J.T. Ellison's Blog, page 16
November 3, 2023
Friday Reads 11.3.23
It’s Friday, friends, and you know what that means… let’s talk about what we’re reading!
I’ve been looking forward to this weekend for months, because Tuesday, Rebecca Yarrow’s second book in the Empyreum series, IRON FLAME, releases. I was shocked by how much I loved FOURTH WING. Obviously, I wasn’t alone; the book continues to chart the bestseller lists. It feels like Rebecca took every trope I love from all of my favorite fantasy series, merged them into one story, created a truly wonderful main character and an anti-hero who’s drool-worthy, and threw the classic enemies-to-lovers tale into a war college…with dragons. Yeah, I was hooked from the first page. There is something really special about this series. Amazon Studios has already picked it up for a TV show (again, OMG.) I used my Audible credit this month to buy the audio, so that I can experience the story in a new way. I am taking Tuesday off to read the new book. Do you ever do that? Set aside a day for an author’s new book? Diana Gabaldon and J.K. Rowling have been the only ones I’ve done it for in the past, but this series is worth it.
I’m finishing up the divine Tess Gerritsen’s THE SPY COAST, too, and I’m super excited to see her talk about it in person at Poisoned Pen. A bunch of retired spies get into some serious trouble when their past comes back to haunt them, and with Tess’s trademark plotting and wit, it’s excellent.
I managed to get a copy of Laura Steven of new book, EVERY EXQUISITE THING, which seems to only be out in the UK right now, and it’s topping my TBR. Gothic girls schools for the win…
My pal Ariel Lawhon, , got an Indie Next pick for her amazing new novel, THE FROZEN RIVER. Congrats!
Finally, the incredibly talented Emily Ley sent me a surprise package with her two latest titles, NEAR IN THE NIGHT and SURE AS THE SUNRISE, and they are really lovely, meditative books. The little notebook in it is also perfect for my travel purse.
I popped in a Subscribe button here because starting next week, I’ll be doing some “on-the-ground reporting” for my paid subscribers, talking about my new book as I start building it, and a new short story I’m working on, too. I’ll discuss scene building, outlining, the differences in how I approach a short story versus a novel, where I am in the process, etc., and will do this as I write the book, probably on a bi-weekly basis. It will be my Book Journal come to life. I’ll probably also talk about the Jayne series as well, because building books is building books, regardless of genre. Since these are craft-specific posts, I will keep them behind the paywall. If you’re interested, consider joining up.
How about you? What’s on your reading plate this weekend?
October 31, 2023
I Miss Halloween
My parents just sent me a picture of their pumpkin, a huge, bright orange beauty, and my brother responded with a Charlie Brown Great Pumpkin meme, and I was thrust back in time to Halloweens past. I really miss Halloween.
We weren’t unusual in our celebration: we would carve a pumpkin, cutting into the thick orange flesh with a massive knife, scraping out the guts and separating them from the seeds, which my mom would then roast (the best snack ever.) We would watch the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown special, and listen to spooky music records. (Remember the weird one about the skinny toe??? Terrifying when you’re five. That whole record was WILD.)
Then we’d dress up and go trick or treating, which was often a bit of an ordeal, as we lived in the woods. After a few freezing hours, we’d reconvene at the house, dump our pillowcases of candy on the bed for inspection (to make sure no one had inserted a razor blade into an apple or poisoned the candy). Then we’d put on the creepy music again, and gorge ourselves.
Photo by Paige Cody on UnsplashI almost always dressed as a witch, in my mother’s costume that she’d worn to school that day. It was handmade, of course, black on one side and a dark purple satin on the inside, and thick enough to keep me warm on the frigid trick-or-treating rounds. Came with a pointy witch hat and everything.
I wore it religiously, except the one year I revolted, cut my hair into a pixie and insisted on going as Peter Pan. (Small identity crisis, quickly overcome.) That was the year mom made me wear my snow boots instead of the adorable little felt slippers we’d made, because it snowed a ton (rude). And good thing she did, because the car driving us from house to house backed over my leg and those stupid thick rubber boots saved me from a severe break. Ruined my outfit, for sure, but saved me from a lifelong limp.
Moms can do that, you know. Ruin things and save you at the same time.
I went back to the annual witch costume. Meekly. The last time I dressed up properly for Halloween, in high school, I used it as a vampire’s cape.
Halloween and I don’t always get along, though I love it as a holiday. A few years before the whole getting hit by a car thing, I fell into a cactus. All of me, top to botton, covered. It took Dr. Gideon HOURS to pull all the spines. My dad said it looked like I had fur. There have been other odd occurrences, so I tend to stick close to home. Not that I’m superstitious or anything. (Reader, I am.)
Now, the family is scattered across the country, and we send photos of our pumpkins in their pre-carved state. We don't have children of our own to dress, and I’ve never been good at costuming or cosplay. My niece and nephew go whole-hog decorating, though, so I get to live vicariously through their life-size skeletons and insanely creepy decor. I honestly haven’t carved a pumpkin in years, not since the advent of the very convenient plug-in jack-o-lantern. (Sacrilege, I know.) I always buy one—I actually bought two this year, one orange, one white (Go Vols!)—but they’re relatively small, and I doubt either have enough seeds to roast. They sit, humbly, on the front steps, until the groundhog decides enough is enough and goes on a bender.
It’s more of a Samhain celebration for us tonight. I will clean the house, decluttering and sweeping away old memories. I’ll make a pot of chili, and when it gets dark, light the fire, and light candles for those we’ve lost. We’ll watch something not too scary but suspenseful, and have a quiet, hopefully uneventful evening. I will do my damndest not to eat the Halloween candy we buy just in case someone’s kids get dropped off in the neighborhood, and fail.
But maybe I’ll go get a big pumpkin this afternoon and give carving it a whirl. We don’t get any trick-or-treaters, so it would really just be for me…but that’s not a terrible idea. Someone told me that I should spend some time this year indulging my inner child. I can’t imagine a better way.
How about you—are you and your family big into Halloween? Or nostalgic for the fun that used to be?
PS: I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention a special this week on THE WOLVES COME AT NIGHT (.99) and WHITEOUT (no cents). Happy Halloween!
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October 27, 2023
Friday Reads 10.26.23
It’s Friday, friends, and you know what that means… let’s take a break from the news cycle and talk about what we’re reading!
