Sarah Allen's Blog, page 35

M is for Movies

Though we writers work primarily with words, it has to be acknowledged that movies have changed the way stories are told, including in literature. I think this is good in a lot of ways. Not to mention that movies are simply a fabulous and awesome medium in and of themselves. So today I want to talk about a few movies that I adore. Not a list of favorites, I could no more do that for movies than I could for books. But these are movies I love, that tell the kinds of stories I want to write. So here we go.

5 Movies I Wish I'd Written:

1. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel: This is one of those movies I came out of with a giddy smile on my face. I didn't even need the exotic part. But really, Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Maggie Smith all in a retirement home together? DEFINITE YES. Which is to say that I just loved loved loved the characters in this one and the situation. I don't know what it is about old folk romance but this movie is my happy place.

2. Another Year: Mike Leigh has become my favorite director. I have felt more understood and validated by his films than by any other director, this one included. I really appreciated the simply good protagonists in this movie and their very real life struggles. They are a happy, settled couple trying to negotiate relationships with unhappy people in more complicated situations. That is a very tight balance to walk, and its not often portrayed. As in, we typically see the other side. So this movie and these characters and their story felt very refreshing to me.

3. Dan in Real Life: This movie is very underrated to me. Again, I love the real-life ness (ha ha) of it. How the central focus is the family dynamic. This kind of subtle, simple story is so rarely portrayed, and in my mind, so much more poignant and urgent than a lot of the big blockbuster thrill stuff that comes out. Adorable and sweet. And I don't just mean Steve Carrell, though he's a big part of that.

4. The Truman Show: I am not natural at plot. Which is probably evident in the movie choices I've given so far. They are all very character driven and quiet and many people don't like them for exactly those reasons. The Truman Show is a good example of how I've ended up sort of solving my plot problem. I take a real life situation and then add weirdness. A normal middle-aged guy at a job he doesn't like who wants to travel an then HIS LIFE IS A TV SHOW. Plus, Jim Carrey...I'm a fan.

5. Babe: Another very underrated movie. And James Cromwell is an underrated actor. Really I think he's what makes it for me, the character of Farmer Hoggett. Hmm, this one is harder to explain I guess. I just will always, always love those characters who are quiet and subtle (Hoggett hardly says a thing the whole movie) but who are this well of strength and humor and love underneath. Atticus Finch is a perfect example. And no, I don't think its too much to compare the two of them. And we see them through the clear, wide eyes of a pig or a little girl. And it is a beautiful, beautiful thing.

There's my list! Do you like these movies too? What movie above all illustrates the kinds of stories you like to write most? What movies do you wish you had written?

Sarah Allen

L is for Lonely

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I took a C. S. Lewis class in college. I've mentioned it before. But in that class, there were several days throughout the semester when I was doing the assigned reading and would come to certain parts (particularly in his autobiographical Surprised by Joy) when I would have to pause and just sit there and think to myself how well Lewis understood me, how he was giving me the words to describe feelings I'd never been able to describe before as well as feelings I didn't know I had. I'm not even talking about the religious stuff, although I do adore everything Lewis writes. I'm talking psychologically and emotionally. I finished that semester with the impression that Jack Lewis and I would have been very, very good friends.

This has happened other times, but I don't think as strongly as it did with Lewis. I also feel like I'm good friends with Wallace Stegner and Charlotte Bronte and Van Gogh and...okay, Meryl Streep.

So yes, it is Lewis who says perfectly what it is that books and other art do for us. We read to know that we are not alone. We experience and make art to know that we are not alone. In the transaction between creator and audience there is an openness and vulnerability on both sides that allows for a more quick and deep understanding than you almost ever get in real life.

Good writers and good books are the friends for the parts of us that are lonely.

What about you? What books have been your books, have understood you more deeply than most people can?

Sarah Allen

K is for Kill your Darlings

I think this is one of the most common bits of writing advice thrown around, second only to "Write what you know" (which, incidentally, I think is pretty close to rubbish--it should instead be write what you want to find out.) The mandate to "Kill your darlings," though, I think has something to it.

We don't want to take any writing advice without a grain of salt, I don't think, and any tip taken to extreme becomes detrimental. We don't necessarily want to slash out every part of our novel that we love simply because we love it and it's our "darling." I don't think that's the point.

The point of this bit of advice, in my mind, is about willingness. Keeping this in mind has helped me in the editing process when I start feeling whishy washy. For example, if there is a scene that I spent a lot of time on but it just does not end up moving plot or character and simply isn't necessary, that needs to be cut. Or if there's a phrase or sentence that I fall in love with but it is in a paragraph that ends up being hard to understand or just sort of out there, then that paragraph needs to be cut. Those are the kinds of things that happen to me in the editing process where I feel like the reminder to "kill your darlings" is a good one.

So I think what I'm saying is that in general its probably not a good idea to either hack at your babies willy-nilly, or keep them all locked in immovable stone cages. I think it needs to be more organic then that. Some darlings will shine and can stay, some darlings will only be mucking up the whole and maybe its not so much killing them but saving them for later. I think the key is just to be willing to do what it takes, because the real darling is your book as a whole.

What do you think? Is it harder or easier for you to kill your darlings?

Sarah Allen

J is for Jester and Joel

Anybody seen that old Danny Kaye movie, The Court Jester? It always reminds me of my grandma because every time we went to her house we would always have strawberry milk and watch that movie. Here is proof of Danny Kaye's genius:

Also, Billy Joel may be the greatest lyricist alive.

"In every heart, there is a room
A sanctuary safe and warm
To heal the wounds from lovers' past
Until a new one comes along."

How genius is that? Here is my other favorite Joel song.

Hope you're having an excellent Thursday!

