Review: Wicked (book)

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When Dorothy triumphed over the Wicked Witch of the West in L. Frank Baum's classic tale, we heard only her side of the story. But what about her arch-nemesis, the mysterious Witch? Where did she come from? How did she become so wicked? And what is the true nature of evil?

Gregory Maguire creates a fantasy world so rich and vivid that we will never look at Oz the same way again. Wicked is about a land where animals talk and strive to be treated like first-class citizens, Munchkinlanders seek the comfort of middle-class stability, and the Tin Man becomes a victim of domestic violence. And then there is the little green-skinned girl named Elphaba, who will grow up to become the infamous Wicked Witch of the West, a smart, prickly, and misunderstood creature who challenges all our preconceived notions about the nature of good and evil. (Blurb from Goodreads).

When I opened this book I expected the familiar story that I know from the musical – I couldn’t have been more wrong.  The book has so few similarities with the Broadway show that I could count them on one hand. 

Once I had got over the unsure feeling this left me with, I fell in love with the tale woven before my eyes.  Honestly, Oz was brought to life in a way that I didn’t know it needed, holding me in its enchantment and horrors.

Wicked is told through a few different points of view which allows the reader to appreciate the different aspects of the world Gregory Maguire creates and while I can’t pinpoint exactly what it is about the language, the very way you read it adds to the experience (I found this completely natural but others have told me that it made it difficult for them to follow the story), bringing you into Oz in a completely unique and incredible effective way.

Personally I can’t gush enough about this book but beware that it is not for you if you like happily-ever-after stories.  This is a gritty tale of politics, racial issues and unfriendly characters that will leave you wanting more tales from Oz.  I’m definitely going to be looking up the rest of Maguire’s books as ‘Wicked’ was exactly the dark-side to The Wizard of Oz stories and I can’t help but be intrigued by that style of storytelling.

Why I'm Struggling to Make a Difference

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” ~Anne Frank

I was trying to catch up with some of my emails yesterday when I came across this quote.  Just reading it makes me want to shout YES and then get on with something important.  I am still struggling with the last part as I am finding myself constantly asking myself questions like ‘Why am I bothering?’ ‘How can you think this is important and world changing?’ ‘Why do you think anyone will buy this from you?’  Basically, a whole load of how’s and why’s are streaming through my head at every moment, and I realise that this constant questioning is stopping me from starting right now to ‘improve the world’.

I know I will have to answer them soon, but for now I am going to make one step forward this today and as many days as I can.  Maybe I’ll work it out on the way, if not, I am planning on sitting myself down and actually answering the questions.  Either way, I’m determined not to let the questioning stop me.  After all, I don’t actually need to know all the answers right now; and I expect that many of the answers will change along with me and my ideas.

What is stopping you from improving the world right this second?  How will you start making a difference anyway?

Challenging My Perceptions Of Myself

I believe in constantly learning new things and discovering new ways in which to see the world.  However, recently I’ve started challenging my perceptions of the world in a completely different way.  Instead of looking outward to see differently, I’ve found that I am looking inward.

Let’s start at the beginning.  I am a writer.  I have always known that I was a writer and that is where my talent lies.  I’ve never questioned this, just followed along.  I have accepted myself as a creative through my writing.  I am also a crafter.  But I see myself more as an amateur creative – I make cards and cross-stitch.  Until recently I’ve only really stuck to the basics and haven’t really seen them (especially the cross-stitch) as part of my creativity.

And then I decided I wanted to start a creative business revolving around writing (because that’s what I’m good at) and cross-stitch (because I have fell so far in love with it that I want to do it all the time).  For this to work I’ve had to radically change my self-imposed view of myself.  I am having to design my own charts, which inevitably means that I am putting pencil to paper and drawing ideas.

When I realised that that was what I would have to do I became terrified.  I can’t draw.  I’m the person that doodles stars and hearts because that’s all I can make come out right.  And now I had to trust that I could not only come up with ideas (something I’ve always struggled with), but that I would be able to get them down on paper.

Earlier this week I had a massive break through.  You may remember that I managed to do alittle designing despite being very ill, I didn’t admit that I was terrified of looking back to see how much editing they would need.  Of course they did need a little tweaking, but overall, I was proud of my work.  And on Saturday I outdid myself in drawing the perfect cupcake (quite a task when you’re as much of a perfectionist as me).  I have now accepted myself as an artist.  I may never sell my artwork in its original form (I am currently drawing to transpose my designs into cross-stitch charts) but I have come to terms with the fact that I don’t suck nearly as much as I thought.