I’m still reeling from the week-long reading festivus that was show prep, and I’m still thinking about Christine Coulson’s magnificent novella ONE WOMAN SHOW. It is the story of a woman’s life told through museum wall labels. I know, that sounds…difficult. It is a short but impactful read, as the prose is top-notch, and the conceit of telling a story in 75-word increments means not a single word is fluff. I can’t recommend this one highly enough, and especially for you writers out there, because I think this would be a super cool way to build a story. If you could distill your main character’s life down to the most important moments, and use those to define their current and future state, they’d be very rich indeed. Christine and I had a fascinating conversation about her life at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, too. Good stuff.
Mary Beard has a new book out, EMPEROR OF ROME, which I preordered (twice—I was thrilled when two copies showed up LOL). I am currently collecting books that deal with a certain emperor, and couldn’t wait for this installment.
This piece by Heather Hach in Crimereads about her move from Broadway to writing thrillers captured my attention. This line specifically made me stop and think:
…Suspense is the lynchpin for the medium, the art of dialing up the tension to hold an audience captive…
Building suspense and dread *is* an art. I read and spoke to one of those artists last week, Megan Miranda, about her fabulous new book, THE ONLY SURVIVORS. It’s superbly constructed, and I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough, because the dread, the dialing up of the tension, is what makes this book work so incredible well.
Food for thought as I start turning my brain to my next suspense novel…
What about you? What’s on your plate this weekend?
October 24, 2023
My Writing Tools
I spend a lot of time with my tools every day, and I often field questions from both writers and readers about what I use to make my business hum. I am an inveterate first adopter, so my tools tend to change from year to year. But there are several that are inviolate, and you can see them below.
Photo by Prophsee Journals on UnsplashACCOUNTABILITY: I use daily word trackers (i.e. Excel spreadsheets) from graphic artist Svenja Gosen. I love to track my progress, and using these gorgeous Excel spreadsheets has become a must for me. I use one for Fiction and one for Non-Fiction, and fill them in nightly. It makes my annual reviews so much easier to calculate!
WRITING ON THE LAPTOP: Scrivener is my go-to writing program. Highly scalable, easy to use, it’s the finest writing software available. Plus, their Project Target tools allow me to set a deadline and see exactly what my daily word count needs to be. Every book and treatment has their own Scrivener file from the moment they’re conceived, to capture everything. I recently did an interview with Kirk McElhorn on Write Now with Scrivener, so if you’re even moderately interested in this software, allow my enthusiasm for it to convince you. We also discuss my writing process, the way I structure my time, and how I juggle all the projects I’m working on.
WRITING ON THE GO: Scrivener for iPad - The best app invention ever, hands down. I love that I can write on the go without dragging my laptop and chargers along. It’s streamlined my process and lightened my backpack!
ZONING OUT FOR SAID WRITING: Freedom. Oh, how I love Freedom. I use Freedom to turn off my access to social media, news sites, and other Internet wormholes so I can turn my brain on. I’ve written over two dozen books with Freedom in my life, and I hope it’s by my side as I write dozens more.
JOURNALING: Day One, which I use for a number of things, including journaling, keeping track of major events and minor triumphs, and capturing ideas. It’s beautiful and easy to use, plus syncs across all devices. It’s a great tool for remembering, too. I take almost all my on-the-go notes here, as well as drafting blogs and essays, etc. I use a cataloging system with # for my stories, too. So if I need to pull together all the notes for A VERY BAD THING for example, it is a simple #AVBT search away.
WEBSITE HOSTING: Squarespace is the online home of J.T. Ellison, Joss Walker, The Wine Vixen, and Two Tales Press.
BLOG HOSTING: Oh hey @Substack -
NEWSLETTER HOSTING: In addition to Substack, I use Mailerlite to send my main monthly newsletters with fun recipes and book recommendations.
TO DO LIST: I mourned when Wunderlist was bought out by Microsoft, and tried literally every other online tool before finally settling back into ToDo which really is my favorite to-do list and capture system. There is some redundancy with my calendar, but that’s fine by me, as I live in fear of forgetting an event or deadline.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT: Trello, which is my beast for major project management/workflows. I use it to track workflows for book releases and major project development, communicate with my teammates, track events, and plan future ideas.
ONLINE TOOLS FOR READING, RESEARCH, and SHARING:
Feedly, my favorite RSS feeder, pulls in stories from my favorite blogs
Instapaper, I capture online stories for research here. I used to then send them to Evernote, but I’ve found Instapaper works fine for my purposes.
PODCASTS: Overcast, because it does a much cleaner job of keeping my podcast listening in order of show release and automatically moves to the next new show.
CALENDAR: iCal — I have both online and paper calendars. I don’t like carrying a day planner, so I use my phone when I’m out and traveling.
PLANNER: For many years, I used a Quo Vadis Habana as a Bullet Journal. I’ve gotten away from them, using various notebooks. I’m currently in a Papier hardback which is lovely, but I much prefer white paper to cream, so I might move to a Clairefontaine again. I’ve also been using Blackwing notebooks, which are lovely. I tried to use Cal Newport’s Time Block Planner, but my days just aren’t as granular as that calls for, so I’m using it to outline my book instead. More on that in another post.
Interestingly, a few years ago, I tried switching to a daily calendar instead of weekly. I finally realized I was totally stressed by this daily accountability, and have switched back to weekly. My stress levels dropped immediately. I feel so much more settled! Crazy, right? The Habana is the perfect size — larger than a regular Moleskine, it fits my hand perfectly, can capture a few more lines per page, and the paper is fantastic — smooth, easy to write on, never bleeds through, and beautiful. I like paper you can pet.
NOTETAKING:
Clairefontaine A5 spiral bound - idea capture, notes, book notebooks, research, planning — each book gets a notebook.
-And-
Midori Travelers Notebook - A lovely back-to-the-earth choice, I love throwing this in my bag when I’m heading out. The leather is stroke-able, the paper is smooth, and I always get compliments on it. When I’m traveling, there’s no sense taking five notebooks along, so it doubles as my writing notebook and my planner.
COMPUTER: I’ve made a big shift recently. I bought a 2023 Mac Air over the summer, and bought an LG smart TV, and hooked the two together. Now I have a monstrous screen on my desk, but the freedom of using the laptop on the go. Not trying to sync a million files and emails between the laptop and the old 2015 iMac has saved me so much time and energy I’m kicking myself for not doing this sooner. Fewer screens, fewer products, and a much more cost effective system.
PHONE: iPhone 11 Max Pro in a wallet case. I am so excited to upgrade…
TABLET: 11'' iPad Pro with the Magic Keyboard. As soon as some of my desktop apps get a mobile version, I will be on that full size Pro, and that will be my only computing device.
