#158 Working Space

I grew up reading Stephen King, who told many stories about writers.  I was always fascinated with the rustic, simple yet classic rooms his characters wrote in, the actual physical locations.  In Misery, Paul Sheldon wrote in a quiet bed and breakfast far away from the city.  Jack, in The Shining, had the magnificent ballroom inside the Overlook hotel.  And there is Mort from Secret Window, Secret Garden who wrote in a cabin in the woods.  So I figured I would show where I do the bulk of my writing.  Alright, King.  Ball's in your court.  You can post a pic of where you write in the comments!

#157 The Book Trailer

Saw an animated book trailer for the first time this week.  Maybe I am late to the party, but if you have not seen these before, think movie trailer for a book.  I think this is a neat idea for writers who can afford a small production company to produce the thing.  Or for those writers who have connections.

I have not seen many of these, but I feel like a thirty second trailer that reveals the hook of the story, has compelling images, and demonstrates the genre/style of the writing, can help the story find its proper readers.

Self Portait - March 2014

All the great artists had self portraits, right?  So here's mine.  Just so you know, I was listening to Grace Under Pressure when this photo was taken.

#156 Cramming The Dishwasher

My wife is a bad ass cook!  She cooks gourmet meals, and so afterward I will clean the dishes. I rinse the cutting boards, clear plates, scrub pots and pans, and eventually I attempt to put all the dishes in the dishwasher.  I am THE WORST at putting dishes in the dishwasher.  No matter what I do, I cannot get them to fit in right.  My wife shakes her head at the mess inside, saying that I have done it all wrong, that everything would fit nicely if I just organized better.  I invite her to the challenge, and watch as she takes out key utensils and repositions them in such a way that more room is freed up on the other side of the washer.  She tweaks problem areas, fills gaps, and without fail manages to get all the dishes comfortably in the dishwasher.  No matter how many times I watch her, I cannot learn this skill.

Writing can be the same way.  There are moments, sections of stories, that I cannot seem to get out right.  Cannot seem to fit together properly.  In these moments, it is easy to get frustrated, to throw hands in the air and give up, accepting the fact that the dishwasher is only half full.  I have had moments like this recently.  Thankfully, I was able to remember the dishwasher... able to remember that minor tweaks can make all the difference, so that everything fits together nicely.

#155 The Villain

The wife and I started watching the new Sherlock series from the BBC.  Cool show.  Doesn't reach Game of Thrones status or anything, but worth checking out on a lazy Sunday.  So, the master villain was just okay for me.  Until the last episode of season 2.  He puts our good friend Sherlock in an interesting situation, one that made me stop and appreciate him as a villain.

Got me thinking about the Villain.  There have been some awesome villains over the years that have really transformed what might have been an ordinary project into a Bad Ass project that cannot be missed!  Following is a list of villains any writer should aspire to.  (Disclaimer: these were listed here on the spot without research or considerable thought.  If I have missed one or given something here too much credit, by all means let me know in the comments!)

• Darth Vader - No surprise here.  I grew up fearing/loving/idolizing this cat.  If there are other villain lists out there, I am sure he is in the top of all of them, as he should be.  
• The Joker (Heath Ledger version) - Again, no surprise here.  I almost can't watch the other Batman movies because none of them do or ever will measure up to the bar Heath set with his rendition of the Joker.  Perhaps the best Villain of all time belongs right here.
• G'Mork (The wolf in The Neverending Story) - I worried that I would be going slightly obscure here.  I loved this movie as a kid and G'Mork frightened me.  Was often in my nightmares, if I could even fall asleep after watching this movie.  The special effects are slightly dated, but love this movie!  
• The Butcher (Gangs of New York) - Daniel Day Lewis.  That's all that needs to be said here.  
• Blue Duck (Lonesome Dove) - The tv miniseries was very well done in pretty much all aspects.  However, Blue Duck was actually much better in the book than in the TV show.  Was slightly too cheesy for me on TV.  Still, an awesome villain that Gus and Captain Call couldn't quite catch up with.
• Edward The Longshanks (Braveheart) - Braveheart is probably my favorite movie (if I am forced to choose one) and Edward The Longshanks is a remarkable character.  Cruel and effective, truly someone to hate!  I mean, he instituted Prima Nocte for Pete's sake.  Who does that?
• Lois Einhorn (Ace Ventura) - Do I even need to describe why Lois Einhorn rocked?  If I have to, that means you must see the movie.  Stop reading this and go see that movie!

