Some December Reflections for Ye Olde Blogg

It's now the last month of 2018 and between the parties and trips to the movie theater (there are so many great films out right now!) I find myself reflecting on my first year of working as a freelancer.

Part of the reason I switched to freelancing was because I hoped it would be a way to push myself and to deepen my experience. While there have been ups and down, I can confidently say that I am exiting this year with far more knowledge than I entered it with. I've learned a tremendous amount about my field and I've also gotten to do research on a number of different topics and industries. I even took on projects outside my comfort zone. (Would you believe it if I told you I recorded voiceovers for one of my clients? I did! And it was kind of fun.)

Freelancing forces me to sell myself in a way I haven't always been comfortable doing. Sure, I know I'm a great writer, but telling people why and what I can do for them? That can make me feel a little squirmy. But, I'm improving!

Another unexpected result of this year has been my discovery of my comedic voice. Sure, I was always a bit of a smarty pants on Slack, typing jokes for the lols. But I never thought much about it. Then, at the beginning of the year, I learned about Medium, a platform for writers and readers to connect. Freelancers are often advised to try and build an audience on Medium, as it can amplify their voices and create opportunities.

So, I resolved to start an account.

What I didn't expect was that I'd end up writing satire. That was never my intent. I thought I'd write helpful articles about copywriting and freelancing, etc. Instead, what came out, and what my readers seemed drawn to, were my humorous pieces. It turns out, there's also a very active group of users dedicated to writing comedy on the site. Getting to know them on Medium and on Twitter has been way cooler than I could have imagined.

At the same time my follower count was growing, I wondered whether my satirical articles might hurt my freelancing career. I questioned whether to feature them on my portfolio, or even my website. Perhaps potential clients would be scared off by my excessive use of sarcasm and inclination to make up funny words? In truth, that hasn't been my experience. I've had clients tell me they read my articles on Medium and it was actually the content of those articles that sold them on me. I wouldn't have expected that! But it turns out way more people are weirdos than I could have imagined.

When you make the choice to freelance, a lot of people will tell you the key to making lots of cash is to specialize. I struggle with this advice because I find so many different things fascinating. Eventually I will need to narrow my offerings and choose the area in which I want to specialize. But, at the moment, I'm really enjoying exploring lots of different things. I'm still making dances and I even create designs for my clients and illustrations for my Redbubble shop.

I asked Mike if he were to find a common thread between all the projects I take on, what would that thread be? He thought about it for a moment, then came back with, "Whimsy gilded in darkness." I'm glad I married someone so articulate. And I like the idea of whimsy gilded in darkness. Sure, I can write in all kinds of different voices and I enjoy creating work on many different themes. But whimsy coated in darkness feels essential, like it gets to the root of who I am. So, we'll stick with that for now and see where it grows in 2019.

Thanks for reading and please have a wonderful holiday season.

Status Update

Hi there! A number of things have changed in my life recently, so this seems like a good place for a bit of a status update. (Also, a good way to prove that I do still blog from time to time.) 😜

A few months ago I left a job I'd been at for six years. It wasn't a bad job at all. I learned a lot while I was there, the people were funny and kind, and I had the opportunity to really hone my content creation skills.

So why did I quit my job?

I wanted to accelerate my learning. Freelancing allows me to work for a variety of different clients within a bunch of different industries, which means that I'm absorbing new information on a daily basis. I'm also forced to step up and promote myself in ways that are uncomfortable, but important for growth. Have I become smarter in the last few months? Am I able to offer more value? Without hesitation, my answer would be "yes".

Ultimately, I came to a point where I could step out on a limb and choose to build something really challenging and invigorating, or I could stay where I was comfortable. I'm going to try the challenging and invigorating thing for a little while. 😉

So, what have I been doing exactly? A number of different things. I'm helping clients grow their social media followings. I'm rewriting websites. I'm crafting articles. I'm helping create more SEO-friendly product descriptions and I'm designing infographics and business cards. All stuff that I'm really passionate about. If you'd like more info on my services and experience, check out my portfolio HERE!

I've also started writing on Medium HERE, which has been an awesome experience. It's become an outlet for my satirical tendencies and I'm honored to have had my work featured in some pretty cool publications. I try to write new content 2-4 times a week, so there's a lot to look at (warning, if you have an allergy to sarcasm or the occasional swear word, this might not be your thing).

Normally I do a blog post of my best movies of the year. I haven't gotten around to it yet, but it isn't because I'm lazy or because I've forgotten. I'm actually still catching up on films from 2017. The Lofgies will happen! I just need to make a few more trips to Scarecrow Video before I settle on which movies were my favorites.