EREADER: Kindle Scribe - Oh, my friends. I cannot tell you how much I love this device. I have a Remarkable, but I gave it to my husband when I got the Scribe. The notebooks are easy to access and write in, plus I can read all my ePubs and regular Kindle books here. It’s FABULOUS.
HANDWRITING TOOLS:
Pilot Knight Fountain pen - beautiful, sturdy, a real workhorse
Sharpie Fine Point Pens - .5, and I especially like the blue
Pilot Precise v5 Pens - I prefer black
Blackwing Pencils in Pearl or No. 10
It seems like a lot, but each tool has its purpose. Collectively, they make my life easier. I hope you find some of them useful.
Do you have any favorite tools? I’d love to hear about them!
The Creative Edge is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
October 20, 2023
Friday Reads 10.20.23
It’s Friday, friends, and you know what that means… let’s take a break from the news cycle and talk about what we’re reading!
But first, a big warm welcome to all the new readers who found your way here over the past couple of weeks. I appreciate you, and will endeavor to keep things heartfelt but pithy. I have to admit, seeing this space growing makes my heart happy.
Today and tomorrow are big days—we’re taping the bulks of A WORD ON WORDS season 9 because so many incredible authors are in town for the Southern Festival of Books. Nine interviews are slated, which means we are all hopping. I love these crazed days of back-to-back conversations with remarkable authors about their equally remarkable books. They span the gamut this year from high literary to spy thriller, which also makes me jump for joy. Diversity in genre and author is very important to the reading life and to the creative spirit. If I only read thrillers, or fantasy, or literary, etc., I wouldn’t be able to grow as a writer, nor as a person of the world.
So my featured read this week is Stephen Buoro’s The Five Sorrowful Mysteries of Andy Africa, which I’m actually listening to, and I’m telling you, this is an utterly gripping coming-of-age story. It is beautifully written, funny, tragic, poignant, and so so smart. Add in Jude Owusu narrating and I have logged miles every day so I can continue listening. This is a remarkable book.
The rest of my reading has been in service of the authors I’m interviewing, but I will share this fascinating piece from Slate on Lester Del Rey — The Man Who Invented Fantasy.
And can I suggest a new Substack for you to watch? Laura Steven of just did a mega deal for a new book and has joined the crowd here. I’ve been very impressed with her work, so watching her dreams come true is a lot of fun.
And Wendy Walker, A.J. Banner, Rochelle Weinstein, and our own have books out this week. Congrats, ladies!
What about you? What’s on your plate this weekend?
October 15, 2023
When The Ones Who Are Supposed To Have Words… Don’t.
It has been a long and tragic week.
While I rarely comment publicly on current events, I’ve been compelled twice this year—first when Russia invaded Ukraine, and second when Hamas viciously attacked Israel. Why these in particular? While I am now a thriller writer, I studied political science, and have always been fascinated by international relations. I even had a near miss with a Foreign Service application; I met Mr. Ellison during the process, which changed my life goals.
From a very young age, the nightly news was a bonding moment with my family. On the weekend, there were long-form magazine shows that we watched. Family dinners involved intricate discussions of modern, philosophical, and historical topics that both affected and played out in the news cycle. I was a surprise baby, coming nine years after my siblings, so I was rolled into adult conversations from the get go. After that, it wasn’t a stretch for me to seek out degrees in poly sci and politics. One of my favorite classes featured a lengthy book on how to make thermonuclear bombs—and the ethical repercussions of this knowledge.
When I started writing, I moved away from the political world I was familiar with in favor of learning new things. But I didn’t ever stop wanting to be plugged into current events. I like being in the know, and to feel my finger on the pulse. I read, watch, listen, widely. I interrogate my husband, family, and friends on their thoughts. And there are plenty of times when I step away—far away—from the news cycle, because it’s sometimes so frustrating to think this is our world that I can’t face it.
But then something horrific happens, something that draws every eye, dominates every conversation, and I plug right back in, for better or worse. I lose time, I lose sleep. I fall into the refreshing loop, desperate to both stay on top of what’s happening, and to hear some good news in the bad. A story of hope. Of survival. Of courage.
I feel people who are suffering deserve the respect of acknowledgement. Cat pictures hardly seem appropriate when strangers are bleeding in the streets. I always pause my social media when major events happen. Always. It’s the only way I can show my respect for their pain and loss. Our collective pain and loss. And sometimes, it’s because I simply do not have the words.
It is these horrific events that bring us together. A shared sense of humanity. Or they used to. We used to be able to have a consensus of what is wrong, what is right, what is good, what is evil. And perhaps that’s my optimistic naïveté, thinking that all humans can agree on what evil is.
This week… has not been that. The cognitive dissonance has left me speechless. It seems our world is broken in irretrievable ways. War is always complicated, and always taken out on the backs of innocents. That we can’t agree on who that encompasses is…problematic.
We were in Dunkerque, France, a few weeks ago. We sailed from there to Dover, following the path of one of the greatest rescues in military history. A miracle, they called Operation Dynamo, with 330,000 troops saved from the brutal yolk of the German army bearing down to murder them. Following that path was inspiring and remarkable. We drove through what had been occupied territory on our way to the port, and the history of the area fairly bled from the grass. You could feel the ghosts watching. It is a moment in time that we look back on with sad pride. Ultimately, we won the war. Good triumphed over evil.
I interviewed Alan Furst a few years back, for his book A Hero of France. It’s an excellent spy novel about the French Resistance, and I asked him what our fascination is with war novels, and World War II in particular. He said without hesitation, “…there was a large amount of good and evil, and the right side won.”
Now, not even 80 years later, we’re living in a world where there is argument over which is the right side. Think about that.
More recently, I spoke with Gal Beckerman, senior book editor of The Atlantic and author of the book The Quiet Before: On the Unexpected Origins of Radical Ideas. I loved the book, and am a fan of Gal’s work in general. Over the weekend, he published his own moment of cognitive dissonance that’s well worth a read. For a writer whose most recent book is a historical view of how radical thought profligates, it is fascinating to see him realize that his thesis doesn’t apply universally.
It’s too early for any of this to make sense. Has WWIII begun? Quite possibly. There’s a case to be made that it’s been simmering for several years. There is no denying this is a moment in history that will resonate for decades.
So while the world burns, I will be over here, quiet and horrified, trying to work whilst staying plugged in, trying to process what I’m hearing and seeing, trying to discern the truth from the lies. Hoping, always hoping, that peace will prevail but fearing that it is going to get worse before it gets better.
Be safe, friends. My heart is with you. 💙
P.S. I know we all have *very* strong feelings about what’s happening. This is a safe and civil space to discuss them, if you’d like. I will be moderating if things get out of control.
