Monday, January 4, 2016

3 Incredible Lessons Whales Can Teach Writers


by Victoria M. Johnson

Humpback whales are magnificent creatures. They grow to about 52 feet long and weigh almost 50 tons, the males sing hauntingly beautiful songs, and humpbacks are acrobatic as they can leap high from the water's surface, roll in the air, and then dive to 1,000 feet.

But the incredible thing I learned about humpbacks is this; their entire lives are filled with only three activities: feeding, breeding, and migrating.  That's it.  Three activities for an entire lifetime.

So what can writers learn from this amazing fact?  Here's one way we can adapt the three activities to the writing craft:

  
Feeding
Feed your soul.  Take care of yourself.  It's important for writers to feed your creative spirit.  Exploring helps.  You can explore the world or your own hometown.  Try new things, go to new places, eat new foods, and read new books.  Expose yourself to other art forms and cultural experiences.  All this discovering is feeding your creative being.  But you need down time, too.  Take time to meditate.

Breeding
I view this as your production of work.  Whatever it is you specialize in--be it poetry, short stories, novels, or nonfiction--breed new writing.  Writing begets writing.  I think writers are happiest when they are creating.  I know I am.  For success and longevity as a writer, you need to produce new finished material.  Finished, not sitting in a drawer, but out in the marketplace or getting read by your editor or agent.

Migrating
Move about.  Don't stand still.  For writers this can represent getting out of a rut, if you feel like you're in one; or trying something different, for example adding your short story to an anthology with other good writers.  These activities aren't meant to take you away from your main novel or poetry writing projects, but are meant to explore other ways of reaching your readers or reaching new readers, or perhaps taking advantage of an opportunity that presents itself.  We are on a writer's journey, are we not?  That suggests we're meant to keep moving.

Three Activities
All three activities are essential to the humpback whale's existence.  I think they're essential to the well being of us writers, too.

Victoria M. Johnson knew by the time she was ten that she wanted to be a writer.  She loves telling stories and she's happiest when creating new characters and new plots.  Avalon Books and Montlake Romance published Victoria's fiction debut, The Doctor’s Dilemma, (A 2012 Bookseller’s Best double finalist).  Her other fiction book is a collection of romance short stories titled, The Substitute Bride and a novella, Hot Hawaiian Christmas. She is also the writer and director of four short films and two micro documentaries.   Visit Victoria's website at http://VictoriaMJohnson.com for inspiration and tips and find her Amazon author page or connect with her on Pinterest and Twitter.


14 comments:

  1. Love this post, Victoria, especially the line "writing begets writing" - so true.

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  2. Hi Sandy--
    Happy New year and thank you for stopping by.
    Victoria--

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  3. Ahh. I think I may need to produce. Yep. It's back to work for me. :) Fun comparison!

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    1. Hi Sofie--
      Back to work for all of us that took time off for the holidays. Don't feel guilty, as we all need some down time, too.
      Victoria--

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  4. Perceptive, Victoria. I think I'll spend this afternoon doing a bit of migration and soul feeding.

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    1. Hi Cheryl--
      Wonderful! That's how we rejuvenate our creativity.
      Victoria--

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  5. What a fabulous analogy to the writer! Thanks so much for this. It's brilliant.

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    1. Hi Gina--
      So pleased you enjoyed the post. Happy New Year to you.
      Victoria--

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  6. Victoria, you always come up with such clever posts. I love this one. It reminds me of all the things I need to do to get this year of writing started. Thanks.

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    1. Hi Fran--
      Thank you. Always happy to help friends and writers get their year of writing started.
      Victoria--

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  7. Good points! We get distracted by so many pointless things. Thanks for the reminder about focusing on what's important!

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  8. Hi Karen--
    And thank you for sharing your thoughts!
    Victoria--

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  9. Oh yes, you are a writer. Only a writer can draw things like this from life!

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    1. Hi Kathye--
      Well, thank you for the compliment :-)
      Victoria--

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