This week, Fable and the Verbivore discuss concepts from the writing craft book “The Creative Doer” by Anna Lovind.

We saw this book as a gently confronting look into some of the ways we neglect to prioritize our work, to take a step back and assess our lives, and to listen to ourselves and care after our health - as well as being a helpful guide for finding safe spaces for creating and paths forward to sharing our work. Her strategies and suggestions come from a place of transparency and understanding - which made it a relatable as well as motivating read.

Anna unpacks some of the more common challenges that women tend to face when transitioning from wanting to be creative to actively defining the work that’s theirs to do, taking that work seriously, and putting their voice out into the world. However, she also explores the nuances of the individual experience acknowledging that everyone doesn’t experience the same obstacles.

She calls forward the classic vision of the lone writer creating in his room and shows how that view of the work can be incomplete and not fully reflect the experience of a significant portion of the population. She also talks about acknowledging the way that society has been and is - recognizing how important it is for art and writing to reflect diverse ideas, voices, and experiences.

To that end, this book is filled with ideas and tools that can be used by anyone as they walk their personal path to creativity, towards taking up space and working to figure out what is for them.

We hope you enjoy this episode. Keep reading, writing, and putting your voice out there!

Into the woods,

Fable & The Verbivore

Notes:

The Verbivore references “N.K. Jemisin Teaches Fantasy and Science Fiction Writing” Masterclass and how she talks about learning to take up space. The Masterclass website has some great articles that are available for free, but we also both have annual memberships and highly enjoy the paid classes. If you’re interested, here is the link to information on N.K. Jemisin’s class:

• https://www.masterclass.com/classes/n-k-jemisin-teaches-fantasy-and-science-fiction-writing

Books Mentioned:

• The Creative Doer: A Brave Woman’s Guide from Dreaming to Doing by Anna Lovind

• Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert

• The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield

Music from: https://filmmusic.io
’Friendly day’ by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)
Licence: CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)