Virtual Sketching and Butt Kicking

"fruit thingies" - in my sketchbook (which is close to getting full -- remember I will hold a drawing of my blog subscribers to give it away once its full)
copyright 2008 Maggie Stiefvater.

First of all, I wanted to post my sketch for the July Virtual Sketching project. The reference photo -- fruity things of some variety (oranges? mangoes? alien seed pods?) -- really wasn't the sort of thing I'd normally tackle, but hey, it was entertaining and yellow-orange-thingies are always challenging for me because of the nature of yellows in colored pencils. The sketches are supposed to be posted any time today so you still have time!

Okay, and now onto the butt-kicking. I do these periodically for those who need/ slash want them. I was already brainstorming about doing one yesterday after two writers in two different online venues asked me how I got so much done, and then the always wonderful Jo Castillo left a comment on my last entry asking for a butt-kicking . . . so I knew it was a sign from the heavens.

So here it goes. You all know what I do -- I have two toddlers, three editors working with me on four novels, a part-time art career, musical instruments I practice, meals to cook (I'm allergic to preservatives so everything has to be from scratch), blogs to write, etc. etc. I think I have a full, life, but I don't feel like I have an impossible life. It's a happy life doing what I love.

And here are the secrets to my success in this month's butt-kicking. Remember, butt-kickings are like hydrogen pyroxide -- if it stings it means it's working.

1. Know What You Want
This is the biggest thing. I know exactly what I want. I knew I wanted to be a published novelist. I knew I wanted to make my living as a self-employed creative type. I knew I wanted to play the piano, etc. You can't make something happen unless you know what it is you want to happen.

2. When You Say You Want it You Better Mean It
The fact of the matter is that when most people tell me they want to be a published novelist or a career artist, they mean want with a small w. A small w want means that you aren't absolutely committed to hunting down that goal with an elephant gun. A small w want means that you can get discouraged. It means that you can be pulled from your motivation by the latest episode of America's Got Talent. No one can make you want something more. It's got to come from inside you.

3. When You Really Want Something, You'll Get It
This is not psycho babble. It's really true. If the goal is specific enough and you are committed enough to achieving it, you will get it. I used to qualify this by saying that physical constraints applied -- you know, if you were five foot tall, you couldn't end up playing professional basketball. But now, I don't think I believe that anymore. I've seen the stories about people taking on overwhelming odds and I now think that however crazy your goal is -- first five foot tall basketball pro, leader of the free world, bestselling author, etc - if you really want it, capital W Want, then you will make it happen.

4. Know the Difference Between Can't and Won't
This is one of the classics. People in my colored pencil workshops tell me all the time, "I can't draw anything better than a stick figure." But what they really mean is won't. Anyone can draw with perfect photorealism. But only some people really want to. Capital W Want that means they put in the hours to achieve it. The rest of the world won't draw anything better than a stick figure. I caught myself the other day telling my husband that I didn't have the patience to knit. That's a lie, did you notice? All it means is that I'm not willing to have the patience to knit. If I wanted to knit, I'd make it happen. Don't lie to yourself and say that you "can't" do something or that you don't have the skills necessary to make it happen. That's self-defeatism at its finest and most insidious.

5. You are Your Own Best Friend
We all have friends that motivate us, right? That get us back on track and pick us up when we're down? These best friends tell us that not getting into a particular juried show isn't crushing or that that deadline pressing down on you is doable. Well, guess what. You had better be your own best friend. Because you have to have a little internal voice motivating you all the time. Nobody will believe in your dreams as much as you and no one can be as hard on you to achieve them as you. Except maybe Jiminy Cricket.

6. Who Are You?
What do you tell people? What do you want to be able to tell people? "I'm an artist." "I'm a writer." "I'm a five foot tall basketball player." Now let's pretend that these people can drop into your life randomly seven different times over seven different days. What will they find you doing? Will they find you, the artist, creating art or developing marketing plans for it? The writer writing? The basketball player shooting hoops? Or will they find you procrastinating . . . watching TV, folding laundry that could wait until after your dreams get tended to, reading my blog, running unnecessary errands. The fact of the matter is that you need to make your dreams your identity. Long before I was a published author, I told people I was a writer and an artist, and if you dropped in at my house randomly at any given time, that's what you'd find me doing.

It's a question of wanting it, people. It's why I like writing for teens. Do you remember being a teen? When you had dreams so big they actually hurt to think you wouldn't get them? You need to sweep away the years of cynicism and putting your dreams aside and really harness that wanting again. In the end, watching So You Think You Can Dance won't change your life. But finishing that drawing, writing that paragraph, planting that garden -- whatever your dream is -- that will.

