Willie Handler's Blog, page 19

10 Days of Canadian Humour – Day 4

Canada’s 150th birthday is just one week away. I’m marking the milestone by featuring great Canadian comic legends. Today is Dan Aykroyd. He was an original member of Saturday Night Live and went on to have a successful movie career. Aykroyd was born in Ottawa on Canada Day.  In 1973, joined the Second City comedy troupe in Toronto before moving to SNL.

Rolling Stone rated all 145 performers who were part of SNL and Dan Aykroyd was ranked fifth.

There Are No Rules For Writing

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A few nights ago a Twitter follower posted an unusual tweet. She indicated that she wasn’t made out to be writer and indicated she was quitting.

At some point every new writer feels this way. I was there just a few weeks ago. So I messaged her and asked what’s up.

As we started chatting, it came that she felt she wasn’t fitting in well with the online community of writers. I pressed her for more details. She felt that her writing process wasn’t like everyone else’s. She is a slow writer. She doesn’t write every day. She doesn’t plan out what she writes (on other words a pantser). In addition, she had expressed her views online and claimed to have received negative comments.

It’s a very counterproductive exercise to be comparing yourself to other writers. No two writers are going to be the same. What works for me isn’t going to work for someone else. I like to write in the morning. Some writers prefer to write at the end of the day. Some like to place music in the background. I like it quiet. I’m happy writing 500 to 1,000 words a day. There are writers are not happy unless they churn out 2,000 words a day. There is no right or wrong process.

In addition, the Internet is filled with blogs telling writers how to write a novel. They cover openings, endings, the middle part, character development, plot arc, narrative, dialogue, pacing, point of view, internal dialogue, cliff hangers, antagonists, flashbacks, sticky sentences, tropes and on and on. You can make yourself crazy with all these writing rules.

Guess what? The only rules that really count is that you need to use proper spelling and grammar. Nothing else matters. If cliches work for your story, use them. If you want to write a novel with 9 points of view, go right ahead. If you characters use crude and offensive language, knock yourself out.

Because who is to say what you are doing is right or wrong? No one. You are writing for yourself. You can’t be writing to please someone else. So politely listen to advice given and do what you feel is right for you. Your book will find an audience.

We aren’t all destined to be writing a bestseller, but we are all writing.

 

 

 

 

10 Days of Canadian Humour – Day 3

In 1976, SCTV (Second City Television) premiered in Canada and had an incredible run. The sketch comedy show was an offshoot of Toronto’s Second City stage troupe (which also supplied Saturday Night Live with many of its performers). The show ran until 1984 and performers included Rick Moranis, John Candy, Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara and Martin Short.

The premise of the show is the broadcast day of a fictitious TV station (later network) in the town of Melonville. The location of Melonville is left unspecified; the very earliest episodes imply it’s somewhere in Canada, though most later episodes place it in the US.

10 Days of Canadian Humour – Day 2

The Kids in the Hall is a Canadian sketch comedy group which was formed in 1984 and disbanded about 10 years lager. It was an all-male cast and it wasn’t unusual to see one of the cast members portraying a woman. Several of them were offered writing positions for Saturday Night Live.

10 Days of Canadian Humour: Day 2

The Kids in the Hall is a Canadian sketch comedy group which was formed in 1984 and disbanded about 10 years lager. It was an all-male cast and it wasn’t unusual to see one of the cast members portraying a woman. Several of them were offered writing positions for Saturday Night Live.

10 Days of Canadian Humour – Day 1

Canadians seemed to have a reputation for being boring and polite. For the most part, we aren’t brash, loud or obnoxious. But believe it or not – we’re funny! Canada has been producing top notch sketch and improv comedians for decades. Some are even known outside of the country.

Since this is supposed to be a humour blog and July 1st will be Canada’s 150th birthday, I’m going to feature funny Canadians. I’m going to start with Rick Mercer, a Newfoundlander. Some of the funniest Canadians have come from this Maritime province. Below is Rick talking to Americans in 2000.

Weekly Update

I’m back writing!

Finally!

Put in about 2500 words on my manuscript over the past week, which isn’t earth shattering but a huge step forward.

The source of my writer’s block will never be known for sure. One contributing factor was when I came up with this dumb idea to stop writing and edit. When I wrote THE ROAD AHEAD, I never really looked at what I had written until the first draft was completed. For some reason, I think I wanted to have a better first draft so I began editing.

Writing is a creative process while editing is much more analytical. Once to stop the creative flow, it’s not so easy to switch back on.

I’m planning to finish this draft before I leave for Europe at the end of July. Well, that’s the plan. About 20k to 25k left to work out. As an extra incentive I’ve signed up for Camp NaNoWriMo with a group of fellow writers Camp NaaNoWriMo is a virtual writer’s retreat.

Thank you to everyone who provided me with positive vibes while I was struggling. You aren’t really alone when you are a writer.

“Comparison is the thief of joy” – Theodore Roosevelt

A very positive and supportive post for other writers and those who use social media by a lovely person. Please read

H.A.Lynn

“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”
– Eleanor Roosevelt

I love this quote. It’s one of my favorites.

It’s hard not to compare yourself to others. As a writer, I struggle not to compare myself to published authors. I have to remind myself their books are finished products, while I’m still on my first draft. When I see new authors or friends in the writing community publish their first book, it makes me anxious to finish my WIP (work in progress). This can be motivating or can make you feel defeated, depending on how you let itaffect you.

