#ArtistTherapy: Cheating on One Work with Another

"I haven't been working on that project for awhile. I fell in love with another idea."  If you've seen the someecards image of someone saying that a woman (or a writer's) mind is like having a couple thousand tabs on a website browser open then that'd be a good description of not just myself but other artists as well.

Some writers can only work on one thing at a time, especially a large project. Others initiate work on several ideas that may hit them out of the blue. I've had friends and/or overheard other artists say how they were plugging away on one thing to get struck, as if by lightning, by something else and now that new idea is the shiny penny they want to focus their efforts on.

Unlike the "Falling out of Love" with your work post from a few months back, this is more about a balancing act. When jumping from one work to another requires a complete mental shift along with solving the puzzle of more than one work.

When I work on my Collection (my long-term gestating baby) I not only have to be in different POVs for each character but rely on the link of what keeps it together as a linked anthology. But then there's the young adult thriller I'm working on and the essays I'm drafting, not to mention restaurant reviews, blog posts, and flash fiction I'm revising. Each project requires me to shift gears sometimes drastically and it means that while I may be working on one project a fix may hit me for another. It means that while I am forcing myself to sit down and draft an essay where every word feels painful and dull I may be thinking about that work that feels more exciting to me at the time causing a lack of focus for what is in front of me. It's not unlike having a fantasy of a celebrity while on a blind date. You may not be totally uninterested in the person in front of you but you're certainly not completely focused at the moment.

Tackling multiple projects can be synonymous in this way. Each day brings a different mindset and progress may seem slower on one project than another simply because the enthusiasm and excitement has waned. Is it dead in the water? Not at all. It's really attributed elsewhere for the time being.

I haven't felt like I was "cheating" on my Collection in a long time, if ever. My mind is one that doesn't shutdown, even when it needs rest. I cannot focus on one story, which is why my longer projects, novels in particular, tend to have multiple POVs. I like the challenge of thinking outside the box and also of reshuffling my focus to be able to tackle more than one thing. It can create a seemingly never-ending list of writing. One that feels daunting rather than thrilling. But for whatever may or may not work there's always the understanding that the challenge of writing is what stimulates and keeps you going.

If you have one work you feel you're neglecting--and this could very well be because it's a pain in your a** at the moment--don't freak out. Don't feel that you're cheating on it with something more appealing, easier (or not), something that feels fresh and destined for print while the other project you may have lived with longer may be something that is losing its luster. I've felt the same way. There are days when I've wanted to forget my Collection and focus on the essay that feels like it'll be complete sooner or the flash fiction that is oh-so-close. At times my Collection is a monster and it's okay that I may need a break from it every once in awhile. The work will be there, it won't finish itself, but forcing myself to do it when I'm thinking myself distant from it doesn't always work. The space I've needed in real live relationships is one I've also needed with my work. "I simply cannot deal with you right now. I love you. See you later."

It's not a good-bye. It's simply a break.

The Diversity Debate

There’s been a lot of discussion about the lack of diversity in art. In my world this pertains to books specifically. The discussion has risen and will not be curbing any time soon thanks to We Need Diverse Books^TM and also other entities focusing specifically on bringing more attention to diversity in books--meaning that there should and could be more non-majority main characters (not sidekicks) as well as more diverse writers. Last week Publishers Weekly revealed their 2014 salary survey for the publishing industry that included the option for those who participated to note their race. The results were staggering. Not only in the fact that many people approached did not respond but that of the several hundred who did the reflection of people of color was under 10% total, which seemed to set the online world on fire.

My friend Bev Rivero and I created the podcast Minorities in Publishing (MiP) because with our 20+ years in publishing we had always felt the lack of diversity in publishing. Working in it you cannot help but see it and it’s interesting to me that once the numbers were represented, be it a small portion of those approached in the industry, that more awareness came to light about why there may not be more diverse books being acquired, promoted, and sold. If there aren’t enough people of color (POC), LGBTQI, or disabled helping on the back end of bringing these books into a publishing house, developing a plan, and going on to find readers for this type of material (those without a true understanding of what it may be to be of the non-majority) how can we expect anyone to best stand by these books (and writers) to make work for a larger audience?

Being a team member of We Need Diverse Books^TM, co-creator of MiP, and also a female writer of color I have an investment not only for others in this industry and seeking to be a part of the industry but for myself as an emerging artist. Getting more minorities involved can be beneficial to those of us struggling to tell and sell our stories and if more diversity and representation matches the world we live in why can it not also be reflected this way in art? It’s a long and ongoing discussion with many sides and perspectives. The truth of the matter is there is a lack of diversity and for those who may not see it or may want to brush the lack of diversity off as being because there's not enough “good candidates” or “good material” is a very narrow way to look at it. The onus can’t be only on the person creating or applying. Affirmative action is not meant to get unqualified candidates a job and the request for equality is not intended to inhibit one group over another.