If you made it this far in the entry, I'll go ahead and let you in on a secret. 😳

I haven't "officially" announced this yet, but I've started a RedBubble store. I always wanted a little store of my own where I could share my illustrations with the world, but it was one of those things I never got around to doing. Now I've done it! I'm still adding artwork and fussing around with the products, but, since you're a special blog reader, you can have a sneak peek here: OTTER GROTTO.

They're really just silly, fun little sketches, but if anything connects with you personally, it would mean a lot if you liked it on the site or even invited it into your home.

Thanks for reading!

One Second a Day (sort of)

I have a complicated relationship with the one second a day app. You've probably heard about it by now, but, in case you haven't, I'll outline the basic premise for you.

1.) Download app
2.) Take a video every single day
3.) Edit that video down to one second with the app
4.) Compile into longer videos that encompass a month/year/more

The idea is that by filming one second of footage every day you can create a comprehensive memory of your whole entire life.

Last year, about a year ago, I gave this a whirl. However, there's something about this little project that makes it different from the other photo/video apps out there. When you're posting stuff on instagram, it's easy to come and go, uploading only the images that represent the ideal life that you want everyone to see. It's a lot easier to pretend that you're perfect and amazing when you only post once a week. Or once a month. When you have to contribute one second of video every single day it can get a little.... mundane? Yes. Mundane. Because too many of my days look like this:

1.) Wake up and check out massive bed-head
2.) Stumble through morning routine in a half-awake daze
3.) Go to work
4.) Work
5.) Do laundry
6.) Make dinner
7.) Play Mario Kart
8.) Feel bad for not writing or dancing
9.) Sleep

Repeat.

This does not make for enthralling video. Even when I only need one second. And, though it's normal not to have firecrackers and cake every single day, when you're faced with finding something interesting.... it can get challenging. I can get a bit down.

But it isn't bad that every single day isn't amazing. As an introvert, I don't think I could handle it. Portions of those days are amazing, but it's all stuff inside my head, which doesn't translate well into video. Sometimes I need to be boring so there's room for the ideas to sprout.

Last time I just quietly stopped using the app. Because maybe it isn't for me.

But, now I'm doing it again. Because maybe I don't need this to be the instagram version of my life. Maybe this can be the actual version of my life. Warts and all. Laundry and all. I have enough idealized, glossy images that show me being amazing. I have the things that I create, which are filled with color and excitement. This time I can loosen up a bit. Show the truth. My experience. It isn't always exciting. And that's okay.

Crossroads

It's a potent word, isn't it? "Crossroads." Brings to mind an image of a lone man (or woman) paused at the intersection of Robert Frost's infamous two roads, trying to decide which one to follow. When I was nine years old, I had to make a decision whether to enroll in dance or synchronized swimming. As you've probably figured out, I went with dance. Sometimes I wonder how drastically different my life would have turned out if I made a different choice. Not that I regret my decision, but... it's interesting to wonder.

If you can believe it, I think that Choose Your Own Adventure books conditioned me early on to believe that decisions come in one particular flavor. Remember those books? You'd read one chapter, then, at the end of the chapter, you'd have to decide whether to a) explore the scary house in the woods or b) go home and read. Sometimes the choices were clear and obvious, with the wrong answer ending in a gruesome death scene. Other times it wasn't so easy and the only way to avoid getting disemboweled was to cheat.

These days I face many of my decisions with the same intensity that I used when reading those books. Clearly, there can only be one right answer and one wrong answer. I must follow the correct thread of fate, otherwise I'll find myself dangling from the neck above a curious crowd of onlookers. Sure, this intensity can be helpful when making big life decisions but, when making smaller decisions, such as where to eat lunch, it can be overkill.

See, that's the thing. It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking that there's always a clear right choice and a clear wrong choice. If one choice is true, than the other is false. Good and bad. As if life is a mathematical equation that we're all trying to get right.

The most effective thinkers, the ones who are able to build truly exciting lives for themselves, are the ones who are able to see beyond a) and b). Because there isn't always a choice that will kill you and a choice that will let you live. Sometimes there are eight million different choices and it isn't as much a matter of choosing between them as it is of molding a new answer for yourself.

This is why arts education is so vitally important to our society. Creating art isn't about finding one correct answer, it's about learning to build new answers in order to create a completely unique conclusion. How often do kids get to do this in a traditional school setting, as opposed to searching out, identifying and remembering one answer? The arts introduce a completely different way of learning, one that is going to be much more valuable to employers in the long run. Do you want the employee who is going to memorize and quote procedures back to you? Or, do you want the one who will build new solutions to old problems? People who can think creatively, who can make eight million tiny choices at the same time, are the ones who will push the world forward.

If you're reading this blog, you're probably an artist of some sort and the creative process is familiar to you. While writing a novel, you make hundreds of tiny decisions every moment in service of originality. If you choreograph, you probably have the ability to look at a dancer and choose between the hundreds of different movements you could give them to perform at any given time. Photographers, animators, musicians, and designers practice this style of thinking on a daily basis.

