To dive into the Livestream replay, click below:
In the Planner section, we explore using everyday events (ex. going to the grocery store, a walk in the neighbourhood, etc) and telling them as stories but reframing them as extraordinary (all the characters in the store are animals, a walk in the neighbourhood is a spy mission, etc).
In the Pantser section, I talk about how I'm using fountain pens to generate and develop stories and other uses in my life (journaling, to do list, etc).
To jump straight into the video, click below:
In the Planner section, I take journaling prompts and instead of answering them directly, I guide a writing process using the prompts as a basis for story.
In the Pantser section, I discuss the importance of recognizing that your creative mind is always active - trying to force it to actively work on a project can be frustrating, even detrimental. As Neil Young put it, if you aren't feeling it, go mow the lawn.
To dive straight into the livestream, click the link:
In the Planner section, we start with an image and then write in various ways and styles (haikus, limericks, short prose).
In the Pantser section, I talk about a couple of resources I'll be bringing into future Livestreams, with a notable mention of Merriam-Webster daily word subscription.
To dive straight into the Livestream, click below:
The Planner section focused on the Moss Piglet May issue prompt of "musical instruments". Some ideas are bantered around before I write a tale of grief and hope from the point of view of the viola I used to play in school (including how I fell out of love with it).
The Pantser section focused on a couple of techniques my wife Aleesha and I used to help deal with the grief of losing our nearly 2-year old cat Rorie, including using Seed Word Germination as a way to identify painful memories and working through that pain.
To dive straight into the Livestream, click the link below:
The Planner section covered Limericks. Turns out there is so much more to Limericks than There Once Was a Man from Nantucket!
The Pantser section was a discussion about the start of my journaling journey and my use of longhand as part of that experience.
Thanks for watching!
To dive straight into the Livestream, click below:
And now for the details!
The Planner section dealt with Moss Piglet's (https://www.krazines.com/themes.html) April theme (with the submission deadline the first Wednesday of March) of Westerns. And how, since Westerns aren't my jam, how I was still able to use the prompt but using my own spins on it.
The Pantser section addressed my taking a couple of weeks off to give me space to deal with things both scheduled and not - life got very full there and so I gave myself space to work through it all. I also talked about one way of dealing with a very full life - using multiple notebooks to help keep track of To Do items, creative ideas, and notes for Livestream classes.
To dive straight into the Livestream, click the link below:
The Planner section of the video centred on using haiku as an exercise in observation (it being part of my creative process: observation, scribing, editing).
I first showed off my writing for 80 Degrees magazine (issue #13). (If there's an interest in learning more about this issue, click this link: https://www.readeighty.com/issue-13).
And then we used this image to explore ideas to write haiku:
Some ideas I came up with:
To dive straight into the livestream, click the thumbnail below:
The Planner section of the livestream explored the Moss Piglet March issue prompt of "Ordinary Adventures".
What constitutes an ordinary adventure? Adventures are typically extraordinary, so how do we approach an ordinary adventure in such a way that it's an entertaining read?
One way (and the way explored in the livestream) is to imagine yourself, an ordinary person, put into an extraordinary place. My idea was using news coverage of a hurricane and imagining what it might be like to experience the scene firsthand:
I went to the Posh Building to meet with a new accounting client. I caught the first available elevator to ride up to the 64th floor. And my attention was caught by the TV screen playing news of Hurricane Beverly.
As the anchor, a very drenched and windblown Sydney Freelance, described the scenes of devastation, I found myself imagining what it might be like to experience the storm firsthand.
Steve, can you change the shot to watch the surfer ride the tremendous surf?
I find myself both terrified and exhilarated to feel my feet on the board while it runs across the wave. The spray in my face, the wind trying desperately to knock me off, and laughing in the face of Nature is amazing. I can taste the salty spray, the cold of the water, the…
There are reports of people not leaving their homes so that they can protect their neighborhoods from vandals and looters.