The diversity debate isn’t so much a debate but more a request for others who hadn’t noticed the disparity to take a moment and see what others do. How many books with POCs, LGBTQI, and/or disabled characters in a primary role are on bookshelves? How many are on best-seller lists? How many are reviewed in the outlets that still do review books? How many stories by and about minorities are publishing in literary magazines? How many are promoted outside of the one aspect of it being diverse and not so much attempted to find a broader fan base but focus on the issue of race, sexuality, and/or disability without looking at the person as able to carry a story for them being them?

The “debate” isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Because of so many advocates and allies and resources available there cannot be any further room for the discussion to be considered moot. It’s not simple to dismiss and it may not even be easy to rectify in the long run either. The addition of more diverse materials still need to be quality materials and applicants for publishing job should be qualified. Yet, there’s no doubt that on both sides this is available and perhaps needs the nurturing that it is not getting. “People want to see themselves in books” has been quoted many times over and will continue to be said. We want to see ourselves in what we read and watch, and we want to see ourselves as not “other” but as part of the norm.

#ArtistTherapy: There Are No Guarantees

"I worked so long and hard on this. Everyone I who saw/read it enjoyed it. I don't understand why [project] hasn't been picked up yet." Time has been invested. Money perhaps. There's been research, emotional ups and downs. Friendships gained and lost, maybe. Time not spent with others, but in solitude working, working, working. Revisions, imperfections resolved. New manifestations of what you originally thought your project would be. Point blank you've put a lot of work into whatever it is you're producing and at the end with hopefully more encouragement than criticism you're ready to put it out there. Maybe not yet for prime time but for consideration.

Maybe the work has earned you awards/grants, gotten you residencies and fellowships. Helped you get into graduate school. Won scholarships to go to events. Has been praised by others in the business and all those accolades seem like pieces to an inevitably positive conclusion.

So, you're ready to submit and show and hopefully get a response on what will make it all official. This work will be your debut. It'll be what allows you to cross the line from emerging to established. You're eager for the time to come when you can announce it's happening. But then an odd thing occurs. There are rejections, polite ones. Encouraging ones. But still, rejections. The praise is wearing thin, the well running dry. And confidence may begin to wane.

This isn't abnormal. I also won't say it's par for the course. With so many people creating how do you make yours stand out even after receiving what seems like cheering in your corner. This is when I tell you there are no guarantees. The exclusive graduate program, the grants, the encouragement is all great and positively necessary for some to maintain momentum but it's not a promise of what may come. This may entail more work, more revisions, more connections, more applications, more good tidings, more, more, more before the line is crossed.

The lack of guarantees can make even the most optimistic person veer towards the side of pessimism. But it can also be what keeps you motivated. It seemed, for me, whenever I was ready to give up on a piece, a larger project, step back, call it quits, say "not now!" a positive emerged. A publication in a small lit mag, a sudden acceptance when I thought after a year my submission had been lost in the ether of the interwebs, moving from waiting list to guaranteed for a residency, winning an award, being on a short list, getting scholarship after scholarship, requests from agents. All of it combined to make me push myself even more because there was the inkling that someone else, besides me and my friends/peers, saw something in my work that I felt only I had seen. And even if things didn't turn out on the positive of me getting that agent or winning that contest or fellowship and being able to step over that line to be a published author I knew that there was the probability that the more I continued and refined my work/skills that I was narrowing the likelihood of it definitely not happening.

So take every success for what it is, a success. And don't discount what may not amount to the golden ring at the time but how the work is being seen, understood, respected, admired, and that the more who see it the easier it may become to continue on because it's not simply you creating it's others seeing your vision and wanting it to succeed. It's not personal, it's rarely ever personal. But it is part of the larger picture that the only guarantee, is a decision made by you, as to whether or not you'll continue on.

I'd Like to Introduce: @MinoritiesinPub (MiP)!

Well, this is a venture that grew out of friendly talk and then became a running joke of us doing a podcast about being minorities in publishing in the Whole Foods cheese section (we note our love of Whole Foods in our first episode) and then this niggling idea became "Hey why the hell not do this?" And when I mentioned it offhand to others or friends saw our "mock" tweets some said, "I'd listen to that if you did a podcast!" True story.

My friend and former co-worker Bev and I often discuss the lack of minorities in publishing as two people of color (POC) in publishing and said "We should do a podcast." Thinking on it more I reached out to Bev and said, "We really should do one" and she agreed.

And with that we started meeting. Talking logistics. Doing research on podcasts. Getting links with more links embedded in additional links noting what newbie podcasters should know. I made the logo with Bev's input (see above). And we kept thinking and meeting regularly and meeting tasks while assigning more tasks and it is now a real thing! How exciting is that?!

Bev is ON IT. She gets stuff done, which is how I knew I wanted to work with her and this podcast would be a reality, and not just an idea we spoke of for several months to a year and maybe got around to doing some research on but it wouldn't come to fruition.

