Devon Trevarrow Flaherty's Blog, page 68

Movie Review: Much Ado About Nothing

No, not the Kenneth Branaugh version from 1993, although we will talk about that in a bit, but the 2012 Jos Whedon version. And yes, you did read that right.

Now, how did this happen? How did I end up watching this film? NO idea. It showed up at my door from Netflix and I seriously have no recollection that it even existed. But who is going to argue with Jos Whedon and Shakespeare? Alright, what geek like me is going to argue with Jos Whedon and Shakespeare? But then I took it out of the package, and it immediately begged the question, what business did Whedon have making a modern version of Much Ado About Nothing? Kevin immediately asked, “Does it take place in outer space?” No. So we popped it in and the answer is in the Special Features. Whedon has had this informal gathering of creative people and Shakespeare reading at his Spanish-style villa in CA for the past so many years. One thing led to another (which might tend to happen when you know like five-hundred famous actors and have loads of money) and they shot the movie at Whedon’s in twelve days.

I think it’s back-story makes it more interesting than it is on its own. Not that I would write this movie off, anyhow, but it does have some serious draw-backs. One, the main actor (sorry). I don’t think Benedick was cast right, at all, and neither did Kevin (while Beatrice was much, much stronger). Also, I think black and white is the only way to go with a half-informal, twelve-day remake, but it is distracting to the modern viewer. Also, it retains all the original language, which is handled well, but is beyond the patience of the average viewer (which could be said of any film like this). Also, it seems (subconsciously or coincidentally?) to borrow extensively from the acting in the 1993 version, so if you are familiar with it, that can also be distracting. Also, the simplicity of it is so extensive that Shakespeare’s plot holes shine. And–although I hate to admit it–there have always been plot holes in this particular play. I mean, why would Hero marry the fickle and impetuous Claudio after no less than two bouts of distrust, a public flogging, and the transfer of his marriage vows to her cousin? What sort of evil character is Don John, ruining his brother’s friend’s wedding? How dastardly! (sic.) And how is no one mad when a priest and a rich man fake someone’s death (through the funeral) to make a point?

So what did I like? Beatrice’s and Hero’s performances, for a start. The nuanced portrayals of Borachio and Conrade. Whedon’s tactic to add silent things when he needed to, where the dialogue would not allow: like the transfer of Conrade into a girlfriend (from a sort of body guard) and the addition of the photographer (a speech-less part). And some of the more breath-taking cinematography, like the acrobats at the masquerade and the convening of the bad guys in the pool. I also thought Nathan Fillion handled his part as Dogberry very well… similar to Michael Keaton but without the element of disgust.

I really believe the barely-contained hilarity of the Kenneth Branaugh version helps guide the viewer through the process of this Shakespeare comedy a little better, but the IMDB ratings agree with me barely. The Whedon version has received critical praise, almost as much as the Branaugh version. My only beef with the older version is Keanu Reeves. Sorry, Keanu, but you are always Keanu, so very specific roles fit you and Don John is not one of them, although I can tell you are trying. I will go snuggle with my copy of The Matrix now. I have long been a fan of the crazy movie that is the 1993 Much Ado, so I am not impartial (nor am I impartial because I love Branaugh and Emma Thompson, which I have mentioned several times on this blog. Then again, I also really like Firefly). Perhaps I could suggest that you double dip these two movies, and enjoy contrasting them while also taking each as it is. Of course, I suggest you read the play first, because–like a true literary buff–higher than my love for any modern actor or director stands my awe for the works of Shakespeare.

The only other adaptation of this play I might want to get my hands on is the 1984 BBC version for its Shakespeare series.

Movie Review: Searching for Sugar Man

Searching for Sugar Man, 2012, a Swedish-British documentary directed and written by Malik Bendjelloul and about musician Sixto Rodriguez.

Perhaps you don’t know why I would be reviewing this movie for a writing and publishing blog. Well then, just hold on tight and I will tell you.

After I tell you this. It seems like the Flahertys go through movie viewing on steeply pitched waves. Either we are in a monstrous trough of terrible movies (which, despite our best efforts, can last for weeks if not months) or we are riding high on the crest of a great movie-tsunami. Right now, we are at a high point, and have been for the last couple months, which is why you are getting so many reviews. Approximately fifty per cent of what we have viewed in June-August I have wanted to share with the world. However, I have only chosen a half-dozen or so. My criteria is that they have to build into your life as a fellow writer, reader, publisher, or someone interested in any of those things (or in Devon, the author). Some of the movies I have chosen were because they were about writers. At least one of them was a book-to-movie adaptation.

Searching for Sugar Man I am reviewing because it is about the artist’s life, the artistic path, the fact and fancy of being an art peddler. The Sugar Man of the title is a song writer and a guitarist-singer-performer, but I found that not only did I just love this movie, but that it spoke to some of the subjects I love to address on this blog. And not always in the most flattering way. But graceful. Oh so graceful.

