KaBooM WritersKaBooM Writers

Welcome to the online presence of KaBooM, a writing group that has sustained the creative lives of a diverse group of women for over a decade. We hope that getting to know us will inspire you, too!Welcome to the online presence of KaBooM, a writing group that has sustained the creative lives of a diverse group of women for over a decade. We hope that getting to know us will inspire you, too!

Welcome to the online presence of KaBooM, a writing group that has sustained the creative lives of a diverse group of women for over a decade. We hope that getting to know us will inspire you, too!

The KaBooM Writers Notebook: Our Blog

Writing from the Senses

By Susan, March 1st, 2010 | 2 Comments

During the recent writing retreat led by KaBooM we focused on entering our writing through the senses, and invited a visit from the muse by setting up sensory stations for participants to enjoy. We offered images and textures, and images that were textures in the form of Mary’s quilted paintings. Bells and rattles and rhythm instruments made a variety of intriguing sounds. Tastes including fresh fruit, dill pickles, chocolate, and lemon marmalade also held a wonderful aroma. Other scents, most in containers covered with plain brown paper, included:

  • A tin of brown shoe polish
  • Tide laundry detergent
  • Rubbing alcohol
  • Murphy’s Oil Soap
  • Joy dishwashing liquid
  • Campho-phenique
  • Desitin diaper rash cream
  • Lavender soap
  • Homer Formby’s Tung Oil
  • Garlic powder
  • Almond extract
  • Oregano
  • Coconut extract
  • Crest toothpaste
  • Colgate toothpaste
  • Cedar
  • Herb vinegar
  • Molasses

Are there associations that arise as you read these lists? Are memories stirred just by thinking about these sensations? It’s a reminder of how deeply imprinted sensory experience is.

One participant spoke of how powerfully a sensory cue brought back slices of life—enough to reshape his writing plan for the day. I too have found that certain scents do more than remind me of another time of life; they actually take me there once again and put me in touch with what I might otherwise have forgotten.

Those memories are multi-layered with all kinds of sensory information. The scent of cold cream can show us a bedroom from long ago, the sound of a school bell may evoke the scratch of a new sweater, a taste of home may place us amidst the voices of people long gone. Our deep remembering is brought to life by recalling the memories of the senses, memories carried in the body as well as the mind. Writing gains power when we put them on the page.

We encouraged everyone to explore and follow where their senses took them. It’s an experience that doesn’t end with the close of the retreat, and we invite you to take part as well.

Comments (2) — Categorized under: Creativity, Events, Susan Christerson Brown — Tags: ,

Try This! At the Saturday February 27 Writing Retreat!

By Jan, February 22nd, 2010 | Click to Comment

How easy to love a word like retreat that lives in the world both as action and as thing! How fortunate to look forward to a day of renewal in the company of like-minded individuals! How important this time we take for our work and our writing selves!

Join members of KaBooM on February 27 from 10 am to 4 pm at the Carnegie Center for a “Saturday Writing Retreat: Try This!” We’re assuming that it’s your dream—as well as ours—to have an entire day without agenda or distraction—to have nothing to do but write, write, write.  Bring work in progress or a notebook and pen to capture new words. We’ll present invitations to write from our book, When the Bough Breaks, or you are welcome to develop or extend a piece you’ve already begun.

If you prefer working on a laptop, bring a flash drive as you’ll have access to a printer. Maximize your writing time by bringing a brown bag lunch. Day also includes time for sharing and responding.

The cost for the retreat is $100. Our goal is to make sure your well as a writer is replenished many times over, your store of words restocked and ready to go. We look forward to retreating with you!

Comments (0) — Categorized under: Creativity, Events, Jan Isenhour —

Clearing the way for discovery

By Gail, February 16th, 2010 | Click to Comment

As I write uncharacteristic weather is demanding energy and attention and this morning while I shoveled drive and walks yet again, my mind turned mildly allegorical.  Born in Canada and sojourning in a half dozen different climatic zones, I’ve developed a discipline towards snow removal that, on reflection, serves me well when I apply it to my writing work.

