jake – Page 66 – The Jake of All Trades

Artist Collaboration

There is a certain thrill, certain excitement when you work with others on something. Art is not generated in a vacuum. It comes from

Collaboration comes in several forms as well. There is the obvious, the “let’s get together and write a story together about Martian broadway performers who fight crime in their spare time.” And then yourself and your friend sit down and start to write. Sometimes you email, sometimes you use markers, always you fight and eat pizza. In the end is something that either you both hate or both love, and if you did a good job perhaps you both still speak to each other.

And your alien squirrel dopplegangers will make music.

The other kind is more of a moral support sorta collaboration. This one goes more like this: “HEY! GET YOUR ASS WRITING YOU LEFT ME HANGING AT THE END OF A CHAPTER AND I HATE YOU.” Or something similar.

Basically you send something to an artist friend and they read it. They send something to you to read as well and then together you write, using the other as a sounding board and a bit of motivation. Because sometimes getting off of our butts is the hardest part.

Have you seen my pen?

This type of collaboration is more important, I think. Working with someone is fun, creating a world/story/character/Metallica album with someone can bring ideas out, or together that might not have before.

But, by simply talking with other writers/artists/friends/doppleganger squirrles, you give yourself a sounding board. Maybe making your main character actually an exiled tomato isn’t the best idea… When we work together it also helps talk through the hard parts, the ones where you write yourself into a hole. Sometimes all you need is a rope. Sometimes you need a helicopter, some repellers, a bottle of Batman repellent spray and a six pack of Guinness (STAT!).

So find someone you trust, give them a story, take one of theirs, get working together.

I Lost My Pen!

As people we can get too attached to objects, to things, based on history, or cost, or sometimes just because it is pretty.

For me, there was this pen.

I already have this thing about ink. I prefer blue ink when I write. I am not sure why or when this happened, some of my oldest notebooks do in fact include the forbidden black ink, but not in years.

Getting attached to a pen, saying things like “this is my WRITING pen” isn’t such a great idea. I would spend more time searching through my desk or pockets or car for a single missing pen rather than write. I would push aside piles of blue pens, for the ONE pen, as if it was the only thing I could use to put down my ideas, as if it was the only thing keeping me from writing.

Meanwhile I am not writing. Whatever was in my head is slowly sliding out, and I am proving, yet again, that I excel at procrastination more than anything else.

Throw it out. If you have one of these pens, throw it out. I left mine in a bar, seemed appropriate. Use cheep pens, nice pens, use your keyboard or hammer and chisel, whatever. Just write.

And yes, I am writing to myself, but you can do it too.

New Toy

So I am big on toys. I mean, they are important from the ?wow that makes life easier? so simply ?oooh! shiny!?. Well this new toy is definitely shiny. I got the new Mac Promo package which had some programs in it from organization to iTunes. One of them, this one in fact, is called Mac Journal.

But! I hear you think, this is not Mac Journal! This is a WordPress blog!! And you would be correct. For you it is. But for me, now, it is a program living on my computer.

Now why, oh why, would this be useful? Well the idea is that if I have somewhere to collect my thoughts, spread stuff out, work on it, save it for later, etc, that I wouldn?t have to ponder so much about entries, and, well, post more.

So this is my first post from my new shiny toy, let?s hope it isn?t the last.

Edit: now here is a question.. what happens if I edit one of these? Let us, you and me, find out together, no?