged” sketchbook and one picture actually made me catch my breath and think, “That’s beautiful! Did I do that?” It’s been a while since I looked my stuff with so uncritical an eye.
So for however long the publishing industry remains caught in a state of indecision, I’ll use these timeouts in the studio to take me in new, unexpected directions, and to strengthen my sense of having a direct line to my imagination, which is the key to everything. And maybe something I scribble or sketch will be the thing that bounces me onto center stage - oops, sorry - thoughts like that are Not Allowed!
Tags: future of childrens books imagination improving imagination improving skills market marketplace new directions new media print media studio
May 23rd, 2010 at 10:02 pm
I want a playdate sometime SOON!