17: Commitment and Faith
“Find Stories, Collect them, Save them forever”
You’re Reading Adam Ming’s Daily Blog, This month I’m writing a series about taking time for your creative practice. Each post, includes an invitation to spend ten minutes developing your creative practice.
I’m doing this in October to complement any Drawing challenge you might be doing. I will be doing the classic inktober.
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My Books, Learn to write online (Affiliate) | Fine Stationary (Mom’s shop), Art Gym
Today’s and everyday’s 10 minute invitation:
“I give this to you: Homework for Life.
Five minutes a day is all I’m asking. At the end of every day, take a moment and sit down. Reflect upon your day. Find your most storyworthy moment, even if it doesn’t feel very storyworthy. Write it down. Not the whole story, but a few sentences at most. Something that will keep you moving, and will make it feel doable. That will allow you to do it the next day. If you have commitment and faith, you will find stories. So many stories.”
Excerpt From: Storyworthy, Matthew Dicks
This is the homework that Author Matthew Dicks gives in his storytelling workshops and in his book Storyworthy.
He shares how although the exercise is life changing a small percentage of people actually do it, and the reason so few people do it, well there are two… Commitment and Faith. And as I read these words I felt called out.
You see I’ve been trying to start writing.
To build a writing practice, the same way I’ve built my illustration practice, and I’ve been wondering what’s stopping me.
It’s not skill, because I believe I can acquire that.
I even have an amazing literary agent, which I got by way of being an illustrator. I even have at least 3 publishers asking to see my writing. But I have not been writing.
And why?
I realize, like Matthew says it’s Commitment and Faith.
Faith that my writing will be good enough.
Commitment to give it a shot.
And as I was writing my morning pages today I realised something else, it also requires sacrifice. Sacrifice is paying today for a better future.
When I decided to pursue Children’s illustration, I gave away my PlayStation. That unlocked, at least 500 hours a year. Since then i have become an illustrator, I’ve also become a dad, and I’ve also started watching football again.
I mean, I can start with commitment and faith, but i think, sacrifice is what will move the needle.
Inktober 17. I Added my Homework for Life to my Journal.
Jake Parker invented inktober because he wanted to get better at inking. That was a strong Reason and a goal, recently I was wondering what my goal is for inktober, maybe I should assign something specific apart from the obvious benefits.
I thought about it, I’m going to use inktober to draw banner ads for my things.
Ps: Day 16 Doesn’t show up because of a bug, but if you were looking for it, it’s here