But, it isn't always easy. Sometimes it can be crippling (especially if you let yourself think too hard about all the options you're continually discarding). It doesn't come without practice. And yes, sometimes it can go horribly wrong. I don't mean to say that there aren't situations where there is definitely a wrong answer. Running with scissors is a wrong answer. Killing your spouse is a wrong answer. But it's also remarkably freeing to exit the pages of those silly Choose Your Own Adventure books and enter a world of limitless possibility.

I do an exercise with my modern dance students from time to time. One at a time, they each pick a random place in the room to stand, creating a constantly evolving formation with the other dancers in the class. There's always at least one student who freaks out.

"How do I know what to do?" they ask.

"You can do whatever you like."

"But how do I know what is right?"

Today, whatever you choose is right.

How to Write a Novel

I know I've done a number of "how-to" posts over the last few years, each more helpful than the last. However, I've skirted the main issue, the question everyone wants the answer to. The hardest part.

How to Write a Novel.

Everyone has a novel hiding somewhere in their head. Maybe it's just the kernel of an idea hanging out in the thalamus. Maybe it's a bit further along, inching over toward the frontal lobe. Either way, most people will never write their novel. Why? Well, to put it bluntly, they aren't smart enough.

You have to be really, really smart to write a novel. The first thing you should do is go out and get your IQ tested. If you measure up, then there's nothing to worry about. Go forth. Write your novel. I'm sure it will be awesome. Most would say the ideal novel-writing IQ is somewhere in the 144+ range.

But, what if you aren't smart enough? What if you don't fall within the ideal novel-writing IQ range, but you've still got the itch to get that idea out?

Well, then this blog is for you.

The first thing you'll want to do is create the perception that you're a smart, writerly type. Consider bringing a pipe with you everywhere and, whenever you want to be taken seriously, pull it out of your pocket and give it a couple puffs. It's best if you keep the pipe in the inside pocket of a tweedy, ill-fitting blazer. No one ever questions the intelligence of a pipe-smoker (so long as it is the right kind of pipe). Make sure that in all your photographs you're holding the pipe up to your mouth and preferably wearing a pair of dorky glasses. If you do this, you'll find that slowly your image starts to shift from "that weirdo in the corner" to "Writer Guy (or Girl)". It worked for me.

Appropriate topics of conversation:
Agents
Procrastination
The Hobbit
Rare Coffee Blends
Blogging

Inappropriate topics of conversation:
Sports
Writers' Block
Batman
Frozen Pizzas
Tetris

Next you'll want a sweet writing machine. Portability is super important, because you want to make sure that you can take your sweet writing machine out in public where everyone can see you writing. Another benefit to this is that you can also make snide twitter updates about the strangers surrounding you, which is a very important part of the writing process. I recommend finding a writing machine in an exciting color, because it will help you seem quirky and unique. You don't want to blend in with all the peons at the coffee shop who are doing real work. Load up on fancy software. These days it seems like everyone is offering some kind of program to help you process words better. Buy them all! This is an important step in becoming a Real Writer who has actually Written Things. If you can find a few stickers with writing puns that you can stick on your sweet writing machine, that will give you additional writing cred.

Eventually, if you keep this up long enough, you'll have a novel. Or, at least you'll seem quite writerly.

*pulls pipe out of pocket*

*takes a puff*

Good luck, my friend.

I Am Batman

My husband thinks it's hilarious when I assert that I am Batman. After all, I'm just a girl. I'm just a writer and a dancer - someone who makes pretty things. I don't have awesome, flying fists of fury (or do it?).

Still, I'm Batman. I have to be.

Let's go back about... 13 years. (Man, I'm old). 13 years ago there was a young, idealistic dancer who believed that she was on her way to, not only a professional dance career, but possibly lots of money, fame and fortune. Sure, money, fame and fortune are not the normal rewards of a dance career, but this dancer truly believed that she was special. She was going to be the exception.

In her first year of university, this dancer got cast in multiple "high profile" dances. In her head, this only validated her awesomeness. All her friends were so impressed! It was going to be great!

But, the rehearsal process ended up being harder than anything she'd ever undergone. Every night her body screamed, aching and seizing up horribly. She was always a little behind the other dancers, who were more experienced than she was. She couldn't seem to get anything right. Every triumph was followed by ten struggles. Every day, more rehearsals were scheduled. Three quarters of the way through the process, she injured her back. It hurt all the time, but she kept going.

She kept going because, not only did she have the ingrown sense of masochism so many dancers possess, but because she really believed in the dances she was doing. She knew they were complex and meaningful - richer than anything she'd ever been a part of. They were beautiful, and she was willing to wreck her body in order to be a part of that beauty.

But, she wasn't Batman, yet.