As soon as conditions permit, I clear what’s on the ground: this causes my children, raised in Kentucky, no end of bafflement.  “Why bother?” they demand (hoping to dissuade me from insisting on their involvement in my odd behavior).  Because they asked, I delight in pointing out the advantages of my method.

Doing the work immediately means I get a sense of conditions “in the field.”  I know how the wind feels, I see up close what kind of snow this is.  Once I’m out, I notice details I’d never have seen from the window or on a quick scurry from warm house to car—the weather ceases to be just the stuff I have to slog through, and begins to present unique joys (this morning’s dusting, for example, had those large crystals that reflected jeweled light).

In addition, keeping up with the task means it’s rarely overwhelming: I live in Central Kentucky where the snowfall is never heavy.  Though my back and knees could never handle a deep snow, regular moderate effort serves me well here.

In fact, there are unexpected surprise benefits for my having simply done the work.  Yesterday, though the temperature never officially rose above freezing, the simple act of clearing what was on the ground meant that the day’s light reflected off the surrounding banks of snow and heated up the exposed drive and walks, so that by the day’s end everything was completely clear, down to the pavement.   Oh, sure, it snowed again last night, but this morning there was no accumulated, hard-packed neglect that threatens underneath this morning’s small collection.  In past snows, I’ve seen neighbors hacking away at dangerous ice once things begin to melt; our regular effort means our small plot harbors no hazards that demand such hard labor.

The analogy breaks down, of course, at many levels.  But I’m reminded that regular attention to the writing prevents despair and the feeling of defeat, and leaves the way clear for inspired discoveries to shine unencumbered.

Comments (0) — Categorized under: Creativity, Gail Koehler, Setting Goals, Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , ,

Where Preparation Ends and Real Learning Begins

By Susan, February 8th, 2010 | Click to Comment

Members of KaBooM enjoyed a lively session during LexArt’s Arts Showcase Weekend on Saturday. We talked about forming and sustaining a writing group, setting goals, writing grant proposals, and taking on a publishing project. The group of hardy souls who braved a wintry morning asked smart questions and brought great energy to the discussion. We had a wonderful time!

Yet amidst the rich conversation and advice about starting something new, a companion idea pulled up a chair.

No matter how carefully we plan, a new project means acting before we fully know what we’re doing. It’s wise to gather information and plan carefully, but preparing to launch something new is not the same as learning how to do it. That happens only when we take the plunge.

There’s a limit to what we can anticipate. Situations we don’t expect will arise, surprises good and bad will appear, and we can’t iron out all the details before we begin. This isn’t exactly a revelation, but it’s easy to lose sight of when we’re doing all we can to prepare for a new endeavor.

The intention to bring something new into the world entails meeting its unknown challenges, whatever they will be. Perhaps the best advice is to have a support system of insightful people who care about the outcome. A group of friends to help deal with the obstacles keeps us moving down the road.

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Clearing the Mind for Creative Work

By Susan, January 25th, 2010 | 1 Comment

Lately I’ve rediscovered the value of morning pages, a tool that Julia Cameron describes in The Artist’s Way. The idea is to write three pages in a journal upon waking, spilling whatever comes to mind in stream-of-consciousness writing without analyzing, censoring, or questioning whatever finds its way to the page. You just keep writing without pause.

What usually happens for me is that the disarray of daily life comes out, with its untended details and unresolved issues. Beneath those are the more substantial concerns, which show up too. The emotional leavings of recent events filter through, self-doubt makes regular appearances, and there are the perennial issues that appear again and again in different contexts. Everything gets put on the page and released as the pen keeps moving.

As a result, my mind becomes clearer. Without the low-level noise of background thoughts it’s easier to concentrate. In sweeping out the clutter of concerns, creative space opens up. Morning pages don’t count as getting my writing work done, but they help clear the way for accomplishing what I want to do. They don’t even have to be done in the morning to be effective.

Morning pages are one way to empty ourselves in order to make room for creative work. What ways have you found to open the space within for your writing?

