Mette Ivie Harrison's Blog, page 78
December 16, 2011
Friday Tri: Weight Lifting
I am surprised at how many people who want to be better athletes ignore this very simple way to prevent injuries and improve speed. Now, you don't necessarily have to go to the gym and use machines to do weight lifting. You can do yoga or Pilates. You can get a ball and do exercises while you watch TV. You can do it all without ever once lifting any barbells or dumbbells and using the weight only of your own body. But that said, you should do some weight lifting twice a week for 20-30 minutes IMHO.
This month, three of my children, my husband, and my sister-in-law all asked me to write them up training plans. They want to be ready to start a hard core running training plan come January, but it's really too early to get into that now and besides, it's the holidays, and not a lot of time is usually devoted to training during the holidays. There are too many goodies and too much time is being spent on other things. Plus, what's the point of losing weight when no one will notice because you're wearing sweaters and coats and flannel lined jeans?
The annoying thing about weight lifting is that people don't think of it as a way to burn calories. It doesn't make it so that you can eat more food than you usually do, so you can't reward yourself with a brownie afterward. On the other hand, weight lifting shows result faster than almost anything else. You will see the change in the definition of your muscles in a matter of weeks, and you won't be as hungry as you would be if you spent the time on the treadmill. For many people, weight lifting is more interesting than the treadmill.
It also has the advantage of being shorter. You can get in a great workout in thirty minutes and you're done for the day. Many people recommend one day of weight lifting followed by one day of cardio. I tend to do both, the weight lifting after the cardio so I don't compromise my cardio times, but that's my priority.
In the last year I have spent a lot more time in the gym than I have ever done in previous years, lifting weights. Now, I've always been a proponent of yoga, and I still love yoga for the relaxation it offers and for the way I can take it with me wherever I go. But for sheer muscle building power, traditional weights seem to work better for me.
Just a quick tip on what I do:
1. 3 set of 10 reps.
This means you choose a weight that is easy enough that you can do 10 reps with it and still feel like you do a couple more. I would caution most people to aim for lower than they think especially the first little while you're doing this. You will be pretty sore the first few weeks. That's perfectly normal, but you may not feel pain while working out, so be gentle on yourself. You can always go up for the next set.
2. Usually 5-6 exercises per session, prioritizing major muscle groups over minor ones.
This means I would prefer to see someone do chinups or assisted chinups or dips over isolated bicep presses. I would prefer you do chest presses to triceps work. I prefer working your hamstrings and quads to your calf muscles. And if possible, it's best to work out as many muscles at the same time as you can. So pushups, which work almost everything, are superb. Also, almost anything where you are using your own body weight is better than a weight machine isolated exercise because your body is what you use all the time. Lunges, therefore, are better in my mind than leg presses at the gym. That doesn't mean I always do them, but I think they're better.
3. Circuit training.
This means that instead of working on one muscle group at a time, resting for a minute, and then doing that same exercise again, I do the whole set of exercises without any rest in between, then start at the beginning again. About 10 minutes per circuit.
4.Don't do the same exercises all the time. Try to change muscle group focus for your two workouts and repeat after one full week. This helps boredeom and recovery at the same time. And movitation, since after doing lunges I don't want to do lunges for a month.
5. Core/abdominal work every time.
You don't have to do the same situps every time (I do a lot of situps--they're good for you), but there are a ton of exercises that work that area. You can do leg lifts, standing lifts, even chinups work your abs. Sitting on a ball works them. I never EVER use the abdominal machine at the gym. It's worthless, seriously.
This month, three of my children, my husband, and my sister-in-law all asked me to write them up training plans. They want to be ready to start a hard core running training plan come January, but it's really too early to get into that now and besides, it's the holidays, and not a lot of time is usually devoted to training during the holidays. There are too many goodies and too much time is being spent on other things. Plus, what's the point of losing weight when no one will notice because you're wearing sweaters and coats and flannel lined jeans?
The annoying thing about weight lifting is that people don't think of it as a way to burn calories. It doesn't make it so that you can eat more food than you usually do, so you can't reward yourself with a brownie afterward. On the other hand, weight lifting shows result faster than almost anything else. You will see the change in the definition of your muscles in a matter of weeks, and you won't be as hungry as you would be if you spent the time on the treadmill. For many people, weight lifting is more interesting than the treadmill.
It also has the advantage of being shorter. You can get in a great workout in thirty minutes and you're done for the day. Many people recommend one day of weight lifting followed by one day of cardio. I tend to do both, the weight lifting after the cardio so I don't compromise my cardio times, but that's my priority.