Really, it’s just an awesome documentary. The kind of documentary that appeals even to those who don’t normally enjoy documentaries. Now, I don’t want to give too much away because part of the value of this movie is in the plot twists and turns and in the way the director chose to reveal the story. I recommend that you don’t even look it up before renting. But it’s more than that. The main character, a musician named Rodriguez, is just a jaw-droppingly fascinating person. And the cinematography and music, very beautiful, very poignant. I don’t think I am alone when I say that some of the scenes of Sugar Man were record-setting wonderful. The one with Rodriguez walking in silhouette in a snow-covered inner city Detroit and the smoke stacks reflect the sky?!? Unbelievable.

As for you poor souls who are pursing a career in the fickle arts, you can take even more away from this movie than the curious pleasure-seekers. Because, among other things (and again, I don’t want to give anything away), we learn through this bizarre and twisted story that the way of artists never did run smooth. For one, it is rather easy for art distribution to be rife with corruption. Just think how easy it is to fleece an author (or singer) by fudging their sales numbers. It could really happen to any of us (but hopefully not on the scale of Rodriguez) and has, in the past (and is also bound to in the future). Two, you can be the most talented person in the world, you can even have Big Names on your side, and still be a flop. (Conversely, you can be pretty darn mediocre and find a home amongst the money- and fame-touched.) Three… well, dang it, I really can’t tell you that without ruining the whole experience for you.

Oh, and one more thing for you to learn while watching this movie (not so much from the story but from the directing): let the story speak for itself. When, as a writer, you are blessed with one heck of a plot and really interesting characters, you don’t have to do a song and dance to write it. Sugar Man is a really calm movie, one that could easily be “slow” if the story were less compelling… but it’s not! And the viewer is always on the edge of his seat, but not because of bells and whistles. So find a great story and tell it masterfully, not with distracting acrobatics.

Just watch the movie. All the critics love it. It won like a million awards. And its reviews everywhere are top notch. You’ll walk away with something to say, and something to think about.

Platform Toolbox

Sure, it sounds like a garage band, but it is really something that every indie author needs at the ready. It’s your platform toolbox, and it better be stocked.

The deal is, no author can breathe a sigh of relief on their publication day, anymore. Even if you have solidified a nice publishing deal with a traditional publisher, the reality is that they are not going to give you the sort of publicity that you will be happy with. In other words, we’re (almost) all in the same boat here and need to throw our energy, time, and resources into marketing our book, ourselves. This begins long before publication, in fact, and I suggest that you begin work on your platform long before you even finish your book. Like right now.

Platform, in fact, isn’t just about a certain book or project, but it about you as a brand. I won’t go into too much depth, here, because I assume that many of you already know this. If you don’t, you can keep checking out The Starving Artist or other indie publishing personalities and resources. In a nutshell, you want to build a network, relationships, and rapport so that you have people ready to become potential readers. Then, after publication, you want to continue to build the network, strengthen the relationships, and deliver on the professionalism and quality.

Ideally, you do this by covering a number of different areas. You find out what works great for you, what you are bad at, and what you have time for. As for how much you should give of your writing career to publicity, I have heard estimates range from ten per cent to one day per week. The point is, you have to write too, so you want to concentrate yourself on marketing that works for you. A good place to start is, as they say, the most return for the least amount of effort. And don’t forget to slough off things that don’t work for you, while also realizing most great things take time to build. And always, always, always put your best foot forward.

Here is what my toolbox looks like:

ONLINE PRESENCE: I maintain the following at all times: a platform website/blog (aka. weblog, The Starving Artist. You are there. I am happy with WordPress.com.), a book website (with corresponding social media), and a company website (with corresponding social media), as well as all this social media: Goodreads (and Shelfari), Amazon Author Central, Smashwords profile, Facebook, Twitter, , Etsy (at times, to sell book-related art), Pinterest, YouTube (to share videos), Slideshare.net (to share slideshows), About.me (still working on it), and Instagram (to share photos). And Wattpad. But we’ll talk more about that, soon. I am much more involved in some of these media, and not so much in others. It will depend on your interests, skills, and what seems to do the most good for business. A website or blog is a must.
PHYSICAL STOCK: I have copies of my novels, a smallish stack of author photos, business cards (which I carry everywhere), and another stack of fliers for my book. I use Vistaprint, and you can always start with the free business cards.
ARSENAL OF LETTERS: I also have, both on my computer and physically, pre-written letters to potential reviewers, fellow bloggers (to guest, interview, or be featured), contests, and a cover letter for newspapers, PR, book stores, etc.
CONTACT: I have an email account. Actually, I have three: one personal, one for the author, and one for my publishing company. I think Gmail is great, and since I bought the domain name for my website, I can use the domain name for email addresses (like for my author email, which is contact@devontrevarrowflaherty.com). I also have a PO Box for my company.
PUBLICATIONS: I subscribe to the following: Publisher’s Weekly , Poets & Writers , Writer’s Digest. There are others.
MEMBERSHIPS: I belong to the IBPA (Independent Book Publishers Association). There are various other organizations to check out, and some even offer insurance.
CONTEMPORARIES: I have a relationship with (could be better) my local bookstores, local libraries, writers groups, arts center or organization, and readings. You can also create a network through classes and conferences, both locally and beyond (with retreats and fellowships). Your area may even have an office space co-op, but each of these things costs money, and I like the advice that says not to spend anything on writing that you can’t afford to lose. Groceries first. I belong to online writers communities, like Scribophile, but I rarely have the time it takes to maintain these well. If you lack a local community of writers, these would be indispensable. I also do MobileRead forums, Nookboards, and Library Thing. I belong to HARO (Help a Reporter Out), in a free membership capacity, cuz you never know.
BLOG COMMUNITY: I stay in the blog loop through WordPress Reader and email subscriptions to various blogs. I have a feeling there are better and more universal readers. At the least, this is important because commenting on other people’s blogs gets you interest in your own, and then you have people to go to when you want to do a blog tour. And you really should do a blog tour.
GIVE-AWAYS: Beyond obvious distribution (like to Amazon and Barnes & Nobel) my books are on on Scribd and Smashwords and, in the near future, I plan on exploring Free-Online-Novels.com, Online Novels, Books on the Knob, and Bookbarista as avenues for readers to get their hands on my “older” books. Again, I’ll mention Wattpad, but, again, more on that in the next couple weeks. Free books equals free publicity.
COMPUTER TOOLS: Beyond CreateSpace and KDP and Smashwords and Vistaprint, I use the following all the time: PicFont (for quickly adding text to a photo), Fotor Editing (for quick photo editing), NaNoWriMo (and Camp NaNoWriMo), dafont (for finding and buying fonts), Bitly (for condensing website addresses), Microsoft Word, yWriter, Adobe InDesign, OneNote, Google Docs, Excel, Photo Gallery, DropBox, PowerPoint, and Firefox. I have yet to figure out a nice video editor.
ETC. I won’t make a list, but you will of course want a laptop and all the accoutrement, a ledger, notebooks, pens, a library of helpful books, yadda, yadda. And a smiling face.