The Creative Edge is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
October 6, 2023
Friday Reads 10.6.23
It’s Friday, friends, and you know what that means… let’s talk about what we’re reading!
I’m reading…my manuscript. I’m finishing up the first revision on A VERY BAD THING. I was quite thrilled that my team loved the book; my editor in particular used the sort of descriptive words that make an author’s heart sing. This revision isn’t as deep as I thought it was going to be, which is good, all things considered.
When I finish, though, I have a book to blurb from my friend , then I will be starting in on the books for some upcoming A WORD ON WORDS interviews. First up, BURNER, by the incredibly talented Mark Greaney. That will be fun; I love the Gray Man series.
I did read something quite fascinating, and I wanted to share it. This excerpt from the introduction of showrunner Jesse Armstrong’s new collection of Succession scripts was both beautifully written and posed some interesting questions. I am a huge fan of Succession and thought the 4th season was some of recent television’s finest work, both in words and acting. The piece has spoilers about the story arc of the season, so if you haven’t watched, don’t read this yet. But this part in particular moved me:
Of course, knowing that the arc of the season is essentially right doesn’t mean that the writing goes easily. No, there are still many days when you stare at the index cards which were supposed to spell out the spine of the episode and they no longer connect. You start to feel you can’t really remember what a story is. What is it even that people like about a TV show? About anything? What is true? And you can find yourself Googling, “What is a story?” “What things do people do?” “What is interesting?”
I think all writers — all creatives — sit down with this question in their soul daily. If you haven’t ever thought about what is interesting to a reader or viewer, there’s something missing from your work. I talked with V.E. Schwab this week about her new book THE FRAGILE THREADS OF POWER, and I feel like she has a real grasp on what her readers want balanced with what she as an artist wants to make them experience. Because that’s what we’re trying to do, isn’t it? Give you, the reader, an experience?
Food for thought this weekend. Have a great one!
October 3, 2023
What I Learned in Ireland
Now that we’re home, it’s time to process what was truly the trip of a lifetime. My fabulous traveling partner in crime and I thought it would be fun to share a list of all the things we learned. (Pop over to hers for a slightly different take.) It’s hard to encompass a trip like this in a blog post, where we saw and experienced so many new things, but we’ve tried. And at the end, there are some practical travel tips for you. Together with our husbands, we covered five countries in twelve days, and on one epic journey, by car, ferry, train, and walking, managed to cover 3376 miles in 11 hours, so trust me when I say we found some shortcuts. We start with the random facts, and move on to the practical stuff. Ready? Onward!
All of the Botox in the entire world is made in Westport, Ireland. No kidding. We learned this in the middle of a tour of Westport House itself. It was certainly a non sequitur regarding the history of said house, but it stuck with us. Go figure! Of all the places for Botox to be made.
Westport House, Westport, Ireland. Photo Credit J.T. Ellison, 2023
Here’s why vehicles in the Commonwealth all drive on the wrong side of the road and the wrong side of the car: it is to accommodate the monarch. In ye olden days, the King’s carriage opened on the right side. So when motor vehicles finally made it across the pond, the royal court decided that instead of asking the King to begin exiting on the left, they would re-engineer the vehicles instead. Fascinating. There is also a good bit of archaeological research that harkens back to Roman soldiers being forced to march left, because most people are right-handed, and that assured they would meet the oncoming horses/soldiers with their sword hand…
You cannot dry your hair in a UK bathroom. You have to dry it sitting down in the bedroom because there are no outlets in the bathroom at all. There is only a plug for an electric razor. Is this normal overseas? If so, why? Did someone try to dry their hair while in the bathtub and accidentally blow up the Ritz? Truly, I’m so curious about this.
Speaking of hair, a hat and/or a hood is an absolute must when traveling in the UK. Rain comes, and goes, and comes again. Also, a sturdy pair of waterproof boots and a decent pair of white sneakers that you can walk miles in are all you really need. Don’t pack any other shoes. You’ll only take up much-needed space in your carry-on. (Yes, I said carry-on. You do not want to be dragging a monstrosity suitcase through various transit.)
The Hague looks like Hogwarts. We needed to see the Hague for a bit of research, and, having never committed war crimes, we all assumed that the international criminal court would be a big, shiny campus filled with glass and metal buildings, like the UN Plaza in Geneva. Not so! It’s an enormous, beautiful administrative building built in the neo-renaissance style called The Peace Palace. This is a good lesson in don’t assume, and eventually, it would have been discovered by a simple Google search. But then we wouldn’t have been so delighted by the surprise. It was simply gorgeous.
Speaking of surprises, here’s a saying for you: “Surprise is the great enabler of seeing.” If you know it’s coming, it won’t take your breath away. Ariel forgets who first said that (it has something to do with the Grand Canyon) but that saying became the theme of our trip.
Six-foot-tall geraniums exist. And we found them outside the gates to the Hague. Not sure why we found this so enchanting, but I did. Our mothers both grow them by the bucketload and now I need to find a way to train the ones on the porch into large conical beasts
The Hague. Photo Credit J.T. Ellison, 2023
The Savoy in London is *the* place to people watch. (We’re looking at you, Ferris Bueller, Carrie Bradshaw, and Jason Bourne.) See also: pea and mint soup below.
The Book of Kells has a 400-year gap in its documented history. Not that this will set a writer’s imagination humming…
The Library of Trinity College Dublin empty of books is just as magnificent as it would be full of them.
The Library of Trinity College, Dublin. Photo Credit J.T. Ellison, 2023
Also, time-traveling Druids exist. We have photographic evidence of this. No, it is not in this photo.
You don’t ever want to end up in an oubliette. Trust me, they’re very medieval. An oubliette is just a thirty-foot hole in a dungeon where they tossed you and let you starve to death. Did we accidentally end up standing in the door to one such torture device without knowing it? Yes. But we were trying to wait out an unexpected rain shower.
Large parts of Braveheart were filmed at Trim Castle. Braveheart is one of my all-time favorite movies…and we’d just watched it a few nights prior to this discovery! They filmed several iconic scenes there, and seeing it in person was so fun—also a fluke visit, as documented below. Also, it is very tall, so walking the battlements is highly recommended for those scared of heights. (No, no it is not. But the view was magnificnet.)
Trim Castle, Photo Credit J.T. Ellison, 2023
Many medieval castles were built with “stumble steps”. These stone steps of varying height and width were designed to literally trip up invading forces…and they do a nice job of making it hard on modern travelers, too.
