Color and Imagination

I shouldn’t be entitled to speak about color frivolity as my profession, graphic design, makes me a manipulator extraordinaire of information through color. The only redeeming factor of my biography is that I spent most of my adult life questioning color in society.

I grew up in communist Bulgaria during the late70s and 80s.  Back then color was scarce, products were homogenous and stores were bare. The only tone that permeated the retina of my childhood was a certain kind of brown. That is, if we talk about commercial display of color.

Brown bags, brown buildings, brown candy wrappers, brown TV. The color bacchanalia spilling over products, fashion, awnings, plastic bags and food in America that I now take for granted, was once source of unattainable cravings and dreams. As my senses were so color malnourished, brown came to signify not the presence of color, but the lack of it. I found out the difference the day my father brought home some plastic bags from Vienna. They were filled with all sorts of candy and gum, but that didn’t even interest me. What intrigued me the most and propelled me to stash them away in secret piles in the closet, were their glossy textures and luminous hues. There was the lipstick-thick magenta that wooed like a vixen, the pale blue that opened up gates at foreign airports, the ochre yellow that smelled of Camel cigarettes, the shocking silver that hovered like a UFO.

After the West decadent colorization stained my mind, there was no going back. I dreamt of color every waking hour of my life until I was old enough to escape Bulgaria.

The colored plastic bags I saw - they weren’t colors, they were places and archetypes and life-styles. They were the Western culture encapsulated. On a subconscious level, this capsule of forbidden experience became the reason for my migration to America years later. Such was the effect of color deprivation and color control over my pliable senses. 

Because I was used to consuming color in small doses in times of communism, I now associate it with fleeting happiness. And even though neither of my present surroundings, social or seasonal, preclude me from basking in color (I live in capitalistic America and sunny California) I’ve learned not to trust color in society.

But the story of the color brown goes farther than communism, scarcity and deprivation. It is also the color of coffee, which my father drank incessantly. And if we move down the color scale towards its creamy tints, we arrive at beige. Beige was the clothing he wore and the car he drove. You see, my father was the epitome of sophistication and intellect for me. Thus brown and beige became emotional guides to elegance, love, safety, culture, civilization, literature, tenderness, language and so many other things that connected us.

Then there was the story about cyan. Cyan was the color of love and melancholy, because it hung in our kitchen when I was a child, and the kitchen was a sponge for my mom’s bitter-sweet loneliness. On the other hand, cyan had some sentimental relatives in the realm of exclusivity, privilege and social status. It marks the so called “blue phase” of my life, during which the communist party pronounced me a “little pioneer”. Back then I was to wear a luminous, silky, cyan neck scarf which symbolized freedom and peaceful skies. 

 I can go on about many other dual influences of color and emotions; like yellow and orange autumn leaves which signified euphoria, because autumn was the time of my birthday; at the same time yellow and orange meant scarcity because they translated into bananas and oranges which were imported in Bulgaria only in limited quantity during Christmas.

I can almost distinguish two emotional patterns in relationship to color – a whimsical pleasure when related to colors of people and places I love, and distrust when related to colors of material things and society.

Human beings take color from his/her surroundings and turn it into emotions. Lover’s green sweater, parent’s blue car, trees’ lime green, seasonal pink watermelon, pet’s black eyes, water’s aquamarine depth, earth’s brown translate into love, safety, relaxation, summer laziness, loyalty, thirst, death. These emotions are often slippery, inconsistent and have millions of grades and binary oppositions within them. That makes the corresponding colors open to interpretation. Basically, there are as many color sensations on earth as there are human beings.

Society, on the other hand, takes color from its surroundings and turns it into discourse. All of a sudden it communicates cheerfulness, peace, luxury, status and chosen-ess through a red scarf, green logo, neon sign, blue napkin, silver watch. The culturally assigned colors are less open to interpretation. It’s a make believe system, a form of a personal mythology bestowed upon us.

Only when you have to leap between two cultures or ideological systems, do you realize that color is a phantom. The more humans limit it (communism in Bulgaria), or abuse it (capitalism in America), the more apathetic it becomes. By that I mean that humans around it become color numb as well.

It may be a while before corporations and autocratic regimes adopt dynamic spectrums of hues as their brands, but meanwhile we can play with what’s in front of our eyes. I propose that you take an experience and create your own personal mythologies, systems, brands, French novels, logos, Nikes, food, sounds, textures, odors, color wheels.