In the last year I have spent a lot more time in the gym than I have ever done in previous years, lifting weights. Now, I've always been a proponent of yoga, and I still love yoga for the relaxation it offers and for the way I can take it with me wherever I go. But for sheer muscle building power, traditional weights seem to work better for me.
Just a quick tip on what I do:
1. 3 set of 10 reps.
This means you choose a weight that is easy enough that you can do 10 reps with it and still feel like you do a couple more. I would caution most people to aim for lower than they think especially the first little while you're doing this. You will be pretty sore the first few weeks. That's perfectly normal, but you may not feel pain while working out, so be gentle on yourself. You can always go up for the next set.
2. Usually 5-6 exercises per session, prioritizing major muscle groups over minor ones.
This means I would prefer to see someone do chinups or assisted chinups or dips over isolated bicep presses. I would prefer you do chest presses to triceps work. I prefer working your hamstrings and quads to your calf muscles. And if possible, it's best to work out as many muscles at the same time as you can. So pushups, which work almost everything, are superb. Also, almost anything where you are using your own body weight is better than a weight machine isolated exercise because your body is what you use all the time. Lunges, therefore, are better in my mind than leg presses at the gym. That doesn't mean I always do them, but I think they're better.
3. Circuit training.
This means that instead of working on one muscle group at a time, resting for a minute, and then doing that same exercise again, I do the whole set of exercises without any rest in between, then start at the beginning again. About 10 minutes per circuit.
4.Don't do the same exercises all the time. Try to change muscle group focus for your two workouts and repeat after one full week. This helps boredeom and recovery at the same time. And movitation, since after doing lunges I don't want to do lunges for a month.
5. Core/abdominal work every time.
You don't have to do the same situps every time (I do a lot of situps--they're good for you), but there are a ton of exercises that work that area. You can do leg lifts, standing lifts, even chinups work your abs. Sitting on a ball works them. I never EVER use the abdominal machine at the gym. It's worthless, seriously.
December 15, 2011
Wednesday Writing (on Thursday due to illness): Imagine
One of the things my agent asks his clients to do periodically is to write a list of goals for our writing future, long term and short term. Which is easy. I always have long term and short term goals in mind. Then what he does is really scary, because he asks us to write down a wish or a dream we have for our writing, something that we can't plan on or control, but that we still want, something that we're afraid to want. The idea is that somehow, by writing this dream down, by acknowledging that we want it, we may actually figure out a way to get it.
I have to admit that it's been really hard for me to actually do this, even for myself, let alone sharing it with my agent and other clients. There is this stupid idea in my head that if I don't wish for something, then I won't be disappointed. And also, that wishing for something big is inviting the universe to smash you down hard. Hmm, I guess this tells you a little bit too much about my childhood, eh?
My fear of wishing too big has, in the last few years, extended to my children and my husband. I find myself unable to even acknowledge to myself what I hope for them because doing so invites down the universe's displeasure from me to them, and then it will be my fault, through some bizarre sort of cosmic justice, when they are smashed down. I know this is irrational. I know it is not protecting me from anything. And yet I still find those blocks up in my mind when I try on purpose each night to imagine a rich and fulfilling future for myself and for those that I love most.
I have no problems inviting the universe's (or God's) richest blessings on people just slightly more distant from me, friends, more extended family. Somehow I feel like whatever bad happens can't come back to me. Or sometimes, if things are bad enough, I feel like I can wish for something just a little better. But not too much.
So, this coming year, I invite myself and all of you reading this with me, to give yourself permission to imagine not just a better future, but a rich one, beyond your expectations, into those dreams in your heart that you are afraid to wish even in a whispered way to yourself. Dreaming will not cause nightmares to appear. Dreaming will not invite the displeasure of the universe. You cannot dream too big. You cannot dream too much. Dreams are borrowing from the future, but they don't have to be repaid.
I'm not sure that you must dream first to have good things. I think that I have had things given to me by a benevolent universe that I did not think to ask for and could not have imagined in goodness. Bad things, too, I suppose. But I don't see any reason to believe that holding back on wishing keeps back the bad things. They come anyway. But perhaps I do believe that refusing to wish keeps back the good things.
To be daring and to prove that this will not cause anything bad to happen, I am going to write down some of my excessively optimistic wishes:
A movie deal
NYT Bestseller status
Winning a big award
Going to a bookstore signing where people are lined up for me
Being asked to keynote speak at a big convention
And I will now hold my head up high and NOT wait for lightning to strike.
I have to admit that it's been really hard for me to actually do this, even for myself, let alone sharing it with my agent and other clients. There is this stupid idea in my head that if I don't wish for something, then I won't be disappointed. And also, that wishing for something big is inviting the universe to smash you down hard. Hmm, I guess this tells you a little bit too much about my childhood, eh?