If you are right-handed, you cannot swing a sword going up a clockwise built spiral staircase in a castle. These staircases are part of a castle’s defense system…seven in ten people are right-handed…if you were left-handed, they would not let you in the military. Likely because they’d already killed you since they believed that left-handed people were possessed by the devil. Also see: Why the Irish and Commonwealth drive on the right side of the road.
Bodily fluids were collected to…wait for it…disinfect clothing. Ew. Personal hygiene was very much not a thing in medieval times… For your fourth floor stumble step walkup, there was a grate that went down a chute into a cauldron over a fire, and the medieval dry cleaner stirred the urine to keep it…fresh? The steam wafted back up the grate vent into the clothes hung above. That took care of all sorts of pesky vermin, lice, fleas, etc. Who knew that stench was so powerful? Also, I am firmly convinced olfactory senses have evolved. How else could they have stood the stench?
Sometimes the best parts of a trip happen when you don’t have a plan. We had a whole day trip planned to do research for Ariel’s book, and were stymied when we discovered Rockfleet Castle is under construction. (A good thing, that, the sea kisses the foundation, it would soon be lost without help.) We had a couple hours to kill, so looked at a map and saw an island nearby. At first, Achill seemed like many other areas we’d driven: isolated, full of sheep (my favorite was spray painted the colors of the Irish flag. The wool painting help farmers ID whose sheep are whose.) Then we stumbled upon the Cliffs of Croaghan, and the world changed.
On another day we went to tour Howth Castle in Dublin but could only walk around the grounds thanks to a film set. However, one of the security guards suggested we visit Trim Castle instead. We would have never gone there otherwise. Same with our wander down the Thames looking for the hanging docks, and the on-going search for a gluten-free scone.
Gale-force winds can actually knock you down. Had said winds been coming from the other direction on the Cliffs of Croaghaun, we’d be floating somewhere in the Atlantic right now.
Photo Credit Ariel Lawhon, 2023
Standing at the far western edge of Europe, on top of a cliff, at sunset, can only be described as a religious experience. There are no words that can do the majesty of this moment justice.
Cliffs of Craughan, Photo Credit J.T. Ellison, 2023
You can’t plan a religious experience. Just let them happen.
Houses built near water often need $55 million renovations. Mother Nature is a cruel master…
Trout swim upstream. Not just salmon…and you can spend a lovely half hour by a man-made dam cheering them on.
Hugh De Lacy (and his progeny) is everywhere. Never heard of him? Neither had we, but he built many of the tower castles in Ireland.
A castle is great if you can keep it. Good grief, did these fortresses change hands from one invading army to another….It wasn’t rare to pop down to London for a few months and come home to find your brother had laid claim to your lands and laid in enough food and whiskey to withstand a year-long siege. Cheeky.
You can, in fact, consume too much Irish whiskey. And one does not even have to become inebriated to reach this point.
The E in whiskey was added to let consumers know that certain brands were premium quality. There is a difference between whisky and whiskEy. I’d always wondered why it could be spelled with or without that E. (Copyeditors, please take note.)
Jameson Distillery, Dublin. Photo Credit J.T. Ellison, 2023
Irish whiskey is aged in oak barrels for three years and one day. Why? Because the Scots only age their whiskey for three years and the Irish must be better At All Costs. Not that they are petty or competitive. (Editor’s note: does “petty” have its roots in “competitive?” Must investigate).
You can count to ten in Gaelic, but no one will ever understand you.
Feel free to wander onto film sets. They love that. Then have a coffee at the nearby golf course cafe. You might see a Dame or two. (We’re looking at you, Lesley Manville).
Howth Castle, Photo Credit Ariel Lawhon, 2023According to Ken, our taxi driver, the Irish started Halloween as we know it today. In keeping with the spirit of learning Grace O’Malley visiting at dinnertime, was turned away from Howth Castle, and in revenge, she stole away with a child heir, the ransom for whom was a guaranteed spot at the dinner table forever more. That’s why the Irish leave a plate out on Halloween, to appease her spirit.
Now, here’s some more practical travel advice:
Use a travel agent. No, seriously, do not bother booking a two-week European research trip on your own. Even for the logistically minded of us, who love a challenge and a bargain, an experienced travel agent will always find a better, safer, cooler deal. And if things go awry, you have a grounded person to help. And they will go awry. This is travel, after all.
If you don’t speak the language, don’t use it. I wandered around Amsterdam for three days saying Dank, Bedank, and Dank je wel and got nothing but dirty looks. Also see: Americans are not able to blend in.
When traveling with friends, book part (or all) of your stay in an AirBNB or a VRBO. This will give you a home base and a chance to do your laundry… Going forward, this will be our primary mode for the lengthier portions of our stays.
Westport, Ireland. Photo Credit J.T. Ellison, 2023
Also, when possible, travel with people who know how to flip a switch to make the washer work. And by “people” we of course mean husbands.
Try new foods. Some you will love (pea and mint gazpacho, sea greens) and some you will not (that rhubarb crumble can die a thousand deaths and I will never be sorry. It actually tasted like it had died a thousand deaths.)
Don’t overpack. You’ll end up wearing the same sweater and jeans almost every day because it A - looks cute and B - they are the most comfortable item you brought.
Also, don’t fret about the fashion. Social media influencers being what they are, their reach is no longer local. Day-to-day fashion has become remarkably homogenized. A uniform of jeans or black pants with crisp white sneakers and a cute top/sweater will take you from the most casual event to the fanciest.
Do wear your most comfortable walking shoes. Everyone wears sneakers, in all their glory, everywhere. And you will be walking for miles. Especially in the airports…
Don’t try to look like you’re anything but a tourist. It doesn’t matter if you speak the language or wear the same clothes, you stand out as other. Americans, especially, have a certain bearing, a confidence in how we walk even when we’re lost, that draws heads. If you consider the history of where you’re traveling, that becomes more understandable. We have never been invaded. None living have experienced the atrocities of war on our soil. We have never been conquered, and it shows.
When in doubt or having issues with food, retreat to a high-end hotel. Some cities/countries aren’t great for food allergies. Some are fantastic. What they all have in common is a Waldorf-Astoria or Ritz Carlton or Four Seasons, and because these cater to a higher-end clientele and have seen everything, they almost always will be able to accommodate even the most esoteric food issue. An afternoon cup of tea and a GF biscuit can be a four-hour respite from the chaos of travel.
Don’t try to do too much. Listen, there is SO much to see in this world. You can’t see it all in one go, nor should you try. There’s a sense of urgency when you travel overseas: you’ve spent a gazillion dollars on this trip and you have to visit every attraction, every museum, take every tour or boat or walk, find every Instagrammable photo spot. No, you don’t. Limit yourself to a morning excursion and an afternoon excursion at most, and let the rest happen. The best parts of this trip were the unscripted ones.