I propose that you treat color as a living thing that loves freedom – the way it meshes with tastes, textures, places, sounds and emotions. Sadness, jazz and blueberries, for example. Take that acid trip of myriad of cross-sensory undulations.

Swim in color, use it, abuse it, abstain from it, explain it, entrench it, taste it, rationalize it, kill it if you wish, but don’t be ignorant about it. Compare cultural, political and commercial discourses in order to understand color applications. Don’t hold back. Color can take just about anything, except cluelessness.

Here’s where you can start to play: 

Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “100 Years of Solitude”
your dreams
Bigfish Smallpond Design (www.bfsp.net)
Tennessee Williams’ “Streetcar Named Desire”
your childhood
Art Nouveau
Alphonse Mucha
Prague
alchemy
Japan
prehistoric societies
non authoritarian cultures
the movie Waking Life

…just to name a few. 

Have a bouncy cerise day!

To read the full article on color and imagination, visit http://aproposdezign.com/2011/05/17/color-will-survive-communism-branding-and-us/

Fani Nicheva is a graphic designer and a writer, who lives and works in Santa Cruz, California. She has written the book "Type Talks" and is in the process of finishing her first novel "Mental Immigrant". 

Writing Means Commitment

This morning I had messages from two students. Both have important exams this week. 

One emailed to say she had not  time to do anything but revise. 

The other, who is studying for several exams at degree level, sent me the final revisions for her noir novel, due to be published in August. 
 

That was commitment: commitment to her  book, to her editor, to her publisher.

Commitment to writing for publication means taking on board all aspects of the job--and yes, it is a job. It may be creative, it may be an art, it may allow you to work flexi-time. 

But writing has all the same pressures as any other business--research and development, selection of the best materials for the job, deadlines, attention to detail, scrupulous checking and discarding when necessary to ensure a perfect product.

No matter what is happening in your life, writing and the commitment to completing projects with set deadlines has to come first if you want to be seen as reliable.

Writing Communities

Dublin Writers' Festival 2007 by Letcombe on Flickr

One way to develop accountability and start building a writing platform is to join a writing group.  

Writers pass through various on- and off-line  communities in their writing journey. Cyber-writing-friends, met at the start of the adventure, will disappear and re-appear at various points along the way.

Each and every writing group has something to teach as regards developing talents, finding an authentic writer's voice. Each satisfies a particular need at a specific  stage of a writing career. 

These writing communities develop the sense of writing commitment so important to writers both at the beginning and throughout their career. 

 But commitment needs to be more than logging a set number of words per day--though that's a pretty good start. Commitment needs to be two-way. And it's the sharing and the genuine interest in promoting the success of everyone in the group that's the key to the most successful writing communities. 

 We may all at some time have joined a group which seems to be a mechanism for its leader's shameless self-promotion. We have all suffered from crits which are showy stylistic gems proving the awesome cleverness of the critter but which give no constructive help to the beleaguered author. 

Some groups are victims of their own success, grow too big and writers drift away.

Writing means Marketing   

Choose your writing communities carefully. Your writing friends are your family for the duration of your writing journey. 

Choose friends whose focus is akin to your own. Banding together will make you stronger. Always arguing about products and promotion will not. 

Choose a group where you share ideals and if possible genre. Promote each other and your enthusiasm will increase sales exponentially.  

Thousands of followers on FaceBook and Twitter will not sell your book any better than a group of family, best friends, workmates and writing communities who support you and who buy your book and recommend it to everyone they know.

It won't happen in a day. Marketing like writing needs consistent effort. Commit to your writing and to your writing friends and watch your sales increase. 
 

 Anne Duguid is a senior content editor with MuseItUp Publishing and   her New Year's Resolution is to blog with helpful writing,editing and publishing tips at Slow and Steady Writers far more regularly than she managed in 2011.

May Workshop from Writers on the Move - Breaking through Writer's Block

Writers on the Move has another helpful workshop geared for writers.  Here's the basic information you'll need:

Title: Breaking Through Writer’s Block

Date: May 11, 2012 (Friday)

Time: 7 – 7:45 PM EST (U.S.)

Presenter: Mary Guglielmo

Offered by: Writers on the Move
Format: Live Webinar
Handout: Yes 
Cost: Free 

Workshop Description: 

Most writers experience a time when they are stuck and can’t get their creative juices flowing.  This creative block can be a paralyzing and frightening landscape.  If a writer is unable to break through this block, it can derail their career.   If you have ever smacked into a creative wall and felt stuck in the writing process, this workshop is for you. 

