Teresa R. Funke's Blog: Bursts of Brilliance for a Creative Life, page 52

How to Write Great Dialogue – Part II

I do a one-woman show based on my book Dancing in Combat Boots, but few people know that the show actually started out as a fundraising effort for a local theater, and I performed it with several actresses. As we were back stage prepping before the show, one of the actresses was running some of her lines. She was tripping over one sentence, and I heard her mumble, “damn writers.”

Um, the writer is sitting right here, I wanted to say. But that’s when I realized just how many ways artists interact with the written word. Whether you are a visual artist writing a description of your piece for a catalog, a dancer reading an introduction you wrote for the performance, a singer working on the lyrics to a new song, or an actor editing a line of dialogue that just doesn’t work for you, understanding the basics of good writing will take you further.

So please click the link below to watch How to Write Great Dialogue-Part II. We’ll dig a little deeper in this second video, examining some of the more difficult areas of writing dialogue, including how to use slang and cussing, accents and dialect, humor, and much more.  Enjoy!

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Does the Whole World Think Like You?

We’ve had an unusually cool and rainy summer in Colorado. The other day, my friend was complaining about the weather, fully expecting me to agree with her, as I’m sure most people have. “Oh, I’ve loved this summer,” I said. “I hate being hot, plus I’ve hardly had to water.” She stared at me in disbelief.

This is a silly example of a much larger point. We should never assume that everyone thinks the way we do, even if our thinking seems to reflect the norm. There will always be those outliers, rebels, even malcontents who disagree with the majority. Sometimes, though, this silent minority can wind up being even more passionate about their opinions because they are different. And some of those people will be your most ardent fans and followers.

When marketing our products, our minds go toward the most obvious connections. And that’s not a bad place to start, but can you then turn things inside out?  Can you think of the people who would not normally be asked to pay attention to your type of offerings? If you can reach them in a way that appeals to their way of thinking, you might just be the only artist of your kind who has ever approached them. If you can make them feel noticed and appreciated, they might just buy your work because you didn’t assume they wouldn’t.

Notice, though, that I said reach them in a way that appeals to them. This is not about you trying to convince, enlighten or educate them. It’s about inviting them to see something in your art that matches their unique world view. It won’t always work, but it’s pretty dang satisfying when it does.

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What Does Your Inner Critic Sound Like?

I used to think if I had an inner critic, it wasn’t very strong. I don’t hear voices in my head telling me I’m stupid or incompetent or ugly, so I thought I was safe. Turns out, our inner critics speak to us in different ways, and some are more subtle. Mine often starts with the question, “Why can’t you?”  Why can’t you figure this out? Why can’t you learn this? Why can’t you get more done?

As artists and entrepreneurs, we are in charge of every aspect of our work. We may get help from others at times, but the responsibility for the outcomes falls squarely on our shoulders. We are making difficult decisions all day long, and the consequences of our actions will directly affect everything we do. It’s a lot of pressure. And our inner critics prey on that.

It’s easy to tell someone to just ignore their inner critic. People say things like, “You just have to believe in yourself” or “focus on the things you’re doing right” or “be kind to yourself, you’re doing the best you can,” to which our inner critics respond, “Yeah, right.”

I’ve heard strategies suggesting we fight back against our inner critics or we learn to ignore them or we even befriend them.  But what if I’m not feeling up to a fight that day? What if I’m feeling too vulnerable to ignore? What if I’m feeling too angry to befriend? I believe there is never just one way to do anything, even conquer our demons. What we can do every time, though, is acknowledge them. Recognize them as part of who we are, but take away their power by refusing to let them define us. If we all have inner critics, then we are not in this alone. We are no better or worse than anyone else.

It’s like I told my daughter before she headed off to college, “You are going to make a lot of mistakes over the next year. Don’t you dare beat yourself up about it.  Learn from your errors, correct them if you can, but remember that everyone around you is making mistakes too. That’s how we learn.”

