More on my process and 'aha' moments

I used to wait for inspiration, for something to catch my eye or an idea to suddenly burst into a story. I thought that's what I needed in order for the words to work on the page. But then I grew up.

In high school, I realized that the "novel" I was writing wouldn't spring up overnight. All the words wouldn't be "given" to me, as if a gift from God. And, even if they were, if I wasn't ready, sitting at my computer or my pad of paper, writing, the words would disappear. (Eventually I finished that novel, while in high school, but let's just say that first novel is better left collecting dust.)

Writing, I realized, starts with sitting down and simply trying to get words down on the page. Inevitably, even if I didn't feel inspired, I'd become immersed in the world I was creating and then good luck in trying to get me to stop. Even after I put the story or chapter away, the story would simmer as I thought about how the next scene or section of dialogue would pane out.

The most amazing thing about grad school was that I spent a majority of my waking life - especially in Spring term - immersed in the world of Charlotte Corday and Anne-Marie Gessner. Sure, I had to pull away from the novel and attend classes and write unrelated papers, but the rest of the time, I was in Charlotte and Anne's heads, and no matter whether I felt inspired or not, I had to write. I had to, or my thesis wouldn't have been ready in time. I couldn't wait for 'aha' moments; I had to make them come to me.

After grad school ended and I relaxed into summer (and started stressing about finding a full-time job), the revision process waned, even as I continued to think about Through Charlotte's Eyes. I knew the novel was "done" for school, that I had a complete draft, that my thesis advisor and preceptor thought it publishable, but it still didn't feel ready. I thought I could do better.

People began to ask me, "But how do you know when it'll be ready? Will it ever be ready?"

Yes, my answer always is. There's just some things I still need to do. (More on this in tomorrow's blog post).

So, how do I make inspiration come to me? By talking and writing about my novel, by bouncing ideas off of people (especially my boyfriend) and thinking about my novel as I walk to work, ride the el, and do chores around the apartment. Inevitably, this process forces ideas through and I'm ready to get back to the page. This is how 'aha' moments happen - not by magic - but by thinking about my novel.

My latest 'aha' moment sprung the other day. I was telling my boyfriend about the catacombs in Paris, which I've become obsessed with lately, and how I need to work them into my novel because they're so creepy. Plus, that's where Charlotte is supposedly buried.

As I'm telling him about cataphiles (people who explore the catacombs at night, despite and probably because it's illegal), an idea hit me about what brings Anne to explore them. She's with a group of people visiting Paris on foreign term from America, and they decide to go check it out as they tell ghost stories about the underground tunnels that house the resting place of more than six million Parisians. But I was annoyed with how Anne had just met these people and I wasn't convinced that she's the kind of person to just tag along.

This brought up another nagging issue for me: there's too many characters that pop up for a couple scenes and then disappear. So, I thought about the beginning of my novel, about Anne overhearing a conversation between a couple girls her age. Why couldn't she end up meeting one of them (instead of just eavesdropping), and one of these girls is part of this group that goes down to the catacombs at night? AHA. BOOM. TA DA. The light went on, and ideas about this new character and friend to Anne - who doesn't disappear after a few chapters - flooded my head. She's a foil to Anne's best friend who's back in Illinois, at home.

I'm giving too much away, so I'll leave it at that. I recognize that this new idea means that I need to go back and rewrite parts of Chapter 1 through 11 again, but if that's the way it is, that's the way it is.

I have an idea in my head for how I want this novel to be and it will not be ready until I achieve that picture. So, thank you friends, family, and fellow bloggers for your support while I work on this novel, but I've still got a ways to go. If you want to talk about the novel, I'd love to - in fact, I welcome it - but please try to avoid the question of "When's the novel going to be done?" I promise you. It will be complete and finished...eventually. But when this novel gets published, I want it to be everything I want and need it to be, and until then, it won't be ready.

Writing Schedule, or Keeping Tabs Tuesday

It's time to hold myself accountable. If I'm going to finish this novel by the end of the year, I have to pick up (and keep up) that pace. That said, below is the consolidated schedule of deadlines for my WIP - lofty goals, I know, but the more I keep you updated, the more motivation I have.

For most (if not all) of you, these deadlines, number of chapters, etc. mean very little - I'm not giving details of the chapters away because you're going to one day read my book - so feel free to skip to the end and leave an encouraging note, or two. =)

By June 30th:
- Finish revising/rewriting chapters 8 through 11
- Do a major rewrite of chapters 12 & 13 (this is where the majority of the rewriting work begins!)
- Research the Champ de Mars massacre & the Catacombs a bit more
- Keep reading Plutarch's Lives
- Update outline and sequence of events timeline - both for 1793 and 2005 - to make sure the novel remains consistent

*BREATHE*

By July 7th:
- Rewrite/revise chapters 14 & 15
- Read more of Marat's writings... this may alter a few key scenes in chapters 14 & 15
- Keep reading Plutarch's Lives

*REMIND MYSELF THAT I CAN DO THIS!*

With each subsequent Tuesday, from July 15th to the 28th, serving as a deadline, I'll revise/rewrite two to three more chapters each week. One week will include adding an entirely new chapter that is desperately needed; let's refer to this, for now, as "Anne's second rebellion."