#154 Elusive Flow

Been a full time writer now for five glorious months.  I discovered something last week, something I cannot explain.  It is a phenomenon I will refer to as Elusive Flow.  Elusive Flow refers to those moments when words pour from me smoothly and in abundance, as if from a faucet.  On Thursday, during my morning session, I pounded out 4 pages.  I looked them over and was impressed at how nicely the pages came out, how little I would ultimately have to change.  I executed no prior planning or outlining outside of my original story outline I created a month ago.  I simply sat at my computer and wrote, and everything flowed beautifully.

That afternoon I started my second writing session and could not recreate that same flow.  I wrote 3 tedious pages, read them, deleted them, and finally wrote the 3 pages all over again.  Frustrated, I gave up for the day, hoping to attack that portion of my story the next morning.  How come one moment the words flowed so easily, while another moment I toiled and toiled, and could not get anything worthwhile on the page.  Where was my elusive flow?  Where had it gone?  How could I get it back?

Here are my half-baked theories:

1) Some sections of the story are more interesting to write, and thus easier to get on the page...thus creating the flow.
2) Food or sleep?  Did I eat something that got my neurons firing?  That morning I ate a fruit smoothie and two cups of coffee.  I eat this every morning and do not experience these flows quite that frequently.  Perhaps something I ate for dinner allowed my brain to get extra better sleep?
3) Subconscious planning? Is it possible that the day before I had been subconsciously mulling over that section of the story during my workouts or while taking a shower, so that when it came time to get words on paper, I had already done work inside my head?  I am not sure about that for last Thursday, but if this is the answer, then perhaps I should workout and shower before each writing session.
4) Elusive Flows are just freak occurrences that sometimes happen.  There is no understanding them, only enjoy them when you can.

Has anyone else experienced the Elusive Flow?  Anyone mastered it yet, so that every writing session is a successful one?  Please share!

#153 Identity?

Read a great post from JA Konrath on the subject of identity as a writer.  I did not realize how close to home this hit until I read the post and comments from several writers within.  Is it enough to write on a daily basis to be called a writer?  How about the person with a full time advertising job who writes a couple of short stories a year and is always working on a longer piece of fiction in his/her spare time?  Is that person a writer?  If so, then how do you differentiate between that person and say, Stephen King.  Both are writers, so both can be described in the same way?  Or do you say one is a best selling author while the other is merely an aspiring writer?

I got out of the ad business and now devote my full time to writing.  When asked recently what I do, I responded that I was a writer.  Felt strange to me because my own identity as a writer was in question.  Konrath discusses how he experienced the same identity crisis even after he finished and published novels.  This feeling of inadequacy plagues many writers.  The sad truth is this:  Identity should not be contingent upon other's validation, but for many it is.

So, how do we conquer this?  I see it as an internal struggle, one where every person must individually conquer his/her own confidence to own his/her personal identity.   For me, I must believe that I am a writer because that is what I am.  If I don't truly believe it, then how can I expect to wake up each morning and write compelling stories?

#152 Book By Its Cover

My dad visited for a few days, and each morning I greeted him with a breakfast smoothie.  My smoothies include apples, bananas, pineapple, yogurt and spinach.  Most of the ingredients are fruit, but once spinach goes in there, no matter how much you put in there, the entire thing turns green.  I put a generous portion of spinach, and so my smoothies are generously green.  My dad took one look at the smoothie and said, "No, thank you."  If I remember it correctly, he did not actually say the "thank you" part.  And there might have been an expletive before the "no".

I am stubborn and I do not let people get away so easily.  I explained that he was to drink the smoothie, end of story.  He took one sip and immediately pursed his face up like he just sucked on a green lemon.  While I admit that my smoothies may not taste as good as a big plate of blueberry pancakes with maple syrup,  eggs over easy and five sausages (Don't forget the pie), they certainly do not warrant an immediate disgust face.  I know they are green, but they do not taste like spinach.  They taste like an ordinary fruit smoothie.

Fifteen minutes later he brought me the empty glass and said, "You know, that didn't taste half bad!"

While we know it is wrong, we still can't help but judge a book by its cover.  Speaking of books, I am finishing up book 1 and it is time to design the cover.  The trick is to make it look like a plate of blueberry pancakes.  Because no matter how good the book may be, no one will try it if it looks like a green smoothie.