Paulo Coelho Creative Process Reflection

Immediately after we are born, we start picking up sounds; the sound of our mother’s voice, the music playing in the elevator on the way to the car, and the happy cheers from a small child seeing their new sibling for the first time. We are always listening–picking up on conversations not meant for our ears, eavesdropping on the gossip of the adult world, and finding the meaning in the portentous silence. From all these auditory stimuli, we piece together the world around us to better understand what is happening to us, around us, and the secret happenings that were not for us to know. Great writers are the ones who listen and say nothing–who take it all in and save their classified information for a day when all the right words flow and form one epic story of the wondrous world we live in.

a.) God—The practice of ministry has given me numerous opportunities to interact with people at different stages in life’s journey…birth, death, marriage, divorce, sorrow, struggle, celebration, and so much more. These relationships have allowed me to see God at work in the everyday world. I have seen God as Comforter for the grieving as a wife mourns the loss of her husband of 55 years. I have seen God as Liberator for the oppressed as the church works toward helping those placed on the outskirts of society experience God’s amazing grace for them in so many different ways. I have seen God’s salvation through the struggles of a women facing life’s end as she struggled to forgive herself and embrace the grace God already had in place for her since before she was born. I have also see God as the Uncomfortable Agitator of the self-centered as people who think they have it all figured out begin to once again struggle with what it means to be a child of God and truly love one another in this world. As I continue through ministry, I am faced with the stark reality that my understanding of God is so minuscule in its breadth. God does not fit in the boxes we try to place God in. As I

My faith and how I lived in my faith made serves as a lasting example to believers in Christ (Lindslay, 3). In life, I believed that all work that I did was spiritual work for the betterment of the Lord’s kingdom. Whether I was writing, ministering, eating out, or simply talking with friends, all work, all things, all I did was for the advancement of the Lord’s kingdom. For the work of “a Beethoven” or the work of a “charwoman” were all the same in my eyes; for both the workers, their work should be “offered to God” and done “humbly” “as to the Lord” (Eshlemen, 2). Although I struggled with cynicism, this way of living life challenged and brought new meaning to my life (Lindslay, 3). This idea on the life I lived and how I lived the life I was given serves as an example of Colossians 3:17 for Christians who wish to live and long to live in similar fashions (The Holy, 237). This way of living my faith truly required me to be quite public and open with my thoughts and beliefs. My faith was not always outright and public. When I was young, my family was my first spiritual influence (Eshlemen, 5). My faith started when I was young, but was shattered with the death of my mother when I was ten years of age (Lindslay, 1). This tragedy shook who I thought God is. The death of my mother affected me deeply. In fact, in college, I denounced the protestant

It’s difficult to be a successful author in today’s day and age, as there is competition everywhere, and it is easy to be drowned out, no matter how hard you try to put your name out into the world. Generally we tend to think of success as how much money an author makes or how well known they are among the common populace. However, true success should be defined by the quality of the story, regardless of how many people know it, and the satisfaction of having written it, regardless of how much it made. It takes a willingness to grow and to work hard to achieve literary success and notoriety. A successful author develops a growth mindset through the education and life experience they receive from their younger years into adulthood. Carol Dweck in Ken Bain’s What the Best College Students Do, describes a growth mindset as having a mastery perspective, “they believe that they can master something and grow in their abilities if they try. If they don’t succeed, they look for new strategies rather than deciding they ‘just can’t do it.’...Mastery students think abilities can expand. The helpless they’re fixed (Bain 109).” A growth mindset and strong ethos is critical to the success of authors as is demonstrated in the lives and works of Richard Adams, Dan Abnett and Hunter S. Thompson.

Everyone has different ways of interpreting what their writing and artistic process is. Both of these processes are similar in many ways, but also different depending on what kind of artist or writer you are. For this paper, I interviewed several different people, some who are great artists, some who are great writers and some that do not like either. I also examined both of my processes comparing how they are similar and different. There were a couple questions I asked myself and each person I interviewed so it would be easier to compare each of their processes. The four main questions were asking if they liked having food or coffee during this process, if the processes were similar or different, and to define the two processes according to their own definition.

