Hello and welcome, my lovely creatives! I hope you had an inspiring week full of mixing of colours.
Last weekend, we went to a fun and informative quill writing workshop which I write about in my inspiration below. Who knew how difficult writing with a quill could be?
I’m still creating a list of books and podcasts and whatever else I can think of that focuses on creativity and inspiration. Are there any you love and would like me to include? Reply to this email or let me know in the comments!
For this week’s letter, I wrote about changing things up if you’re experiencing a creative block.
Dear Lovely Creative Person,
I believe I've written about this before, but this past week just reinforced this: if you're experiencing a creative block, try doing something else.
I've spent several weeks trying to sort something out with the series I'm working on.
I kept getting super frustrated because I wanted to write in two different ways, but the audiences are completely different for the styles I wanted to write, and so I kept making notes about the one story but I wasn't writing it because I was stuck in this weird place of not knowing how to write it.
Then, one day, I was playing around in Canva, designing t-shirts. I love designing t-shirts and stickers. It brings me so much joy coming up with pithy things to put on a t-shirt. I've been wanting to launch a shop to sell my funny designs for a long time but haven't done it just yet. That’s a future me goal. But in the meantime, I play around with designs and giggle.
Anyway, I came up with one kinda silly idea and giggled about it for hours after. Then I opened up Canva again to make a different one.
As I was playing around with colour combinations, I decided to change the words that were there, and that's when my brain CLICKED.
OH! This is how to fix my conflicting tones: write both kinds of stories in a loosely connected universe but brand them differently when I publish them.
It was a total lightbulb moment for me.
I don't know why it took playing around with Canva to make it sort out in my head, but hey, whatever works, right?
In a creativity mindset, I think this could work by switching mediums, or perhaps subjects. Or even just going for a walk away from whatever you’re working on, especially if you’re on a deadline.
Who knows? Maybe your brain just needs space to breathe and expand an idea.
So, if you're coming up against a brick wall with something you're working, try doing something completely different. Maybe, just maybe, the answer will come to you when you're not expecting it at all. It's fun to think that some back part of your brain keeps working on stuff even when you're not consciously thinking about it. Go brain! You're so cool.
Much love and not looking a creative idea directly in case it needs room to grow,
t :)
Inspiration Of The Week
This week’s inspiration was so much fun. We went to a quill writing workshop at Toronto’s First Post Office. It was something both of us had always wanted to try but didn’t know how, short of finding goose feathers and making our own ink and cotton paper.
Although the workshop was held in Toronto’s first post office, neither of us realized we’d have to write an actual letter. We had no idea who to write to.
After playing around with my test page and the quill and ink, I decided to write a Create Date letter. Mine was kind of cheesy but I hadn’t thought it out. I was just there to learn how to write with a quill, after all. My friend wrote a letter to herself, which is awesome.
Writing with a quill and ink isn’t easy. You have to write with a light hand, otherwise the quill squeaks.
Needless to say, my (maybe) goose feather kept squeaking.
It was definitely a learning curve. I’m so out of practice writing in full cursive, as well, so that was another dive into the past, but that time my own.
The curator showed us how to fold the paper so that an envelope wasn’t required, which was cool.
And then we got to choose either the “entre nous” or quill and paper seal to use with the wax. The entre nous was used if you wanted to signify not to read the letter in front of your family, which was often what was done.
Things I learned about letter writing approximately 190 years ago:
· It could take up to a year for a full correspondence cycle, meaning one letter being written and a reply received. In our instantaneously connected world, this sounds like a lifetime.
· Often people replied the same day as they were still at the post office because many of the recipients were farmers and couldn’t make it into town frequently.
· Geese only shed their feathers once a year, so they weren’t something the average person had as a tool.
· Paper was made from cotton. (It felt so nice!)
· Ink was made from natural materials.
· The sand used to blot ink off the page is called pounce. Cutest name for sand I’ve ever heard!
· One in 20-25 people could read and write so the post office employees often had to help people with their correspondence.
· The cost to send a letter was the same as a dozen eggs, so it could be a choice between feeding your family for a week or sending a letter.
It was a great workshop, and I wonder if I’ll be abel to use any of this information we learned in a story at some point. I found myself thinking so much about how life was then versus now. Considering we’re so hyper-connected and have to be on ten different apps just to keep track of everyone and everything, imagining waiting for an entire year just to receive one reply that’s on one page only (because the cost of paper and ink was so expensive), it gives an interesting perspective.
Below are some photos I took at the workshop:
What inspired you this week?
Creative Prompt For The Week
This section is a weekly prompt to nudge you to do something creative this weekend. Sometimes we want to do something but just don't know what to create so we need a starting point. I'm going to help the creatively challenged by providing a word, phrase, or some other starting point where you can focus and create something. If you'd like to share it with me, please do, but there's no pressure. I'm here to inspire, not judge or tell you how or what to do.
Your prompt for this week, should it inspire you, is:
LETTERS
Yes, I have a one-track mind. And that one track is currently on letters.
Here’s a photo of the letter I wrote to myself before she showed us how to fold them up so that you don’t need an envelope. Yes, it’s corny, but that’s what I become when I have to do something on the fly: a giant cob of cornball.
Some ideas for letter-writing inspiration: write a letter to your future (or past!) self talking about the most creative thing you’ve ever seen or done, use an envelope to doodle your favourite thing, or perhaps you can take an old letter that you’ve kept and turn it into some kind of artwork. The only limit is your imagination!
I hope you have a fabulous week of letter-y inspiration.
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