My fear of wishing too big has, in the last few years, extended to my children and my husband. I find myself unable to even acknowledge to myself what I hope for them because doing so invites down the universe's displeasure from me to them, and then it will be my fault, through some bizarre sort of cosmic justice, when they are smashed down. I know this is irrational. I know it is not protecting me from anything. And yet I still find those blocks up in my mind when I try on purpose each night to imagine a rich and fulfilling future for myself and for those that I love most.
I have no problems inviting the universe's (or God's) richest blessings on people just slightly more distant from me, friends, more extended family. Somehow I feel like whatever bad happens can't come back to me. Or sometimes, if things are bad enough, I feel like I can wish for something just a little better. But not too much.
So, this coming year, I invite myself and all of you reading this with me, to give yourself permission to imagine not just a better future, but a rich one, beyond your expectations, into those dreams in your heart that you are afraid to wish even in a whispered way to yourself. Dreaming will not cause nightmares to appear. Dreaming will not invite the displeasure of the universe. You cannot dream too big. You cannot dream too much. Dreams are borrowing from the future, but they don't have to be repaid.
I'm not sure that you must dream first to have good things. I think that I have had things given to me by a benevolent universe that I did not think to ask for and could not have imagined in goodness. Bad things, too, I suppose. But I don't see any reason to believe that holding back on wishing keeps back the bad things. They come anyway. But perhaps I do believe that refusing to wish keeps back the good things.
To be daring and to prove that this will not cause anything bad to happen, I am going to write down some of my excessively optimistic wishes:
A movie deal
NYT Bestseller status
Winning a big award
Going to a bookstore signing where people are lined up for me
Being asked to keynote speak at a big convention
And I will now hold my head up high and NOT wait for lightning to strike.
December 14, 2011
Thoughts from "You've Got Mail"
"Closing the shop is the brave thing to do . . . It is allowing yourself to imagine that you can do something else with your life." Birdie.
"People say that change is a good thing, but what they really mean is that something has happened to you that you desperately don't want, and you have no choice but to accept that thing and move on." Kathleen Kelly.
I watched this movie again this weekend with kids, and it was interesting how strange to them a world without email would be. My daughter said she could understand a world without cars and planes better than one without a computer. It was hard for them to enjoy that aspect of this movie, which at the time seemed so clever. But to me the dialog was as good as ever, and I really loved the Fox Books/Shop Around the Corner dynamic, as it seemed so apropos now as it ever was, though B&N is probably the new little store being attacked by Amazon.
I thought a lot about the choices we make when something bad happens, and how we reveal ourselves. We are revealed, too, when good things happen, I think. But not in the same way. I'm not sure this means that bad things are meant to happen, even if we do something good with them. I think it just means that life is full of things that happen and you still have some choice in what you do with those things. Eventually, I think we all figure out ways to move on. If it takes a little longer, I don't know that means you are a bad person. It probably just means you were more attached to the old vision of your life.
"People say that change is a good thing, but what they really mean is that something has happened to you that you desperately don't want, and you have no choice but to accept that thing and move on." Kathleen Kelly.
I watched this movie again this weekend with kids, and it was interesting how strange to them a world without email would be. My daughter said she could understand a world without cars and planes better than one without a computer. It was hard for them to enjoy that aspect of this movie, which at the time seemed so clever. But to me the dialog was as good as ever, and I really loved the Fox Books/Shop Around the Corner dynamic, as it seemed so apropos now as it ever was, though B&N is probably the new little store being attacked by Amazon.
I thought a lot about the choices we make when something bad happens, and how we reveal ourselves. We are revealed, too, when good things happen, I think. But not in the same way. I'm not sure this means that bad things are meant to happen, even if we do something good with them. I think it just means that life is full of things that happen and you still have some choice in what you do with those things. Eventually, I think we all figure out ways to move on. If it takes a little longer, I don't know that means you are a bad person. It probably just means you were more attached to the old vision of your life.
December 9, 2011
Friday Tri: Gear
When I finished this year's 50 miler, I ended up having an interesting conversation with John, who did it the first year himself just for fun and since then is the main organizer. He said that the first year, a couple had signed up for the race and they walked every step together, holding hands. They signed up on a whim and neither of them had worn good running shoes. By the end of the course, when John and his wife ended up insisting that the couple could no longer continue because it was past dark, the man had worn his shoes down so badly that his feet were showing through and had been torn to bloody shreds. John also said that he was pretty sure that the couple broke up the next day because the woman came into the shop later to buy shoes with another man.
