creativity | J.R. Johnson

Posts Tagged ‘creativity’

Feeling Sorta Super

Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, Affinity Photo, creativity on February 6, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Ever wanted to make comic-style engraved images? I have, and today I got a wee bit closer to that goal.

*Photos by Austin Li and King Lip on Unsplash, Andy05’s Classic engraving effect for Affinity Photo*

Finishing a Thing

Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, creativity, finishing, making stuff, yay on February 4, 2022| Leave a Comment »

I finished a thing!

I can’t get into details because Mr. Man is giving this thing to someone as a gift, and that someone has been known to visit this site.

That said, it felt pretty great to conceptualize the thing, start the thing, work through the inevitable issues that came up while making the thing, and then finish the thing.

Pretty freaking great.

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Writing A Better Future

Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, cli-fi, climate change, creativity, Fiction, genre fiction, inspiration, sff, Writers, writing, writing contest on February 1, 2022| 1 Comment »

tl;dr scroll for climate fiction contest info

You may have noticed that we are in the midst of a climate shift that is affecting all facets of life. What comes next, and how do we fix it?

Science is great for understanding what will change but to better understand the squishier bits like how it will impact our lives and societies? That is where fiction excels.

I’ve mentioned climate fiction before but if you’re interested in what’s out there, here are a few examples:

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Want to try at hand at writing us all into an optimistic future? Good news, Fix is back with another short story contest titled Imagine 2200: Climate Fiction for Future Ancestors.

We’re looking for stories of 3,000 to 5,000 words that envision the next 180 years of climate progress — roughly seven generations. The winning writer will be awarded $3,000, with the second- and third-place winners receiving $2,000 and $1,000, respectively. An additional nine finalists will each receive $300. Winners and finalists will be published in Fall 2022 in an immersive collection on Fix’s website and celebrated during a virtual event.

Entry is free!
Submissions close May 5, 2022, 11:59 p.m. U.S. Pacific Standard Time.
The contest is open to writers anywhere in the world.
Authors must be 18 years or older at the time of submission.
Submissions must be fictional stories between 3,000 and 5,000 words.
We do not accept previously published or simultaneous submissions (stories can only be submitted to this contest and not to others, until we have informed you of the result).
Only one submission will be accepted per entrant.

There is no cost to enter and story copyright and ownership remains with the author. More details here.

Let’s write ourselves a better future!

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How to Get Where I’m Going

Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, creativity, procrastination, Thoughts, woodturning, Writers, writing on January 30, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Today’s debate: Do I push ahead on the story idea upon which I am currently stumped, update the family cookbook, or head to the workshop for the first time in ages?

The good news is that no matter what I decide, I’m likely to make progress on at least some of these fronts (or on something else entirely, but whatever, progress is progress).

Productive procrastination for the win!

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Useful Advice on Art, or Anything Really

Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, #theCreativityWars, creativity, Thoughts, writing on January 29, 2022| Leave a Comment »

It’s cold here today and I mentioned to my mother that we had condensation on the windows.

Now, you should know that my mother is very artistic and has an arts and languages background. She’s been to the creativity wars, you know?

Here’s what she said:

Great advice, right? And while I didn’t have enough condensation to draw anything real (and oh right, I can’t draw anyway, see above lopsided grimace for proof), the important thing is that I didn’t stop there.

I woke up thinking about Impressionist art (as one does) so I decided to try my hand at computer aided pointillism using this tutorial.* Here’s the result.

*Original photo by Pietro De Grandi on Unsplash*

Thanks, Mom!

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* I also learned that Mary Cassatt, one of the “three great ladies” of Impressionism and an artist who focused much of her work on the social and domestic lives of women (subjects often ignored by male artists), was from Pennsylvania.

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Wisdom, with Bear

Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, creativity, Thoughts, writing on January 25, 2022| Leave a Comment »

“Never be afraid to sit awhile and think.”
― Lorraine Hansberry

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Everything It Is, Then

Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, creativity, inspiration, life, quotes, Thoughts, writing on January 24, 2022| Leave a Comment »

“What are you going to do? Everything, is my guess. It will be a little messy, but embrace the mess. It will be complicated, but rejoice in the complications.”
― Nora Ephron

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It’s Alive!

Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, creativity, Fiction, Thoughts, Writers, writing, writing advice on January 19, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Today, some useful writing advice from award-winning writer Nalo Hopkinson.

The point of fiction is to cast a spell, a momentary illusion that you are living in the world of the story. Fiction engages the senses, helps us create vivid mental simulacra of the experiences the characters are having.

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