Elevator Pitch Trials

Artist in search of mom is initiated by mentor and sent into what seems like an underground world full of adventure. And her husband gets to decide whether he’s up for the adventure or whether he’d rather stay in his soul crushing 9-5.

This doesn’t do it for me. This doesn’t make me wanna read the book.

Senta a mom-artist in search of her missing mother is given initiation tea by her free-spirited mentor. That initiation is just the beginning to a real life adventure she couldn’t have dreamed up if she tried. Her bionic brained husband has to decide whether he’s committing to a life of bringing down the bad guys or if he’s going to return to his soul crushing 9-5.

Too much?

Maybe it’s too soon to write these?

The Hinges

I’m excited to be getting to the end of this edit. (Don’t get too excited there’s a ton more editing left to do) I just wanna add one more part that’s completely missing; the hinges that hold my works of art together.

I like to think of poetry as the bridge that connects the subconscious to literature. Or from subconscious to reality. Poetry tends to answer the call of our deepest insights possibly handed down from out ancestors. Especially the works of great writers like Silvia Plath, Rimbaud, and Toni Morrison. I think they really work hard to grasp the human condition at its deepest and rawest parts and expose it all to the world. It’s not easy to do. The work it takes to find an artistic way to say deep dark thoughts is complex and inflicting. Writing itself is inflicting but to be poetic takes great boldness. So to give my triptych the hinges that allow my story to pivot open in an artistic sense will make it truly feel complete.

So between each part there will be a poetic parable or epic poem. I already have one done but I still have to complete the other one. I honestly have no idea right now how I’m going to create the hinge but I’m still developing the last part of the book. Once I have a firm grasp of the last part, I have to sit down and really think about what connects them. It’s going to take some digging but I’m excited to meet the challenge.

Cover Photo Credit
By Robert Campin – This file was donated to Wikimedia Commons as part of a project by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. See the Image and Data Resources Open Access Policy, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=56432083

This Adventure

I woke up too early feeling under the weather. I’m not a morning person so I laid around on my phone thinking today I was gunna feel sleepy and mopey. Dragged myself around the house. Made the kiddos applesauce pancakes BUUUT then things slowly started going better and better as my day went on. So now I’m feeling great!

I’m grateful for my day that turned out better than I expected and for all the new things I learned. I’m excited about this adventure I’m on.

Explosions are Nice But are They Needed?

There is no rule on how to write. Sometimes it comes easily and perfectly: sometimes it’s like drilling rock and then blasting it out with charges.

Ernest Hemingway

I’d always prefer easier. It’s that’s human nature. I don’t have trouble stepping up to a challenge but I try to find the most efficient way to reach my goals. I like the process. I like seeing the finished product. But do we really have to drill a rock and cause explosions to get to the finish line? Can we be more like water? I mean a good safe explosion sounds awesome, but flowing rivers bring me a more sustainable joy without as much damage.

Let’s think about this

Writing can be hard. Especially for me right now, I’m tying up all the loose ends in my experimental fiction, trying to make sure my plot is in proper order. It’s hard work. I prefer to attack the beast one day at a time. I’d like to avoid beasting it all in one day and stressing myself out and forgetting to eat and drink. I wanna live while I write. Some people praise the grind and making their writing career out to be some unhealthy obsession that trumps basic needs. I romanticized writing in that way for quite a while but I learned that what makes for good writing is reading good books, writing everyday and living! Life experience is great material.

But I am no Earnest Hemmingway that’s for sure.

To Share the Draft or Not to Share?

“Don’t wait for things to be perfect before you share them with others. Show early and show often. It’ll be pretty when we get there, but it won’t be pretty along the way.”

Ed Catmull, Creativity, Inc

This makes me feel like I should be sharing my novel with someone. I don’t mind sharing early at all. I’m just so into it that I don’t wanna get side tracked from my progress. I wonder if this depends on your environment. You can’t show your unfinished work to just anyone. I mean you could but people without vision have a hard time respecting the drafting process. Heck, even I have a hard time knowing what feedback to share.

When you read his book Creativity Inc, you’ll learn that Ed has learned by years of experience how to build a team and how to manage successful creative environments. I guess I should work on creating a space for myself and a few others where I can share my drafts and discuss my thoughts and ideas as I go.

