Category: writer

art, books, child, childhood, children, creativity, literature, museum, New York City, story, writer, writing

Inspired: Madeline in New York – Ludwig Bemelmans Art Exhibit at New-York Historical Society

Christa Avampato
Exhibit at the New-York Historical Society

“For me Madeline is therapy in the dark hours.” ~ Ludwig Bemelmans

“In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines lived twelve little girls in two straight lines…” is one of the most famous introductions to one of the most famous characters in children’s literature: Madeline. Ludwig Bemelmans created Madeline after a terrible accident that left him hospitalized at the age of 39. His hospital roommate was a young girl who had her appendix removed. Her stories of her life inspired Bemelmans to create Madeline.

Eventually Bemelmans recovered from his injuries and published his first Madeline book at age 41 after 20+ years of working in hotels in New York. During those two decades, he consistently practiced his art and slowly built up his freelance portfolio. His example has been a great inspiration to me as a writer.

Madeline was Bemelmans’ second act after many years of difficult work in a completely different industry. He never lost his optimism and never gave up. And thank goodness. Not only is Madeline therapy for him, but it’s therapy for all of his readers and admirers, particularly little girls who strive to be strong, brave, and courageous. The New-York Historical Society has mounted a retrospective of Bemelmans’ life and art with Madeline in New York: The Art of Ludwig Bemelmans.

Bemelmans Bar is one of my favorite bars in New York – tucked away in the Carlyle Hotel on East 76th Street. The walls are covered with his original drawings. It’s a good place to dream, and drink. If you’re in New York, I highly recommend it.

adventure, art, books, creativity, story, writer, writing

Inspired: If we keep writing, the pieces will snap together

Christa Avampato
One of the pictures from my Pinterest board that inspires Emerson Page.
One of the pictures from my Pinterest board that inspires Emerson Page.

“Early on, all our movies suck. Saying that in a softer way fails to convey how bad the first versions really are. Pixar films are not good at first, and our job is to make them so–to go ‘from suck to not-suck’.” ~ Ed Catmull, President of Pixar

I’ve been working through my story plan checklist for my novel, Where the Light Enters. I’ve got lists, notes, index cards, links, and photos that I’m using for inspiration. What seemed like a lot of disparate pieces are now gelling together, and the story barely resembles the original idea. To make this progress, I had to stay open to possibilities, remain aware of new information that could help move the story forward, and begin to share bits and pieces of ideas with others to get their feedback. You can be part of the process and follow Emerson Page, the heroine of Where the Light Enters, on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. She’s loved to talk to you.

 

 

change, opportunity, writer, writing

Inspired: What a seed teaches us about risk-taking

Christa Avampato

My friend, Amelia, one of the incredible actors in Sing After Storms, posted this quote last week and I’ve been thinking about it every day since. To grow, we have to leave the security of the shore and delve deep into the unknown. Discovery and growth happen when we encounter new experiences, people, and places, when we take risks, and try something we aren’t quite sure we can accomplish.

I have no idea what my life will look like in a few short week when literally everything changes and I start my full-time writing life. I do know that I need this. I need to give this new, wild, unpredictable adventure my best shot, way out there in the wide open air where I’m free to learn and grow in many different directions. Giving up my current way of life seems like complete madness to some; they’ve told me as much. And that’s okay. I’ve known plenty of destruction, followed swiftly by plenty of growth, and I cherish it all. Where they see only loss, I see pure potential to have exactly the life I want to live. I’ve got a chance, right now, this very brief window of opportunity, and I’m taking it. 

art, books, story, writer, writing

Inspired: Meet Emerson Page—the heroine of my first novel, Where the Light Enters

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest
From Pinterest

I want you to meet someone I’m going to spend a lot of time with this Fall. This is a sketch of Emerson Page, the heroine of my first novel, Where the Light Enters. She’s 15, strong-willed, curious, and battling both personal and external demons. She’s stronger than she thinks she is, more talented than she ever imagined in ways she never knew were possible, and is about to learn some deep secrets about her heritage, the world around her, and the world that exists just below the surface of our awareness. Emerson loves technology, is fascinated by the weather and nature, happily gets lost in stories, and is devoted to animals, especially her therapy dog, Friday. For now, she lives in New York City, but that’s about to change, sort of.

I’ll write the first draft of Where the Light Enters this November as part of National Novel Writing Month. The title is inspired by this quote from Leonard Cohen’s song, Anthem: “Ring the bells that still can ring. Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.” And by this quote from Rumi: “The wound is the place where the Light enters you.”

