Succulent Writing

Some people are deterred from writing about their lives because they feel more comfortable with a paintbrush than a pencil. SARK* is the poster child for such people, showing how to combine a few words with compelling images that enhance the message. I refer you to books by SARK and her Planet SARK website for examples of another way to express yourself. Click on the image of her latest book (to be released in April) to explore the wonders of her way with words and art. Even those of us who are artistically challenged can benefit from SARK's succulent views on life.

She breaks all the rules about typing and formatting in an extraordinary, unique, hand-written way. I’d never advise anyone to copy SARK's specific style, but I urgently suggest that you emulate her general approach. Her work spills directly from her heart and passion as it colorfully splashes onto the page. Unless you have the gift of drawing or painting, you’ll likely confine your efforts to colorful words, but hopefully they will come straight from your heart and your passion for life.

Should SARK’s example inspire you to experiment with embellishing hand-written sagas with your own art, turn to your scanner to electronically consolidate your output. Combining your scanned images into a PDF document (think Adobe Acrobat Reader) allows you to print all the pages at once, and/or share them as an e-book via CD or downloads.

The high-ticket way to do this is to purchase a copy of Adobe Acrobat (standard or professional, not the free Acrobat Reader). Most individuals will find Adobe's prices prohibitive. Fortunately there is an affordable alternative: The Pdf995 Suite. You can download and use this full-featured suite of pdf creation tools for free, without any time limit. If you want to avoid pop-up ads for their other products, you can purchase a key for a mere $9.99. I definitely recommend key purchase as a gesture of support for those who make such powerful software available at no charge.

With either of these programs, you can incorporate dozens or hundreds of pages of text and/or graphics into a single PDF document, suitable for sending to a Print-On-Demand (POD) publisher such as Lulu, or sharing as an easily viewable e-book.

I’m about to grab my Crayolas™ and some paper and try a little SARKish succulent writing. Will you join me?

Write on,

Sharon Lippincott, aka Ritergal

* It took some digging, but I discovered that SARK, the name this creativity maven always uses, is derived from Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy. Truthfully, I like the ring of SARK better than simply Susan, but remember, I'm partial to my own chosen moniker of Ritergal.