And thus we have Minorities in Publishing (MiP)!

Bev and I recorded our first episode on Tuesday and it's available here on our Tumblr here.

I was a bit late to the game in terms of submitting it to iTunes but once we get the formal approval you'll be able to find it there as well.

In our first episode we discussed our backgrounds in the industry (over 20 years experience!) and reasoning for our podcast as well as what you can expect to hear in future podcasts, specifically interviews with publishing professionals on how publishing can be more inclusive in terms of diversity in publishing. And we do a mini bookclub for Roxane Gay's debut novel An Untamed State from Grove Atlantic.

We hope you'll listen, enjoy, share, chime in, contact us, visit our Tumblr, follow us on Twitter (@minoritiesinpub), and if anything support diversity in the arts and pursue it as a minority and/or advocate!

#ArtistTherapy: Residencies, are they for you?

"I need time and space to get away." I hear you. Believe me. I hear you. I live in one of the most diverse and heavily populated cities in the United States, possibly, the world. I live in a city that is expensive and always, always has something going on. It can be great to know at any point and time you can get aspirin or a soda or have a place to dance, but it can be overwhelming to have so much at your disposal and few dollars to make use of this lifestyle.

At the moment I am in the midst of applying to 12 residencies before the year is done. Three applications are due in September alone and there'll be at least another dozen I'll be applying for next year. For me residencies have been the solace I have craved to be exposed to an environment completely "other" to my life. At a residency I feel like an artist, am surrounded by other artists, sometimes I am fed, sometimes not. But what is most important is I am respected for my need to have distance, quiet, and solitude to get my work done in the amount of time I requested and had been granted.

A friend of mine did her first residency earlier this year and is now hooked. She's pounding out applications like nobody's business and it makes me smile to know that this understanding of how useful and cathartic a residency can be has spread. Yes, since 2008 residency applications have grown a lot with people losing jobs and more word of mouth spreading about these great opportunities. More residencies and fellowships are created and unfortunately others have also closed down due to funding. But there are many artists and many opportunities to get one so don't lose heart. The website ResArtis and Poets & Writers are great resources.

Thus far I've done three residencies over the course of 2 years. I am applying to a dozen because I know the odds are rough and steadily become rougher every year. I am applying to many to improve my odds but also know that should I not get any I won't be someone who sulks and sighs as though that residency was my only chance to get my writing done. It's not. It's a great morale boost and if they offer stipends and free food can be a wonderful way to save money and get your work done, but it is not the end all be all to you being productive.

So, is a residency for you?

If you're not into applications, statements, resumes, portfolio samples, application fees, and so on then perhaps not. What I tell people about the residency application process is that it's like applying to graduate school...every year. Every year around fall and spring I am hunkered down revising, revising, revising and figuring out how to make myself and my passion for writing come through in a page or less. Every year I am rewriting statements to the same residencies and hoping this time they will allow me into the fold. Understand that a rejection from a residency isn't the door closing. I've been waitlisted and gotten in. I've been waitlisted several times over. I've been accepted outright. And I have been flat out rejected as well. But when there's an option on the form for the committee/judges to see that you are still applying that reveals something about your persistence and passion and doesn't look bad at all. Persistence with anything in art is the only way you'll achieve any kind of success.

Are you able to be around other artists? People you may be living with for a long or short duration of time? That's key. You never know what group you'll get but you know that at some point you may have to actually talk to people.

Are you fine with being in the middle of nowhere with sporadic cell phone signal and if anything lackluster wifi? Can you handle no television and, if you don't have a car, being stranded and chauffeured? Can you truly enjoy the quiet and peace and get what you need from this time away?

If all these things are doable and desirable than you should be starting your applications right now. But also keep in mind that not all residency situations may be for you. Perhaps you need a separate studio/living space. Maybe you need to be able to stay a shorter period of time due to work and/or family. There could be the fact that you really are not good at cooking and need food to be provided or that you can't afford to pay a weekly fee. Look carefully at what these residencies/fellowships offer and what you may need. Sometimes it's more trial and error and it's being in an environment that you can understand what is conducive to you getting stuff done.

But again, if you don't get accepted to the first batch you apply to, don't stop applying! Learn from this application and keep applying. Keep revising those statements and portfolios and garnering references (which many places keep on file even if you are rejected initially) and publications/showings. Continue to get your name out there because you never know who may be judging and viewing your work and keeping an eye out for your name later. You don't know if you've made it by a hair or a longshot, you only know if you got in, are waitlisted, or are denied.

And if you need time and space that a residency can't readily provide than make it for yourself. Schedule time away from your life. Go to hotels or motels where you can get the distance you need. Organize retreats with writer friends to be surrounded by a community of people you know and don't have to worry about warming up to new people. Don't use the excuse of not getting a residency to not get work done. A residency is a gift, it's a perk, it's an honor. But to continue your work is your responsibility and you need to figure out how to best continue and complete it.