Eventually, performance week arrived. The young dancer gave it everything she had. She danced to the best of her ability and beyond. She probably would have given a limb, or at least a finger, for those dances. She knew that all her experience and hard work had led her to that point.

And.... everyone loved her! Her friends and family were so impressed. Finally, she'd done it! She'd lived up to her potential!

The next week, she was sitting at lunch with a few people she didn't know well. Expecting more praise, she asked them what they'd though of the show. They said it was okay for the most part, but them they started trashing her dances. Her dances. She wasn't sure whether or not they were aware that she was in those particular dances, but their comments were brutal. They were mean. They were downright evil, but, if you squinted and looked at it from a different perspective, they might have been legitimate.

It hurt. It undermined all the work, all the pain, all the strain, and even the tears. How could they? How could they casually disregard all of her effort? All her years of work to get to that point? She'd bled for their pleasure, after all!

Why dance, if she wasn't going to be respected? Why perform, if people wouldn't understand? What if she was just a sideshow, or a diversion? Wasn't she worth more than that?

But, even though she didn't always know why, she kept dancing. She kept putting herself out there, even though she knew people wouldn't always get it. She'd look like a fool sometimes. Heck, she'd be a fool sometimes.

That was the beginning. That's when I started to be Batman.

Don't bleed so that people will love you. There's not enough blood and there will never be enough people. That's not to say that you shouldn't bleed - just be a little wiser in where you spend it. People will hate you. Even worse, they'll be indifferent. And it will hurt more every time. And sometimes the hardest thing in the world is to keep going. Keep fighting.

I'm still fighting.

That's why I'm Batman. For now.

That's why all writers who keep writing, despite the growing pile of rejections, are Batman. That's why bad reviews shouldn't matter, at least, not in the break-your-spirit kind of way. There will always, always be bad reviews - some eloquently stated, others unfair. That's the cost of doing what you love. That's why you gotta be Batman. Learn what you can and move on. Write. Dance. Grow. Take the punches. Maybe you win and maybe you lose. Doesn't matter. Be Batman.

Motivation

It takes a lot of fortitude and self-discipline to write a novel. Especially for writers, who tend to be even more prone than most to daydreams and tangential thinking. Once I'm into my story, nothing can tear me out, but sometimes getting into it, actually sitting down and opening the document, can take some additional motivation.

I found after experimenting with lots of strange dieting techniques that I'm not really motivated by rewards. Promising myself a Ben & Jerry's if I eat well for the rest of the week isn't good for much except causing me to fixate on Ben & Jerry's. So, playing games with my brain like "write 1000 words and you can do a google image search for kitten memes" doesn't really work.

No, the best motivation is a stern lecture.

"Sarah," I say, "You can sit down and write something, or you can engage in the online death cycle of facebook - twitter - email - facebook. One of these things will make you a writer. The other won't. Oh, and in case you'd forgotten, EVERY MOMENT THAT YOU'RE CLICKING ON AN AMUSING LINK TO TUMBLR IS ANOTHER MOMENT CLOSER TO YOUR DEATH."

P.S. Sloths!

 What about you? What do you say when you're giving yourself a pep talk? What kinds of motivation work best for you?

Creativity vs. Originality

Lately I've been putting a lot of thought into the difference between creativity and originality.

Creative people tend to have a certain intelligence with the way they approach art (and life). They know how to look at it, how to solve problems, how to develop an idea, how to find patterns and inspiration between disparate sources, how to change perspective, and how to fit things together in a logical fashion. Often, they also have the drive and impulse to create art.

Originality can be an aspect of that, but I would argue that many people are creative without being original. Some people are also original, without ever honing their artistic skills. Originality is that way of looking at the world with unique eyes, of finding words no one else would ever think to use. It involves ideas that seem to come out of nowhere - random and powerful like lightening. Maybe that's why originality occasionally disguises itself as craziness or eccentricity.

So, here's my question, from the perspective of a creative person who would like to be more original: do you think originality is a skill that can be developed, or is it innate? If it can be developed, how would you go about increasing your own originality? Or do you believe that originality is a sham and is no one truly original?

Could you be protecting your characters without knowing it?

I've always thought I was a bit of a hard-ass when it came to writing. Some writers hate putting their characters through hell. I laughed at those writers and happily thrust my characters in the middle of hurricanes, slaughtering them right and left, hacking off limbs and destroying sanity. The ones who made it to the end were the lucky and the few. Even then, their cost was high. Life is bleak. So is fiction.

But, it turns out, I'm not as much of a hard-ass as I thought. Because, despite the high levels of pain I was putting my characters through, I was still protecting them. I was protecting them from the one torment I find more horrifying and more devastating than all others.

Embarrassment.

Never once did I allow my characters to be truly humiliated or embarrassed by their own actions. Why? Because I was afraid they might embarrass me. And that was not okay.

