A place where you can be human.
|A poem about things being better than when they started.”
I dived head first
into a world that
peeled back every layer of skin
to reveal the bone deep clattering
I wrote my way to the surface
thinking I’d have to dive again.
I didn’t.
-Saschia ✨Jayne✨ Johnson
“Break Freeee!”
Creativity takes courage because often you’re combining a couple old things to make something new that comes from you. And people don’t really like new. They like the same old ideas with the same old expectations over and over again. And I can’t even be mad about it because I also like consistency and routine maybe a little too much. But only for so long. I find my ways to break free.
We have to break the mold in this life. We can’t sit around and let the world dictate our art. And listen, at first read that seems like I’m speaking of what you create but no. As an artist your life is your art. The job you work, the clothes you wear, the friends you keep, those are all pieces of your story.
I don’t say this isn’t to add pressure to your daily life but to find freedom from societal expectations. You wear what you feel is your self-expression. Work jobs that add to your life in adventurous ways. Now I’m not saying there’s some magic button that makes living your life as a work of art easy. I’m just saying give yourself a break from pleasing everyone around you. Choose your art. Choose life as your canvas.
“For the love of transformations”
Transformation is also known as Character Arc in writing.
“[A character Arc] is primarily centered around the idea of change, where by the story’s conclusion, the character is distinct from who they were at the start, often as a direct result of plot events.” –Greene, Jim, MFA Published in: 2020
Characters typically change as you move through the story. They can start out “good” and transform into something on the other end of the spectrum or vice versa. Humans aren’t so rigid that they shift completely from one extreme to the other. It takes humans time to adapt to new ways of thinking. But in writing there’s techniques we can use to show character arcs in less than a lifetime or within a novel length read or less.
I am someone who loves transformation in humans. I think most people love to see other humans transform into something brand new and that’s why character arc is so important when it comes to story telling. Not just in stories handed down but also novels, movies, comic books and more. We even gush over seeing what seems like transformations in celebrities.
When it comes to being human there’s different parts that can transform. Without getting into the nitty gritty (like cell turnover) I sum it up to three basic parts which would be physical/material, our mindsets, and our skill sets. I don’t know if there’s one that people favor most but bodies and wealth are probably the easiest for everyone to see without much insight. This can be used in writing in a various amount of ways. Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk has the main character digress mentally without his or the readers full understanding of how far he really declined. In the movie Karate Kid written by Christopher Murphey and Robert Mark Kamen the main character transforms his mindset first then his skillset transforms later. That’s just a few fun examples from popular movies. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the monster transforms from curiosity and wonder to resentment, spite, and vengeance. These are examples of mindset/internal transformations with Karate Kid including a skillset transformation. The Little Mermaid is an example of a physical transformation. I’m sure you could think of more great character arcs.
It’s nice to watch transformations because it shows us possibility, it helps us see ourselves, and a shorter timeline. There’s a lot of learning going on when we observe the transformation of others.
When we see that other people can change this way or that, we get a concrete example of humans who aren’t in a fixed state. We can shift a stuck mindset into something more expansive and flexible. Transformation gives us permission to change, to try new things, and to shift toward our dreams when it feels like nothing is working out.
Some characters remind us what can happen when we make choices that don’t benefit ourselves and/or those around us. We can see how that character transforms into something we don’t want to be. Simone de Beauvoir says that we only know ourselves in contrast to others. We learn more about ourselves or the idea of ourselves from watching characters transform. The truth is we don’t really know who we are or how we are going to react until we experience things.
Often transformation takes time especially when we are in control of our own transformation. There are times when something happens and it changes us immediately and forever. This can be good or bad. When we’re speaking of long term transformation, being able to watch movies gives us a visual representation of how transformation can change us over time but within a shorter time span. Instead of waiting years to figure out what might happen, we can learn from the characters in stories over night.
This just offers a few different ways on to look at Character Arcs and human transformation. I’ve added a link below to a resource on the importance of character arcs from Readers Digest if you’d like to dive in a bit more.
Feel free to message me and let me know what you find!
-Saschia ✨Jayne✨ Johnson
Resources
Here’s an article from readers digest about the importance of emotional arcs https://www.writersdigest.com/heart-first-brain-later-why-your-characters-emotional-arc-matters-more-than-your-perfect-plot
the Journal Article on Character Arc by Greene, Jim. This is where I got the definition from at the beginning of this article: https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/psychology/character-arc-character-development/#full-article
“A poem about shadows and light”
This is where we reside
In the darkness of our shadows
Seeking out where the light breaks through
Often it us
The brings the light
And if we’re lucky enough
We shine bright enough to share it with others.
-Saschia ✨️Jayne✨️ Johnson
“It is impossible to have a great life unless it is a meaningful life. And it is very difficult to have a meaningful life without meaningful work.” – Jim Collins
We get one life to find meaning in. The good news is that we get the freedom to find that meaning in our own way. And the even better news is that we get to seek it out in small and big ways every day of our lives.
That adds so many layers to living. It keeps us present and using our whole brains because we are participating in the moment. I don’t think we need to be in a constant state of finding meaning in every little thing. We can search for meaning here and there just enough to keep the flames bright.
Don’t stop searching 🔍
-Saschia ✨️Jayne✨️ Johnson
✨A Poem✨
The knot tied around her finger
was a thread that connected
to a scroll that she had
in her back pocket.
-Saschia ✨Jayne✨ Johnson
“In the middle of winter I at last discovered that there was in me an invincible summer.” –Albert Camus
There’s no perfect balance in this life and I gave up looking for it. With that being said, it’s important to set boundaries around your commitments to yourself. As writers, people often disregard the importance of our designated writing time. It’s easy to fall into their way of thinking. They create excuses for you to ghost yourself and the only one who suffers is you.
Here’s a tough truth, it’s not other people’s job to respect your commitments. They don’t hear the same inner calling as you. That’s your song and you’ve done more than most by stepping up to the plate to answer that call. Don’t expect anyone to understand why you must stay committed to the boundaries around your craft.
Here’s the plus side, there’s a lot of others who will support your commitment to writing. Sometimes it’s your spouse or best friend, sometimes it’s fellow writers and creatives, and other times it’s strangers that just get it. Writing can make you feel lonely, but it doesn’t mean you’re really alone.
There’s tons of ways to connect with other writers.
-Saschia ✨Jayne✨ Johnson
“A poem about preparing for the first freeze.”
Outside chills my bones.
I brought my plants in so they wouldn’t freeze
from the possible frost I head from the news anchor
on tv
The same news anchor that spills that bad news.
but a freeze isn’t bad news.
It’s just cycles sometimes it’s warm other times it’s cold
so I brought my plants in to keep the warm.
-Saschia ✨Jayne✨ Johnson
“The world needs our stories”
“The man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” -William Faulkner
The amount of work it takes to write a full length novel is unknown to people who have never written one. And truth be told, I don’t think readers care about how much work you do. It only matters that the story was good.
The right reader will find your book and feel like it’s exactly what they needed. This life is hard and books lighten the load. They give us brief moments away from it all. Believe that you’re doing a service by sharing your art with the world. Believe it or not the world needs our stories. Our stories carry an infinite amount of information that can’t be calculated because the stories are a little different from each person who reads them.
So yes, your novel is hard work, but it is so worth the effort.
-Saschia ✨Jayne✨ Johnson
“A Poem”
The sting of nothing against your lips
draws me places that
linger beneath the covers.
What is it that drew you away from life
from me?
Is it me or you?
The swirl of us
has always left me astonished because
I thought I knew me from you.
Came to learn that I didn’t.
-Saschia ✨Jayne✨ Johnson
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