I is for Improvisation

My high school improv class was taught by the same man who taught me English for the last three years of high school. Yeah, my school was pretty small. We only had the improv class because Mr. K decided we needed it.

I think he was right. In English and creative writing we used a lot of the same principles that we talked about in improv.

Always say yes.

Don't be afraid to look stupid.

Go with what comes, editing is for later.

Have fun.

I think rules are important. Structure, procedure. When you are writing an essay or short story or article or anything else there are guidelines you need to follow. But I think it is easy to get stuck in a rut. And improv is how we get out of it.

I know most of us aren't part of an improv group or anything, but there are still some fun games to play with friends, and I think letting ourselves go every once in a while and seeing what we come up with on the page could end up being pretty awesome.

Anyway, I'll leave you with my favorite improve game of all.

Have a good one!

Sarah Allen

I is or Improvisation

My high school improv class was taught by the same man who taught me English for the last three years of high school. Yeah, my school was pretty small. We only had the improv class because Mr. K decided we needed it.

I think he was right. In English and creative writing we used a lot of the same principles that we talked about in improv.

Always say yes.

Don't be afraid to look stupid.

Go with what comes, editing is for later.

Have fun.

I think rules are important. Structure, procedure. When you are writing an essay or short story or article or anything else there are guidelines you need to follow. But I think it is easy to get stuck in a rut. And improv is how we get out of it.

I know most of us aren't part of an improv group or anything, but there are still some fun games to play with friends, and I think letting ourselves go every once in a while and seeing what we come up with on the page could end up being pretty awesome.

Anyway, I'll leave you with my favorite improve game of all.

Have a good one!

Sarah Allen

H is for Horror

So this post comes to you from someone very inexperienced in the horror genre. I've seen a handful of horror movies at like parties and sleepovers and stuff, but its never been something I really go for like some people. It just doesn't usually do much for me.

So what I'm going to talk about probably the hard-core fans would not qualify as true horror. I do like The Stand a lot, but my favorite King novel is The Green Mile. Probably not straight-up horror. My favorite "horror" movie is Signs, and I've definitely heard people question its status as true horror. But that's the kind of thing I'm talking about here.

So why am I talking about this today? There's always been a little bit of fascination there for me. At its most superficial I think it's just morbid curiosity, but where horror does well, and I think where its real value is, comes from a more philosophical level. I think I liked Signs and I think the reason Steven King has found wide-spread and even commercial success is because it adds that philosophical side.

Here's what I mean. Horror, at its best, at its most philosophical, strips everything down to its most carnal, and shows you the things that stay, that you can rely on, and have faith in, when everything else is gone. It forces you to confront your most basic faith and fundamental beliefs when the worst and most terrifying is staring you in the face.

I think the stakes are higher, the horror more horrific, when its more than life and death. When its life and soul. If that makes sense.

Signs does this directly. He confronts, out loud, the question of whether they are alone or not. And its effective because its not a simple black and white question for him, and we watch his beliefs and faith evolve as the story progresses. And that is a beautiful thing.

What do you think about the horror genre? What value do you think it has for us, and what are your favorite examples?

G is for Goals

Ya know, there is so much associated with that word, goals. I think in large part its pretty positive, but I also think for many of us its full of pressure and anxiety and feelings of guilt and impossibility. I don't think it needs to be that way.

There are lots and lots of things we're working on in all areas of our lives, but we're just gonna focus on writing here. I think the negative side of our feelings about setting goals comes because of the goals we set themselves. It just doesn't work when we make goals about things we're not in control of, or things that are beyond anyone's control. So today I want to talk about three areas for writing goals that we can control.

1. Putting Down Words: This is the most important area. I think its more nebulous and pressure-ful to just say, "I'll have this done by this date." Deadlines are good, yes, but I think its more helpful on a day-to-day level to make the goal more about a certain number of words a day. 2000 a day if you're Steven King, maybe more like 500-1000 for us more normal people. That way you're making progress every day, and if you miss or fall short one day, you still know what you need to do tomorrow.

2. Submitting: By this I mean querying agents, submitting to literary magazines, applying for freelance gigs, all that good stuff. Its not in our control to make goals like "Have an agent by this date" or "get published by my birthday" or anything like that. Its just not something we can control. But we can make goals like do one query/submission a day, or three a week or something like that. That we can control.

3. Networking: I think this one stresses people out more than anything. There are just SO many websites and social networks out there and SO many things we feel like we should be doing to market our books. I think it can become a lot less nebulously anxiety inducing when we make some concrete goals. I like to use a spreadsheet of all the networks I use and what my goals is for each day. So for example, on Monday a blog post, commenting on three new blogs, two tweets and a picture on Tumblr. When you break it down like that, you can turn your social media stress in to like, fifteen minutes a day.

Well there you have it. Three writer goals that I think can be made pretty manageable for just about anyone, and that really are in our control most of the time. Do you think these are manageable goals? Any others you would add to this list?

Sarah Allen

F is for Funny

Favorite humor writer? Dave Barry.

Favorite comedian? I have way too many but I love Brian Regan and Jim Gaffigan.

Here is my favorite Weird Al music video:


And some funny pictures :)

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Humor is really hard. Harder than drama, I think. But some people just know how to do it :)

Have a great weekend everybody!

Sarah Allen

E is for Emily Dickinson

A quick poem for y'all by perhaps our greatest American poet.


“Hope” is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all -

And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -
And sore must be the storm -
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm -

I’ve heard it in the chillest land -
And on the strangest Sea -
Yet - never - in Extremity,
It asked a crumb - of me.

--Emily Dickinson

And to top it off, here's a song by a band called Enter the Haggis that makes me very happy.



Sarah Allen