This session will help you identify the root causes of your creative blocks.  We will focus on the creative process and fool proof block-buster techniques designed to help release your creative muse.  Strategies for increasing productivity and organizing your creative life to avoid blocks will be explored.   

Join Mary Jo Guglielmo as she discusses breaking through writer’s blocks.  She is an intuitive life coach that has helped writers move their writing careers forward.  See Mary Jo’s post on Tips for Smashing through Writers Block on the Writers on the Move website.

To register for “Breaking through Writer’s Block” email Karen at: karenrcfv AT *yahoo* DOT com. Please put "Writer's Block Webinar" in the subject box.

Details to attend the LIVE WEBINAR will be provided upon registration.

There will also be a bonus PDF workshop handout included that registered attendees will receive after the webinar.

For the full details  CLICK HERE.

PLEASE SHARE THIS WORKSHOP INFORMATION!

Writing to Connect

Ernest Hemingway is quoted as saying, "There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed."

Isn't it true that there are times when writing is a breeze? We sit down, put our fingers to the keyboard, and off we go. Isn't it also true that those times are all too few?

So often we struggle with inspiration. What should we write? What should happen next to that character? Where's the plot going to? You promised the reader 7 ways to improve their blog and you can only think of 5. Perhaps we can't think of what to write about at all—or perhaps we know exactly what we want to say, but the words don't come out the way we want them to.

One of the most basic, but often overlooked tips is: Write to connect.

• Don't write to satisfy yourself.
• Don't try to impress your family.
• Don't try to be someone else.

Write for your readers.

To do that, you have to know who your readers are.

• What sex?
• What age?
• What family situation?

Now write what they want to read.

Wait, shouldn't that be "write what they need to know?"

No. Write what they want to read. Then include information you think will help them. But if they don't want to read your book or article, guess what? They won't.

Visualise your readers as people who will really benefit from what you have to share. Give them faces. Perhaps even write to a person you know--but choose someone you know won't read your article to prevent your preaching at them! Then write in such a way that they will want to read . . . and keep on reading.

Now that you know who you're writing for, you'll find it much easier to write . . . and keep on writing.


I remember listening to a tape recording many years ago. The speaker, Mike Warnke, was sharing of his experience as a new Christian and speaker. He determined to be the very best . . . and studied the top speakers in the field.

He imitated Billy Graham as he thundered out an evangelical message. He spoke with the authority and passion of Kathryn Kuhlmann, as he preached to the sick and invited them to come forward for healing. He urged people to step out in faith in the style of Oral Roberts. Yet he had little or no response.

One day, in frustration, he asked the Lord, "Why don't I get results when I preach?"

To this, he said, the Lord replied, "I don't know. Who are you?"

We can laugh, but isn't that what we do as writers? We long for the inspirational writing ability of Karen Kingsbury, the gift of story telling of Jerry Jenkins and the creativity of J.K.Rowling. We try to use the poetic prowess of Helen Steiner Rice, the tension-creating techniques of Brandilyn Collins and the light-hearted approach of Max Lucado. And we wonder why we don't get results!

Each one of us have our own abilities and gifts. We have strengths unique to our own writing style, and we have weaknesses. When we compare ourselves to other writers, we have no hope. We can't be as good as them. Chances are we won't make the same mistakes as them either. We can't write like them. We're not them.

As you read, admire the writing style of the author, but don't try to copy it. Develop your own style.

• Study writing techniques.
• Edit and polish your work until it's the best you can do.
• Look for advice, critiques, and professional input.
• Become the best writer you are capable of being.

But always remember: There are millions of writers in the world today. There is only one you.

So sit down in front of the keyboard, put your fingers to the keyboard, and let it rip. Write what your reader wants to hear. Write to make contact.

SHIRLEY CORDER lives in South Africa with her husband Rob, a hyperactive budgie called Sparky, and an ever expanding family of tropical fish. Hundreds of her inspirational and life-enrichment articles have been published internationally. She is contributing author to nine books to date and her book, Strength Renewed: Meditations for your Journey through Breast Cancer  is available now for pre-order at  Amazon.com or at Barnes & Noble (B&N.com). You can contact Shirley through her writing website, her Rise and Soar site for encouraging those on the cancer journey, or follow her on Twitter.   

Conflict in Your Story

How do you use or deal with conflict in your story? Is it difficult for you to write about?

I’m taking an online children’s writing class and my current assignment is to write about conflict in my story. I’m stuck. I don’t know what I want to do. I have to be mean to my character. Oh no!