It is daunting if you are starting from ground zero, but you build your toolbox slowly. However, you have to have it, I promise, if you are going to be successful in the modern literary world, so pick something and begin. And if you already have a platform toolbox, I hope I gave you a new idea or two. You can’t do them all, but you are welcome to try.

Any tools that you use that I forgot about or never knew? Please comment! And thanks.

Series Review: Clarice Bean

The Clarice Bean trilogy by Lauren Child, published from 1999-2006. The series includes, in order, Utterly Me Clarice Bean, Clarice Bean Spells Trouble, and Clarice Bean Don’t Look Now. There are three more books related to the series, but they are picture books and I did not read them.

Best I can decipher, Child started her uber-English writing career with the invention of the Clarice Bean character, but a year later had caught the world’s attention with the first Charlie and Lola book. Now, all this was around 1999-2000 and the woman stays utterly busy, and has published twenty-three books since then, some of them picture books and some of them novels, has illustrated more than ten more (including editions of Pipi Longstocking and Anne of Green Gables), and produces the PBS cartoon about Charlie and Lola. She’s won an impressive amount of impressive awards for her writing and illustrating. Her art is wonderful and beautiful and exceptionordinary.

My daughter was born in 2004, and we quickly came across Charlie and Lola and became fans. Reading them out to her in my British imitation of Lola is a memory I will always cherish. “I have this little sister Lola. She is small and very funny.” So when Windsor got to the right age (reading chapter books, early elementary school) for Clarice Bean, we gave her the box set for Christmas. (Then she got to the age for Ruby Redfort right as that series really took off, and she happens to be reading through it right now.) I just now read through Clarice Bean by my own self, so I could give it a review.

Clarice Bean reminds me very, very much of a slightly older Junie B. Jones (her American counterpart?) and, going back, Ramona Quimby. It’s not just the characters that are all similar (precocious, not-well-put-together-but-incredibly-imaginative and lovable girl meets the hard knocks of normal, middle class childhood), but having the story told through the voice of the child, including not just the thoughts and perceptions, but the language as well. The books are short and sweet, which is about right for a young reader. Utterly Me gets you hooked on the character and her world, Spells Trouble makes you laugh right out loud, and Don’t Look Now gets much more introspective before it gives you a characteristic One-Scene-Denouement. (I made up that phrase, because I have never been able to find a word for the type of story ending where all the strings are tied in a very small space and one scene. It’s the type of ending I enjoy most, actually. Just one big ka-pow!, everyone accounted for.)

The plots are slightly different in each book. For Utterly Me, Clarice is avidly reading about her favorite character, the young detective Ruby Redfort, while trying to figure out her book report. But when the book report prize goes missing, Clarice must become a young detective herself. For Spells Trouble, Clarice tackles both the school play and the school spelling bee (and, as always, Ruby Redfort), all while balancing her siblings, her parents, her friends, and the colorful characters that make up her neighborhood and school. In Don’t Look Now, Clarice’s world gets a bit clouded by her own worries and some very disturbing circumstances (like the loss of a friend, a dysfunctional house, and insomnia). But between her own indomitable spirit and her loving family and friends, she may just be able to find her way out of the maze of growing up.

I like Clarice Bean and I would recommend it for elementary-age kids, both girls and boys. Just like Junie B. and Ramona, Child has given Clarice enough masculinity to appeal to both genders. Her concerns and struggles will ring very familiar to most young readers (like class bullies, fear of parental divorce, obsession with a fictional character, etc.), but her voice keeps right on the fine line between too serious and too darn funny. Basically-universal morals included, like “Don’t lose sleep over worry” and “There is life after a friend moves away.” Windsor also likes these books, enough to have read them twice and to choose them for her Barnes & Nobel Reading Club summer reading spree.

