This week Ballpoint
Arcade has saved me approximately $34985.
Creativity is of major
focus in Guillebeau’s book (amongst other ‘non-conventional ideas’ which I’ll
go into more detail in my book review) how to harness it in everyday situations
to ensure you live your life to it’s fullest potential.
An exercise early in the book has you imagine your ideal day – I sat down to complete this exercise in a diligent manner and discovered that my ideal day would be considered to be rather busy. Without going into too much detail I enjoy having tasks at hand. I like to feel productive. My ideal day won’t be just lounging on the couch, rather I get my kicks out of working on a new piece of writing, rushing for deadlines, brainstorming ideas, having heated discussions about literature – over a large mug of coffee of course.
Since reading The Art of Non-conformity I’ve been thinking more about how I want to live my life. This quote that features in the book sums up Guillebeau's ethos:
“Be daring, be
different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose
and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the
commonplace, the slave of the ordinary.’ Sir Cecil Beaton
An exercise early in the book has you imagine your ideal day – I sat down to complete this exercise in a diligent manner and discovered that my ideal day would be considered to be rather busy. Without going into too much detail I enjoy having tasks at hand. I like to feel productive. My ideal day won’t be just lounging on the couch, rather I get my kicks out of working on a new piece of writing, rushing for deadlines, brainstorming ideas, having heated discussions about literature – over a large mug of coffee of course.
So I’m going to make
sure each day is ideal – I’m going to create my own MFA (masters of fine arts).
The syllabus is a little bit fluid at the moment, but I have a wealth of
resources that I am going to utilise to enrich my skills as a writer as well as
create that sense of ‘productivity’ I crave.
You may be wondering
why I’m going the DIY approach rather then enrolling in an institution. There
are a number of reasons, at the moment I’m a bit of a pauper but I also get so much satisfaction from my job.
I’m also keen to prove
that I can live the life of a writer whilst balancing the demands of full-time work.
I want to prove that I can handle the rigors of an MFA before I consider
signing up to a bona-fide MFA.
How is Ballpoint
Arcade significant in my DIY MFA? Ballpoint Arcade will be my Pascal Covici. John
Steinbeck inspired me “in writing, East
of Eden, (Steinbeck) unblocked himself for the daily stint of writing ahead by
writing a “letter” to his close friend and editor, Pascal Covici.” So at
the risk of sounding vulgar, I’m going to be using Ballpoint Arcade to unblock myself
during my DIY MFA. It’ll be my sounding board, as well as means of
communicating with you – I hope that others join me or feel inspired to create
their own MFA’s.
I’ll be posting up my
purposed syllabus on Wednesday, along with assignments, end of semester ‘exams’
and blogging schedule. Please feel free to follow along and post suggestions
for suitable books to study – be that fiction, non-fiction, novels or writing
manuals. As well as ideas for assignments or resources.
No comments:
Post a Comment