Growing Pains

A few months ago, one of my sons woke up in the middle of the night. He was crying and rubbing at his ankles and legs, complaining of pain. After checking for any additional symptoms, I determined he had growing pains, gave him some ibuprofen, and sent him back to bed with a hug and kiss.

I love the term "Growing Pains." We all suffer through them, whether physically, emotionally, spiritually...it's a part of life. It can be a five-year-old child waking in the middle of the night, clutching his ankles with tears in his eyes, or an adult waking in the middle of the night, clutching their tear-stained pillow. The good news is that on the other side of the pain, you'll come out a little taller, perhaps a little wiser.

Growing pains are so essential to the characters we create, not necessarily the hurdles that need to be overcome, but those internal struggles, the quietest of battles that determine who they become.

One novel that completely succeeds in this (in my opinion) is Catcher in The Rye. I remember reading it in high school and feeling connected in a way that I never had before.

So let's offer a rousing favorite Princess Bride cheer:

TO THE PAIN!

Disney Romance

Last week Donna, Kirk and I went to dinner with the lovely Bree Despain and Brodi Ashton. We ate thai food, discussed books, and talked writing. I can't really think of an evening I enjoy more!

Bree, who is really quite brilliant, shared some advice that I liked so much I wanted to post it. She talked about the three different kinds of romances, and identifying the type of romance you might be writing.

The first is the Cinderella romance, where the woman is in love with the man, and trying to catch his attention. (See also Little Mermaid).

The second is the Beauty and the Beast romance, where the man is in love with the woman and trying to catch her attention. (See also Aladdin).

The third is the Sleeping Beauty romance, where the couple is in love but circumstances keep them apart. (See also Snow White).

Although I'm not writing a romance, per se, there is a romantic element in my book. While trying to fit it in to the three categories Bree talked about, I realized my romance didn't quite fit.

So I'd also like to submit a fourth romance for suggestion. In keeping with the Disney theme, I think there is also the Tangled romance, where the couple doesn't begin in love, but through time and circumstance that pushes them together, end up falling in love. (See also Princess and the Frog).

I think my romance might be more of a Tangled contender.

What are you writing?

I Need Your Charity

This weekend, a group of us Inkers (and our friend, Comrade Uhrey) attended the Writing for Charity Conference. The conference itself was reasonably priced, only one day, and included a barrel full of talented authors. I would highly recommend it.

There are a few pieces of wisdom I came away with that I wanted to share.

Clint Johnson, in speaking about writing and editing said, "The only thing you can't improve is nothing." And also, "Invest in yourself as a writer, not just in the book you're writing."

I also went to a class presented by Jeff Savage, who if I had forgotten is the coolest author on the planet, I was reminded. He talked about query letters, and his amazing four point structure to describe your book:

1- protagonist and why we should like him/her. 2- What is the protagonist's goal? 3- What obstacles will the protagonist face? 4- What are the stakes or success and failure?

For anyone who has written or will write a query letter, this advice is priceless!

Brandon Sanderson gave a class on plot, talking about when you make promises, dole out the information appropriately and have a sufficient ending that keeps the promises.

All in all, it was great. For the cost (even lunch was provided), a one on one critique with a published author, and the classes, this is the biggest bang for your buck when it comes to writers conferences. I just wish they'd change their logo because it looks like a girl reading on the toilet.

Xanadu

True Story:  I LOVED Xanadu as a little girl.  I wanted to grow up and be Olivia Newton John.  I listened to the Xanadu record all the way up until 1992 (that is the fateful year we moved to Seattle and somehow in that move I lost all of the good records.  Simon & Garfunkel, The Beattles, Elvis, The Judds, Annie, and Xanadu).

Monday night my sweet hubby took me to see the musical Xanadu.  I was so excited until I realized that its a spoof.  Then I read the program.  It made me question my taste:
"Fans of the 1980 movie Xanadu, (all ten of you) and haters (many, many of you) . . ."

I was feeling rather embarrassed.  (Now truth be told, its been at least 10 years since I've seen it and I think I was a little disheartened when I did see it.)  I wish I had known going into it that it was a spoof.  I would have enjoyed it from the beginning.

Now, that was a really long intro to get to the meat of what I want to say to you.  Again I quote the handbill:

When ...Xanadu...opened to disastrous reviews and low box office performance, it sent shock waves through Hollywood.  How could Hollywood's hottest star, a magical roller derby, Greek muses, pop music, Zeus, and disco skating go wrong?