Some important lessons here. I'm not sure I'm a believer in couples needing to do EVERYTHING together, for one thing. My husband and I do races "together," which means we talk about the race, drive down together, set up together, and talk afterward. But we go at our own pace because it can feel insane to try to keep pace with another person and in triathlon it's actually illegal to stay too close to someone else on the bike. We don't train often together, either, because we have kids and we try to have one of us at home most of the time. Also I love to train on the treadmill so I can watch TV and have easy access to drinks, fuel, and a bathroom. My husband only trains on the treadmill if it is truly scary weather outside and cannot figure out why I would want to do so.
But the other lesson here is that you need the proper gear to do your race. Years ago, I tried to do a triathlon (not the off-road kind) with a mountain bike. I think I must have been dead last on the bike. It got me through the course, yes, but it was not a good choice. I've seen lots of people running in inappropriate shoes. My father was well known for running with me in his wingtips when I was in high school. This is just an invitation for an injury. Don't go exercise without the proper gear. Now, yes, a good pair of running shoes can be expensive, about $100. I don't know what to say about that except that if you don't have a pair, I'd actually recommend walking instead. Or even running barefoot on a grassy hill.
Today, I am especially pleased with my new Pearl Izumi triathlon specific shoes that I got on a whim the last time I was in Striders, our local running store. I went in wearing my old Asics and the clerk immediately asked if I needed a new pair of shoes. I told him I already had a new pair, but I was doing a 50 miler and wondered if there was anything I could do to avoid getting blisters on 30 plus mile runs. He didn't seem to think that there was. You sort of have to plan on blisters when you run that long, no matter what your shoes. But when he found out I also do triathlons, he made me try on these shoes. They feel like I am lighter than air. They have holes all along the soles so water can pour out, which is great. They also slip on and off super easily. I will admit, they don't work for runs longer than 12 miles, but they are great at what they do. They make me excited about running, and that is a good thing for someone who tends to default to bike.
Buy the proper gear for your sport. Don't pinch pennies on this. I'm a terrible miser (ask my kids) but there are some things you just have to pay for. Proper goggles in my opinion are about $20. I only like Speedo Hydrospex, but they last for months. I also still have my Silicone cap that I bought 6 years ago. The latex caps are cheaper, but they break all the time. I never EVER buy my swimsuit at a store because if it has lycra, it will last about eight weeks and then disintegrate. Buy a polyester Chloroban suit. I like swimoutlet.com. They have good suits on sale for about $30, which is what you'd pay for a bad one in a department store. I will admit, my daughters laugh at me because I only wear swim suits, not fashion suits. I don't care if I look good in it, only if it doesn't bunch up when I am at full speed.
Some important lessons here. I'm not sure I'm a believer in couples needing to do EVERYTHING together, for one thing. My husband and I do races "together," which means we talk about the race, drive down together, set up together, and talk afterward. But we go at our own pace because it can feel insane to try to keep pace with another person and in triathlon it's actually illegal to stay too close to someone else on the bike. We don't train often together, either, because we have kids and we try to have one of us at home most of the time. Also I love to train on the treadmill so I can watch TV and have easy access to drinks, fuel, and a bathroom. My husband only trains on the treadmill if it is truly scary weather outside and cannot figure out why I would want to do so.
But the other lesson here is that you need the proper gear to do your race. Years ago, I tried to do a triathlon (not the off-road kind) with a mountain bike. I think I must have been dead last on the bike. It got me through the course, yes, but it was not a good choice. I've seen lots of people running in inappropriate shoes. My father was well known for running with me in his wingtips when I was in high school. This is just an invitation for an injury. Don't go exercise without the proper gear. Now, yes, a good pair of running shoes can be expensive, about $100. I don't know what to say about that except that if you don't have a pair, I'd actually recommend walking instead. Or even running barefoot on a grassy hill.
Today, I am especially pleased with my new Pearl Izumi triathlon specific shoes that I got on a whim the last time I was in Striders, our local running store. I went in wearing my old Asics and the clerk immediately asked if I needed a new pair of shoes. I told him I already had a new pair, but I was doing a 50 miler and wondered if there was anything I could do to avoid getting blisters on 30 plus mile runs. He didn't seem to think that there was. You sort of have to plan on blisters when you run that long, no matter what your shoes. But when he found out I also do triathlons, he made me try on these shoes. They feel like I am lighter than air. They have holes all along the soles so water can pour out, which is great. They also slip on and off super easily. I will admit, they don't work for runs longer than 12 miles, but they are great at what they do. They make me excited about running, and that is a good thing for someone who tends to default to bike.
