I landed at the Miami international Airport at 8:20 for a two hour layover.  As I got off the plane I began to plan my course of action.  I’d double check the gate location for my connecting flight, visit the women’s room and maybe grab a cup of coffee. As I deplaned my first  plane, I realized my legs were a bit stiff so I decided to stretch my legs.

 That’s when I saw it: the escalator.   I didn’t need to ride the escalator.  After all, the gate for my connecting flight was in the same terminal as the gate I just left.  I took a few steps towards those moving steps and I suddenly remembered voices from my past.

The first voice was my mother’s.   “No” she said, “you can only go one time.”

The second voice was my own 6 year old voice saying,“ When I grow up I’m going to ride the escalator as many times as I want.” 

I searched for a reason to ride and I noticed a sign for Starbucks.  It was located in Terminal One. I was in Terminal Four.  I stepped forward and was delighted to see not one, but two levels of escalators and there was a Sky Train at the top!  I got to ride escalators and a sky train just for fun. 

I arrived in Terminal One with a lightness in my step and a smile on my face, but as I ordered my coffee I realized I hadn’t gone far enough.  I was riding the train and escalator but I was way too adult.  I still had a destination, a purpose.  The six year old inside me just wanted to ride.

So with coffee cup in hand, I returned to the escalators and headed up back to the sky train, but I didn’t get on the train, instead I turned around and rode back down.   I glanced around, thinking the escalator police might stop me, but I pushed on.  As soon as I got to the bottom I turned around and headed for the top.  This was better than red wine or a Sunday movie matinee. 

Two times was nice, so three times had to be better. 

It was.

Four times was sublime.  I felt giddy as I rose my final time. As I zoomed back to Terminal four I realized that even as a first grader I was dreaming of adventures and extraordinary experiences.

If you are in search of really tall moving staircases to ride again and again, I enthusiastically recommend the Miami International Airport.  Today I took 14 escalator rides just because I wanted to, and checked off the very first item I dreamed of when I was 6 years old from my bucket list.

By Rivka Willick

Many years ago, before I was a professional storyteller or story coach, my family surprised me with a very special gift.  They sent me to a weeklong writing workshop at Martha’s Vineyard. They wanted to encourage me and give me energy to finish my sci-fi/fantasy novel. I boarded the ferry with a small suitcase in one hand and my lap top in the other totally ready to be inspired.  All the elements were in place; late September on a picturesque island surrounded by editors and publishing experts.  I spent the next five days sitting in writing workshops, attending lectures, and speaking with other writers; everything seemed perfect. 

But everything wasn’t perfect, and by the second day I realized something just wasn’t right.  Every participant got a 90 minute critiquing session, led by one of the workshop leaders. and fellow writers.  Although my time didn’t come up until the last day, the constant criticism of the other workshop attendees began to take its toll. 

Each session followed prescribed guidelines.  First one or two positive points were mentioned about the writer’s work, followed by negative comments.  I realized early on that every writer walked away from the sessions with their shoulders rolled forward and head down.  On the fourth day I remember taking a walk on the beach at sunrise.  I watched hundreds of gulls make lazy circles in the sky and I wondered why the week of workshops was so tiring.  After all, everybody got some positive comments and everybody wanted to improve. 

Finally the last day arrived and I sat in the hot seat.  I girded myself for the negative comments and got very few.  The group pointed out technical flaws along with positive elements, but I walked away tired and discouraged none the less.  After the week was over, I put away my novel and didn’t touch it for years.

I often looked back and wondered why the writing workshop had such a devastating effect, and I only discovered the real reason years later when I performed Labor Daze, my storytelling show about birth, and got reviewed.  The critic of the show had the same voice as the members of the critiquing circle at the writer’s workshop.  The critic didn’t care about me, she had nothing invested in me; her sole purpose was to write a column and promote her own theatre company.  When I went to Martha’s Vineyard, I was hungry for encouragement but only got critiques.

Criticism saps creative energy.  If it comes at the wrong time it can do tremendous harm.  There is a time for constructive criticism, but only after the artist has firmly established positive support and encouragement.  I was lucky.  My family stayed a continuous positive force.  Also during that weekend, specifically during my 90 minute session, one guy broke ranks. This fellow, I don’t remember his name, suddenly discovered an aspect of my story that excited him.  He broke ranks and stopped assessing the story and began to enjoy it.  He told me to finish because he wanted my character to be seen.  I forgot about his comments until recently and only focused on the dissecting. Today I hear his voice, the voice of encouragement. 

That’s the difference between a critic and a mentor.  A critic tears down and dissects only focusing on the individual work.  A mentor also looks closely but encourages the artist.  Mentors can be tough, but their feedback comes from a personal place that wants the artist to succeed.  They want the novel, or story, or song to be completed because they are invested in the art AND the artist.

Today I coach many people both here in the US and abroad to tell and write stories.  As a story coach I understand that my focus is on the artist and not the individual story.  As I focus on the artist, the story gets better and better, but more importantly, so does the artist.

“Everybody’s an artist.” 

A couple decades ago that popular sentiment began to take root on American campuses.  I’m not sure when I first heard it, but it quickly ignited like a spark on dry prairie grass, and before long the idea evolved into a fact that was dangerous to challenge.   I had a problem though, because I knew that this novel idea, this trendy fact, was not true.  I knew it wasn’t true because I wasn’t an artist.

Don’t get me wrong.  I wanted to be an artist, but the art stayed in my fantasies and didn’t see the light of day.  When I tried to talk about it that three word phrase would just be flung back at me.  “Everybody’s an artist.”  If I tried to argue the point, words like low self-esteem or elitism would find its way into the discussion.  I eventually stop talking about it and just got more frustrated. 

