the creative minimalist
A simple introduction to how I will be achieving my creative goals in 2024. Part vlog and part poetic metaphor.
It’s time for a word to guide and inspire me through 2024. This year’s word is Intent.
There are one or two issues with the blog at the moment. These are finally making me get around to doing a little maintenance on the site. This shouldn’t affect your visit, stay or gentle browsing, but things might change from moment to moment. It is possible some bit or piece may be gone one…
AI generated art, I created an oil painting using a sketch in my journal and Photoshop. The result was quite good.
How I am creating in a slightly different process to develop a new song. Creating musical motifs that sit within the main song theme.
Despite using planners and to-dos I am not achieving my goals, why? Let’s see why.
A quick look at my July journal set-up. I have my bullet journal in my Traveller’s Notebook and my blog journal in another. In addition, I have my music and art journals. I also have another little journal that I am pondering its use.
Darren and Dianne Discuss: here’s the most recent video when this video was made:
Welcome to the new complete weekly creative prompt. We begin with a single creative prompt word and expand it to inspire fiction writing, journaling and a host of other creative activities. These creative prompts, are to give me, and anyone else who wants to join in, some focus to our creative work.
Last week’s prompt revolved around the solstice, and our word was the sun. It would be unfair not to follow on with a prompt regarding the lesser light. As I write these words, there is a full moon outside. A full moon also means that there are spring tides. These tides are the highest because the moon joins the sun in exerting a gravitational pull on the earth’s oceans – it is a time of extremes. May there be an extremely creative tide near you this week. Therefore, this week’s creative prompt is:
Moon — the natural satellite of the earth, visible (chiefly at night) by reflected light from the sun
this is a practical definition, yet I like the way it hints at the moon still being visible during the day
Let the prompt ‘the moon’ inspire you in any area of creativity that you are interested:
Let’s expand the word a little further…
The Fiction Writing Prompt aims to stretch the literary muscles. No rules. No word counts. Simply write and explore.
As the moon appeared from behind the clouds, everything changed
Being able to describe how something changes is a key writing skill. There are three elements, the initial state, the change, and the result. The skill is to avoid simply saying A through B to C. And the more elements in our writing that change, the more skill and the bigger the challenge.
This prompt is all about using the moon’s appearance as the trigger for our prose.
Do we have a couple having a romantic walk under the moonlight? Has a crime been revealed by the light of the moon? Does the moon trigger the change from a human to a werewolf? The choice is yours. Let the moon illuminate your writing and may you have fun.
Journaling allows us to hold conversations on paper. From private diaries to creative art journals, we pour out our deepest thoughts. The moon provides plenty of things to write about in our journals. It conjures up connotations of madness, lunacy, and even werewolves. The new and full moon can be used in planners for setting goals and realising dreams. And the idea of light in the dark can inspire infinite art journal pages.
Questions to answer, thoughts to explore or images to create in your journal:
I now have ‘the moon’ written on the board above my computer. I am confident it will inspire me on my creative journey this week. I am hoping it will drive me to finish a track I am working on called ‘The Sun and the Moon’. Another thing I would like to do is a little more photography. I’d love to take a decent picture of the moon, perhaps this prompt will inspire me to head outside when the light fades.
Let ‘the moon’ inspire your music, photography, and painting this week.
As always, these creative prompts are optional and entirely open to your interpretation. Use them as a starting point for a short story, something a little more grandiose.
As mentioned before, this isn’t a ‘challenge’ but the prompts can be used that way if you want. If you do create anything using them, I would love to see or hear about it. Leave a link in the comments below or tag me on any social platform.
Original moon image by Pexels from Pixabay
Thank you for reading this post. Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
namaste
d
xox
If you enjoyed this post please support my writing by making a donation of any amount.
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Blessing to you all on this Summer Solstice
Today is the Summer Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere and the Winter Solstice in the Southern Hemisphere. I wrote a piece of music inspired by the Solstice and I am sharing aversion of it with you today. You can listen (and watch) below or click through to watch on YouTube, where you could also subscribe to my channel if you would like.
Welcome to the new complete weekly creative prompt. We begin with a single creative prompt word and expand it to inspire fiction writing, journaling and a host of other creative activities. These creative prompts, are to give me, and anyone else who wants to join in, some focus to our creative work.