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Back to School Means Back to Work

It’s that time of year again. You can almost smell the freshly sharpened pencils, the eraser shavings, and the Elmer’s glue. Even for those of us who graduated eons ago, the end of summer still feels like back to school. Every autumn, most of the artists I know recommit to their work. All summer you hear them promising that, come September, they will refocus not only on their creative projects, but their businesses—reorganizing files, buying updated equipment and software, setting up new processes, reaching out to new buyers or advocates, etc.  Artists are oftentimes assumed to be free spirits who throw all structure to the wind, but most of us are like everyone else, creatures of habit. And fall is when we regroup.

So as the days get cooler and the nights get longer and our thoughts turn inward, it’s time to reassess not only our work models, but our goals. What is it that we really want to be doing? Have we been dragging our feet on making big changes because they feel too daunting or overwhelming or unsure?  Are we nervous about putting ourselves out there and becoming more visible? Are we feeling shy about meeting new people or taking on new roles?  In other words, is it the first day of kindergarten all over again?

If so, find your support system; that one person whose encouragement gives you strength. Squeeze your mother’s hand, so to speak, and walk boldly into your new adventure. Whether you succeed or fail, you’ll learn something. Find the teachers who can give you the knowledge you lack. Find the administrators who are going to hold your feet to the fire. Seek out those colorful environments that stimulate your creativity. Cover your walls with the quotes that inspire you. And make time every day to play.

In the words of the late Robin William’s beloved character in Dead Poet’s Society, “Seize the Day.”

 

 

 

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How to Write Great Dialogue – Part I

While this blog generally focuses on all types of artists, I confess this post is directed primarily to the writing community. I wanted to share the new writing video that just went up on my YouTube channel Teresa Funke. Because writing good dialogue is such a challenge for so many writers, I’ll actually be covering the topic in two videos. This is part one. And if you think understanding good dialogue applies only to fiction writers, please think again. When you quote sources in your non-fiction writing (including your books, blogs, and articles) you’d be well served to think back on my rules of dialogue to help you choose the most compelling quotes that will help “characterize” your sources and advance your arguments. You’ll find a dozen other writing videos on my channel as well.  Enjoy!

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Can One Encounter with Art Change a Life?

When I was twelve, my mother took my brother and me to see a performance of Jesus Christ Superstar.  She’d escorted us to children’s theater productions before, but this was my first time seeing a truly “grown-up” play, and I was utterly transformed. I was a church-going kid, but until that night, I had never really thought of Jesus or Judas or Mary Magdalene as truly human.

The show also changed my view of the role of music and lyrics. Prior to that, songs were just something my friends and I listened to for fun.  This was the first time I understood the power of song to convey something deeper.  Within weeks, I had the soundtrack memorized.

That performance—staged in a high school auditorium using local actors in the somewhat backwards city of Boise, Idaho—made me a lifelong theater buff. Now, hardly a month goes by when I’m not paying money to see a show. I’ve saved every program from every play I’ve ever seen, but I lost count at 400. My children grew up going to the theater, and now two of them are actors, their lives transformed because I happened to see one musical all those years ago.

These days, I take kids from the Boys & Girls Clubs to watch performances at our local children’s theater. Nothing beats the sound of a small child gasping in wonder as actors make magic on a stage. There is one boy who has come to all four of the shows I’ve sponsored.  Will he be a lifelong theater lover?  Will the others?  I hope so.

That is why it’s so important to put artists in front of our children— in their schools, at their churches, through their Scouting troops, through free programs at libraries and colleges. That’s why we need to point out to our kids the murals on the sides of buildings and stop to watch the street performers and take them to the bookstore so they can choose a book of their own.

Because you never know which encounter with art will change your child forever.

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Success is a Winding Road

Today is my birthday, and I’m taking the day off to spend it with my family and friends.  So instead of writing my message, I’m going to speak it.

I want to share with you a one-minute segment from a video interview conducted by my friend Karen Fournier at Starstream Productions. She asked me what advice I would give young people who are trying to find the path to success. I told her I actually hope none of us ever truly achieve success.  Watch the video and see if you agree.