Gun in my hand, wrapped in my yellow slicker and boots, I wander the wind-blown streets, trying to keep my property safe from those who would take advantage of the chaos of the storm. My family is safe at a relative’s house but I want to make sure they have something to come back to. I know the police aren’t happy with me but it’s not their house that is at risk. So I walk and I watch and I…
Suddenly, the door opens and there’s the receptionist watching me not get out of the elevator. So I step out, take a moment to remember why I’m here, and go up to introduce myself.
The Pantser section focused on looking beyond my creative process. I viewed my work as part of other people's creative processes and, pulling back even further, as being a part of a more Universal Creative Process. Also, if you consider story not simply as a created thing but instead a living entity, it can influence the creative process (are accidents and oversights simply errors or are they actions by the story to create and edit itself???)
To dive straight into the Livestream, here's the link:
And for anyone who wants the recap, keep reading!
And from a presentation standpoint, do it from the view of an incoming Executive.
A few ideas then came forward:
Deep breath. Crack knuckles. Shake things out.
Let’s get started.
As 2025 got ready to take over from 2024, he thought about the kind of year he wanted to create. He wanted to guide things in a certain direction but take into account that things don’t always go as planned. He wanted to set things up so as to reduce stress but still try to make this year better than last year.
So the first thing he did was to write his future self a letter to be read at the end of the year so as to compare notes with what was intended against what actually happened.
Dear Future 2025 (aka me),
As I ready myself to take on the coming year, that is to say, my namesake, I want to bring to mind and attention ideas and directions I want to highlight.
These items are in no particular order, but they are all important to me.
The first item on my list is to keep on collaborating with Aleesha. I really enjoy how my creativity has blossomed doing these collaborations and look forward to seeing where my creativity goes. And I want to do this work not with any creative goal or use of content in mind but instead for the pure enjoyment of doing the work.
As another item, I want to better react to unexpected and/or unpleasant situations. When I encounter a situation that is unexpected or unpleasant, I will do my best to remember my breath and take the time needed to breathe first before acting. The goal is to not react and instead to act mindfully. And when I fail to remember my breath, I will use that as an opportunity to remember my breath for the next time.
I will try to remember that music is good for my mental health. I will take the opportunities presented to play my loud, obnoxious music when I have the ability to take the time.
One last item for now (because I can always add more to this list) is to embrace my love of learning and of being a math and science geek/nerd/lover. I will continue to read and share things during these livestreams and make references to them in my writing because they are part of what makes my experience enjoyable.
For instance, I’m going to make mention right now that 2025 is the sum of the cubes of the numbers 1 through 9, which I think is really cool.
And that’s it for now. See ya in about a year.
New 2025
For anyone who wants to dive right into the Livestream, here's a link to the video!
And if you need some convincing to watch, here's what happened!
It wasn’t what I was expecting. I mean, here I am, titular leader for calendar year 2024, with just a few days remaining until the new guy, 2025, takes over, so I thought I’d go check out where I’ll be residing in retirement. I had visions of comfy loungers, spa treatments, martini lunches… the things you’d expect an outgoing chief executive to be entitled to.
What I found was some prior executives crammed into a small meeting room, all fighting for space around a small conference call phone, all speaking at once, and all saying different and mostly conflicting things. I’d always wondered where the advice, the memories, the history lessons, sometimes welcome, came from.
This is where I’m going to be relegated?
*sigh*
It’s not like I was looking for some sort of executive Valhalla fasting hall. Ok… maybe something like an all-inclusive resort. But this? Oh boy, no.
At the very least, does the coffee machine work?
This is what I wrote during Parz's live on YouTube today. The topic was patterns...
Bending deep and low
Reaching as balance shifts…
Dripping pigment
Splatters falling
Random blotches…
Meditatively creating…
Patterns emerge within my hand painted floor.
 |
| my work during Parz's LIVE on YouTube |
Slouched in my chair, I reach for my glass... aagh, blocked again.
"Are those voices? Distant... foggy... focus... focus... focus... Is that my voice?"
The sting of a slap on my cheek brings my focus bleary eyed... back to the room.
Late into the next day I woke with a jerk of realization, "oh crap, did that really happen BEFORE my appearance on Ed Sullivan?"
- Aleesha Sattva
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