Novel Update

Triptych update

I’m putting my character in the darkness. He’s going for the freedom. His mentor is going for the growth. They both are going for a bigger reason. I’m not sure what’s going to happen or what truth’s will be found but I’ve seen many a folk emerge from the darkness as changed people.

Will it change my character for the good or the bad?

I think their reason is big enough to keep my character headed in the same direction as when they started but with so much more power. So it will help my character protect the innocent.

What situations have you put your characters in lately?

No Paper? No Problem

The great thing about writing is that it’s always accessible. One thing I used to do before I committed to writing was journal with my finger tip. It helped me process my day and prepare for sleep. I’d do it pretty often. I even made my lists that way. These days I always use a pen or my phone. So I guess it’s not writing that’s always accessible but the ability to visualize. That is always accessible.

Some people speak highly of visualization. What do you think? Do you practice visualization?

I’ve tried it intentionally here and there when it comes to manifesting but haven’t really gotten into that. I definitely do it with the novel I’m working on but it’s natural for me to need to see what I’m writing in my minds eye. So when I’m writing, it’s not as intentional, it’s natural or even automatic. Even though I can see it clearly, I do miss details on the first draft. The good thing is that as I edit and add detail, the scene becomes more clear in my minds eye.

 I would visualize things coming to me. It would just make me feel better. Visualization works if you work hard. That’s the thing. You can’t just visualize and go eat a sandwich.

Jim Carrey

Quality and Quantity

I can shake off everything as I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn.

Anne Frank

It’s right before before it’s time to write that I struggle to remember how my spirit is reborn after a good writing session. One of those sessions where I’m focused and interested in what I have to share or even question. I’m struggling lately with blogging. I’m struggling with wanting to share much of my inner workings anywhere. I don’t take as much time to think about my inner workings to know what to write about lately. So it’s my own fault that when it comes time to share something, I feel like I have nothing to say. Even in the moment when I say that, I know there’s a million things to write about. But in the moments before I start typing, I’m not really interested in the million things going around me. That’s not enough to stop me though. I still must show up.

Alas, the writing muse isn’t always generous with us with just showing up, sometimes we gotta do something extra. I’m not saying push too hard. I’m saying carve out time, shut off the phone, show our inner writer that we’re ready, then act on it before the inner critic finds out.. For me, anytime I let my inner writer know I’m ready and waiting, a million distractions show up. I’m learning that I shouldn’t let the inner writer know. I should start writing before the inner critic can postpone writing my writing any longer.

Point is, showing up consistently is amazing and more than most. But truly investing in your work regularly, brings quality to your consistency. And what’s better than having both quality and quantity? Nothing at all, I tell ya, Nothing at all.

Writing Inspo and More

You may tell a tale that takes up residence in someone’s soul, becomes their blood and self and purpose. That tale will move them and drive them and who knows that they might do because of it, because of your words. That is your role, your gift.

— Erin Morgenstern, The Night Circus

Imagine the possibilities that could come from sharing your story!

I’m so tired. I want to write. Today was long I was grumpy and then I was like I need to shift this, so I reminded myself that I’m working on living in the present moment. That I’m an evolving being. Then I intentionally did something for a moment by myself that makes me happy. My current happy place is the pink side of Instagram. I can not get enough.

To Be

 Find a subject you care about and which you in your heart feel others should care about. It is this genuine caring, not your games with language, which will be the most compelling and seductive element in your style.

Stephen King

First, why does Stephen King have the best quotes?

There’s a lot of subjects I care about but the top two are inclusivity and women’s freedom. There’s a lot of other things that I’m passionate about but they trail behind these two a tad or more. I do feel we’re all oppressed in our own way, so freedom is something I want for everyone and not just women. Buuut I lean more toward women’s mental health and well being than others. It’s probably because I am a woman and was raised by women who needed help but fell through the cracks and remained in situations they shouldn’t have for far too long. And I’ll use whatever gifts and talents I have to stop that from continuing to happen. I don’t know but the health and safety of women is the biggest motivator behind all the work I do.

I hope it gives my work edge. I hope I pull people in with my dream of seeing all women live in a world where they are safe to be themselves.