*TAKE A BREAK; BREATHE*
*AND MAYBE, YA KNOW, ENJOY THE SUMMER WEATHER... well, if it ever comes to Chicago*

I should be moving north to Roscoe Village about this time of the month, which will force me to take a break, for sure. I'll need to get settled into my new place!

But, then back to the keyboard, with deadlines restarting every Tuesday beginning August 11th. Again, rewriting/revising two to three chapters every week (allowing for most weeks to only be two chapters) up until September 8th.

*COLLAPSE IN RELIEF THAT THE DRAFT IS DONE*

So, that's my goal! By September 8th, I'll have an entirely new 1st POV draft of my novel that will hopefully be a huge step closer to being done...

And then PARIS! Well, maybe. Hopefully. The financial situation is not what it needs to be right now for a trip, so I might be living vicariously through Paris blogs for a few months longer. In that case, I'll re-evaluate the novel, plan what I need to do, and then maybe take a break from the manuscript.

No, not maybe. Definitely. I'm making some huge overhauls in the next couple months, and I need to make sure I have a clear head when I come back to this draft, ready to make some final revisions!

If This Was Me...

... I'd ask for monetary compensation, instead of asking for the billboard to be taken down.

So the story goes, a Missouri family was shocked to learn that a family photo of theirs was posted as an advertisement in Prague. Read the story here.

Crazy! But it's a compliment, right?

Monday Morning

I live in Chicago, and even though my place is just a couple blocks from Millennium Park, I'm in the center of a concrete jungle. So, imagine my surprise on my way to work, when I see a sord of ducks - a mommy mallard leading seven ducklings - just outside the Aon Center.

Surprisingly, it wasn't the ducks I first noticed, but the way people reacted to them. People took out their cameras (unfortunately, I didn't have mine), commuters who typically didn't give the time of day to their fellow sidewalk walkers chatted about how cute the ducklings were, and - what really caught my attention - two taxi cab drivers and a handful of people coaxed a couple ducklings out from under a cab. The same cabbies who mercilessly honk at anything and anyone in hopes of speeding through the yellow light and cut you off, whether you're a pedestrian or fellow driver, were taking the time to get make sure these ducklings got up onto the sidewalk.

The mama duck didn't seem to notice too much, as she quacked and led the way between the Lakeshore Fitness Center and Aon buildings. As she waddled away, as if it were any normal day, people stopped, took notice, and helped the ducklings. And that, I must say, is a great way to start my Monday morning.

(The above picture is clearly one I didn't take - not only because I didn't have my camera, but also because there's no grass near my building. But I had to add a pic; after all, ducklings are adorable!)

Image source: http://www.digital-images.net/Images/Ducks/Marching_MallardDucklings_1055.jpg

What Keeps You Writing?

I asked the question, What keeps you writing?, in my last post, and I figured I should supply an answer of my own if I expect (and hope) other people to answer it too.

It's one of those questions that its hard to put a finger on an answer because it's so many things at once. For one, saying that I've been writing since I was a kid doesn't explain my motivation to continue writing now, when I'm 26-years-old. And saying that I hope to become a published novelist (hopefully starting with my current WIP) doesn't explain it either (although it'd be wonderful if it happens), since I know I'd continue writing for the rest of my life even if I never got published.

So, what is it exactly? It's definitely no one thing, but, what I can tell you is that it's...

• Words... discovering the right words and stringing them together to form a great sentence, paragraph, page. When I find those right words, it's an electric feeling that keeps pushing me forward to string together even more electric sentences that, as a whole, tell a story.
• Curiosity... It's why I read and it's also why I write; this general desire to know more about the world and people around me pushes me to look deeper into the hows, whys, wheres, whats, and whens.
• The act of writing... Obviously tied to my fascination with the way words work together, simply sitting down and getting an idea out on paper doesn't feel like work to me. Okay, sometimes it does, but I live for those days when the words fly right out onto the page, and the story comes out of me as if it never belonged to me in the first place.
• Okay, okay, getting published keeps me writing, too... when I get frustrated with any of the above, knowing that I'm working towards my goals of publishing my stories and novels gets me back on track and focused on what I need to do next with my writing.

So, now it's your turn: what keeps you writing?

My Love Affair...

with bookstores.

I walked into Borders today, the first time I've been in a bookstore in awhile, and it was WONDERFUL. There's something about being surrounded by all kinds of stories and books that I just love.

