Expanding Your Creativity.

For the past few months, I have been struggling to write, and tried various ways to get back into it without success. Frustrated, I decided to do something completely different and pursue another creative outlet.

Before leaving the RWA, I put a call out within my part of the group if anyone needed help with graphic design (marketing images, etc). I was only too willing to assist them. Weeks went by without a response, thinking that was the end of it, until I received an email from a woman asking if I could do some book covers for her. Surprised by the request, I did, however, agree.

I originally created the covers for the first two books within my Marsden Hall novella series, but before the release of the third and final book, I thought it best to go with a professional and redo them. Personally, I think the covers for Gothic Fiction requires it. I’m happy with the end results, and grateful that I worked with a wonderful designer who listened to my input, but I enjoyed creating book covers. So, here was an opportunity to see what I could do.

Working with my fellow author’s specs of a rural Christmas romance, I was lucky to come up with this design after only a few attempts.

Happy with this result, we then moved onto her next cover, which is the second in a series. I ended up making quite a few attempts, so I was not so fortunate this time! It didn’t worry me though as I was learning on the job. I was using Canva, and having access to Canva Pro, I was enjoying myself. This is the end result.

I went on to do one more cover, which was for the final book in the series. I think I lost count how many times I reworked it, but despite the frustrations, I was learning new ways to use Canva, and was grateful to be given the opportunity.

In the end, I enjoyed playing around with Canva, learning different functions, and helping a fellow indie author. I didn’t expect anything more to come from it, but she was willing to pay me for my time and efforts, so I was pleasantly surprised – again.

Since then, I’ve created some covers of my own for a rural romance series I have planned. The covers are simple, but I like them enough to keep them on the backburner. When I look at them, they inspire me to get back into writing. So, yes, I might write – and publish – that series one day (never say never), but for now I’m sticking with Gothic Fiction. 😉

* If you enjoy reading rural romance, Victoria Brown’s Christmas Novella, Snowflake, is available for FREE. For further details, just visit her website.

Writers, is there another form of creativity you pursue? Do you think it helps with your writing in any way? Have you been learning a new creative endeavour, recently?