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Catalyst News
December
2007
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Catalyst News and Views from AnnA
14th December, 2007
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As this is the last newsletter before the festive season gets
into full swing, I imagine this is the weekend for the
concerted 'what shall we get everyone for Christmas we haven't
already something for' weekend. To help you out, let me offer
you an amazing gift suggestion from US writer Oren Arnold:
"Christmas gift suggestions:
To your enemy, forgiveness.
To an opponent, tolerance.
To a friend, your heart.
To a customer, service.
To all, charity.
To every child, a good example.
To yourself, respect."
Sounds like a winner to me, so however you are spending
Christmas, allow yourself that final gift of respect for
your talents and have a very creative festive season!
In our next issue I will be focusing on planning how to best
enjoy your creativity through 2008, but until then, to your
continuing growth and creativity - AnnA
IN THIS ISSUE:
- BEING CREATIVE WITH SPAM
- DREAM IT AND DO IT
- FLYING SCOT?
- READY TO RANT?
BEING CREATIVE WITH SPAM
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No, I don't mean that strangely pink and glutinous meat
product that was only palatable to me when my mother coated
it in a thick batter and friend the life out of it to make
Spam fritters, but the uninvited spam that arrives in your
inbox on a daily basis. Apart from offering you services
you may not need - or ever want - they are without doubt a
complete aggravation, but there is a way to get some benefit
from them.
If you find yourself stuck for a character name, or need a
quick five minute creative exercise, just look at the name
of the sender. They can be hilarious, and could certainly
prompt you if you can't find the right name for a character
in your work. Also, by picking one of the most outrageous,
you could write a short story about who a character with
that name might be: where they lived, how they looked, what
they did and so on.
To start you off. here are a few of my favourites:
Chi Coates (a possible outdoors tai chi practitioner?)
Aida Dalton (obviously her parents loved opera)
Norberto Snider (Latin, shifty, misplaced Norwegian?)
Mrs Barbera De Graft (key employee in a multinational?)
DREAM IT AND DO IT
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Creativity is all about dreaming, aspiring, adventuring and
our dreams whether in sleep or waking consciousness. Dreams
are a great part of the creative process and can show you
how you can be given ideas, hints and inspiration - you just
have to pay attention. Though I appreciate your time may be
limited this month, I would like to offer you some relevant
inspirational quotes to store up and turn to when you feel in
need of a creative boost, or some help to put your faith in
your creative process.
"Don't be pushed by your problems. Be led by your dreams".
Anonymous
"Dreams come in a size too big so that we may grow into them".
Josie Bisset, US Actress
"Hold fast to dreams for if dreams die
Life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams for if dreams go
Life is a barren field frozen in snow"
Langston Hughes, US poet and novelist
And perhaps the most famous of all ....
"Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it".
Goethe, German poet and author
Can I suggest also that it is very valuable to keep a notepad
and pen on your bedside table to record those fleeting dreams
that fly when your eyes awake and you get out of bed. Just
bullet points will do it, to help you get the essence of it,
or one of those neat little memo recorders so you just speak
the dream into it before it is lost.
FLYING SCOT?
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Do you have a yen to write a children's story? Well if you
can get your skates on, and set it in Scotland, there is a
valuable prize of £2000 that could be yours. The Kelpies
prize is open to anyone, Scottish connection or not, who
can submit an original, previously unpublished work between
40-60,000 words by the 29th of February. The prize will
include publication of their story and must be suitable for
both boys and girls aged 9-12 years old. The setting should
be mainly present day Scotland, with strong modern characters
and believable dialogue.
If my calendar is right, that gives you 10 weeks which if you
aim for 40,000 words and allow time off for Christmas means a
word count of roughly 4000 words a week, which is not a lot
is it? Look on it as something to aim for and a way of
retreating from the turkey and tinsel with a positive goal
in mind!
There is no submission fee and full details of submission
are on the website at www.florisbooks.co.uk/kelpiesprize
READY TO RANT?
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No 'official' creativity coffee break this time, but do you
fancy a quick rant about anything at all? Are you a grumpy
old man or woman or have you ever met someone famous?
Actually you don't need to be old, but the Oldie magazine's
Editor, Nick Parker, is always looking for new freelance
contributions. First of all, read the magazine and be sure
you can identify what appeals to the readers and then make
your writing is appropriate to the readership. There are two
good slots for unsolicited material. One is the 'Rant' column,
where you can submit 300 words on whatever gets your goat.
However, his advice is to avoid the subjects of mobile phones
and the incorrect use of grammar because he really has been
overwhelmed by those subjects. A recent topic was a rant
about micro mini skirts so that would be one to avoid too.
Or you could try writing for the 'I once met ...' slot where
your meeting with a famous person could be of interest to
others. I once met Barbara Cartland when I interviewed her
for a health magazine feature and I gleaned two valuable
pieces of advice from it: first always wear a bright colour
so people can easily spot you from across a room (that's why
she always wears bright fuschia pink), and second never
wear a hat to a cocktail party. I can assure my readers I
have followed both dictums faithfully!
Submissions to the Oldie are preferred initially by post,
enclosing an sae, to return your piece after consideration.
They warn that their commissioning editor is only in the
office once a week so it could take up to a month for your
piece to be seen.
To make sure you read the magazine before submitting, I am
not giving you the address, but you will find it inside the
front cover!
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Any creative questions? Please do contact me either via
my website: http://www.catalystonline.co.uk or
email to anna@creativecatalyst.co.uk
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