I found this picture while scrolling through Pinterest and pinned it up at my desk. This visual helps me watch the story unfold. I tried to figure out who the artist is, but no luck. If you recognize this sketch, please let me know!

art, business, work, writer, writing

Inspired: The difference between business and art

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest
From Pinterest

As someone who moves between the worlds of business and art, a business woman with an MBA and a full-time writer, I see them both as creative acts. Both require inspiration and perspiration to build something of value. The difference is where each begins. In business, we assess the market early on in the process. It is largely an act of educated calculation and we try to mitigate risk. In art, market assessment is messy, if not impossible. We have to create art before we know if there’s an audience for it. Art is an act of faith. And the more we risk in art, the better. To have impact, business and art need an audience. They just go about finding their audiences is very different (and wonderful) ways. I do know this: I love them and need them both because together, they make my life richer. In this next chapter of my career, my art, my writing, is also the center my business.

art, books, writer, writing

Inspired: When the reader is ready, the writer will appear

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest
From Pinterest

I love bookstores though sometimes when wandering through them I catch myself thinking, “What else could I possibly have to say that’s interesting and worthwhile?” A split second later I’m reminded that with 6 billion people in the world, there’s a lot of people doing almost the same thing: doctors, lawyers, engineers, architects, painters, teachers, chefs, scientists, and yes, writers. But not one single person practices his or her craft in exactly the same way. No one exactly like you has ever existed before or will ever exist again. We are each a unique makeup of circumstances, skills, beliefs, experiences, and ways of seeing, hearing, doing, and being. When the reader is ready, the writer will appear. And we never know when that will be. All we can do is get the story down, put it out into the world in as big a way as possible, and the people who need our story will eventually find it.

art, choices, creativity, decision-making, home, writer, writing

Inspired: Cities—other than New York—that are good for writers

Christa Avampato

My friends are leaving New York City by the truckload. Some by choice and some because financially they had no choice. And I get it. This city can chew you up, spit you out, and then look at you like you’re the crazy one for wanting to be treated better. New York City is a crotchety old man.

Though like so many crotchety old men, it is an incredible teacher and good lord has it taught me. I grew up in the dirt of rural America (to this day there is a tractor crossing sign across from my childhood home) but I came of age in New York City. This great gorgeous place changed me and changed my life for the better. I showed me what matters. On these streets I figured out what matters to me and why. It gave me passion and heart and confidence. It gave me and put me through fire (literally and figuratively) but I emerged from the other side polished and transformed in ways I never imagined. New York City showed me what was possible by showing me my potential and daring me to take it.

Like so many of my friends, I am beginning to hear the exit music, or at least the exit music to this New York chapter of my life. And let’s be clear, I want to stay in New York. I fiercely love this city and its people and myself among them. There’s a part of me that will always be Christa in New York. Always. But, as life has shown me so many times before, what I want and what I need are often two very different things. And what I need now, in this moment, may be a change of scene. At least for a little while. At least for right now. Even Joan Didion, a towering figure in the literary world who famously penned her essay “Goodbye to All That” when she left New York for LA, eventually found her way back to Gotham. But she did need to take that journey. She needed to go away to come home again.

There’s a lot of New York in New York, and it may be time for more of us to spread our New York-ness to other places that need inspiration and courage to follow a less traveled, less conventional path. This world can’t stay on its current path of self-destruction and quiet desperation. We have to carve a better way forward.

New York doesn’t need another writer like me, but plenty of other places do. Friends, there’s a lot of blank canvas out there, a lot of stories that need telling, and they’re not coming to us. We have to go to them. We have to get out on the road, discover them, and then get it all down as faithfully and as honestly as we can.

If you’re a writer, or someone who likes to hang around with writers and other creatives, then New York City isn’t your only option to call home. Heck, it’s not even your best option. I recently found two lists (backed up by plenty of data) of cities in the U.S. that are great for writers and New York City isn’t anywhere on them:

This one lists: St. Louis, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Orlando, Minneapolis, Buffalo, Denver, Seattle, and San Francisco.

Another lists: Chicago, Charleston, Austin, Bellingham, Asheville, Washington, D.C., St. Paul, Seattle, Great Barrington, New Orleans, Miami, both Portlands, Ann Arbor, Savannah, Pittsburgh, Jersey City, Iowa City, Portsmouth, and Cambridge.

I have no idea (yet) if any of these cities are right for me. Maybe you don’t either. What they do reveal is that we have options. We always have options. Now, it’s about choices.

writer, writing

Inspired: Join Me for National Novel Writing Month

Christa Avampato
Join National Novel Writing Month in November
Join National Novel Writing Month in November

This November, I am taking up the challenge to write the first draft of my first novel. With the help of National Novel Writing Month, I’ll write 50,000 words in 30 days to tell a story that’s been brewing in my mind for almost 5 years. It’s not doing anyone any good in my head so better to have it on digital paper. If you plan to participate, please let me know so that we can encourage each other along the path. I’ll be blogging about my progress as well sharing insights from my writer brain as the process unfolds.

National Novel Writing Month is an online community that provides support and a platform to get and give support as writers barrel through the process of a first draft. Last year over 600,000 writers took part in the event.

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.

blogging, communication, creative, creativity, design, health, innovation, media, product development, stress, technology, work, writer, writing

Inspired: Check out my magazines on Flipboard for travel, stress-busting, product design, and office design

Christa Avampato

Check out my Flipboard profile: http://flip.it/tfH1RI’m now on Flipboard as @christanyc and created 4 magazines to curate content in travel, product design, workspace design, and stress reduction. I hope you’ll stop by and check them out:
Travel on Purpose – use your travels and vacations to build a better world

Insanely Cool New Products – the coolest new product innovations and the awesome people who make them

Crazy Creative Workspaces – interior design inspirations for the places where we work

Stress Sucks – the science of stress and how to bust it