The Northern Hemisphere is about to reach the summer solstice. The solstice marks the day of most sunlight. The Southern Hemisphere is about to mark its day of least sunlight. Last week’s prompt was all about stars, this week we will be looking at a star, your star. So, this week’s prompt is:
Sun — the star round which the earth orbits
when I think of all that the sun represents and can mean, this dictionary definition feels so dry
Let the prompt ‘sun’ inspire you in any area of creativity that you are interested:
Let’s expand the word a little further…
The Fiction Writing Prompt aims to stretch the literary muscles. No rules. No word counts. Simply write and explore.
Today we celebrate. Our god is powerful. Yet we know, from this day on, the sun’s power will wane.
I normally give as much freedom as possible in these writing prompts, I think it is the punk in me that doesn’t like anything too prescriptive. However, this prompt has context. It is the summer solstice. Worshippers are celebrating. They are thankful that their god is supplying their needs. They also know that in a few months their god will weaken and be less helpful.
This prompt is all about describing the feelings and emotions of a culture long gone and distinct from our own. We may still celebrate the solstice and other celestial events, but we also know a lot about science. The characters in our writing prompt don’t.
The writing perspective is the first person. This makes it easier to explore the feelings and possible confusion of the character. The challenge is to convey the emotions felt using language and metaphors that are specific to that ancient culture, but which will be understood by a modern reader. It is a challenge, but one I hope you’ll enjoy.
Journaling allows us to hold conversations on paper. From private diaries to creative art journals we pour out our deepest thoughts. The sun gives us so much. It brings us warmth and light and pretty much sustains life. Its gravity keeps us (earth) in place and the earth’s orbit helps us mark time. All of this is before you get to the science and sheer size of the sun. Through the ages, the sun has had its fair share of worshipers; in ancient cultures, on the beaches and in the green movement. It also works very well as a metaphor in many situations.
Questions to answer, thoughts to explore or images to create in your journal:
I now have ‘sun’ written on the board above my computer. I am confident it will inspire me on my creative journey this week. It has reminded me that I wrote a piece of music called Solstice last year. I have wanted to develop and share that again, so let the inspiration shine forth. The light from the sun is also a core aspect of outdoor photography and a common theme in painting.
Let ‘sun’ illuminate your music, photography, and painting this week.
As always, these creative prompts are optional and entirely open to your interpretation. Use them as a starting point for a short story, something a little more grandiose.
As mentioned before, this isn’t a ‘challenge’ but the prompts can be used that way if you want. If you do create anything using them, I would love to see or hear about it. Leave a link in the comments below or tag me #thecreativeminimalist on any social platform.
Thank you for reading this post. Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
namaste
d
xox
If you enjoyed this post please support my writing by making a donation of any amount.
Sign up for my (ir)regular newsletter to keep up to date with my creative adventures, including special offers, and join me on Instagram | YouTube | Twitter | Pinterest
Memory is not always reliable. Now, no comments about my age. A few years back I was reading three separate science-fiction trilogies, jumping from one series to another. I enjoyed them all, and continue to read what each author releases. However, jumping from one brilliantly conceived universe to another, back and forth, over three series was a little too much for my tiny little mind. Therefore, and that brings me to the point of this paragraph, if I know an author is writing a trilogy, I will wait until I have all three books and binge them.
My current binge is the Salvation Sequence trilogy by Peter F Hamilton. I am a big fan of his epic space opera, and this trilogy promised more of what I like. This nerd can’t resist, aliens, FTL travel and books that include a timeline for clarity. I have just finished book one; Salvation, and before I get too far into book two wanted to write a quick review.
Talking of book series, I began reading Salvation after a difficult journey through books five and six of The Expanse. I found both of those, especially book six, tough going. I hate to admit it, but by the end of that book, I had almost lost the ‘joy’ of sitting down and picking up a book. That isn’t to say I dislike The Expanse, and I will return to the series, I just struggled. However, all that was quickly forgotten as I was launched into the Salvation Sequence.
In the nearish future, the earth has been visited by what appears to be two alien species. The predominant alien race has stopped by during a religious pilgrimage to meet their god at the end of the universe. They are friendly and offer to share their medical advances with humanity in return for energy to create their antimatter fuel to continue their journey. All very friendly. Meanwhile, in the far future, another group of genetically modified humans are training. Their mission is to continue their fight for survival against an aggressive alien race who have chased humanity across the stars.
