The first First on the list was 1: Inspiration. And you will notice some similar factors addressed here but from a slightly different point of view.
Though the last First on the list, 10: Have you imposed Adaptive Bookcraft criteria?, factors first in some peoples thoughts on whether or not to write. What product am I making? How can I get my creative obsession’s fruits to my audience?
Some people don’t even think about the industry until they have most of a book, letting the art take them away into creative bliss, and there is nothing wrong with that, but if a project’s demographic control is a meaningful factor… then this next part is for you.
10: Have you imposed Adaptive Bookcraft criteria?
What is Adaptive Bookcraft criteria?
Creative workshopping is as important to writing, as adaptive bookcraft is to publishing. There comes a time in a young writer’s life when a private hobby turns to public association, and from this comes a title.
Are you a poet? Do you still write, or is that something you did? You got anything new? How many poems do you have? Such questions seek to define one’s title.
I used to think I was a poet, years and years ago my mind was made up. Such a hill to die on… Nowadays my bliss is cosmic fantasy novels, but when I first started out my skills were few. Poesy taught me how to write sentences that mattered, and between that and the reading of great prose masters, it is clear that every bit of prose should have a drop of poetics imbued within. If you want to write stereo instructions, then be my guest, I just can’t bear to reduce wonder and horror or slay the soul into demographic pigeon holes. Word problems are not my idea of rapture…
Now… That was the pure muse of a poet talking, so you shouldn’t take those passionate thoughts so seriously. In fact, they should be shelved with the words of all poets, they must not be in charge but should be in the thought space in order to temper the industrial hive mind.
It must be made clear that poetry taught me much, yet in this day and age (and not since the golden days of.court poets) poets seldom lead financially profitable lives.
Poe died hated and impoverished. Blake died penniless. Ginsberg had it pretty good, Bukowski made it in the end… yet these are all poets and few are as renowned as a well-sold novelist. Also… There is no dishonor or disparagement in writing books like the great Tolkien, Herbert, Rice, Martin, ETC
So… I was a poet, and still am sorta, but now I write novels and short stories too.
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| Photo by Matthew LeJune on Unsplash |
Adapt your muse… Overcome industrial limbo.
What are you? You probably already know, but just in case we have some industrial models for you to see.
Industrial Model
Here are some models of industrial comparisons to categorize what kind of project you are trying to undertake.
Poetry Model – pamphlets, books, a series of books
Function – to sketch / study situations, scenarios, moments
Prose Model – short stories, novels, a series of novels
Function – to articulate/explore narratives, worlds, characters
Drama Model – Theater, Cinema, TV, Video Games, Comic Book
Function – to experiment / redefine images, possibilities, archetypes
Online Model – Forums, Blogs, Podcasts, Videos
Function – to exchange/absorb themes, limitations, audiences
Several of these points overlap and a little bit of each pertains to them all, but for the most part, this model layout maps a spectrum of potential places to obtain a title.
I hear you are a creative person… What do you do? Title: Poetic Soul
If it’s prose, short stories, pamphlets of poetry, comic book scripts, or a nature blog, what your talent does will eventually find a title/place to industrialize. The Creatively Obsessed will do this all on their own…
So… you have been working on projects and have enough done to know the industrial “what” you are writing, your title. This is satisfying and rewarding all on its own, but until you have walked the path you can smell neither rose nor peach of such blissful sublimity.
Go out and write your dreams. Become a title… embrace the creative / adaptive
Adapting one’s life into Creativity leading to Creative Obsession can be an extremely rewarding process, offering self-expression, the possibility of making friends, and of course the ability to make money off of what you have created. But first, maybe you’d like to learn about some Adaptive Models.
Commercial Adaptivity – : p seeking to rework a pre-existent concept or property
Projects such as screen adaptations, book to movie / to TV / to theater
As silly as it sounds, this reworking of a concept, if it be transcription, reimagining, or transferring a novel to a play, a movie, or a musical, is a very light stroll through creative/adaptive processes. You’ll need the licensing and or other rights to exercise this type.
Collaborative Adaptivity – seeking to work in a group on one common project
Projects with more than one muse/creator/voice
Taking Adaptivity into a group setting can be both fun and challenging. The collaborative model is similar to what we do on the Joe’s Writers Club Podcast, where we subject our creative obsessions to a read out loud / group analysis. The difference being that the individual’s muse remains intact and is not subject to the ultimate say so of the group.
Generative Adaptivity – seeking to emulate pre-existing models
Projects which bend to a certain theme/trope/genre
Stepping into an already established kind of anything is the mildest of all adaptation because there is far less networking of minds. In the first model, you must network with the author or originator, and in the second it is the group that must network. With the third model it is more about the inspiration, and so a conscious mind to unconscious mind networking, but this still needs a creative workshopping at some point.
Original Adaptivity – seeking to break through into originality
Projects which transcend existing models, seeking ultimate originality
This seems like a technicality, but there is a way to position your adaptive efforts in such a way where you read, watch, write, only one sort of thing, in order to transcend beyond Adaptivity into a pure Creative mindset. Genius is possible in this mode when enough time is spent adapting the creative process.
Although less straightforward than the first list, these models help to orient one outside of titles or industrial “whats.” My friends and I would always talk about what we would do, or write, or invent, and some did while others did not. Some are inspired, some are not…
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| Photo by Julian Hochgesand on Unsplash |
Works of creativity that are made dear by long obsession need to be expressed to the masses and given the credit and compensation they rightfully deserve.
On episodes of Joe’s Writers’ Club Podcast club members often go over Adaptive Bookcraft, seeking to positively contribute to other club members’ projects.
“What are you trying to write here? Oh, cool. That sounds awesome. This could be a whole series of books…”
Ultimately the creator/author networks with their muse and comes to these determinations on their own, but sometimes a vision can be made broader with some back and forth in a creative network. (See 5: Have you done any Creative Workshopping? for a backtrack into the networking of minds.)
What is adaptive bookcraft? It’s an outline/vision for a place in some industry.
Become a title, make your myth, sell your dream.
How else can it get out there and possibly come true?
Very heavy thoughts here. I'm taking chances with my Fiction for the past year or so. I'm not concerned any longer with Traditional Forms. Whatever hits the page is how it's supposed to read. Emily Briggs, for instance, has with interior and exterior dialogues with herself. This is in sync with the rest of the story, which is not a straight forward narrative. So far it seems to be working.