So recommends all round. In fact, just check out Lauren Child if you like good literature and/or good illustrations and have a child or an interest in child culture. I also strongly recommend the Charlie and Lola series from PBS. (Note, many of the Charlie and Lola books are based on the TV show’s script, not written by Child.)

I will be reviewing the first four books (all that exist) of the Ruby Redfort series in the next several months, once Windsor coughs them up.

The One About Nothing

I find myself with very little to say, today. I am supposed to be relaxing with my family, enjoying the cool rain of upstate New York, but instead I have stayed back from the annual trip to the pet store in order to get my bi-weekly blog up. I have not finished any books lately (though heaven knows I am reading enough), so I can’t write a review. I haven’t seen any author-related movies, or read any compelling articles. And I am saving my blog about WattPad for next week.

So, rather hypocritically, I am going to explore with you how to never run out of things to blog about. Well, at least how to create a safety net.

Keep a notebook (or audio recorder or Notes app) with you at all times. Think like a blogger all day long–like you would if you were a reporter. Does the NPR story you are listening to trigger some passion in you and have something worthwhile for your blog? Jot it down! A conversation with a friend? Jot it down!
I don’t know about all the blogging platforms, but with WordPress (and, at least as of a long time ago, Blogger), you can save drafts of posts long before you ever post them. Use this ability! They don’t really have to be much, just idea files, really. I have fifty-four drafts saved to The Starving Artist, which are no more than an indicative title (so I don’t have to open them to see what they are about) and (typically) a sentence or two to spark my ideas and passion when I return. Occasionally, I return to these ideas and still feel flat and daunted, which is why it’s also important to…
Schedule posts. This is my big gun. Most of the time, when one of my posts goes live, it’s because I wrote it sometime in the last week and scheduled it for that moment. (For WordPress, that just means I hit the “Edit” button next to “Publish Immediately” and gave it a date and time. You can also accomplish this with Hootsuite.) I do this a lot for three reasons. One, I like to catch my enthusiasm for a certain post. If I am feeling it now, it will be much less painful to fly through the process than to tackle it when the fizzle has subsided. Not to mention, I will not have forgotten half of what I wanted to say. Two, I can’t just sit around the computer all day, every day. Blogging well takes time, and I prefer to do it regularly. Therefore, I have to schedule posts for the days when I know I will be gone or too busy, and especially for vacations. And three, I love to get ahead of myself with blogs. It feels so good to have a week or two of blogs already in the chamber. Just less stress, and less forcing it. But if I feel another blog, then I go ahead and write it anyway and get that one scheduled too.
In general, you have to stay immersed in the topics that your blog is about. For me, that means reading writing and publishing industry magazines, reading the books on my TBR, watching movies and listening to broadcasts and news about writing and publishing, going to writing groups and readings, etc. Those things not only keep you able to blog intelligently, but also keep you thinking about those things. What goes in will come out.
If you are the least bit creative, you could always try just sitting still (or laying down, if you won’t fall asleep) and thinking. Music may facilitate, or the silence, or the sounds of nature. If I need an idea, I usually take no more than ten minutes of pure brainstorming to come up with something decent. Of course, interacting with the internet, books, or writing prompts can help, but I, like many of you, can be too easily distracted by these things.
Always, always, always keep saving as your write. There is very little that will squash your blogging-good-feelings more than to get all done and have it snatched from you by the laptop gods. It would not be overdoing it to save after every paragraph. In fact, whenever I write, I try to hit Ctrl+S whenever I pause.

Of course, all of these ideas work in similar ways with coming up with fiction to write about, as well. Stay mentally engaged, jot down notes, keep idea files, and spend time brainstorming. Or just write about the struggle. That usually works for me.

Mammothuan

A few days ago, my nine year old daughter received a letter in the mail. It was from her last year’s teacher. Now, my children are in a smallish Montessori school, which means that they switch teachers and classrooms only every three years, and each of these transitions is somewhat of a big deal. Both my kids are transitioning between “houses” over the summer, and so it was natural and touching for Miss Holly to jot a note to Windsor telling her she would be missed, come and visit, and hope her summer was going well.

Windsor came in the front door grinning, because who doesn’t love to get honest-to-goodness mail, set the bills and junk-mail down, and tore into the envelope. She was touched by the letter, I could see, and felt special. She told me who the letter was from, let me read it, and then took the note, walked past me, disappeared into her room and shut the door. Within twenty minutes she was back by my side, where I was now doing something in the kitchen, and she wondered, Mom, could she have a mailing stamp and what did I think that said for Miss Holly’s return address road? I fished the stamp out from our bill folder, handed it to her and–to my utter surprise–she stuck it on the front of an already-addressed and sealed letter, walked out the front door and down the drive, and dropped the blasted thing in the mailbox with the flag up.

You’ve got to be kidding me, right?

Aren’t things like that an event?

Doesn’t it take time and effort to respond to a nice letter?

Didn’t she have to think about it?

Plan it out?

Schedule it?

Miss the intended date and then feel guilty about it?