End butt kicking.

Maggie on Time Management, Part I

Commission, in progress
Colored pencil on board
Copyright 2008 Maggie Stiefvater.

As promised, today is the first of my posts on time management and motivation. This is a topic I feel very strongly about, nearly as strongly as I do about sweet tea and cookie dough.

Why, Maggie, do you feel thus? you may be asking. Because this is a typical conversation with a would-be artist/ novelist/ musician.

PERSON: Maggie, I admire your work immensely.
MAGGIE: (preens)
PERSON: I have always wanted to draw/ become a professional artist/ write a novel/ play the harp/ have two children that possess the ability to scream like harpies, but I don't have any time.
MAGGIE: There's always time.
PERSON: But I have work/ husband/ children/ cooking/ cleaning/ love slave/ iguana fostering.
MAGGIE (dangerously): There's always time.

Because here's the truth of it. I also have a husband, two toddlers not yet in school, cooking (all from scratch as I can't eat preservatives), cleaning, a full-time job as an artist, and two novel contracts. No iguana fostering, yet. For me, the secret is time management, motivation, and goals. Today I want to talk about the things that keep me from being productive and on Thursday I'll talk about things that help me be productive.

So -- if I you thought the list of things that keep me from being productive would include my kids and the laundry, you're wrong. Here it is:

1) Excuses
This one is going first for a reason. It is the number one thing separating people from their dreams. Remember conversation with unnamed Person above? Those things she listed: husband, cooking, cleaning, job -- those are excuses. Some might be more valid than others, but the truth is, the only thing keeping you from doing what you want to do and accomplishing what you want to accomplish is you.

This is the hardest truth out there, and it's worth repeating: the only thing keeping you from doing what you want to do and accomplishing what you want to accomplish is you.

When it comes down to it, there is always something else to be doing. Every second that I'm sitting at the keyboard writing a novel, there are five or ten or three hundred other things I could/ should/ might rather be doing. Could I use them as excuses to keep me from writing? Absolutely. But I'd rather use my writing as an excuse for why the last load of laundry hasn't been folded yet.

Excuses are insidious and sneaky little buggers. I consider myself a very motivated person, and even I fall prey to them. Luckily my husband knows me and knows what I'm capable of. So if I start to whine "I don't have the time," he tells me to look at my schedule and find it. Because it's true that some things are impossible. But it's more true that most things aren't.

2) Funky Priorities
Which leads perfectly into non-productive reason number two: funky priorities. I hear "I wish I had time to finish my novel" all the time. I can sympathize. Writing is one of those things that's infinitely easier if you have a big chunk of time to get into the groove. But then the next thing I hear out of their mouth is the latest American Idol results or the group meeting they went to.

This is about priorities. I'm not saying that art or writing is better than American Idol (okay, maybe I am saying that) or the local anti-littering group meeting or whatever it is that's occupying your time. I am saying that if you really want something, you'll make it a priority. You'll skip that TV show, that meeting, that phone call, that blog-reading time (not mine, of course), etc., in favor of whatever dream you're pursuing.

How badly do you want to create art? How badly do you want to have enough pieces for a gallery exhibition? Now think about the obstacles in your way. In one week, one year, five year, ten years, which activity will be more meaningful? The surfing on the internet? Or the piece of work you did in that time instead?

If you want something make it a priority.

3) Aimlessness
Even if you have your priorities straight and you've cleared the books, I still might not get anything done, if I don't kick my natural aimlessness. I have a tendency to sit down at my desk, having cleared the calendar, and even though I know I have one thousand things to do, I don't do any of them. Why not? I have no clue how to even start. I'm completely aimless.

The solution to aimlessness is aimfullness, obviously (I made that word up. It's nice). I set daily goals. I write them down. If I write them down, I can check them off.

If you want to be productive, you have to know what you're trying to accomplish. Otherwise, what are you working towards?

4) Self-Doubt
The final killer of productivity is self doubt. Even if you have the time, the priorities, and the goals, self-doubt can stop you in your tracks. Even me. I can still look at a project and say "Is this ever going to pay off? Maybe I should just drop it." "Maybe I can't pull this one off." "Maybe I'm over my head."

I'm not going to rewrite my post on smacking self-doubt with a wet noodle here (though I humbly recommend you read it), but I will say again that self-doubt isn't something anyone else can cure you of. No amount of awards or praise will keep it from your door. Confidence has to come from within, and it's something you can have regardless of skill-level. You don't have to be confident in your ability to weld a pencil or a paintbrush -- you have to be confident of your ability to solve problems and push forward despite adversary. Everything else is secondary.


So what keeps you from being productive?