You’re your own worst enemy, not the writing community. Someone else’s success, good reviews, books published, support, etc. is not an intentional jab at your own work. Your self worth isn’t determined by someone else. Self worth is your own opinion and value of yourself. “No one…

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The Deep Dark Hole That Can Consume Writers

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For almost two months, each time I sit down to work on my manuscript the same feeling engulfs me. I feel the room turn dark and cavernous. The walls begin to close in on me. Emotionally, I feel a combination of frustration and despair.

I’ve got writer’s block.

Back in the 1950s, a psychiatrist named Edmund Bergler studied writers with creative issues and labeled the condition as “neurotic inhibitions of productivity.” He was Freudian trained and recommended psychotherapy. Since then, various mental health professionals have conducted research on the condition and recommended approaches to overcome creative block. Many of my writing peers have also provided tips and advice.

But that feeling won’t go away. It’s not that I’m not able to write. At the moment, I hate everything I’m writing or have written. Nothing feels funny. Everything seems structurally weak. The plot seems to be going nowhere and characters paper thin. Those amazing images that floated around in my head have been replaced with darkness. My main character, Dix, was dictating much of the story to me, but he’s gone silent.

It’s boils down to lack of confidence. I no longer believe in myself. I don’t know how it started but it worsened after I participated in The FOLD Writer’s Court. The confused look from the judges was very unnerving. I know I should just put it behind me but so far I haven’t been able to.

I’ve read dozens of articles on writer’s block. There are so many do’s and don’ts. Some advice is conflicting. I’ve come to the conclusion that there is no “one size fits all” solution. I tried to switch from writing to editing but that made things worse. I found I wasn’t creating but only tearing down. I tried reading for inspiration but it felt like a form of avoidance.

I think I’m going to set aside my manuscript and for a little while and write something different. Some writers have multiple pieces they are working on. I prefer to work on one manuscript at a time. I have a presentation that needs to be written. I’m going to work on an outline for my next manuscript. And wait for Dix to return and work with me to finish my manuscript. Hopefully, he returns soon.

The Darwin System: Decision Making At Its Best

I’m [image error]sure I walked out of the minister’s boardroom with a scowl on my face. People were clearly trying to avoid me.  Some pretended to look the other way as if they hadn’t noticed me walk by.  You probably want to know what I was all in knots about.  In our weekly update on progress in staging the 2015 Pan Am Games, Minister Donaldson, God bless him, had suggested that people wanting to attend the opening ceremonies should be selected randomly rather than on a first-come basis.  That would have been good to know two years ago or even last year but the Games are just months away. What am I going to do?

When I get back to the office, I pick up the phone to call our IT director.  “Danny, how are you?  It’s your pal Brian!”

There was a long and painful pause.  “What do you want?”

“I just got back from a minister’s update meeting and he thought it would be great idea to randomly choose people to attend the opening ceremonies.  Everyone at the update meeting was totally behind the idea so I thought you guys in IT could write a little program to makes it happen.”

“You tell the minster he’s nuts. It will take eighteen months to write the program, load the data and test it.  Maybe we can cut some corners but twelve months is the absolute limit.”

” Gee thanks.  Do you have any suggestions?  I’m in a real pickle here.”

“Yeah, get yourself a monkey to pull names, maybe one of those hot shot kids working in the minister’s office.”

Then I heard the line go dead.  I began to slip into depression.  Danny could be so abrasive but he was right about this stupid timeline.  I began to spin stories in my mind for the minister when I remembered the news story last year about Darwin the IKEA monkey.  He was living in a primate sanctuary just outside the city.  Maybe Danny’s suggestion had some merit.  After all, radio stations have used zoo primates to make football game picks for NFL pools.  Why not Pan Am tickets?  I asked my assistant to set up a call with the director of the primate sanctuary which took place the following morning.  With a little arm-twisting and a promise to mention the sanctuary in press releases, the sanctuary director agreed to make Darwin available to our team.

The next week my team drove up to Sutherland, where the primate sanctuary is located, to implement our random selection process.  Darwin was brought into a large room with handlers and my staff.  The ticket requests were in boxes on one side of the room.  Darwin selected a card from one of the boxes and brings it over to our table.  One of my staff took the information from the card and put into a spreadsheet.  One of the primate handlers gave Darwin a treat.  This process continued through the day and over the next week with two other monkeys to back up Darwin when he fatigued until all 17,980 tickets available through the lottery system were accounted for.  When we were done I thanked the sanctuary staff and headed back to wilds of Queens Park.

The following week was another minister’s update meeting.  When the agenda got to the opening ceremonies the minister looked my way.  I responded as if it was a command performance which in my mind it was.  “Minister I am pleased to report that in the past month we had a new system designed to randomly select people from the pool of applicants to purchase tickets for the Pan Am Games opening ceremonies.  We have dubbed it the Darwin System in recognition of the innovative algorithm designed to make the selections.  On this flash drive that I have in my hand are the names and contact information for those people.  With your permission Minister, we will begin the process of contacting those lucky people and issue a press release to alert the media.”

“Well I’m pleased to hear that you were able to pull this off so quickly.  In particular, after you made such a fuss about timelines at the last update meeting.  I’ve always believed that those IT people are all smoke and mirrors.  Put their feet to the fire and they will miraculously create new systems in a matter of months if not weeks.  I want a directive going out stating that the timeline for all new information systems fo here on in will be three months.  Great job Brian!”