I'm working on correcting this... and I think I've made great strides in my latest novel (parts of which make me blush with embarrassment), but I've still got a long ways to go.

What about you? Do you have a hard time humiliating your characters, or does it come easily to you? What do you find most personally embarrassing?

How to come up with an idea.

Sometimes it feels as if ideas are beautiful, tropical fish that can only be caught in the most rare of locations or with the most expensive of bait. Only the special people get to catch them. Everybody else has to make due with trout or carp.

When I'm feeling blocked or uninspired, I like to turn to a man with no shortage of awesome, mind-blowing, crazy ideas.

"Love is the answer to everything. It's the only reason to do anything. If you don't write stories you love, you'll never make it." - Ray Bradbury

It's true. There's a lot of pressure out there to conform to trends, but the wise people, the smart people, know that the only way to ultimately succeed is to follow your own interests and your own passions. (Of course this depends on your definition of success). Don't read that an agent is looking for middle grade mysteries and whip up a middle grade mystery if you have no interest in doing so. Write the book that is on your heart. Look to the things in your life that you are passionate about. Write about those things. Maybe it's aliens. Maybe it's love affairs. Maybe it's questions of fate vs. free will. Maybe it's cheese. Doesn't matter. Write about those things. Think about what you love and why you love it, then share.

"We are cups, constantly and quietly being filled. The trick is knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out." - Ray Bradbury

Very true, though I would add to this that sometimes we need to let the nasty stuff out as well. As a child Charlotte Bronte went to a school very much like the Lowood School described in her novel. She lost two of her sisters to tuberculosis there. Obviously it was an experience that haunted and enraged her, as she chose to include it in her book. I remember reading those chapters and feeling indignation and horror for the children there, due the vividness of the description. What are the moments in your life, the emotions, that won't let go of you? The good and the bad, the ugly and the beautiful. Write about those things! Find the truth in them. Even if you have to twist them beyond recognition, at least it's a place to start.

"You've got to jump off cliffs and build your wings on the way down." - Ray Bradbury

Don't write safe books. Don't write books that already exist. Don't coddle your characters or shy away from dangerous ground. Don't be afraid of your own ideas or feeling like a fool. Just jump.

"Quantity produces quality. If you only write a few things, you're doomed." - Ray Bradbury

I think this might be the most valid advice of all. The best way to get ideas? Write. Don't wait for the ideas to land on your shoulder or swim into your net. Chase those buggers. Chase them down! The more you write, the faster the ideas will come. Could take years. Could take hours. Just start.

Thanks, Ray. :)

In appreciation of lovely, wonderful words

I've been having a lot of discussions and reading a lot of articles on pronunciation lately. There are some words I tend to forget how to pronounce continuously. For example: Misogynistic. Maybe it's just me, but that word is horrendous to pronounce. Any word that starts with a vowel and is followed by an x or double c is pretty tricky as well. Accent. I have to cough a little bit to make the double c come out right and it makes me sound like a kitten choking on a hairball.

The thing is, people can be pretty militant about pronunciation. Foliage should be pronounced Foe-lee-a-ige and if you (heaven forbid!) pronounce it Foe-lidg, you might find yourself the victim of extreme ridicule. Believe me. I've been there.

But this entry isn't to complain about words that are difficult to pronounce, or to spark Toe-may-toe/Toe-mah-toe debates. No, this entry exists to celebrate those words that are wonderful, the ones that are an absolute joy to pronounce.

Here are a few:

Ominous - I've always adored this word. It rolls off the tongue like melted butter. Similarly, I also adore Omnibus, though I have less chances to use it.

Shirk - Yes, I've been shirking my blogging duties lately, but mostly in the interest of having an excuse to use the word shirk in a context that would seem relevant and natural.

Espresso - Ah, what a lovely break the word espresso is from all those xs and double cs. You can even hiss a little bit as you say it. If the weather is cold, a little puff of steam might emerge from your lips. "Why don't you and I pick up an essssspresso?"

Tumultuous - Has there ever been a word that sounds so much like what it describes? Whenever I hear this word, I can see the storm clouds churning.


Your turn. Have any favorites?

How Not to Format Your Manuscript

So, you've finally finished your masterpiece and are ready to mail it out to every agent in the universe. But, first you have to make certain it's as beautiful and professional-looking as you can possibly make it. A knowledge of basic formatting can give your story the extra zip it needs.

Take another look at the paragraph above. Don't read the words. Just look at it. A little boring, isn't it?

How about we tweak it a little bit?

So... you've finally finished your MASTERPIECE and are ready to mail it out to every agent in the universe!!! But, first you have to make certain it's as beautiful and professional-looking as you can possibly make it. A knowledge of "basic formatting" can give your story the extra zip it needs. :)

Isn't that much more interesting? The human eye gets bored looking at things that are the same size or color for too long. Adding different font sizes, colors and formats will ensure that the people reading your story won't lose interest. Plus, it means you don't have to commit to one type of font. Serif? Sans serif? Who cares? Use them all!

