Category: creative process

choices, courage, creative process, decision-making

Inspired: Just go for it

Christa Avampato

My beautiful and intensely wise yogi friend, Sara Kleinsmith, sent this to me as I was telling her about my decision to write full-time and to make whatever life adjustments I need to make the writing life a reality. In response, she sent me this quote. And I just love it. And her. And all the people who don’t give a damn about the odds but instead care deeply about happiness and the courage to create. Just go for it with everything you’ve got. We make our own odds. (And if you find yourself inĀ Austin, Texas, then you must go to Sara’s yoga classes. She’s magical.)

books, creative process, writing

Inspired: Write from the ending

Christa Avampato

Last night I worked out the ending to the novel that I plan to draft in November as part of National Novel Writing Month. While we live and write nonfiction from the beginning, I’m finding that fiction is best started from the end. I tried to write it from the beginning and I kept getting lost. Now that I know the destination, the path to it is easier (and more fun!) to construct. And this makes me wonder: should I take this novel writing approach to living, too?

art, creative process, creativity, discovery, imagination, sleep, writing

Inspired: The magic of sleep and its impact on creativity, clarity, and writing

Christa Avampato

Dan Levitin’s latest research on the power of sleep to bolster and ignite creativity is fascinating. For writers, this research is especially valuable because one of our chief tasks is to connect disparate dots of information to create a cohesive story.

Levitin reveals a number of actionable pieces of advice on how to make our sleep cycles most beneficial to our imagination. The brain prioritizes the thoughts we have right before going to sleep and spends a good deal of its sleep time working on them. I’ve been spending time before bed working on my most important personal projects and challenges. The results of this practice have been amazing for me. I’m waking up with insights and connections in my work that I haven’t been able to see in my waking hours. I’ve also been going to bed and waking up hours earlier than usual and that’s tripped a powerful switch, too.

While we often think of creativity as elusive and unexplainable, I’m fascinated to learn how we can engineer it at least to some extent. At the very least there is much we can do to make room for its arrival and help it to feel welcomed and valued. Sometimes all we need is awareness and openness. Sometimes all magic needs is a space to happen. Get some shut-eye and create.

child, children, creative process, writer, writing

Inspired: Write for one person

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest
From Pinterest

Over the weekend, I started reading Kurt Vonnegut: The Last Interview. He believed all writers should write for an audience of one to give writing intimacy and immediacy.

It took me about half a second to realize who is in my audience of one: it’s me as a child. I write every word to help her be brave. To help her know that a better, freer, happier, more fulfilling life awaits her. That all things and all dreams are possible. And yes, it will be difficult and there will be many times when she will want to quit. She will lose a lot of sleep and she will be very afraid, but it will all be worth it. I write to entertain her, to help her escape, to give her the courage to keep going. And I know there are lots of people out there, the tall and the small, who still need that encouragement and support.

Sadly, as much as the world has changed since I was a kid, this fact hasn’t: we spend too many days afraid. Reading helped me press on despite fear. Now as an adult, writing helps me do that. So I write – for me, for her, and for all the people like us who need to know that we can create our own bright future one day at a time.

creative, creative process, creativity, music

Inspired: Rise up – Rick Hall, Muscle Shoals, and the music that saved them

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest
From Pinterest

Yesterday I watched the documentary Muscle Shoals. It recounts the story of Rick Hall, founder of FAME Studios and legendary music producer. My brother in law’s mom, Trish, whose mother grew up with Rick, explained that he came from the lowest level of poverty this country knows in a small nondescript town deep in Alabama. From there, he grew, a little bitter and insanely determined. And he chose music because it saved him.

I’ll be thinking and writing a lot more about him in the days ahead. He may just be my new hero when it comes to living your dream out loud and never giving up on yourself and your talents even when it feels like the whole world has. Watch the documentary. If he can make a go of his improbable dream, we all can, too. He is someone who sings after storms.

art, creative process, creativity, theatre

Inspired: Putting it together – the process of creating from the kitchen to the stage

Christa Avampato
The theater
The theater

There is a lot of prep work that goes into any creative endeavor. In theater, there are the acts of writing, casting, and rehearsal. In the kitchen, there are the steps of deciding what to prepare, gathering all of the ingredients, and measuring each component. Then the magic happensā€”we put it all together and see what we’ve got. That’s where we are with Sing After Storms as we began our final week of rehearsals yesterday. We’re all working our tails off, holding hands, and taking the leap. Together.

While the stakes of every project are different, the emotional process is the same. We lavish so much love and attention on each small piece and then we have to jump off the cliff and see what we’ve got. It can be equal parts nerve-wracking and exhilarating. For me, every creative act is always both. It keeps me on my toes while my heart flutters. I just keep breathing, and working, and somehow that’s always enough. We have to trust, ourselves, our collaborators, and the spirit that moves us to ever create anything. In the end, that trust, our hands, eyes, ears, and heart, are all all we’ve got. And they’re more than enough. Always.

 

 

art, creative process, creativity, theatre, work

Inspired: Lost and Found

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest
From Pinterest

I feel lost and found.Ā Lost because I’m drifting away from my consulting work because I don’t enjoy it. Found becauseĀ Sing After Storms and our amazing cast and crew have made me fall madly in love with the act of creating theater again. I literally run to rehearsal and never want to leave. I relish the roles of playwright, director, and producer. They make me feel more alive than I’ve ever felt in a very long time.

I don’t know where this road will lead. I just know I have to keep following this road as far as it will take me because it feels so good to take this journey.

creative process, creativity, theatre

Inspired: Table Read of Sing After Storms is Tonight

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest
From Pinterest

Today I’m putting on my theater director hat for the first time. I’m whipping up sangria and a Mexican buffet for the talented 15-member cast and production team of our play, Sing After Storms. For the very first time, everyone’s going to meet and we’ll run the table read to hear all of the actors say their lines. I’m off my rocker with excitement. This huge step forward feels amazing because we’re all taking it together. Go team!

You can grab your tickets to one of our shows in June at a 50% discount ($10) byĀ going toĀ http://www.eventbrite.com/e/sing-after-storms-friends-family-and-fans-discount-tickets-11129220799.

action, adventure, creative, creative process, creativity

Inspired: What I Really Want to Do

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest

Lately I’ve been a bit restless. I’m looking to break out of all my routines, to let go of anything and everything that makes me feel the slightest bit stuck. I’ve been here before and there’s only one way to fix it: let’s run amok.

action, change, creative process, creativity, theatre

Inspired: Hello, Chaos!

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest
From Pinterest

My friend, Blair, sent this saying to me because she thought I could appreciate it: “All great changes are preceded by chaos. ~ Deepak Chopra.” I live by it. In the theater, you get used to the chaos and since all of my early career training happened in that industry, I thrive in the madness of activity. I know what goodness comes of it if we just delve in and enjoy the ride. When life feels jumbled, chaotic, and hectic, I have to remind myself to be thankful for that energy. So much beauty will be revealed when the dust settles. When we create something, craft it with our hands and hearts, there is bound to be a lot of movement, internal and external shifts. Just enjoy it. It won’t last forever, and when it’s over you’ll miss it and look for your next great creation opportunity. Take it as it comes.