It was one of those lessons that they say come to you “out of the mouth of babes” or “when you have children,” the “be as one of these” scenario. Here I am, day after day with my heaped-on-heap list of things to do, weighing the must-dos with the must-do-nows, toppling my bucket lists for the tyranny of the urgent, and sighing myself to sleep at night cuddled up with the beasts of regret, intentions, and unrealistic expectations. And she–and she!–just thought, “I should write her back,” and found the accessible tools and wrote a simple response and popped it in the mail. I can’t quite aptly express to you just how much someone like me has her mind blown by this scenario.

Let’s break it down.

She found the accessible tools. There was no trip to the stationary store. There was no jotting of the trip to the stationary store on the calendar. There was no telling herself to remember to later jot on the calendar a trip to the stationary store. She found a blank card or some nice paper, fluffed it up a bit, and grabbed a pen out of her pen cup. Then she made a trip all the way to the other end of the house for a plain envelope, the kind you might mail a check in. Holy moly! Why have I never thought of this? Why have I been making such a big, freaking deal out of things when I often have the resources right there in front of me? Who cares if they aren’t theme- or occasion-perfect? If it’s going to still express care to someone or get me the same results and I have it on hand, for pity’s sake…! Let’s just cut through all the freakin’ fanfare…! (I can no longer finish my sentences, I am so overwhelmed.)

She wrote a simple response. You know, like the old acronym; Keep It Simple, Stupid. Windsor is known for her lovely, hand-made cards and gifts, but somehow she still doesn’t expect a masterpiece out of every card. She wanted to reach back out to her teacher, thank her, and share the warmth of her feelings. This did not, in this case, require glitter, stickers, lace, doilies, scrapbook paper, stencils, stamps, a mixed CD, a Power Point, a parade, or a circus. I can’t tell you how many times lately I have let some odd expectation build up in my head until I think it might explode, and a few times I just sent one itty-bitty text and the whole thing shrunk back to size, like I had popped a hole in a giant balloon. I was going to save up money, research restaurants, interview friends for the perfect gift, buy a small gift, wrap it, and take someone out to lunch, when what I wanted to accomplish was managed with a look in someone’s eyes and a few heartfelt words. OMgoodness. I, again, am at a loss for words.

She popped it in the mail. I don’t even know if she slid her shoes on. She just did it. And I could once again underline the lack of fanfare and the simplicity of the whole thing, but this time I want to concentrate on her attitude. She just popped it in the mail. Like tra-la-la. She might of skipped. She often does, her extremely long, blonde hair trailing out behind her and her twenty-neon-colored tennies with her mismatched socks blurring by. Sometimes, doing things as an adult is made much more difficult than it needs to be, simply by our mindset, our attitude. It’s called, of course, “building something up in your head.” I have had a lot of this going on lately, as my husband and I have reorganized six out of ten of the rooms of our house, and are working on the seventh and eighth. By the time you have a chest-high stack of papers and office supplies blocking entry to the laundry room, you also have what we know as a mind game. There are crasser words for it. And when you think of the project, even think of thinking of it, your whole body tightens up like a cat on a ridgepole. You can’t even imagine managing the pile. How could you? Where would you start? Why did you do this in the first place? What have you done? It will just have to stay there forever, and you can take the dirty clothes to the laundromat, until one day you go to reach for the next Harry Potter and the whole thing comes crashing down, breaking both your legs and burying you so that you can’t get to the phone and when they finally find you, you have suffocated and everyone’s embarrassed to come to the funeral because who dies like that, in their own filth? Arrrrgh! It’s a deal, alright; I’ll give you that. It’s re-organizing the office. But it’s only that. And what it most certainly is NOT, is your worth. Take one from Windsor. She’s not losing any sleep over a letter that wasn’t written.

Which, ironically, makes her the mostly likely to have the letter written, sealed, and sent.

Sweet dreams, Win. And you, dear reader, take one from me and my being the mother of some wonderful kids: when you have some sort of writing project, use the accessible tools, keep is simple, and pop it in the mail. Because Windsor is working on her novel, and if you can’t get your stuff together before she turns ten, she’s going to steal your agent and your publisher.

Lit 101

Don’t know if anyone has noticed under my “Events” tab, but I have been participating in the local Lit 101 for the approximately six months that it has been running. What is Lit 101? A night of flash fiction at the Francesca’s on Ninth Street in Durham, on the third Sunday of every month, at 7pm. I observed for the first one, and read approximately 600 words (you have no more than five minutes) from Benevolent (twice), The Family Elephant‘s Jewels, and The Night of One Hundred Thieves (this time).

Like I mentioned, the group is new, and it started pretty big, fell in attendance, but then this last time it filled the room. It has turned into a reading-slash-roundtable, which each component split from the other in time. I love it because it is close enough to my home that I can pull it off most the time, even as a mom. I don’t normally get nervous when speaking or teaching, but I do get nervous reading, so I consider this a great opportunity to repeatedly stretch myself in this manner. And there were a couple other things I wanted to say about the Lit 101 from yesterday.