Next you have to ask yourself a very important question. Is your story too long? If your story is too long, an agent won't even read it or give it the change it so richly deserves. Fortunately, you can overcome this prejudice toward long stories by lying. In your query, make up an acceptable word count much lower than your novel's actual word count. Then, through the magic of formatting, you can make your book appear much shorter.

1.) Margins. You don't need them. Erasing all margins means that your page count will wind up much lower.

2.) Font size. The obvious advice is to lower your font size. However, did you realize that some fonts take up less room than others? Times New Roman is significantly narrower than Arial. You can cheat it even further by adjusting the kerning (squeezing the letters closer together).

3.) Do not send a Word document. Word documents immediately reveal true word count. All your work could be for nothing if an agent looks down and sees the true word count. Instead, send the pages as jpgs or tiffs. No one will ever know!

Sometimes an agent will complain about characterization or world-building. They have this need to understand every element of a story. As annoying as this is, it's important to anticipate. I recommend drawing sketches based on your novel. Then, when the agent complains that they didn't understand your characters or that the world-building seemed poorly developed, you can send them a picture. Take that, agents!

^This is a picture of my main character. Pretty, isn't she?

Finally, don't underestimate the power of subliminal messaging. There are many ways you can go about this... (inserting dollar $ign$ in place of letter$, highlighting words like publish and fame, or mailing naked photos of yourself to the agent in question).

Good luck, my friends! Go out and format something!

What it is.

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately. Ninety-five percent of it is in regards to this weird bruise I've had on my leg for the last month that won't stop hurting. That's unusual, right? Having the same bruise for a month? I don't even remember hitting myself or running into anything. Granted, I run into things all the time (dancers are clumsy), but I think I'd remember injuring myself to this extent. Wherefore art thou, bruise? A bruise by any other name would still smell as sweet... Ack. There goes my train of thought again.

Anyhoo, the other five percent of my brain that isn't currently obsessing over weird bruises is thinking about what it means to love something. I hear about people loving things a lot in my line of work. I can't tell you how many of my students have boldly and passionately declared their love of dance. They love it so much they can barely express it. They'll never love anything else as much. All they want to do, or think about doing, is dance.

The first time I heard the spiel, I got really excited. I expected great things from these students who so passionately expressed their love of dance. I expected them to have perfect attendance. I expected them to apply critiques and grow quickly. I expected them to stand first in line, to show up on time and to perform with emotion.

But, often I was disappointed. Not always, but a lot of the time. They were late to class, or didn't show up at all. They were more interested in gossip than learning new choreography. Sometimes they quit. And, I blamed myself. They loved dance so much, but I didn't make it exciting enough for them. I didn't encourage them, or give them enough attention or feedback. Clearly, it was my fault. I destroyed their love.

Except, there were other students. Students who showed up on time, who worked hard, who didn't quit, who were willing to try something over and over again until they got it right. They didn't talk a lot, but they paid close attention to everything I said. When the studios were empty, they snuck in and started practicing on their own. Year after year, they continued to show up, even when they had other, more exciting things they could have been doing.

And I realized. Love isn't words. Love isn't emotions, or passion, or excitement, or grand proclamation. Yes, sometimes it starts there, but in the end it is something much less romantic. Much less glamorous.

Love is work.

Love is showing up, even when it's hard. It's perseverance. It's working when you're exhausted and forcing yourself to give it just one more try. And one more try after that. It exists in the absence of glory, the absence of fireworks. The absence of praise. It's a series of actions, not an emotion. It's a choice.

You can be entranced by the idea of dance, but that isn't love. The idea of writing can capture your imagination, but that isn't love. Love is the toil and the grind. The steps that get us closer to our goal. It's sitting down in your chair and opening a word document. It's the most boring, common, beautiful, rare thing I've ever seen.

So, yeah. Sorry for the cheesiness, but it's what I needed to write today. Keep being awesome.

Road Trip Wednesday #101: Your #1 Reason for Writing

Wow, this is kind of a big question. I don't know if I'll be able to answer it in the fifteen minutes I have available to write this blog entry. All the same, I'll give it a whirl.

I suspect my reason isn't so different from anyone else's. This is the way my mind works. It spins stories up until the moment I fall asleep at night. As I go through my day, little things jump out at me and scream, "Me! Use me in your story! I could be good!" When I talk with people I wonder about their histories and what pivotal moments might have brought them to their current point. Sometimes I devise histories for them. When I was a kid, if I wasn't writing plays or directing my friends in elaborate games of make-believe, then I wasn't happy. I gobble up stories in the form of books, dances, music, and art and my brain churns them into each other and spits them out into something new. Much of the time I don't even realize I'm doing it, until a morsel of an idea emerges and we're off to the races again.

