No Formula Is a Formula.

When I taught college, I used something as a touchstone to ground a student, himself and herself. The touchstone was a word ("organon") that connected the present tool in academics/problem solving to something they cold relate to. It was informally a "tool belt." The liberal arts requirement course would not onle provide a means to organize problems develop study skills, thinking skills, "executive" thinking skills (the bigger picture.) The lucidity of studies more and more for an effective way to learn, use the tools w/ enough frequency that they become comfortable. In following lectures I would say at strategic times, "add this to your organon, your tool belt."

The beauty of this was a structure that cannot be surpassed. That is you cannot experience the idea of using the tools kept sharp is advantageous, (The axe fells the tree much more easily when kept sharp.) w/ its feeling of comfort and familiarity to tackle a problem productively. Although I had read several self-help books on study techniques and thinking skills development, I had studied for twenty-five years of my life having never had a formal workshop/opportunity to learn the standard. Finally the opportunity showed its time, and I took it. When it came time to finish graduate school I was prepared w/ a little more keeness on the subject, say. I also started to gain on my own tool belt tools to develop creativity, even more so to break the myths on the creativity projects I was headed forward (music, art, writing, even research in mathematics (good for sci-fi material!). The time came to what had I in front of me as a "to-do" list was a novel, sociofictional (records of a climber for about six years). I wanted to best replicate the situations, giving a sense of a party of sorts, climbers being a subgroup of the general demographics. One could climb somewhere in the eastern U.S. and later find a few familiar places the next Memorial Day weekend. Like the French said in the mid-eighties visiting, putting up the first U.S. 5.14 grade, pushing the envelop. "It is a small place w/ a lot of small people." The tool I apply at the statement was a reassurance of the concept of the world we live in. It is small when on a plane and spaceship, a rocket. It is big again when it is a perspective of a cyclist and hiker!

I claim that not choosing is a choice. Similarly no formula is a choice amongst choices/other formulas. I made a conscious decision to collect ideas by day, "index cards mind," and by night write. Then patterns came up, developing technique. The cards and comments/ideas had their life in the first manuscript. I used them when mostly stumped at an obstruction to direct the manuscript. You see I was building a structure to my writing however much it looked like chaos. I was struck by a damaged sector in a back-up file having to reconstruct the first third or so. It was a signal to do something differently. I promised I would more back-up files, I would look for continuity of the thread, would glue the thoughts/ideas together making comfortable reading and still be entertaining. Never stop to grow.

So the first manuscript is done. Now what? Okay I wrote my first book, ... yea? And? I could easily have said as a thought exercise, "Move on." Like you did w/ climbing, hit my ceiling w/ what I climbed as considered world class, soloing on 5.12 granite in the mid-eighties and go looking for other adventures. I had achieved efficacy, the ability to achieve what I am going after. I recently saw footage of a climber, top-world class, soloing 12s and capping it off w/ a roped 13. This is the present remember, not nearly thirty years ago during my time to "give what's mine." W/ climbing I left and moved on; work, further studies, teaching college, making my environment better. I could not stop exercising, so cycling, running, masters swim, yoga fit the bill. Achieve the goals, find happiness on the path, do no harm. I decided given two choices, take the third. So I continued to write. I had say, learned a formula of sorts, very open-ended, liberal, organic, a retraining of the brain mind you, choosing to develop my skills already in gear, that is a second book was on th eproject list. Well, if frequency is a measure, the first book has become consequently w/ and w/out index cards a list of 45 manuscripts and a handful of starts of rough drafts. This includes twelve volumes of 20 new compositions ea. volume, 240 total for that project. And the business, consultation, book cover designs, numerous other skills, and the entrepreneurship skills have increased.

Bottom line? Take what you want. Leave the rest. Rock on!!!

T.E. McCormick