A(n incomplete) list of meet-ups for writers, in the Triangle area, which I got from this one evening of networking:

every second Tuesday: SF/F Group, at Atomic Empire in Durham.
first and third Tuesday: Tongue & Groove at Tir Na Nog in Raleigh. Music and perhaps poetry(?) open mic.
first Thursday of the month: Open mic at Cup 22 at The Ballroom in Saxapahaw. Great venue, I hear.
second Wednesday of the month: Durham Writers Meetup. Critique circle. Limited space, whereabouts revealed to group.
second Thursday of the month: 7p. Flyleaf poetry reading and open mic. Fosters/Flyleaf book store in Chapel Hill.
third Sunday of the month: 7p. Lit 101. Open mic and discussion circle. At Francesca’s on Ninth Street in Durham.
third Thursday of the month: 6p. Open mic at Stars Theater and Arts Center in Fuquay-Varina.
There was something the last Thursday of the month, too, but I can not figure it out!
fourth of July time, two weeks, annually: (Not too close, but…) Wildacres writer’s retreat in Little Switzerland, NC.

*Please comment if there is another group you know of that I should add.

Also, when someone asked me a question at the roundtable, it was this: “In the piece you read tonight, you used a series of one-word sentences. What makes an author decide to use that techinique?” The answers that I gave, with contributinos from others around the circle, amounted to this:

Use enough proper grammar to make the reader understand, and enough innovation to make it interesting.
When Shakespeare wrote, a significant amount of his writing was pure gibberish at the time. But it worked. Think of Lewis Carroll’s “The Jabberwocky.”
Modern writing tends to be minimalist: the writer cuts and cuts until all that is left is a breath away from poetry. Sometimes that means sentence fragments.
This technique can be used to mimic internal thought, especially in first person writing and stream-of-consciousness. At the very least, it creates a sense of empirical, sensory input, but can also be thick to read.
Language will vary based on the tone of the piece and passage, and also on the character or mood being used at the moment. In the example the other writer was asking about, I used the one word sentences because the character’s guilt was causing him to play mind-games with himself, chasing words from routine to sin. It also, I think, mimics the ceremonial sweeping that the character is doing while he thinks.
Often, these decisions are intuitive.
You can write to sell or you can write to show off your prose. The two do not often go hand-in-hand. Unfortunately. Or fortunately. (See what I did there?)

So get out there and network, if you are not already. And checking out your “local” groups on the internet can be a start. Perhaps I’ll make a list of Durham online groups sometime. I know its not always easy to get out the door on a week night or to sit alone in a new group of people, but it is important to get to know other writers, to get feedback, to practice reading… all that.

Lit 101, August 17, 7pm, at Francesca’s. Be there or be square.

 

Movie Review: Magic Beyond Words

Magic Beyond Words: The J. K. Rowling Story, 2011. Available currently on Amazon Prime.

First thing I learned: her name is pronounced ROE-ling, not R-Ow!-ling. I had no idea.

Second thing: this movie is cheesy, sometimes painfully so. And yet, I did not want to turn it off. I guess I was willing to take it as it is: a made-for-TV Lifetime movie, and an unofficial biography at that. On the plus-minus side, the director appeared to stick so closely to what is known about Rowling, that the movie is sometimes, as Wikipedia put it, “lackluster.” I mean, for one thing, we all know the ending. For two, the writer/director did not seem to have over-dramatized. Both bad and good.

On the other hand, I found this movie extremely interesting because I am a writer, and Rowling is the most fiscally and fame-ily successful author of all time. (The movie portrays her as completely naive when it comes to ambition, but I can’t imagine this is completely so–even though many authors claim it of themselves. I know it’s not true of me. I want to make money and I want my books to be on bookshelves everywhere. I get wary of writers whining at me, “I write just because I love to write!” I know we’re in a position to work pro bono much of the time, but I certainly wish it weren’t so.) The movie really does relate to writers.

But then I was torn between wanting to know “How did this happen?” and realizing that it is a freak accident, of sorts. Not that Potter isn’t great, but so much of publishing depends upon an intricate, unpredictable, and long series of factors that writers call “luck.” You can sort of see this in the movie, but I was surprised that at the end they failed to mention that the lion’s share of Rowling’s earnings are from movies and merchandising. Books alone don’t make anyone billions of dollars. And this has only happened once in all of history. As I kept saying out loud, I would have emphasized–not Rowling’s middle-class hard knocks–but her normalcy and the sheer luck of her draw.

Then again, I was happy that the movie did not completely glamorize the process of publication, even though for Rowling it did (pretty quickly) end in unprecedented success. Most of the time, Rowling had to wait for things, just like the rest of us, and struggle through submissions, lack of confidence, lack of finances, the interference of real life, etc.  I was thrilled to learn that Potter wasn’t created–as others have claimed–in a moment. In her head, he sort of was. (Which I can relate to. In fact, I could relate to so much of her process and personality, as a writer. It was nice.) But overall, the idea took years to come to fruition, sometimes sitting for long periods in rumination and inactivity. I was also really happy to learn (if indeed the movie is accurate) that she did know the beginning before she published the first book, and that there were extensive notes involved, because one of the things I have always marveled at with Rowling is her ability to carry small things from page one all the way to the end.