The truth is: I'm full to bursting with stories and if I don't get some of them out, then I start to go crazy.

And crazy me isn't a pretty thing.

What Makes a Good Leader?

I've been thinking a lot lately about leaders as portrayed in literature and film. This has brought me to the realization that some of my favorite characters are those in leadership roles. When a character is responsible for the well-being of others, it brings so many elements of drama and tension into the story. Everything has a greater cost and that can emerge in fascinating ways.

One of my all time favorite characters is Mal Reynolds from the short-lived television show "Firefly" and film "Serenity". He's prickly, scarred and sometimes unapproachable. He's gotten used to being in charge and the fact that leaders are responsible for making the choices others might find unbearable. Yet, he's also the one cracking jokes and keeping people's spirits up when things go wrong (as they inevitably do). He has faith in the people he's chosen to surround himself with.

Another example is from Nova Suma's latest novel "Imaginary Girls".

Ruby's an enigmatic character who is often hard to relate to. She seems to have the whole world in her hands, but it isn't until late in the story that we find out there's a weight to such gifts. She's an interesting example of a leader, because in so many ways, she's still just a carefree child. Watching her balance those two sides of her personality is an interesting experience, an example of what can happen when a child leads.

Leaders have to be well-developed. There's something about the act of leading that forces dimension onto characters. The same might be said for people (the ones who aren't written, but actually breathe).

Leadership can be toxic, or it can be healthy. It can be held tightly in the fist, or in a laissez-faire style. It can be chosen, or bestowed. There are those who think of leadership and see only power, without acknowledging the self-sacrifice required to be effective, the long and thankless task before all those in charge.

A quote on leadership from Nelson Mandela: "It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership."

Publilius Syrus: "Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm."

What about you? What have you found to be the most striking examples of leadership in fiction? Or, film and television?

How to come up with your very own high concept concept.

I'm back! (Yay?)

In the meantime - I have a theory. I believe that most high concept work can be summed up by the following process:

1. Take something that is awesome. For example: aliens. Or sharks. Or ninjas. Or ice cream. Or steampunk. Or insects. Or witches.

2. Take something else that is awesome. For example: cowboys. Or assassins. Or ballerinas. Or prisons. Or roadtrips. Or fashion. Or old people.

3. Combine these two elements.

Voila! You have a high concept concept. Maybe it's ninjas on a roadtrip. Maybe it's old people in a war against giant insects. Maybe it's witches trying to work their way into the fashion industry. Maybe it's ballerina assassins. (You can't have that one. It's mine.) Maybe it's cowboys fighting sharks... okay. You can see where I'm going with this.

Obviously Hollywood is onto this formula.

You guys have any good ideas?

How to Tell if Your Character is a Mary Sue

Oh no! You might have done it! Your MC is so interesting, so well-liked and so pretty. But, could she actually be... dun dun dun... you? Here's how to tell:

• Is your character extraordinarily lucky? Does the perfect man show up at her place of employment and immediately fall in love with her over their shared love of cheese fries and mustard? Does a music producer overhear her singing to her little sister at the playground and offer her a contract on the spot? Does Johnny Depp fall in love with her after seeing her facebook profile? Warning... Marysuesville


• Does she achieve her goals with little to no effort? Does she learn kung fu without breaking a sweat, then use it to incapacitate the arch villain? Does she know the exact method for hacking into a super computer, without exhibiting any of those common, pesky, nerd traits? Is she a perfect kisser on her first try? Oh, wait. What's that sign? Entering Marysuesville.


• Is she naively unaware of her own beauty? Is she so drop dead gorgeous that everyone knows it except for her? Do you make sure that your reader is darn aware of how stunning she is? Even when she hasn't showered in a few days? Hmmmm...

*evil chuckle*
Hey, I'm not perfect. I took the Mary Sue Litmus Test and was surprised to get a much higher score than expected. Hopefully the fact that my character is so judgemental and short-tempered will save her from full residency in Marysuesville. That and all the crap I put her through. But, there might be a few aspects of my story for me to examine.
What about you? Have you ever gone about writing a perfectly normal story, just to find that creepy ole Mary Sue snuck her way in? Did you take the test and get a higher score than you thought you would? Or, am I just a bum and the rest of you awesome writers? ;) What other characteristics define a Mary Sue?

Tips for Writing an Ineffective Query Letter

1. Remember in Legally Blonde when Elle Wood printed her application out on pink paper and spritzed it with her personal scent? You should totally do this. It gives your query letter that extra razzle-dazzle to make it stand out from the endless collection of queries agents comb through every day. Of course, in this digital age, many agents only accept email submissions. In this case, you can achieve the same effect by using html formatting in your email to make it really exciting. Animations help. If you can turn your story title into a dancing .gif, you're almost guaranteed a request.