Some places are not your jam. I had a particular city we visited that has long been on my bucket list, and discovered that it was not my place. I was shocked, and disappointed. I tried a number of paths to remedy the sense of dislocation I felt, to no avail. Everything from the food to the vibe was just not right. I was relieved to leave, and you know what? THAT IS OKAY! You don’t have to love every moment of a trip to have it be a solid experience. There were beautiful, enjoyable moments, and I focused on them. Now I know that if we ever do a year abroad, we won’t need to spend time there.
Protein is your friend, especially on travel days. You will get tired. You will get grumpy. You will pick up a cold, eat something that disagrees with you, or land in a place that isn’t your jam. You can’t let that color the whole experience. It’s just a moment. Find a warm place, get a salad with some chicken, and you will feel 100% better.
Reality might bend. Understand and accept that at some points in your travels, especially when driving cross-country on an empty stomach, deep philosophical discussions about what is real and what is fabricated will be necessary conversations.
When traveling with friends, let everyone play to their strengths. On this journey, we had an unflappable driver, a logistics lover, a navigator extraordinaire, and a rare experience finder. That’s the *perfect* combination. Also, you have to go with the flow. If your team says, “Hey, let’s take a day off and veg by the fire with a book,” you should listen. And if your team is raring to go but you aren’t, stay behind and chill.
Pick your travel partners wisely. One of my favorite experiences of the whole trip was discovering how much we had in common with our friends. That might sound strange–they’re close enough friends that we wanted to go overseas for two weeks with them–but we found we liked the same “experiences” and our living-together-overseas rhythms were very much in sync. If you have early bird museum troopers matched with slow on-ramp country walkers, you might get frustrated. We discovered we really loved having a home base in a small town that allowed us to explore and ramble around. Going forward, we’ll allocate fewer days to the cities and more to the moors and coasts.
The North West Coast of Ireland is hideous. Horrible. Awful. ZERO STARS. DO NOT LIKE. DO NOT GO! Okay, I’m joking. At the airport, when we checked bags for Knock (no choice, small plane), the attendant asked where we were going. We said Knock, and he said “Have you been?” We said “No,” and he replied, “Few have.” We didn’t realize at the time that the area we visited is literally NEVER recommended. Everyone stops at Galway (fucking Galway). But Westport and northward? No one mentions that it is exceptional. Ruggedly beautiful, incredible food, friendly folks, and some of the most striking coastlines you will ever see. Maybe the romantic nature of the research was getting to us, but it was a life-changing few days, and that’s not said lightly. Hands down the best part of the trip.
Finally, and most importantly, BE WHERE YOUR FEET ARE. My husband reminded us of this several times and it kept us from checking phones, worrying about what was happening at home, and otherwise getting distracted by our real lives. It is excellent advice both on and off vacation. We live in a distracted world, and it is too easy to be pulled away from the experience you are actually having.
The Creative Edge is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
What I Learned on My Trip to Ireland
Now that we’re home, it’s time to process what was truly the trip of a lifetime. My fabulous traveling partner in crime and I thought it would be fun to share a list of all the things we learned. (Pop over to hers for a slightly different take.) It’s hard to encompass a trip like this in a blog post, where we saw and experienced so many new things, but we’ve tried. And at the end, there are some practical travel tips for you. Together with our husbands, we covered five countries in twelve days, and on one epic journey, by car, ferry, train, and walking, managed to cover 3376 miles in 11 hours, so trust me when I say we found some shortcuts. We start with the random facts, and move on to the practical stuff. Ready? Onward!
All of the Botox in the entire world is made in Westport, Ireland. No kidding. We learned this in the middle of a tour of Westport House itself. It was certainly a non sequitur regarding the history of said house, but it stuck with us. Go figure! Of all the places for Botox to be made.
Westport House, Westport, Ireland. Photo Credit J.T. Ellison, 2023
Here’s why vehicles in the Commonwealth all drive on the wrong side of the road and the wrong side of the car: it is to accommodate the monarch. In ye olden days, the King’s carriage opened on the right side. So when motor vehicles finally made it across the pond, the royal court decided that instead of asking the King to begin exiting on the left, they would re-engineer the vehicles instead. Fascinating. There is also a good bit of archaeological research that harkens back to Roman soldiers being forced to march left, because most people are right-handed, and that assured they would meet the oncoming horses/soldiers with their sword hand…
You cannot dry your hair in a UK bathroom. You have to dry it sitting down in the bedroom because there are no outlets in the bathroom at all. There is only a plug for an electric razor. Is this normal overseas? If so, why? Did someone try to dry their hair while in the bathtub and accidentally blow up the Ritz? Truly, I’m so curious about this.
Speaking of hair, a hat and/or a hood is an absolute must when traveling in the UK. Rain comes, and goes, and comes again. Also, a sturdy pair of waterproof boots and a decent pair of white sneakers that you can walk miles in are all you really need. Don’t pack any other shoes. You’ll only take up much-needed space in your carry-on. (Yes, I said carry-on. You do not want to be dragging a monstrosity suitcase through various transit.)
The Hague looks like Hogwarts. We needed to see the Hague for a bit of research, and, having never committed war crimes, we all assumed that the international criminal court would be a big, shiny campus filled with glass and metal buildings, like the UN Plaza in Geneva. Not so! It’s an enormous, beautiful administrative building built in the neo-renaissance style called The Peace Palace. This is a good lesson in don’t assume, and eventually, it would have been discovered by a simple Google search. But then we wouldn’t have been so delighted by the surprise. It was simply gorgeous.
Speaking of surprises, here’s a saying for you: “Surprise is the great enabler of seeing.” If you know it’s coming, it won’t take your breath away. Ariel forgets who first said that (it has something to do with the Grand Canyon) but that saying became the theme of our trip.
Six-foot-tall geraniums exist. And we found them outside the gates to the Hague. Not sure why we found this so enchanting, but I did. Our mothers both grow them by the bucketload and now I need to find a way to train the ones on the porch into large conical beasts
The Hague. Photo Credit J.T. Ellison, 2023
The Savoy in London is *the* place to people watch. (We’re looking at you, Ferris Bueller, Carrie Bradshaw, and Jason Bourne.) See also: pea and mint soup below.
The Book of Kells has a 400-year gap in its documented history. Not that this will set a writer’s imagination humming…
The Library of Trinity College Dublin empty of books is just as magnificent as it would be full of them.