“To write to be a writer, I have to trust and believe in myself as a speaker, as a voice for the images. I have to believe that can communicate with images and words that I can do it well. A lack of belief in my creative self is a lack of belief in my total self and vice versa- I cannot separate my writing from any part of my life. It is all one” (95).

Reflecting at my own writing process and using my experiences as a way to shape my future practice as an English teacher, has brought light to the concepts of style, providing opportunities for multiple forms of writing, creating low-stakes writing opportunities, addressing authentic audiences, and establishing non-judgmental/safe space classrooms. Based on the theory that Milner et al. outline in the "Process Model," (2012, p.339) I would almost explicitly follow this pedagogy as a way to help students explore writing. For example, I would focus on the steps relating to revision (step 2), teaching multiple forms of writing (step 3), creating opportunities for teacher conferences (Step 4), and providing students with authentic, and divers audiences

Throughout childhood and adolescence, there are numerous events and situations that impact the rest of the person’s life. While these experiences can leave impressions on the individual's life ranging from future profession to possible criminal record, the way an author creates his work is almost always related to their childhood upbringing. Between topics, symbols, motifs, and themes, authors are more than likely to write from prior experience, which in most cases comes from youth life. Rick Riordan for example, author of numerous children’s literary series demonstrates various examples of how his early life affected numerous aspects of his literature.

When a person composes their work, they allow their ideas to dilate into a story that takes their reader into a journey. The journey is not merely for the reader, but for the author. The author gain a writing experience from their journey that guides when they write other material. All writing experiences are depending on the person. Their writing experience can drive them to regularly add more details to enrich their story. On the other hand, a writer can be compelled to critique their work to enhance it. As a writer, I grasped many lessons from my own experience. One of my most memorable writings was a story in addition to a thought-provoking essay. This memorable writing experience was my research paper for my 12th grade English class.

John Lehrer was caught in June 2012, plagiarizing himself by taking his old work from his blog and re-publishing it as new in The New Yorker. It was also discovered that Lehrer had also used previously published work for his book Imagine:How Creativity Works. Weeks later it was discovered that Lehrer also fabricated quotes that are attributed to musician Bob Dylan in this book. In the end Lehrer resigned from The New Yorker and his book was recalled for unsold copies of the book and e-book sales were suspended. All books that Lehrer had published where then place under internal review.

During this year in writing workshop I really feel that I grew as a writer and I think that this is shown in the progression of my pieces. I feel that I started off strong and finished even better and I hope that you can also see my progression.

At one glance, my face, movements, and body language display one thing upon first impression: curiosity. Anyone who hears my name goes “Neha, the one who displays motivation no matter the difficulty, right?” I am intrinsically motivated, desperately relying on rigor to satiate my thirst for knowledge. Persevering on that last problem that the rest of my classmates have given up on is my reason for living. That thrilling rush riles my heart up more than the anticipation of being on a rollercoaster.

Having creative thoughts about one topic often occurs while doing or thinking about something unrelated. Positive links have previously been seen between creativity and ADHD, REM sleep, and focus group breaks. An inverse correlation has been observed between creativity and continual focus on issues at hand. A research team made up of Baird, Smallwood, Mrazek, Keam, Franklin, and Schooler set out to find empirical evidence about the relationship between creative ideas and the breaks in time in which the mind wanders and also how engaging in other activities during those breaks may be involved in the creative process. The research team published their findings in Psychological Science in 2012.

Writing is like falling in love: at first it can be frightening, but then it blossoms into a life changing experience, colored with vulnerability and freedom. Writing is a very complex art, it is merely the act of placing words on paper, yet those words contain thoughts, and those thoughts feelings. Those feelings can create a beautiful work of art, but only if the writer is willing to let their deepest and darkest thoughts run wild. What influences a writer to create magnificent works of art, are tragedies, issues in society, and the hope of inspiring others.

I attended “Creative Conversations: Photography and Water”, a presentation and discussion of the intersection between science and photography between Professor Jeffrey Karson, and artists/activists Susanna Sayler and Edward Morris. The discussion was moderated by the lovely Romita Ray, an Art History professor in Syracuse’s College of Arts and Sciences, who guided interesting and thought engaging dialogue between the two camps.