Buy the proper gear for your sport. Don't pinch pennies on this. I'm a terrible miser (ask my kids) but there are some things you just have to pay for. Proper goggles in my opinion are about $20. I only like Speedo Hydrospex, but they last for months. I also still have my Silicone cap that I bought 6 years ago. The latex caps are cheaper, but they break all the time. I never EVER buy my swimsuit at a store because if it has lycra, it will last about eight weeks and then disintegrate. Buy a polyester Chloroban suit. I like swimoutlet.com. They have good suits on sale for about $30, which is what you'd pay for a bad one in a department store. I will admit, my daughters laugh at me because I only wear swim suits, not fashion suits. I don't care if I look good in it, only if it doesn't bunch up when I am at full speed.
December 8, 2011
Thursday Quotes: Terri Windling's The Wood Wife
Some quotes that really struck me about art and life:
"I supported my ex-husband all through the lean years at the beginning of his career. I stopped writing poetry and hustled my butt getting every magazine assignment I could. Cooper was furious with me but I wouldn't listen; I was in love, and ready to join that long tradition of the little woman behind the great man. . . I think I had this romantic vision of being The Artist's Muse--but instead I was just The Hardworking Wife. And the muses were all the ladies that my husband had on the side."
"You assume that what I want is what you would want: Success, Recognition. I'm not like you. I'm not like Cooper. That's not what a good life means to me. Playing music is a high, for sure--but there's other things that I like just as much. Carpentry, for instance; it's honest work, it's solid, it's real, it pays a living wage . . . I give free music lessons to kids . . . I like having time for things like that. And time for my friends. And for myself. I don't want to spend all my time hustling music. Just want to play it, enjoy it, and have a life."
"A theorist is not a poet."
"Poems are the language of the gods, not magazine reportage."
"I supported my ex-husband all through the lean years at the beginning of his career. I stopped writing poetry and hustled my butt getting every magazine assignment I could. Cooper was furious with me but I wouldn't listen; I was in love, and ready to join that long tradition of the little woman behind the great man. . . I think I had this romantic vision of being The Artist's Muse--but instead I was just The Hardworking Wife. And the muses were all the ladies that my husband had on the side."
"You assume that what I want is what you would want: Success, Recognition. I'm not like you. I'm not like Cooper. That's not what a good life means to me. Playing music is a high, for sure--but there's other things that I like just as much. Carpentry, for instance; it's honest work, it's solid, it's real, it pays a living wage . . . I give free music lessons to kids . . . I like having time for things like that. And time for my friends. And for myself. I don't want to spend all my time hustling music. Just want to play it, enjoy it, and have a life."
"A theorist is not a poet."
"Poems are the language of the gods, not magazine reportage."
December 7, 2011
Wednesday Writing: Pretty Words
A friend asked me a few months ago to give advice in ten words or less about writing. Here it is:
Clarity First, Pretty Words Second.
I am always a little astonished when critics talk about my writing being "lush" or "beautiful." That's not at all what I aim for. I imagine in my mind that I try to write as clearly as possible. I tend to be ruthless with my sentences because I have a huge tendency to overwrite and to hit the reader over the head with saying the same thing three or four times in different, pretty ways. Once is plenty. Usually.
On the other hand, clarity is beautiful, isn't it? When you look through an absolutely clear window and just see what is beyond it, rather than noticing the glass or the smudges on it or the frame around it, isn't that what the best view is like? Something that allows you to feel as if there is nothing standing between you and the experience. Anyway, that is what I aim for. I feel like my job as the writer is to get out of the way of the story. The beauty of the story may be there, but I don't need to try especially hard to use the right language to illustrate it. It may be true that because of my background in literature that I have a better range of language than some writers, but I simply use those tools to let the story tell itself.
The Michelangelo idea of seeing the figure in the stone and simply cutting away the parts that are not supposed to be there is very much what it feels like to me as a writer, at every step of the process. The only difference is that for me, if I take off too much, I can always put it back on again in another draft. I always save drafts so that if I decide to go back and put a part back in (which, by the way, has never happened), I can be sure it is still there, waiting for me.
Clarity First, Pretty Words Second.
I am always a little astonished when critics talk about my writing being "lush" or "beautiful." That's not at all what I aim for. I imagine in my mind that I try to write as clearly as possible. I tend to be ruthless with my sentences because I have a huge tendency to overwrite and to hit the reader over the head with saying the same thing three or four times in different, pretty ways. Once is plenty. Usually.