My frustration however did not stop me.  My art form is prose and years would pass without any real accomplishments.  The stories were inside me and I decided to keep pushing. When my pen went dry, I began to create oral stories. It took a while, but I found my voice and kept going.  I am first a storyteller and then a writer.  Today I can say without any hesitation “I am an artist: a storyteller and a writer, but I haven’t always been an artist.”

Over the years I’ve learned that we all have the potential to explore concepts and ideas and turn our discoveries into art.  We all have the potential, but that does not make us artists any more than having the ability to move, makes us athletes.  Potential without action is really just an unfulfilled dream.  Those of us who are artists know that it takes work, courage, and support.

When I do storytelling performances for adults or do motivational speaking I’m often approached by audience members and asked how I got started.  People tell me about stories they want to tell or write.  Some folks tell me about songs they want to compose or an animation projected they’d like to try.  Most of these conversations end with the question, “How do I turn my ideas into art?” 

Here’s my answer. 

How to act on your artistic potential and become an artist.

1.  Buy the Paint. You can’t paint the picture if you don’t have the paint.  You can’t play your music if you don’t have an instrument. You can’t be a writer if you don’t have a pen or computer.  Get the tools you need to create your art.

2.  Create Something.  You’ve got to start somewhere, so just start. Get something down, make the first move.  Nothing will progress until you begin.

3.   Get Support. Be choosey, not everybody is supportive.  At this point you don’t need a critic; you need supportive people to encourage you.

4.  Seek out Teachers. Look for workshops, classes, books and teachers to allow you to improve your skills.

5.  Look for a Mentor. A mentor or coach may be a teacher, a sponsor, or a fellow artist.  Mentors will give support along with guidance and constructive criticism.  (Thoughtless or self-serving critics are very destructive.)

6. Keep Creating. Some of your work will be good, some not so good.  Just keep going.

7. Hang out with other Artists. Productive artists are inspirational.  Go to art events, storytelling shows, dance and music concerts, and art happenings of all kinds.

8. Don’t Stop.  There will always be bumps in the road, short-stops and false-starts, but if you’ve done 1-7 the final step will always be to continue. 

We all have artistic potential and when it’s acknowledged other aspects of our lives will be enriched.  The artist within us takes on many forms and may choose from many different mediums, but to become an artist we all must act on our potential.

So you might wonder, just what is a ghost writer?  Is it a poltergeist that causes letters to stick on your keyboard and slow you down when you’re ready to write the next Pulitzer Prize winning novel?  Or is it a phantom spirit that writes brilliant prose that you occasionally find in your computer files which you have no memory of writing?

No, those spooky manifestations may haunt your office and leave impressions in your data banks, but they are not Ghost Writers.

Ghost writers are flesh and blood human beings who help others turn their thoughts and experiences into literature.  Unfortunately the term ‘Ghost Writer’ has taken on new meaning in today’s internet age, some of those definitions can be scary.

A few years ago I was approached to do a writing job.  I agreed to turn over the copyright upon completion, but I didn’t know the job was a “ghost writing” gig.  I did quite a bit of research and created an original work reflecting many of my own thoughts.  A few months after I finished the project I received an email from my client asking me pages of questions.  I answered them, although many of the questions seemed simplistic and had been answered in the written content.  I later discovered that my client had placed his name on the content and was speaking as an expert.  The questions I had answered had come from an audience, and he needed to know how to answer them.  

Wow.  My innocence was lost, but my eyes were open.  There are many ‘experts’ who simply are not experts.  They set up websites and speaking tours sometimes ignorant of the topics they claim to be proficient in.  I do not consider these ghost writing jobs, and do not except them when they are offered.  These guys are just plain scary!

But if you look at my website, you will discover that I have and do take on ghost writing jobs.  Actually, real ghost writing jobs are great.  I define ghost writing as partnering with someone who wants to tell his or her story or put down his or her own original idea or process.  I work one-on-one with clients, first hearing their voice and understanding their story or idea.  Then I search for the right structure and turn these thoughts into written content. 

A ghost writer is more than a stenographer or editor.  A ghost writer is above all a storyteller and a writer.  The ideas need to be turned into prose.  Facts, dates, names, and places need to be confirmed and verified.  Concepts or events which are murky need to explained, and a good ghost will gently challenge their client if something doesn’t make sense. 

And then…..a good ghost disappears.  After all a ghost writer writes somebody else’s story or idea.  Professional ghosts offer legal contracts and agree not to divulge their client’s identity.  Some ghosts however, are totally invisible.  Many authors will list their ghosts as collaborators, editors, or assistants, but their names sit comfortable in the shadow of the Authors name.

Many folks seek out ghost writers to give them structure and keep them on task.  Collaboration often makes their words more powerful and provide a little distant that many individuals cannot find when they try to write in isolation.

I love ghosting if the author has a unique story or original and compelling ideas.  I feel a bit like a doula (labor coach) or midwife, helping with a special sort of birth.  And just like a good birth attendant, when the labor is finished, I step away and let the parent enjoy their precious new bundle.

f you have to work, try to shorten your day. Viruses are detrimental to effectiveness, so if you must go into work, only do the urgent tasks then go home and rest. (It's tough to do voice over work when I'm sneezing).

Be honest with your clients, but don’t overdo it.  Most people will be flexible with schedules in case of illness, but don’t push it.  If you are dealing with a chronic condition, find someone to carry some of your work load. 

When you’re not at work, work at getting better. A body can only take so much abuse.  If you insist on working, make sure to insist on going to bed and seeing a doctor when you are not working.