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The Walls are Coming Down

In 1989, I sat in front of my television and watched in awe as the Berlin Wall “came down.”  I had visited the Wall two years before during my college journey across Europe and found it to be such an oppressive site. When it tumbled, it felt as if the whole world was being reborn, as if we were ushering in an era of possibility that had seemed unattainable weeks before.

Today, the walls are coming down in the arts too. We’re shedding many of the old methods and structures and ideologies that penned us in for so long. It’s not that our walls have toppled in one fell swoop; it’s more that we’ve been chipping away at them for years, and the holes are finally starting to show. The first daring souls have already ventured out, and every day, more and more follow.

But the absence of the walls is making some people nervous. I read an interview recently with a traditionally published author in which he said, “Nowadays anyone can print a book and call themselves an author.”  But wasn’t that technically true all along? It’s not that the possibility never existed before, it’s that we never chose to see it. Reality hasn’t changed, only the way we define it has.

So if anyone and everyone can be an artist these days, if the gatekeepers are no longer anointing the chosen few, then aren’t we doomed to suffer a lot of bad art?  Yep.  We are also guaranteed to discover new forms and styles that would never have been “approved” under the old systems.

In the end, it’s not the gatekeepers who truly decide. It never was. It’s the marketplace. The arts are no different than any other business. If you open a restaurant with all the best intentions, but the food is bad, your restaurant will fail. No one will come back and no one will recommend it. The same is true if you open a clothing store and sell cheaply made goods or a dog walking service that operates only one day a week.  It’s still about quality and delivery and service and connection.  It always was.

If you think about it, nothing has really changed. What exists now always existed. It was just hidden behind the walls.

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Art Giveaways for Newsletters Video – Great Ideas Series

I carry business cards for my favorite service providers in my purse. That way if I’m singing the praises of a good plumber or massage therapist or book editor, I can send you away with contact information rather than expecting you to remember the name.  I get nothing for this. I just like connecting good people with good services.

In the arts, as well as in business, we can so easily help promote each other.  In my newest video in my Great Ideas Giveaway series, I share an idea for how business owners can feature or give away the work of local artists through their newsletters and customer communications. It’s such a simple idea that has such great potential! Not only does it bring attention to local artists, it also creates goodwill between business owners and their customers.

As always in this short video, I walk you through the steps for how to run this idea and how to maximize impact and increase revenue for both the artist and the business owner.  If you like the video, please feel free to share it widely. You will also soon be able to download a PDF from my website walking you through the steps for setting up this easy program.  All I ask is that you credit Teresa Funke & Company with the idea if you share it.  Click below to watch the video. To see other videos in this series, visit my YouTube Channel – Teresa Funke.  Enjoy!

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Must Artists Always Be At Work?

“I wish I could read your travel journals,” a friend once told me. “I bet they’re amazing.”  I changed the subject. Fast. She’d be so disappointed with my journals. They are filled with clichéd lines like, “the view was breathtaking” or “the mountains were beautiful.”  I’m a hard core traveler. I like to see and do as much as possible on my trips. I’m usually jotting notes in my journal at night when I’m half-asleep. If I’ve been sightseeing all day, the last thing I want to do is agonize over crafting the perfect sentence.  I’m on vacation, after all.

We’ve all been there. The singer who is asked to lead things off at the karaoke party. The artist who is given a napkin and told to draw something clever in the bar. The writer who can’t attend a gathering of any kind without someone saying, “You’re the writer. How would you phrase this?”  Like doctors and car mechanics and financial advisers, artists and entrepreneurs seem to be always on duty.

Creating art is hard work, though.  I’ll reread this post at least a dozen times before I upload it. I’ll pore over every sentence until it’s practically memorized.  While many of us can produce a semblance of our art on the spot, you will likely be disenchanted with the results.If you were to read my travel journals, you’d see lines like this: “Heading home tomorrow. Soooo not ready to leave. Have enjoyed spending time with the family with no work worries.  Wish we could stay longer.”

Today’s a holiday, so if you are working, stop. Right now. Go outside and find the fun.  Happy Fourth of July, everyone!

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