On the other hand, clarity is beautiful, isn't it? When you look through an absolutely clear window and just see what is beyond it, rather than noticing the glass or the smudges on it or the frame around it, isn't that what the best view is like? Something that allows you to feel as if there is nothing standing between you and the experience. Anyway, that is what I aim for. I feel like my job as the writer is to get out of the way of the story. The beauty of the story may be there, but I don't need to try especially hard to use the right language to illustrate it. It may be true that because of my background in literature that I have a better range of language than some writers, but I simply use those tools to let the story tell itself.
The Michelangelo idea of seeing the figure in the stone and simply cutting away the parts that are not supposed to be there is very much what it feels like to me as a writer, at every step of the process. The only difference is that for me, if I take off too much, I can always put it back on again in another draft. I always save drafts so that if I decide to go back and put a part back in (which, by the way, has never happened), I can be sure it is still there, waiting for me.
December 6, 2011
Tuesday TV: How to Write Apocalyptic/Dystopian Scripts
1. Ten minutes of normal life in a small town. Yes, it has to be a small town. If you want to show big city characters, you must show them in a community so it is like a small town.
2. The big apocalypse. Mushroom clouds. Aliens. Natural disasters. Plane crash. Whatever it is. Show it in detail, from multiple points of view. Must have lots of screaming. Several people should commit suicide.
3. The immediate aftermath. Phone service is interrupted. TVs and satellites don't work anymore. It doesn't really matter what the problem is. Anything that we have come to depend on in the twentieth century goes kaput.
4. The slow slide into the Middle Ages. Now you can take your time. The idea is that each episode focuses on a new problem that the characters have to solve. One by one, take things away from them which they have come to depend on. Each episode should make things just incrementally worse.
5. Relationships begin to break up. The characters who you spent so much time showing connected to each other now start fighting. There should be at least one divorce.
6. New relationships form. Under stress, this happens. People get together who hated each other before, just because they need something to anchor them. I guess.
7. Outsiders arrive. Everything you thought you knew about these people starts to be undermined.
8. Fights break out and humans become animals. Theft, murder, and anything bad. Throw it in, just for fun.
9. Time for the retrospectives. You want to show what everyone was doing before the apocalypse in more detail now. Don't make us love these characters. Now is the time to show how they are all greedy and selfish.
10. Secrets begin to emerge. You can't trust anyone, it turns out. The heroes are most likely to be compromised morally. Because, well, this is apocalyptic TV.
I think this applies to a bunch of TV I've watched lately, including Jericho and Lost, and it applies just as well to most of the dystopian novels that are coming out (some of which are actually apocalyptic).
2. The big apocalypse. Mushroom clouds. Aliens. Natural disasters. Plane crash. Whatever it is. Show it in detail, from multiple points of view. Must have lots of screaming. Several people should commit suicide.
3. The immediate aftermath. Phone service is interrupted. TVs and satellites don't work anymore. It doesn't really matter what the problem is. Anything that we have come to depend on in the twentieth century goes kaput.
4. The slow slide into the Middle Ages. Now you can take your time. The idea is that each episode focuses on a new problem that the characters have to solve. One by one, take things away from them which they have come to depend on. Each episode should make things just incrementally worse.
5. Relationships begin to break up. The characters who you spent so much time showing connected to each other now start fighting. There should be at least one divorce.
6. New relationships form. Under stress, this happens. People get together who hated each other before, just because they need something to anchor them. I guess.
7. Outsiders arrive. Everything you thought you knew about these people starts to be undermined.
8. Fights break out and humans become animals. Theft, murder, and anything bad. Throw it in, just for fun.
9. Time for the retrospectives. You want to show what everyone was doing before the apocalypse in more detail now. Don't make us love these characters. Now is the time to show how they are all greedy and selfish.
10. Secrets begin to emerge. You can't trust anyone, it turns out. The heroes are most likely to be compromised morally. Because, well, this is apocalyptic TV.
I think this applies to a bunch of TV I've watched lately, including Jericho and Lost, and it applies just as well to most of the dystopian novels that are coming out (some of which are actually apocalyptic).
December 5, 2011
Monday Book Recs--Haddix and Levine series for MG
Margaret Peterson Haddix's Among the Hidden:
I am reading through The Shadow Children books with my youngest son, 9, for the fourth time this year. The first in the series is Among the Hidden and I think it is one of the smartest sf books for middle grade ever. Luke is the third child who has to remain hidden or he will be killed by an oppressive government. He survives by enjoying his family's farmland, until the government buys the farm and starts building houses on it. Then he discovers one of the baron (rich, government) families also has a third child. Not every book in the series is as good as every other book, but I think they are all worth reading, and they are just right for kids making the jump from Magic Tree House. They are also books that I would love to duplicate in my own attempts at writing for middle grade.