As a writer's group we've discussed this very problem: Cramming too many cool things into one plot.  Sometimes the idea factory gets going and we have all these AMAZING ideas.  But then our plot starts to look like a Xanadu disaster with roller skates and shockingly short shorts. (Quick side note: we saw this in a small theatre and had front row seats, which meant that I leaned back when the dancers kicked.  I was at eye level with Sonny Malone's thighs much of the night.  Way too much hairy skin for my taste.)

So, avoid being a Hollywood disaster and write down those cool ideas and use just a few for each plot.  This way you'll never run out of story ideas.

Happy Writing.

PS I am listening to the original Olivia/ELO soundtrack as I type this.  Sometimes music transcends crappy story-telling.

Will Silence Be Golden?

The Academy Awards ceremony will air tomorrow night,and one of the nominees for Best Original Screenplay is The Artist, a movie with no spoken dialogue. I have not seen the film,but the nomination gave me pause and spiked my curiosity regarding what a screenplay for a "silent" movie is like.

I found a copy here for those who are interested.

For me, to write a story with minimal dialogue seems a painful exercise, as my stories tend to be more dialogue driven. I applaud Mr. Hazanavicius for the accomplishment. The film has received many awards ahead of Oscar night, including Best Original Screenplay at the BAFTA's (the British Oscars).

My question is, does having minimal to no dialogue make it a loftier accomplishment than another story with plenty of dialogue? Is it a gimmick or a piece de resistance?

I have only seen two of the nominees for Best Original Screenplay - Midnight in Paris and Bridesmaids. I'd vote for Bridesmaids. It made me laugh (hard), made me cry, and had a great romantic subplot.

Make today Extordinary and a life changing book

To those of you who are new to this blog. Welcome. You will notice that Blush aka Linda has been carrying us for quite a while. We love her posts and would like to invite you to visit some of the archived posts. Someday I might even do my top ten from last year. There were some good ones.
So what is new this week? Well, if you were at LTUE last weekend then no doubt you have heard James A Owen's keynote address about "The Power of Choice." It was fabulous. Meeting James and having dinner with him and our awesome writing group was even cooler as I was able to discover that he is one of the most genuine people I have ever met. He cares about his readers and he is a crafty marketing guru. Most of all he doesn't sweat the small stuff.

This week on his blog he has made his book "Drawing Out the Dragons..." available on ebook for free for five days. He said to share the link with someone we love. I must say that I would like to share it with everyone I know. My 10 year old read it and he said, "It changed my perspective on the world." He has been drawing dragons every day since.
Here is the link. Go and download the book and read it with your family this weekend.

CLICK HERE!

Advice For Young Writers (and Others)

I found this letter from Mette Ivie Harrison (who I got to talk with over Sushi after LTUE last week) and thought I would share:

Dear Young Writers,
I started writing my first novel when I was in tenth grade. It was a fantasy time-travel book and I sent it out to one publisher. It was rejected with a nice note encouraging me, but saying that the book didn’t fit the publisher’s “list.” I worked on other things on and off, but I think that first experience gave me a good look at the reality of publishing and it frightened me. You could write well, but be rejected by some reason that you had never thought of. You could spend hours working on a book and get nothing but experience out of it. And clearly, as I listened to the adult writers struggling with the business, even if you were published, this was not exactly a career that you could depend on for day-to-day living expenses. So I listened to my father and to all the other sensible voices around me and moved on to what I thought was a more “stable” career.

The only problem is, it turned out that everything else I ever tried to do, I was telegraphing to people that what I “really” wanted to do was to be a writer, and that other things were only “bread and butter” in comparison, until I got up the courage and invested the time necessary to do what I was meant to do. It was a very painful experience for me to finally recognize that it is impossible to hide from yourself and that there is nothing worse than giving up what you really love for something “stable” and ordinary. So I made a leap, admittedly with the help and encouragement of my husband who now supports our family largely, and quit my job. I do not necessarily recommend this route for everyone, but for me at the time it seemed there was no other choice.

I see now, from the inside of the business, that there are many ways to make a living as a writer. There are always publishers who are looking for writers to work on series that have been pitched by someone else and are already selling well. There are Christian publishers, workbook publishers, craft publishers. There are people looking for technical writers, for writers to write newsletters or software manuals, and on and on. But it is also true that working part-time, for two hours a day five days a week, I make as much as I did at my other job. And there are a lot of perks. I write what I want to write. I write stories that I wish I could read. I write fantastic stuff that even I can’t believe, and I write contemporary fiction or picture books or mystery novels, whatever strikes my fancy at the time. I have what I think of as my dream life, the life I never believed I could have when I first tried and failed. My advice—don’t give up on the dream. There is a way to do it. You just have to find the way.

Mette Ivie Harrison

Just the encouragement that I need.  Write On!