2. It's no good sending a query letter only to have it sit in an agent's inbox for months at a time. You have to make sure that an agent actually opens your email. The way to do this is with creative subject titling. Many sites offering querying advice will tell you to keep it simple, just use the name of your story and the word QUERY, or some other such nonsense. They're wrong. You need something that will really catch the agent's attention. Sometimes this might involve a bit of creative research. For example, if you can find out the name of the agent's beloved cat, then you can send a query with the subject title Your Cat Fluffy Ate All My Rat Poison (Greedy Bastard). A title like this guarantees an agent will open your email the moment it arrives.

3. Of course, all this work does you no good if your actual query letter isn't well-written and interesting.

• It should use vibrant and exciting language (like ZAP, POW and WHAMMY).
• It should explain why you want this particular agent to represent your work (another place where research can be an asset. The more personal, the better).
• It should make your book sound like something that has the potential to sell truckloads (try using the term "more popular than Harry Potter").
• It should sum up your story in enough breadth to make sure the agent understands all the important themes (if you can't accomplish this in a few paragraphs, just attach your whole story for them to read. Agents love attachments).
• It shouldn't take the focus away from the most important element of any good query letter: the author. You need a killer bio that explains your motivations for becoming a writer (money), your education (natural talent) and research (this blog). You also want to personalize your bio. Fun details from your medical history and past romantic relationships can give it extra zing.

4. After sending your query letter, you should hear back with an immediate request. Make sure you clear up any questions you have about future payment before sending your work in. Be careful! You don't want the agent stealing your work. They all secretly wanted to be writers like you, but couldn't come up with good ideas and thus turned to agenting. Putting watermarks on your pages is a good way to protect them.
Now all you have to do is sit back and wait for publication and the inevitable movie deal!

What's Your Revising Process?

I think I'm a bit of an anomaly, in that I love revising. First drafts are painful to slog through, but, the minute I finish my first draft, my heart gets all bouncy and I get annoyingly excited, because I know this is the good part. This is when I'll really get to know my characters, when small things will get shuffled around until they make sense, themes will emerge, and all the little subtleties will start to come through. It's just so... addictive and rewarding! Sure, by the time I've done my 4th revision, I'm not as excited about it, but, for now, it's yaysville.

Here's my process:

1. Buy a binder
2. Print out my draft
3. Buy a hole punch (because I accidentally left mine behind when we moved).
4. Punch holes in the papers
5. Put the papers in the binder
6. Create a reference sheet for every aspect of the story. Each character gets a sheet, where I list their qualities and quirks. I have a sheet for dialect. A sheet mapping out each location. Etc.
7. I skim through my work and write a sheet of general notes that I need to address (Inconsistencies, stuff that needs to be more present throughout the story, etc.)
8. I start revising, one page at a time. When stuff needs to be rewritten, I insert hand-written revisions into the binder. (There are a ton of them for my current project). Something about handwriting them forces me to really pay attention to what I'm writing and connect with it on a physical level. Every time an issue comes up, I add it to the general notes sheet.
9. I use sticky notes to create reminders for myself within the story. Oh, I love sticky notes. Sticky notes make my life amazing.
10. I end up with a very messy, very wonderful binder and a story with logical transitions and character motivations (in theory). My last step is to type it all up, from scratch, paying special attention to grammar and prose. It's at this point that I'm finally ready to send it out to readers for feedback. Then... more revisions! Yay!

I always end up with more words after revision than before. Rough drafts are like complex outlines to me. Most of the description doesn't happen until revision. Same with character intricacies. I'm not one of those people who has to cut away with every revision. If I did that, there'd barely be any story at all!

What about you? Do later drafts end up longer than earlier ones? Do you like revising, or is the bulk of your enthusiasm for the first draft? Have you developed a complicated process that works for you?

Why You Might Want to Come Up With Your Character Names Right Away. If You Like.

I have a habit of learning things the hard way. Even if someone tells me that something's a bad idea, I still have to try it out for myself. I guess I don't always believe advice applies to me until I fail on my own. So, you can take this advice, or you can, like me, find out for yourself.

Never give your characters placeholder names. I was having a horrible time coming up with names for my characters in Mysterious Other Novel and it was getting in the way of my writing progress, so I finally just gave them silly placeholder names. Now that I'm revising, I have three inappropriately named characters whose whole personalities have been built up around the silly names that they're not allowed to keep. This is giving me many headaches. I know, whatever names I settle on will never feel like their real names. I'll always think of them and see them by their stupid, stupid placeholder names. Darn me.

So, just don't do it. Turns out it's harder to change a character's name down the road than it is to come up with a good one in the first place. Learn from my mistakes. Or don't. If you dare.

Has this ever been a problem for you? How do you know when a character's name is the right one? Are there any you've been especially proud of?