Meanwhile, back on earth, or actually on a planet that earth people hang out on, an of unknown origin alien spaceship has been found. In it are a group of humans in suspended animation, but no aliens. A group of interested parties go and check it out. We learn more about these interested parties and a lot more, through lengthy flashbacks. We also learn about the visiting aliens, the two distinct cultures that humanity has divided itself into and all the technology that is now commonplace, along with some interesting social commentary.
Salvation jumps between the far future and near future timelines until… well, no spoilers, but there was a nice twist in the final few chapters. Setting things up nicely for book two; Salvation Lost.
So, an enjoyable read and if you want to read it yourself here’s an affiliate link to Amazon UK and Amazon US. Back to book two for me…
Thank you for reading this post. Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
namaste
d
xox
If you enjoyed this post please support my writing by making a donation of any amount.
Sign up for my (ir)regular newsletter to keep up to date with my creative adventures, including special offers, and join me on Instagram | YouTube | Twitter | Pinterest
Welcome to the new complete weekly creative prompt. We begin with a single creative prompt word and expand it to inspire fiction writing, journaling, and a host of other creative activities. These creative prompts, are to give me, and anyone else who wants to join in, some focus to our creative work.
Ever since humanity first walked on the planet, we have looked up. And as the sun sets and the greater light travels over the horizon, the sky darkens, and the myriad of tiny pinpoints of light emerge. Our previous prompt was clouds, and if those clouds are missing from the night sky a remarkable light show can be seen. Therefore, this week’s creative prompt is:
Stars — fixed luminous points in the night sky which are large, remote incandescent bodies like the sun.
This is a plural definition of the singular I found in the dictionary. What I find interesting is the use of the word fixed because stars just like atoms are anything but that.
Let the prompt ‘stars’ inspire you in any area of creativity that you are interested:
Let’s expand the word a little further…
The Fiction Writing Prompt aims to stretch the literary muscles. No rules. No word counts. Simply write and explore.
They say the stars can predict the future. All I want to know is where you are.
The motions of the stars fascinated us before we began to grasp the mechanics of gravity. We put meaning and prediction into their motions. They guided us and prompted us. Today, we understand that life on this planet is controlled by gravity and other natural forces just like the stars. And yet, we still look to them. And occasionally, some of us, enquire.
This prompt is very open. The sentences uttered offer little context. So, the challenge is to dig deep and use your imagination.
The writing perspective is the first person, but beyond that, the setting and context are yours. I wondered whether the narrator is on a planet while the person they seek is traveling among the stars. Is the narrator one of many out looking for a missing person? These are just a couple of ideas that jumped into my mind. And you could always look to the stars for a little inspiration.
Journaling allows us to hold conversations on paper. From private diaries to creative art journals we pour out our deepest thoughts. It only takes a layer of black paint or gesso followed by a little splattering of a lighter colour to make a simple vista of stars. White gel or paint pens can do the same. We can use them to write upon our starry background as well.
Questions to answer, thoughts to explore or images to create in your journal:
I now have ‘stars’ written on the board above my computer. I am confident it will inspire me on my creative journey this week. Not only that, but I find stepping outside, barefoot if possible, and looking up into the night sky a truly humbling yet positive spiritual experience. To me spirituality and creativity are closely linked, they may even be different facets of the same force. The vastness of space and the beauty of the flickering lights upon the night sky are an inspiration for so much of my creative process this week. May it be for you as well.
Let ‘stars’ inspire your music, photography, and painting this week.
As always, these creative prompts are optional and entirely open to your interpretation. Use them as a starting point for a short story, something a little more grandiose.
As mentioned before, this isn’t a ‘challenge’ but the prompts can be used that way if you want. If you do create anything using them, I would love to see or hear about it. Please leave a link in the comments below or tag me @darrenrhill or #thecreativeminimalist on any social platform.
Original Milky Way image by Free-Photos from Pixabay
Thank you for reading this post. Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
namaste
d
xox
If you enjoyed this post please support my writing by making a donation of any amount.
Sign up for my (ir)regular newsletter to keep up to date with my creative adventures, including special offers, and join me on Instagram | YouTube | Twitter | Pinterest