Is there anything, like drawing, that you tell yourself you could never do, let alone be good at?  Why not challenge your perceptions of yourself and see what happens (you may well suck, but perhaps with a bit of practice you will find that you can do it) and share your experiences either in the comments here or on your own blog (and like here so we can read it).

A Harsh Lesson In Time Management

For the past week and a half I’ve been really ill.  I think I caught a bug and, having M.E., it became quite severe.  At my worst, we realised that I about 3 hours each day that I could use to do things in; but only low-energy activities (like watching an episode of Buffy) and if I rested every 30-40 minutes for a couple of hours (I even had to stop Buffy mid-episode to have a lie-down a few times). 

I won’t lie; it wasn’t a great week for me.  I hated having to rest properly just so I could watch an episode of my favourite TV show (especially as usually I use the time spent watching it to rest).  I hated not being able to shower.  I hated constantly coughing, which used up a lot of my energy.  And I hated that I couldn’t seem to sleep at night, no matter what I tried.

However, I was actually just as productive last week (if not more) than I usually am.  Having such a short period of time to work in meant that I treated my time with way more respect.  I still tried to do my 750 words most days.  But I also managed to get some important designing done by working for about 10-15 minutes and spending about 6 hours (some before, some after) resting.  And as I couldn’t just mindlessly sit in front of the TV, I realised that as I still chose to use my time to watch an episode of Buffy (seriously, one of the greatest shows ever), it must be important to me.

Of course not every day looked like the one above. Some days I didn’t do any writing.  Some days I didn’t do any designing.  Some days I managed to read a little.  Some days I listened to a radio play instead of watching Buffy.  Yet I am proud of myself for getting something done.  It made me realise that I am capable of doing something important if I really want to (I am terrible with procrastination).  And it helped me put in perspective how much energy and time certain activities take (for example, 10-15 minutes of designing uses the same amount of energy as listening to a 45 minute play and therefore needs the same amount of rest time in ratio to it).

My health seems to be improving a little now but I’m trying to continue using the resting strategy in the hope that I will be able to maximise my active time and start making progress at the speed I originally planned on.

A Quote

I have been really ill this week, therefore I haven't managed to write anything of sense or good value.  So for today I thought I'd leave you with a quote to ponder as you go throughout your day/week/month/year.  Hope you have a good weekend.

"Human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives." ~ William James

How Creative Habits Make Sure I Get Something Done Everyday

I have been kind of having a bad week.  Mostly it’s to do with not sleeping particularly well, but there have also been stumbles (leading to blind panic) in my journey.  Today I woke up feeling extra groggy.  Truthfully I didn’t want to write a blog post and do the work that I know needs doing for my business.  Granted, I still haven’t done any work, but that’s more that I’ve only been up a half hour, than simply because I haven’t done it.  What I have done is write at 750 words (and now I’m writing this).

750 words came from the idea of writing morning pages – the point being to clear your mind of clutter before you get started on your day.  I used to write my pages at random points throughout the day, whenever I felt like it.  Then I stopped writing them at all for a few months.  About a week ago I decided to start writing them again and to actually write them first thing (after I’ve eaten my breakfast but before I’ve done anything else).  So far it’s been going well, but it was today that I saw the benefits.

Like I said, I was groggy this morning, I didn’t want to turn on my laptop and start typing; but I did.  Writing those 750 words each morning is becoming a habit for me, and a positive one at that.  I sat myself down and started typing because that’s what I do each morning now – I didn’t think about it much.  Sure, I didn’t want to do it but I didn’t actually even try and think of something else to do instead.  And now I have written it, which has led to writing this post (a part of this habit I’m forming is do some blog or essay writing immediately after).  And for the first time it doesn’t feel like a struggle to get myself to do it, because it’s just what I do in the morning.  Turning writing into a morning habit is guaranteeing that I’ll get it done.  And now that I see it’s working, I’m going to see what else I can create into a habit that will help me with getting on with my work.

Have you made your creative work part of a habit you have?  If not, then is there anything that you would like to turn into a habit?  Let us know in the comments.

If this post has inspired you to start forming some creative habits of your own, I strongly suggest you go and read Dan Goodwin’s post on Creating Your Beautiful Creative Life for advice on how to get started and the benefits.