In the end, I was thrilled that my husband couldn’t get enough of saying, “She’s just like you!” From her historical points: told she would never succeed in grade school; doodling to pay attention; under-succeeding in academia despite smarts; time on welfare; a messy desk despite attempts at organizing her life… Apparently the artistic personality is a real thing (that, and the writers’ life). I left the movie feeling moderately encouraged and my husband felt immensely encouraged. That’s a huge win, for me. I get encouragement here and there, but for my financier to feel that one day, after all this hard work, the sacrifices, and the time, I will break out and make it all worth it… that’s priceless.

Movie Review: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Two reasons I am reviewing “one of the best films of 2012″: It is a book adaptation of the 1999 epistolary novel by Stephen Chbosky (and Chbosky directed! How jealous am I?); it is about an aspiring writer. The bit about him being a future writer is in the background (probably just a fragment left over from the writer’s own youth), but it is felt.

Wallflower is about a high school freshman, Charlie, who begins the school year fresh off of a psychiatric breakdown and tentative recovery. Wandering around miserable and alone, a couple of seniors notice him and take him under their alternative-clique’s wing. Antics and messy relationships ensue, as well as motivation and history reveals.

I liked this movie almost as much as all the other reviewers singing its praises. I thought at least one main character was not true to the time period, and I am not a fan of teen sex (especially being treated casually or glorifying it; on the other hand, I was very thankful that it was not depicted graphically). It was produced by Mr. Mudd Productions, which also did Juno and Ghost World, two movies which I have on my DVD shelf. I have to say, as the credits rolled, I was impressed with the movie. The only big disappoint for me was the narration at the end. I would recommend that you go to mute at the end and play some soft music, so as not to be submitted to a highly unnecessary and trite, cheesy, juvenile exposition. (How harsh!) I also found it silly to portray high schoolers as the principal actors in the city’s production of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and I agree with some of the critics that Charlie’s friend’s suicide is a dropped thread and that none of the characters have any real consequences from their sometimes illegal and often reckless behavior. Makes you wonder if college would have been a better setting for the whole thing.

Otherwise, it has all sorts of memorable and well-done moments, including the twist ending. The movie is much more complex than the average coming-of-age movie, and there are layers to every character’s story. So, not as good as Juno or Ghost World, in my opinion, but still very worth watching if you like the genre.

I also kept thinking about how Benevolent would make a similar movie, if done right.

How is it about writing? Barely. I suppose some of Charlie’s awkwardness arises from his interest in literature. He is rejected in school largely because he is smart, especially in the arts, and connects more readily with his English teacher than anyone else. Then many of the scenes revolve around his wanting to grow up and be a writer. Like I said earlier, I suspect this is largely just the effect of the writer of the book (and film adaptation) growing up an aspiring writer, himself.

Now, I completely understand that writer’s write writers because they know writers, the same reason they often stick to characters with artistic backgrounds. I sympathize. But I think that writers (and artists and people in the humanities) as characters is way too overdone. I want to take this moment, then, to encourage you, dear writer, to write other types of characters. Like an accountant. Or a real estate agent. Or a bankruptcy lawyer. Or a migrant worker. The world–readers!–need more great stories about the rest of everyone.

Let’s see if I live up to my own demands. Benevolent: academic and humanitarian. The Night of One Hundred Thieves: baker’s widow. (So far, too obvious.) The Journey of Clement Fancywater: receptionist. The Family Elephant’s Jewels: tattoo artist, writer, mom. (Woo! Not doing too well.) Seasons series: girl detectives. Rails series: circus apprentices. Spin series: student. The Marvelous Life of Mary McG: time traveler. Frame 352: academic. Domestic Coupling: retired collector. Pollen Season: humanitarian and housewife. The Last Book: writer. Wow, I suck. I am fulfilling my role as a writer writing about what is comfortable, very well. At least, about half my books don’t have a profession for the main character yet, so there is still opportunity to change my cliche ways.

And there’s still hope for you, too. Write that story about a garbage man or a contract construction worker. I dare you. And watch Perks of Being a Wallflower while you’re at it.

Go Get ‘Em

When I was a kid, I was labeled “not sporty.” I was also never described as “adventurous,” that I can recall. Ideas of sporty and adventurous in my culture were limited to things like basketball and Lewis and Clark. As I got older, I realized a few things about that: one, sports are not limited to group sports; two, I am fairly good at solitary sports; three, I have always been and will always be adventurous.

Why bring this up? I have been thinking about (as usual) what it takes to be a successful author. Among the ingredients it takes to be remarkably successful (at just about anything, especially in the creative fields) is a healthy dose of gumption. And by gumption, I mean the definition of “courage, spunk, guts.” Fortunately, I have this is spades.

How do I know? I have a very long history of biting off more than I can chew. In a more literal sense of the phrase, I can remember being disciplined as a child for frequently heaping giant portions of food on to my plate and then not being able to finish it. Likewise, my parents still talk about how I liked to order the strangest thing on the menu and sometimes refused to eat it all (and sometimes discovered something new and exciting).