What is conflict? There are three basic types:

1. Internal, which is conflict with one’s self.
2. Relational, which occurs between two or more characters.
3. External, which occurs between a character and another force.

External conflict is broken down into subtypes. Below are some examples.

• Character and nature - surviving a snowstorm or tornado.
• Character and the supernatural - living with a ghost or poltergeist.
• Character and technology - dealing with a computer or robot.
• Character and society - being involved in a riot or facing a scandal.
• Character and destiny - deciding between fate and free will.
• Character and group - resisting or fighting a government or religion.

Some of these may not apply to children’s books, but I wanted to appeal to a greater variety of writers.

What other examples of conflict can you think of or have you used? How did you resolve the conflict?

Now back to working on my own story.

Debbie A. Byrne has a B.S. in Mass Communication with a minor in History. She is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) and is currently working on her first children’s book.

MORE ON WRITING

The Lazy Way to Be a Great Writer
Publishing Takes More Than Good Intentions
So You Want to Write a Book - Now What?

Writing for yourself

The point of writing for yourself is to write the book that you want to read and hasn’t been written yet.

This is easier said than done. It may involve hours of research,hours combing the library and internet for knowledge, and inspiration to write the book.

There are people that say, write what you know. Why listen to them? With the number of self-published books available and authors self-publishing more every day, who is the audience?

If authors are passionate about a project, they need to write it the way they would like to read it. Will it sell? If there is a good story, characters, and synopsis triggers something in the person reading it, it will sell. A synopsis is like writing on the dust jacket of a hardbound book in the past, which I still prefer when reading for pleasure, but that is just me.

Reviews also help readers know that a book is available,worth reading, and waiting for them. There are many alternative sites to Amazon,who decides which review they will allow to be posted, as they are the800-hundred pound gorilla throwing its weight around.

For this reason, authors need to market their book via social media. Traditional publishers aren’t doing what they once did, which isa reason for so many self-published books hitting the various sites that sell books.

As a reviewer, I just wish that authors would edit their manuscript before publishing their book. It is disheartening to read books that need editing, I never give a five star rating when there are basic errors like grammar, punctuation, and typos.

Authors need assure that their manuscript is the best quality writing possible. Readers deserve the best work possible. They are spending their money for the author’s book and their reward should be something special, just like any product from a business which writing is.

Authors are entrepreneurs just any business. Authors should treat writing as what it is, a business.

Robert Medak

Writer/Blogger/Editor/Reviewer/Marketer

http://rjmedak.wordpress.com

So You Want to be a Writer.....?

So, you want to be a writer... and let me say it is a wonderful person to be. But as you dream of your writing career, don't for a minute be blindsided into thinking you will soar to publication without WORK, hard work.

Some of you may be more successful and be quicker at succeeding than others but even J.K. Rowling worked years before becoming successful as did James Patterson, Stephen King, Luanne Rice, and all the others who are now household names.

Here are some of the steps in the process of becoming the writer you want to be and there are very few shortcuts.

• Learn to write- that includes grammar, spelling, using active verbs, descriptive nouns, and weaving in the five senses- taste, touch, smell, sounds, and seeing everything around your story.
• Understanding the mystery of publishing- traditional, self-publishing, print on demand, E-books, the whole enchilada.
• Finding your audience, your niche, and what fresh way you can reach the reader.
• MARKETING- this is such a big part of being a writer and an underestimated aspect of becoming a success. Learn to market yourself, network, join writing groups and study the business of writing.
• Blog- get over your fear of blogging because a writer needs a place to get the words they write out to a reading audience. Blogs are the first step in becoming published and it is great place, cost effective, and easy to see your words in print.
• Write- a writer writes. So while you are honing your craft, learning about publishing, networking, blogging, and handling the business of writing a true writer must WRITE.

The writing life is a wonderful experience where you visit places in your dreams and put those dreams on paper so others ( your audience) can visit as well. You make all kinds of wonderful supportive friends and touch elbows ( even if it only in the cyber world) with famous writers who you dream of emulating. But remember, you cannot soar there on a magic plane without the work it takes to keep the engine running. But those of us who write wouldn't have it any other way.

Terri Forehand
Author of The Cancer Prayer Book and a soon to be released PB titled The ABC's of Cancer According to Lilly Isabella Lane. Blog editor at Stories for Children publishing and author of numerous articles on nursing and health related topics.

http://terri-forehand.blogspot.com
www.terriforehand.webnode.com