Gail Carson Levine's Cinderellis and the Glass Hill:
There are 6 (I think) of these twisted fairy tales, all told with a whimsical sense of humor and a delight in both the magic and the frivolity of fairy tales. Cinderellis is perhaps my favorite because instead of a female Cinderella, you have a male one and you know how I love gender role reversals. But every book in this series is so much fun. They are short and easy to read and all three of my daughters read them multiple times. I loved the retelling of The Princess and the Pea, Sleeping Beauty, and Diamonds and Toads. Also a series I would love to duplicate. They look like they are super easy to write, but try it for yourself. I think you'll discover that no one does this kind of story like Gail Carson Levine. There is genius behind them.
I am reading through The Shadow Children books with my youngest son, 9, for the fourth time this year. The first in the series is Among the Hidden and I think it is one of the smartest sf books for middle grade ever. Luke is the third child who has to remain hidden or he will be killed by an oppressive government. He survives by enjoying his family's farmland, until the government buys the farm and starts building houses on it. Then he discovers one of the baron (rich, government) families also has a third child. Not every book in the series is as good as every other book, but I think they are all worth reading, and they are just right for kids making the jump from Magic Tree House. They are also books that I would love to duplicate in my own attempts at writing for middle grade.
Gail Carson Levine's Cinderellis and the Glass Hill:
There are 6 (I think) of these twisted fairy tales, all told with a whimsical sense of humor and a delight in both the magic and the frivolity of fairy tales. Cinderellis is perhaps my favorite because instead of a female Cinderella, you have a male one and you know how I love gender role reversals. But every book in this series is so much fun. They are short and easy to read and all three of my daughters read them multiple times. I loved the retelling of The Princess and the Pea, Sleeping Beauty, and Diamonds and Toads. Also a series I would love to duplicate. They look like they are super easy to write, but try it for yourself. I think you'll discover that no one does this kind of story like Gail Carson Levine. There is genius behind them.
December 1, 2011
Thursday Quotes: Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb
"In truth, I was his only failure that year, but I was a monumental one. He preceded us home to Buckkeep, where he abdicated his claim to the throne. By the time we arrived, he and Lady Patience were gone from court, to live as the Lord and Lady of Withywoods. I have been to Withywoods. Its name bears no relationship to irs appearance. It is a warm valley, centered on a gently flowing river that carves a wide plain that nestles between gently rising and rolling foothills. A place to grow grapes and grain and plump children. It is a soft holding, far from the borders, far from the politics of court, far from anything that had been Chivalry's life up to then. It was a pasturing out, a gentle and genteel exile for a man who would have been King. A velvet smothering for a warrior and a silencing of a rare and skilled diplomat.
And so I cam to Buckkeep, sole child and bastard of a man I'd never know. Prince Verity became King-in-Waiting and Prince Regal moved up a notch in the line of succession. If all I had ever done was to be born and discovered, I would have left a mark across all the land for all time. I grew up fatherless and motherless in a court where all recognized me as a catalyst. And a catalyst I became."
I love the Farseer books above almost anything written in adult fantasy. It is the first person narration of Fitz I think that holds me so tightly in his grip, and this is a perfect illustration of how that voice works. It certainly has appeal for YA readers, but the nostalgia is very much adult. I often think that I as a reader have little patience for pretty language, but here is pretty language that I love.
And so I cam to Buckkeep, sole child and bastard of a man I'd never know. Prince Verity became King-in-Waiting and Prince Regal moved up a notch in the line of succession. If all I had ever done was to be born and discovered, I would have left a mark across all the land for all time. I grew up fatherless and motherless in a court where all recognized me as a catalyst. And a catalyst I became."
I love the Farseer books above almost anything written in adult fantasy. It is the first person narration of Fitz I think that holds me so tightly in his grip, and this is a perfect illustration of how that voice works. It certainly has appeal for YA readers, but the nostalgia is very much adult. I often think that I as a reader have little patience for pretty language, but here is pretty language that I love.
November 30, 2011
Writing Wednesday: Capacity for Failure
People talk to me about their dreams of becoming a writer for obvious reasons. I sometimes find myself making judgments in my mind about whether or not they will be successful. I could be absolutely wrong about these judgments. I have not done a scientific survey, but the number one factor in successful writers that I see is the capacity to absorb failure. Not just to throw out a manuscript again and again, though that has its uses. The ability to absorb the failure, and come out on the other side having learned something and eager to move forward. I believe this is one of the most useful skills for everyone to develop, and here are some ways that I think I've taught it to my kids:
1. Daughter, 11, wants to crochet herself a skirt. I gamely buy her ten skeins of orange yarn, ask her if she wants to look at a pattern, and make comments about how neat her crocheted stitches are. Though I can obviously tell that the skirt will be too large for her and that it has no shape, I make no comment about this. I feel strongly that she learns better by actually doing than by hearing. More than that, I believe that there is a message that is much stronger about her capability to deal with real-life problems when I simply allow her to deal with them without my needing to intervene and show her "the right way." Sure, it is mostly a waste of yarn. And sometimes there is that itch to help, but I believe it is my job as a mother to resist this.
