Public Service Announcement #4
PSA: create a making cave + gather, make, wait + JOIN stop motion + picture book practitioner + paid subscriber video chat
PSA: create a making cave
Every December during winter break, I create a making cave to hang out in. I try to disconnect from most everything to focus on a long project or two.
This time, because of what we are witnessing in Gaza, my cave looked a little different. I still made it to a couple of protests, kept up with folks on Instagram, continued learning-sharing-supporting from this corner of the world in my LA apartment.
But, I turned on email auto reply! That’s the biggest indicator of a making cave for me. Even if I peek, the option not to respond, take a breather, dig into stuff that benefits from extended attention is just about the best thing ever.
Because, remember, your cave doesn’t have to be perfect! Nothing ever is.
What is your version of auto reply? What is feasible for you? What can you count as a quasi-cave to support your making day-to-day or once in a blue moon? Putting your phone in another room? Activating ‘do not disturb’? Getting up early and writing before eating? Sneaking to your studio, headphones on? Hiding in your bathroom for 15 minutes a la Anne Lamott’s parent-writer advice? Scribbling something right before your eyelids quit and you fall asleep?
So, what did I make during those couple of weeks? Poems; couldn’t stop those from flowing. But the biggest projects: 1. revising a chapter book for my agent, perhaps the final round?! It was so nice to be in that light-hearted but meaningful, child-friendly world for those spells. 2. Um, I got a huge chunk of revision done on my memoir. I said it! Very hard to write those words, I gotta tell you. I’m almost finished with a memoir in verse that’s extremely vulnerable as any personal story is—for the first time since I started a couple years ago, it’s something I can begin to imagine trying to put into the world.
I also let in stuff I don’t always have time for to inspire me, namely films, TV, and reading materials!
Must-watch: The Persian Version trailer! And episode three, “Deer Lady,” of the final season of Reservation Dogs about residential schools is incredible!
Along with stacks of picture books always found here.
Here’s what I’m doing in 2024 to prioritize making—mini caves—that might be fits for you too:
Setting an appointment with myself for two hours every week. Yup, one afternoon a week, I’ve got a slot on my calendar called “writing cave.” It’s my time/place/space to write no matter what else is going on. I may not make it every session or for the full stretch depending on schedule (flexibility and kindness are key here), but I’ll try my best.
Continuing my virtual writing group. One morning a week, we beam in through WhatsApp to say hello before we get going in our respective making caves. The camaraderie is so helpful for getting to a project and staying with it for at least half an hour because we’re all beaming in, feeding off one another’s energy.
Taking Sundays off other stuff as much as possible, especially communication and email. I used to do this, but with the shocking stream of news the last three months, I haven’t taken a day away in order to stay connected to what’s happening and to others. However, I think one day a week is a reasonable hiatus in order to turn attention to taking some care, to inspiration via books, nature, movement, friends, TV/film, and also to potentially creating. One day a week without email is, for me, a huge win for my writing life.
Emerged from my cave in early January for friends’, The Gibbs Sisters book launch for graphic novel Ghost Roast at Octavia’s Bookshelf.
You might try a cave for ten minutes every other day or one hour once a week or an annual retreat or a monthly outing to write at a cafe where you don’t know anyone. You might take a class or make with a group or a friend somewhere or virtually. Whatever it is that works best for you, I recommend a cave that’s sacred, all about making, and always (well, often—with flexibility and kindness!) there for you to count on.
Do you already have a cave for creating, writing, art-making? When/where? How does it function? What do you want to take on or continue?
Another PSA: JOIN, our annual stop motion video
Here was another big project from the making cave! My partner and I collaborate on a stop motion video every year. This time around, it was inspired by the theme “belonging” from his agency’s art show (that we couldn’t be a part of because of our own derailment). This Public Service Announcement is our take on that theme: community and connection in order to be part of something—with purpose and play—together. JOIN is a celebration of both welcoming and participating.
And of course you’re invited to join the dance!
Directed by Todd Davis davishandmade.com /Written and Produced by me! Character voice credits and special thanks are at that Vimeo link. It was so special to have friends JOIN in the creation!
Gather, make, wait
In the new year, I’ll be continuing to make stories and other stuff for kids by following the steps from my picture book: gather, make, wait. They apply to any creative process, from writing a letter to crafting a story to cooking to painting to knitting to dancing to gardening to making a friend.
And they also apply to making a change, a difference, any kind of positive action people of any age can do to help, to spread a good word, to show care.
Gather ideas or people or supplies or inspiration or information.
Make something that matters to you and inevitably to others. You know how!
Wait for baked goods to cool, paint to dry, or to share what you’ve made, knowing and anticipating that it will take hold or bear fruit.
🪧🎶🪴🥟✏️🧶🎨🍪🤝🤖💐💌
Art and lettering by Mags DeRoma in TO MAKE.
Picture Book Practitioner
If you’re looking to gather, make, and wait this year, there may be a way I can help. I’m currently open to bookings in late February, March, or beyond for folks looking to focus on developing or revising a picture book project with support, collaboration, resources, and me as an editor-mentor-motivator at your side from afar. :)
A one-month service to concentrate on your project with a writer, editor, and teacher who “speaks” picture books.
You’ll get four weeks of tailored feedback, encouragement, resources, thorough and sensitive support around story and strategy, and the camaraderie you need from someone who cares deeply about nurturing creative practice and this special form.
Whether you have a fully-fleshed out draft to revise OR notes about an idea you're ready to dig into, I can help. (Picture book creators at any place on their path welcome!)
Details are at this link. And here’s what to expect as a PDF. You can always reach out too. Diane Adams, former client and author of LOVE IS and other books, had nice things to say about the process:
Paid subscriber PSA chat!
Hello to paid subscribers! First, I appreciate you!! And I’m getting ready to plan our first video Q&A PSA chat that I hope is of use to you!
If you’re a subscriber who’d like to upgrade before then, you can join in too! I am grateful for your support of this writer. And if you can’t, no worries about that either!
Thank you for spending this time with me and reading! I hope it served you as moments well spent. And please do tell a friend, leave a comment, or stay tuned for the next PSA from Danielle Davis.
LOVE this. My cave is my Sunday mornings at the studio, just me and the dog messing around with paints and old music. Love it.
Good news, Danielle!! Poetry Doesn’t Have to Rhyme, that you workshopped with me, is being looked at by Fox Chappell Hill. 🙏🏻🤞☀️