I like challenging myself, doing things that are at first uncomfortable or impossible. At five, I was attending overnight camps, of my own volition. By six, I was starring in the school musical. At eleven, along with attending three summer camps, I signed my parents up for an informational meeting to host a French exchange student and send me to France for a month. It took some convincing, but it worked. Just like it worked for them to let me join two groups to travel around Michigan every weekend of high school, study abroad in Israel (that was a hard sell), or marry a guy I had been dating for two weeks. My husband’s turning thirty? Think I’ll throw a self-catered, three-course dinner for eighty people. Every time my kids have another birthday, I go way over the top. The examples extend to the large things (entrepreneurship, international volunteering) and to daily life. Let’s just say, people are often balking at my plans.

Recently, I was in a conversation with someone at an event that I had catered, cooking for 120 people out of my galley kitchen, and the conversation extended to our “Summer of Camping.” This summer, Kevin and I with the kids are taking four camping trips, from the ocean to the mountains, from local to New York, from backpacking in to driving twenty minutes down a two-rut road. Then the conversation led to the word “adventurous,” and long after I had been called elsewhere to relate my recipe for Sweet Potato Bites, I was still thinking about Benjamin Franklin.

I suppose that, although I have never put it this way, Franklin is one of my personal heroes. Likewise, Leonardo da Vinci. I really admire people who constantly push the limits of themselves, their culture, and continue to bite off more than they can chew. Of course, part of what I admire about very successful people, too, is their ability to focus. This is something I don’t come by automatically, except in the moment of creativity. I am working on it. And yet, it seems that people like Franklin and da Vinci didn’t need to have too much focus, because they were so very, very intense. Maybe that’s the word I’m looking for.

Of course, admiring intensity begs the issue of sacrifice. Like Stephen King, who I have noted over the years as one of my heroes. I often have flashes across my inner eye (facilitated by what he shares in On Writing) of the young King walking in the front door of a fluorescent-lit, old, ranch house, dropping his keys and coat on the hall table, and continuing up the hall as children run yelling and laughing and threading in between his advancement, until he hunches down into a torn, itchy chair at his desk which barely fits into what should be the coat closet, and picks up a sheet of paper and threads it into his rusty typewriter. Then my internal image moves in fast-motion, as King runs hands through his disheveled hair and pecks at the keyboard, kids keep running through the scene behind him, now in pajamas, his wife glances around the corner as she wipes soap bubbles from her hands, and then the scene darkens except for the avocado-green desk lamp shoved into the corner of the closet casting a ring of light around King and his ever-pecking fingers. This is what I imagine a life of both gumption and focus is like: intense and sacrificial.

And yet, most nights I just can’t manage to do anything but read after the kids are in bed. And I also can’t help but wonder if there is something of a gender difference to deal with, both culturally and biologically. Being a mom is, indeed, a horse of a different color, being female is an ice cream of a different flavor. And being a normally functioning member of society may just be in converse stance to being one of the truly great, super-producing creators. Was Franklin a good father? A good husband? Did da Vinci feel conflicted? Does King have regrets?

Because while I think I have gumption, and even though I have lofty goals and work really hard, I’m afraid that my lack of focus and my desire to please other people has sabotaged my brilliant career. So far. There are plenty of artists who got a late start, and I am working on my focus, if only I could figure out what I am willing to sacrifice. And will it be enough? And can’t I just excel in several areas, like motherhood and volunteerism and cooking and painting and writing and publishing and photography? I know plenty of people would tell me not to be so intense–to stick with what I do best and aim lower–but I admire people who have been that intense and changed the world. If they aimed lower, where would we be?

Illusions of grandeur, much? Nah. I think that part of being a healthy adult is integrating the things from childhood that were good into the things about maturity that are good. It’s easy to slough off such things as wonder and curiosity and hope when you get hit square between the eyes with a mortgage and bad customer service and sick children. But what if I can keep my dreams, even as my life turns from its peak and moves toward its inevitable end? What if I can start each new day expecting my accomplishments and my work to grow bigger and better, even as they change? Can I be both thankful and peaceful and have gumption? Can I be thankful for my gumption, and embrace a life that may not be the easiest but will at least be rich and will be mine? And can I accept all my striving if it seems to go unnoticed? In other words, will answering the siren call of my own drummer (alone) be enough to justify my actions?

To an extent, all writers need to answer questions like these, or make the decision of not making a decision. What I mean is, succeeding as a writer takes gumption, focus, and sacrifice. Plenty of people just let their writer dreams die, or give up when the going gets tough (or too long), or never hone in on their specific goals (or carry them to their conclusion). And to make it from here to your golden city, you HAVE to do all of the following:

Make specific goals and dream big. Deadlines help.
Root out expendable things in life that are distracting from those goals.
Don’t give up. Even after what seems like a long time. Even after someone tells you you stink.
Keep improving. Keep learning.
Cling. Like bad static.
Finish projects, make them relatively perfect, then air them out for the world to see.

I have long been intrigued by Olympians (like the modern sportspeople, not the ancient Greeks). Their lives are so other from the rest of us, at least while they are of a certain age. From the time they are little children, they are dedicated to a gumption, focus, and intensity that could easily match Franklin or King. But at what cost? A great one, I suppose. But is it really just that their choices are more stark to us, since they are so other? Put it this way: we’ve all got only one timeline to fill–an exceedingly limited one–and every decision we make, every day, is at the sacrifice of something–everything–else.