The Library of Trinity College, Dublin. Photo Credit J.T. Ellison, 2023
Also, time-traveling Druids exist. We have photographic evidence of this. No, it is not in this photo.
You don’t ever want to end up in an oubliette. Trust me, they’re very medieval. An oubliette is just a thirty-foot hole in a dungeon where they tossed you and let you starve to death. Did we accidentally end up standing in the door to one such torture device without knowing it? Yes. But we were trying to wait out an unexpected rain shower.
Large parts of Braveheart were filmed at Trim Castle. Braveheart is one of my all-time favorite movies…and we’d just watched it a few nights prior to this discovery! They filmed several iconic scenes there, and seeing it in person was so fun—also a fluke visit, as documented below. Also, it is very tall, so walking the battlements is highly recommended for those scared of heights. (No, no it is not. But the view was magnificnet.)
Trim Castle, Photo Credit J.T. Ellison, 2023
Many medieval castles were built with “stumble steps”. These stone steps of varying height and width were designed to literally trip up invading forces…and they do a nice job of making it hard on modern travelers, too.
If you are right-handed, you cannot swing a sword going up a clockwise built spiral staircase in a castle. These staircases are part of a castle’s defense system…seven in ten people are right-handed…if you were left-handed, they would not let you in the military. Likely because they’d already killed you since they believed that left-handed people were possessed by the devil. Also see: Why the Irish and Commonwealth drive on the right side of the road.
Bodily fluids were collected to…wait for it…disinfect clothing. Ew. Personal hygiene was very much not a thing in medieval times… For your fourth floor stumble step walkup, there was a grate that went down a chute into a cauldron over a fire, and the medieval dry cleaner stirred the urine to keep it…fresh? The steam wafted back up the grate vent into the clothes hung above. That took care of all sorts of pesky vermin, lice, fleas, etc. Who knew that stench was so powerful? Also, I am firmly convinced olfactory senses have evolved. How else could they have stood the stench?
Sometimes the best parts of a trip happen when you don’t have a plan. We had a whole day trip planned to do research for Ariel’s book, and were stymied when we discovered Rockfleet Castle is under construction. (A good thing, that, the sea kisses the foundation, it would soon be lost without help.) We had a couple hours to kill, so looked at a map and saw an island nearby. At first, Achill seemed like many other areas we’d driven: isolated, full of sheep (my favorite was spray painted the colors of the Irish flag. The wool painting help farmers ID whose sheep are whose.) Then we stumbled upon the Cliffs of Croaghan, and the world changed.
On another day we went to tour Howth Castle in Dublin but could only walk around the grounds thanks to a film set. However, one of the security guards suggested we visit Trim Castle instead. We would have never gone there otherwise. Same with our wander down the Thames looking for the hanging docks, and the on-going search for a gluten-free scone.
Gale-force winds can actually knock you down. Had said winds been coming from the other direction on the Cliffs of Croaghaun, we’d be floating somewhere in the Atlantic right now.
Photo Credit Ariel Lawhon, 2023
Standing at the far western edge of Europe, on top of a cliff, at sunset, can only be described as a religious experience. There are no words that can do the majesty of this moment justice.
Cliffs of Craughan, Photo Credit J.T. Ellison, 2023
You can’t plan a religious experience. Just let them happen.
Houses built near water often need $55 million renovations. Mother Nature is a cruel master…
Trout swim upstream. Not just salmon…and you can spend a lovely half hour by a man-made dam cheering them on.
Hugh De Lacy (and his progeny) is everywhere. Never heard of him? Neither had we, but he built many of the tower castles in Ireland.
A castle is great if you can keep it. Good grief, did these fortresses change hands from one invading army to another….It wasn’t rare to pop down to London for a few months and come home to find your brother had laid claim to your lands and laid in enough food and whiskey to withstand a year-long siege. Cheeky.
You can, in fact, consume too much Irish whiskey. And one does not even have to become inebriated to reach this point.
The E in whiskey was added to let consumers know that certain brands were premium quality. There is a difference between whisky and whiskEy. I’d always wondered why it could be spelled with or without that E. (Copyeditors, please take note.)
Jameson Distillery, Dublin. Photo Credit J.T. Ellison, 2023
Irish whiskey is aged in oak barrels for three years and one day. Why? Because the Scots only age their whiskey for three years and the Irish must be better At All Costs. Not that they are petty or competitive. (Editor’s note: does “petty” have its roots in “competitive?” Must investigate).
You can count to ten in Gaelic, but no one will ever understand you.
Feel free to wander onto film sets. They love that. Then have a coffee at the nearby golf course cafe. You might see a Dame or two. (We’re looking at you, Lesley Manville).
Howth Castle, Photo Credit Ariel Lawhon, 2023According to Ken, our taxi driver, the Irish started Halloween as we know it today. In keeping with the spirit of learning Grace O’Malley visiting at dinnertime, was turned away from Howth Castle, and in revenge, she stole away with a child heir, the ransom for whom was a guaranteed spot at the dinner table forever more. That’s why the Irish leave a plate out on Halloween, to appease her spirit.
Now, here’s some more practical travel advice:
Use a travel agent. No, seriously, do not bother booking a two-week European research trip on your own. Even for the logistically minded of us, who love a challenge and a bargain, an experienced travel agent will always find a better, safer, cooler deal. And if things go awry, you have a grounded person to help. And they will go awry. This is travel, after all.
If you don’t speak the language, don’t use it. I wandered around Amsterdam for three days saying Dank, Bedank, and Dank je wel and got nothing but dirty looks. Also see: Americans are not able to blend in.
When traveling with friends, book part (or all) of your stay in an AirBNB or a VRBO. This will give you a home base and a chance to do your laundry… Going forward, this will be our primary mode for the lengthier portions of our stays.
Westport, Ireland. Photo Credit J.T. Ellison, 2023
Also, when possible, travel with people who know how to flip a switch to make the washer work. And by “people” we of course mean husbands.
Try new foods. Some you will love (pea and mint gazpacho, sea greens) and some you will not (that rhubarb crumble can die a thousand deaths and I will never be sorry. It actually tasted like it had died a thousand deaths.)
Don’t overpack. You’ll end up wearing the same sweater and jeans almost every day because it A - looks cute and B - they are the most comfortable item you brought.
Also, don’t fret about the fashion. Social media influencers being what they are, their reach is no longer local. Day-to-day fashion has become remarkably homogenized. A uniform of jeans or black pants with crisp white sneakers and a cute top/sweater will take you from the most casual event to the fanciest.