Comments (1) — Categorized under: Creativity, Susan Christerson Brown — Tags: ,

Writerly Resolutions for the New Year

By Susan, December 29th, 2009 | Click to Comment

This week between Christmas and New Year’s is a potent time for figuring out what we’ve learned from the past year and preparing to move forward into the new one. Plans, ideas, challenges–what do we focus on for our creative goals, and how do we set priorities for seeing them through? 

Writers need to be both artists and worker bees. We need vision and inspiration, and we also need good tools and work habits. For help with both, here are a couple of excellent websites:

Lisa Sonora Beam writes about Goal Setting for Creatives, with pictures of her own gorgeous planning journal for inspiration.

On Zen Habits, Leo Babauta has a terrific post about cultivating new habits. He also introduces his new site dedicated to helping with keeping those resolutions for the new year, called 6changes.

May you have a happy, inspired, and productive New Year!

Comments (0) — Categorized under: Creativity, Setting Goals, Susan Christerson Brown —

Creative Listening and the Winter Solstice

By Susan, December 21st, 2009 | Click to Comment

The turn of the winter solstice is upon us—hallelujah! We’re reaching the farthest extreme of how short the days will grow, and how long the nights. The return of the sun begins, even with winter yet to endure.

It’s a season of grand celebration and then hunkering down. Not a bad pairing. I’m glad for the holiday lights that see us through these darkest days, but once they’re put away I welcome the most introspective time of the year.

Holly 1_1

As the world grows quiet, it allows the deep listening needed for creative work. Ideas and images have a chance to surface. The subtle stirrings of the imagination have room to take shape.

To prepare for those fertile days, it helps to consider what we’re listening for. What are we processing from the world around us? What is within us that seeks expression? What are we challenged to interpret? How will we act on what comes to our attention?

For the next few days, try to frame the question you want to ask about where your work is going. Then when things settle down after the holidays, listen for the answer.

One of the questions for me has been, “Where is the energy in my writing life, where is it leading me, and what form do I want to be working in?” Ok, that’s three questions. No matter.

What kinds of questions are you asking?

Comments (0) — Categorized under: Creativity, Susan Christerson Brown — Tags: ,

Getting Back to Writing

By Jan, November 30th, 2009 | 2 Comments

Over the long weekend I closed out one writer’s notebook and prepared to begin using another. For me this process involves leafing through the pages of the filled book, looking for nuggets that might be left behind and eventually forgotten.

I was surprised to see that my old notebook, begun in early summer, is mostly filled with notes from KaBooM meetings. Here’s a to-do list, made as the manuscript neared completion. Here’s a list of questions to take to Larkspur Press, followed by a set of instructions on how to hand sew book signatures.

Here are thoughts for blog entries, made when our web site was fledgling. Here are ideas for the panel discussion we led at the Kentucky Women Writers Conference, and the descriptions for two workshops we’ll lead this winter at the Carnegie Center.

It’s a rich history of the process of creating and then taking public When the Bough Breaks. I’m glad to have it. Problem is, there’s more note taking than writing, more listing than generating.

This, I see, is the rhythm of a writer’s life: writing, then bringing to fruition, followed by reflecting.

I also see that it’s time to get back to writing.

Comments (2) — Categorized under: Creativity, Jan Isenhour —

NaNoWriMo for the Rest of Us

By Susan, November 2nd, 2009 | Click to Comment

So we’re a day into National Novel Writing Month, NaNoWRiMo, and more power to all of you who are making the words fly. But for those of us who aren’t up to the challenge of drafting a novel by the end of the month, (maybe next year…) here’s another possibility.

water spigot_1

Dawn DeVries Sokol is offering a prompt per day for her version of this month’s excitement: NaNoJouMo, or National Nonstop Journaling Month. She’s a lettering artist who renders a word to serve as the day’s inspiration with style and personality. And if the thought of another writing project sounds more like an energy drain than a spigot for new ideas, this can be a journal for doodles and drawings—lines that convey emotion without using language. Sounds refreshing to me, like taking up a dowsing rod to locate a new well of creativity.

Comments (0) — Categorized under: Creativity, Susan Christerson Brown —