2. Daughter, 16, calls me on the phone to ask me how she is supposed to get to school. I am a hundred miles away on a school visit. I tell her I don't know, and that she probably should have talked to me about the problem the night before if she expected me to help her. I suggest she could walk or ride a bike or possibly call a neighbor she feels comfortable asking a favor. Then I hang up. I do not call back to see what her solution has been. I assume that she will make a choice and deal with it on her own. It is possible she will choose not to go to school. But the choice is ultimately hers.
3. Son, 9, crashes while riding a bike that is too big for him. He gets 5 stitches in his lip and spends the evening in bed. The next day, he asks if he can go out riding his bike again. I think about it and tell him that so long as he wears his helmet, he can. Three days later, he is on the too big bike again, and this time has mastered it.
4. Daughter, 5, desperately wants "The Rainbow Art Set." I am dubious about its many television claims, but say nothing. She saves up her money, buys the set and then waits eagerly for it to arrive. Then she tries it out. Nothing works as it claimed to in advertisement. She comes up to me and says, "They lied to me about this." I nod and comfort her in her disappointment. TV ads are never the same again. She begins to think about how they might be lying and is often right.
5. Son, 8, criticizes my cooking. I explain to him that I work on a budget and that I can't buy everything he might want. He says he could do a better job, given the same money. So one week that summer, I take him and all of the other kids to the store with the amount of money that I spend on a day's meals and watch them purchase what they think would be more delicious than my choices. We spend an entire week eating kid food, including sugared cereal for breakfast, macaroni and cheese for lunch, and Ramen for dinner. There is a lot of candy and treats. There are no fruits and vegetables. Nonetheless, we survive and the kids say that they don't want to be in charge of the food anymore and that eating bad food makes them sick.
1. Daughter, 11, wants to crochet herself a skirt. I gamely buy her ten skeins of orange yarn, ask her if she wants to look at a pattern, and make comments about how neat her crocheted stitches are. Though I can obviously tell that the skirt will be too large for her and that it has no shape, I make no comment about this. I feel strongly that she learns better by actually doing than by hearing. More than that, I believe that there is a message that is much stronger about her capability to deal with real-life problems when I simply allow her to deal with them without my needing to intervene and show her "the right way." Sure, it is mostly a waste of yarn. And sometimes there is that itch to help, but I believe it is my job as a mother to resist this.
2. Daughter, 16, calls me on the phone to ask me how she is supposed to get to school. I am a hundred miles away on a school visit. I tell her I don't know, and that she probably should have talked to me about the problem the night before if she expected me to help her. I suggest she could walk or ride a bike or possibly call a neighbor she feels comfortable asking a favor. Then I hang up. I do not call back to see what her solution has been. I assume that she will make a choice and deal with it on her own. It is possible she will choose not to go to school. But the choice is ultimately hers.
3. Son, 9, crashes while riding a bike that is too big for him. He gets 5 stitches in his lip and spends the evening in bed. The next day, he asks if he can go out riding his bike again. I think about it and tell him that so long as he wears his helmet, he can. Three days later, he is on the too big bike again, and this time has mastered it.
4. Daughter, 5, desperately wants "The Rainbow Art Set." I am dubious about its many television claims, but say nothing. She saves up her money, buys the set and then waits eagerly for it to arrive. Then she tries it out. Nothing works as it claimed to in advertisement. She comes up to me and says, "They lied to me about this." I nod and comfort her in her disappointment. TV ads are never the same again. She begins to think about how they might be lying and is often right.
5. Son, 8, criticizes my cooking. I explain to him that I work on a budget and that I can't buy everything he might want. He says he could do a better job, given the same money. So one week that summer, I take him and all of the other kids to the store with the amount of money that I spend on a day's meals and watch them purchase what they think would be more delicious than my choices. We spend an entire week eating kid food, including sugared cereal for breakfast, macaroni and cheese for lunch, and Ramen for dinner. There is a lot of candy and treats. There are no fruits and vegetables. Nonetheless, we survive and the kids say that they don't want to be in charge of the food anymore and that eating bad food makes them sick.
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