Do wear your most comfortable walking shoes. Everyone wears sneakers, in all their glory, everywhere. And you will be walking for miles. Especially in the airports…
Don’t try to look like you’re anything but a tourist. It doesn’t matter if you speak the language or wear the same clothes, you stand out as other. Americans, especially, have a certain bearing, a confidence in how we walk even when we’re lost, that draws heads. If you consider the history of where you’re traveling, that becomes more understandable. We have never been invaded. None living have experienced the atrocities of war on our soil. We have never been conquered, and it shows.
When in doubt or having issues with food, retreat to a high-end hotel. Some cities/countries aren’t great for food allergies. Some are fantastic. What they all have in common is a Waldorf-Astoria or Ritz Carlton or Four Seasons, and because these cater to a higher-end clientele and have seen everything, they almost always will be able to accommodate even the most esoteric food issue. An afternoon cup of tea and a GF biscuit can be a four-hour respite from the chaos of travel.
Don’t try to do too much. Listen, there is SO much to see in this world. You can’t see it all in one go, nor should you try. There’s a sense of urgency when you travel overseas: you’ve spent a gazillion dollars on this trip and you have to visit every attraction, every museum, take every tour or boat or walk, find every Instagrammable photo spot. No, you don’t. Limit yourself to a morning excursion and an afternoon excursion at most, and let the rest happen. The best parts of this trip were the unscripted ones.
Some places are not your jam. I had a particular city we visited that has long been on my bucket list, and discovered that it was not my place. I was shocked, and disappointed. I tried a number of paths to remedy the sense of dislocation I felt, to no avail. Everything from the food to the vibe was just not right. I was relieved to leave, and you know what? THAT IS OKAY! You don’t have to love every moment of a trip to have it be a solid experience. There were beautiful, enjoyable moments, and I focused on them. Now I know that if we ever do a year abroad, we won’t need to spend time there.
Protein is your friend, especially on travel days. You will get tired. You will get grumpy. You will pick up a cold, eat something that disagrees with you, or land in a place that isn’t your jam. You can’t let that color the whole experience. It’s just a moment. Find a warm place, get a salad with some chicken, and you will feel 100% better.
Reality might bend. Understand and accept that at some points in your travels, especially when driving cross-country on an empty stomach, deep philosophical discussions about what is real and what is fabricated will be necessary conversations.
When traveling with friends, let everyone play to their strengths. On this journey, we had an unflappable driver, a logistics lover, a navigator extraordinaire, and a rare experience finder. That’s the *perfect* combination. Also, you have to go with the flow. If your team says, “Hey, let’s take a day off and veg by the fire with a book,” you should listen. And if your team is raring to go but you aren’t, stay behind and chill.
Pick your travel partners wisely. One of my favorite experiences of the whole trip was discovering how much we had in common with our friends. That might sound strange–they’re close enough friends that we wanted to go overseas for two weeks with them–but we found we liked the same “experiences” and our living-together-overseas rhythms were very much in sync. If you have early bird museum troopers matched with slow on-ramp country walkers, you might get frustrated. We discovered we really loved having a home base in a small town that allowed us to explore and ramble around. Going forward, we’ll allocate fewer days to the cities and more to the moors and coasts.
The North West Coast of Ireland is hideous. Horrible. Awful. ZERO STARS. DO NOT LIKE. DO NOT GO! Okay, I’m joking. At the airport, when we checked bags for Knock (no choice, small plane), the attendant asked where we were going. We said Knock, and he said “Have you been?” We said “No,” and he replied, “Few have.” We didn’t realize at the time that the area we visited is literally NEVER recommended. Everyone stops at Galway (fucking Galway). But Westport and northward? No one mentions that it is exceptional. Ruggedly beautiful, incredible food, friendly folks, and some of the most striking coastlines you will ever see. Maybe the romantic nature of the research was getting to us, but it was a life-changing few days, and that’s not said lightly. Hands down the best part of the trip.
Finally, and most importantly, BE WHERE YOUR FEET ARE. My husband reminded us of this several times and it kept us from checking phones, worrying about what was happening at home, and otherwise getting distracted by our real lives. It is excellent advice both on and off vacation. We live in a distracted world, and it is too easy to be pulled away from the experience you are actually having.
The Creative Edge is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
October 1, 2023
Craft Talk: The Five Components of a Great Logline
There are mystical aspects of writing, little tricks that some authors are able to do with their eyes closed, and some that leave us scratching our heads. For example, I’m excellent at titles but horrible at synopses. I can write on the fly, making up story as I go, but outlines give me hives. The 22 steps of John Truby’s THE ANATOMY OF STORY baffles me, but reading his new book THE ANATOMY OF GENRES was like slipping into my favorite jeans. We all have our strengths.
And then you have log lines. People, they are not my strength.
So when I deciphered the “What If” scenario, and Olivia commented, I asked her to come explain it to me, and to you. And she’s given a Masterclass below. So grab your notebook, and get ready to do some valuable story synthesis!
Take it away, Olivia…
After commenting on J.T. Ellison’s (@ The Creative Edge) blog posts on ‘What If’, she asked me if I wanted to write a post on what it takes to write a great logline. Of course, I would. 🤗 I wrote hundreds of loglines over many years while writing screenplays, and this assignment made me, in many ways, revisit my past. So, J.T. thank you for asking 😊. [[de rien, mon amie!]]
📚And if you haven’t yet, please check out The Creative Edge and J.T.’s so well-written and suspenseful novels.
And here we go:
Photo by Pereanu Sebastian on UnsplashThe Importance of a Logline for Screenwriters and NovelistsA logline is the essence of an idea in a sentence or two. If you can, try to condense it into just one sentence. The ideal logline is no longer than 60 words.
And why is a logline so important?
You can pitch your idea at any time → see ELEVATOR PITCH.
🔖 An elevator pitch is usually 30 seconds or less long. The term is often used in Hollywood when writers have the fortune to get into the same elevator with a producer or agent. However, it isn’t that easy, it rarely works. Timing is everything when it comes to deliver a convincing pitch.
You get a sense if your idea is expandable enough to turn it into a novel or screenplay.
You can also figure out what component is missing before you begin outlining, or if you’re a pantser before actually writing your first draft.
🔖 A pantser is someone who writes by the pants of their seats, basically with no outline. Some pantsers work with a minimal outline.
🔖Most screenwriters are plotters, as in screenwriting a dense structure is required.
A powerful logline can save you time and give you some direction.
Personally, I work with a flexible outline. I outline all my screenplays and books, knowing that I will make changes on the way.
The 5 Components of a Great Logline
