Month: October 2014

animals, creativity, nature, writing

Inspired: What Sea World dolphins taught me about writing and life

Christa Avampato
Dolphins are amazing!
Dolphins are amazing!

Ever wonder how dolphins sleep without drowning? So did I so I asked one of the biologists at Sea World. Dolphins (and whales) are unihemispheric: one half of their brain sleeps while the other half stays awake because they must actively decide to take every breath. This idea is mind-boggling to me. Imagine what we could do with that kind of brain! There is no such thing as impossible, not even if you live in water and breathe air.Sometimes to live a good life with the situation that presents itself, we have to do something insane that’s never been done before. When there’s a will to live, there’s a way. Nature is flipping amazing.

writing

Inspired: The way to done is to begin

Christa Avampato
Begin and you will find the way
Begin and you will find the way

I’m researching and writing like a madwoman for National Novel Writing Month. Truthfully, all I need to do is begin and finish, in that order. 50,000 words in 30 days, roughly 1,800 words per day. There will be many round of revisions after November 30th; most of writing is rewriting. I don’t need any part of it to be perfect this first time around. I’m free to play, experiment, and explore. I have to remember that if I can breathe, then the story will breathe, too.

choices, time

Inspired: You are the master of your time

Christa Avampato
Be your best pilot.
Be your best pilot.

Time doesn’t get away from us. Put a plate of your favorite food in front of you when you’re starving and then force yourself to stare at it for 10 minutes without moving a muscle. That 10 minutes will feel like an eternity when in reality it passes just as quickly as any other 10 minutes of your life.

What matters is attention and intention. What we focus on and what we do with that focus is what allows us to give our time meaning and value. Don’t throw it away and don’t let other people waste it for you. Treasure your time. It’s a gift, and it’s yours, and only you decide how to spend it. Master its use. Make it count.

choices, writing

Inspired: Writing teaches us to live a meaningful life

Christa Avampato
The Wizard of Oz

To write a compelling story, the characters must want something that matters to them in every scene. If that line isn’t art reflecting life, I don’t know what is. Why are any of us doing anything if we don’t know why we’re doing it? We wouldn’t follow (nor write) a story if the characters weren’t clear on their deepest desire, so why would we live our lives that way? Dorothy didn’t go to Oz because she thought it might be a nice walk. Alice didn’t traipse through Wonderland because she was bored. Characters go in search of something that’s meaningful. And so should we.

children

Inspired: Kids understand what we have in common

Christa Avampato
We are alike.
We are alike.

My 4-year old niece, Aubree, asked me to pick her up so she could see herself in the mirror. She looked at our reflection and hugged my face. “We are the same!”, she said. She has blond hair and blue eyes. I absolutely don’t.

Kids are amazing because the first thing they see are our similarities. They bring people together. Adults immediately look for differences and divide people. Let’s let kids lead, in our daily lives and on the world stage. We are so much more like all people than we realize. There is always common ground.

business, entrepreneurship, writer, writing

Inspired: Yoda’s advice on owning who you are

Christa Avampato
Ever feel like this? Don't. Own who you are and who you aspire to be!
Ever feel like this? Don’t. Own who you are and who you aspire to be!

I spoke to two friends this week who just started their own companies. We chatted about how difficult it can be to feel authentic about new roles, especially if we create them ourselves. When I first started telling people I was a writer I felt like a goldfish with a shark fin strapped to my back.

As Yoda would say, “Own we must.” Know who you are, what you do, and why. Don’t flinch. You did a lot of work and put in a lot of time to make your own opportunities. Stand proud and say it loud: “I’m a (fill in the blank)”, and smile.

decision-making, writing

Inspired: Decide to rise

Christa Avampato
Decide to rise
Decide to rise

Every day the first decision you make is whether or not to rise. Is it worth getting up or should I just stay in bed and wait for something better? Physically, most of us must make the choice to rise. We have work to do, a family to tend to, or a dog that needs walking. But what about mentally and emotionally? Are we all in — heart, body, and soul — or do we plunk along just trying to get back to bed at some point later that night? Are we even aware of the choice we’re making?

Lately, I’ve been working with being more conscious and present. As a writer, this is hard because I live my real life and I live my writing life and those two worlds often live in different places even though I haven’t yet found a way to clone myself. The two exist side-by-side the moment I open my eyes in the morning and I have to choose: rise or don’t. Put your best foot forward even if it scares the hell out of you, or don’t.

Me? I’m going to decide to rise. Always. I’m all in.

choices, decision-making, time

Inspired: Pay attention to your direction, not your speed

Christa Avampato
I control my direction; the speed is none of my business
I control my direction; the speed is none of my business

Part of the reason I left New York was to have the freedom to say “no”. “No” to things I don’t want to do. “No” to following paths that I know aren’t right for me. “No” to anything that doesn’t make me jump up and down saying, “Hell yes!” I can control my direction; the speed at which I travel is a matter of timing and that timing is none of my business. I’m just grateful to be able to give my dreams the chance to unfold.

action, creativity, innovation, invention, writer, writing

Inspired: You’re going to write the next Harry Potter. Or invent the next Apple.

Christa Avampato
J.K. Rowling thankfully hit rock bottom.
J.K. Rowling thankfully hit rock bottom.

When J.K. Rowling and Steve Jobs began, they had an insatiable desire to create with the few resources they had. Rowling wrote Harry Potter on an old typewriter as a single mother while receiving public assistance. Jobs grew up in a lower-middle-class family and spent his early adult years living in an apple-growing commune in Oregon. Then he returned to his parents’ home to tinker in their garage.

We have many more resources than they did. First, we have their example of what the human imagination can build. Second, we have more sophisticated technology and markets, at far lower costs of entry. Third, we have social networks that help us connect to one another and share our creations with the world.

Rowling and Jobs didn’t have any of those resources, but you can bet that if they did, they would have used them to the hilt. That’s exactly what we should do. Right now there’s someone who needs what you want to invent as much as we needed the inspirational creations of Rowling and Jobs. You have the resources to build it. Go!

adventure, art, creativity, discovery, story, writing

Inspired: What fiction writers learn from Michelangelo and Indiana Jones

Christa Avampato
Indiana Jones
Indiana Jones

Legend has it that Michelangelo conducted autopsies to heighten his understanding, and thus his art, of the human body. Fiction writers must also conduct autopsies, though their subjects are stories. Compelling, intricate, luscious stories.

I’m reading and watching a lot of fiction as I prepare to write Where the Light Enters during National Novel Writing Month. As I read and watch, I sketch the story. At the end of every scene, I answer these questions:

  • Whose POV is represented?
  • What happens?
  • What did I learn about the characters and the story?
  • What were the interesting turns of phrase and images?
  • What did I learn about the characters through their actions?
  • How did it end?
  • What questions am I asking that move me to keep reading and watching?

At the end, I answer these questions:

  • What was the story about?
  • What happened?
  • Who’s story is it?
  • Do I care and if so, why?
  • What questions remain?
  • Did I get what was promised at the beginning of the story? And what was it?

This exercise is immensely valuable and fun.Like Indiana Jones, an archeologist who digs in the dirt for buried treasure, I’m discovering the bone structure, value, and meaning of the words that comprise page-turning books.

What have your learned about writing from reading?