I try to stay away from bookstores - because I tend to be an impulse book-buyer - but I was buying some children's books for a baby shower gift, and I couldn't just walk in, get the books, and leave. Never!

As I always do, I wandered around the aisles, thumbing through books, reading back covers and inside flaps. And, again, as I always do, I went to the "S" literature section and opened a space for where my book will one day be. Yeah, dorky. But it's visualization! And definitely motivational.

Do you still shop in bookstores, or just to stick to online book-buying? Are you an impulse book-buyer like me? (Granted, today, I majorly restrained myself and only bought what I came for!) What do you love about bookstores?

I'm a TA...

...for two middle-school workshop sessions in April. It's not much, but I'm excited about it. I haven't tutored in about four years now, and it's been even longer since I've tutored kids. Even then, I was helping the kids with math and reading. This time around, I'll be teaching kids about creative writing - specifically, using all of their senses to write. THIS is the kind of stuff I love to do and have wanted to do for some time: fostering the passion for writing in kids. If you couldn't tell, I'm really excited about this!

But, I'm exhausted today, although I have no reason to be, so I'll keep this post short. Til tomorrow!

Classe française numéro cinq

I'm halfway done with my first-ever French class... and I still feel like I haven't learned much.

Okay, that's a lie. I have learned a lot, just not the things I expected to learn.

Yesterday, we learned more numbers (through 79), more about how to navigate around Paris, and how to conjugate verbs, well, at least how to conjugate AVOIR in present tense. Last week we learned about the arrondisements and that was reinforced again this week; I also learned more about the banlieues - which was an aha! moment for me, since one of my characters lives in a banlieue north (nord) of Paris. At the very least, I'm beginning to feel that, if I left for Paris today, I would be able to navigate my way around and feel slightly comfortable asking a Parisian for directions. And I can't ask for much more at this point, can I?

Next week: a quiz! I'm guessing it'll be both written and verbal, to test our pronunciation (which I was complimented on yesterday by my professor - that was a surprise!). So, if the quiz is not incentive to study French more this week, then I don't know what is.

Switching Focus Yet Again

I'm stuck on the script and don't know how to develop next.

So, I'm taking a break on that project and finally returning to my novel. I've officially spent a month away from it now, and, admittedly, that was beginning to irritate me. I hated feeling like I wasn't making any progress on it, that I had wasted a month on a side-project that really hasn't gotten very far.

But, last night I went to bed planning to work on my novel all weekend, and when I woke up, I finally felt ready to do so. I'm focusing on my main character's (Anne's) childhood, and how that drives her forward when she's 18-years-old to discover more about the life of her mother who died when Anne was eight.

Ideas are forming and I plan to get those all out on paper this weekend. Hurrah for killing off writer's block! I guess backing away from a piece of writing to see it through fresh eyes really does help - even if it kills you to put it away for a month!

Classe française numéro trois

Last night I had my third (if you don't count my one and only Saturday basic of the basic class) French class. Not suprisingly, it was the hardest yet. We've moved beyond the alphabet, numbers 1 through 29, and greetings. Now, we're in full sentences... sort of.

In one (excruciating) part of the class, we had to explain why we were taking French class while speaking in French. Um, yeah, not so much. With a LOT of coaching and confusion, I finally said, "J'étudie le français parce que j'étudie l'historie française le 18ième siècle." (Don't ask me how to pronounce most of this - particularly the last two words; I only know how it's spelled because my professor wrote it on the board).

I realized, after the fact, I could have just said that I was studying the life of Marie-Anne Charlotte de Corday d'Armont, but as I'm being reminded in these past couple weeks - I kinda have a hard time learning/practicing a new language in front of people I don't know, and, hence, make things much more difficult on myself than they really need to be.


Do I regret taking this class? Not at all. I like being able to "converse" with others (especially when I know what I'm saying) and practicing with my professor, who corrects my pronounciation - which I wouldn't get at all with a CD. But, I need to keep reminding myself that this isn't an overnight thing. I can't expect a couple classes to really teach me French. After all, I took Spanish for a good six years, if not more, and I was nowhere near fluent. I also know that I need to "practice" more, with my friends who speak fluent French (or, at the very least, know far more than I do), as well as my sister who is also learning beginner's French, albeit through the less expensive route of a book and a CD.

The benefits of taking classes at the Alliance Française are also going beyond me earning the language. My professor previously had a student, far more advanced than I, who is well-versed in French history and who is willing to talk to me about the French Revolution & any questions I might have. I'm going to also probe his brain for any info he has about the French riots of 2005, which is what I'm still struggling with more than anything. There is so little out there other than factual articles about what happened during that time; I need more of what people were feeling - both of the boys and men who were involved in the riots as well as the Parisians who, I keep assuming, didn't feel any threat from the riots that were raging in the suburbs of France. But all that is another matter, another post for another day.

In the meantime, I'm forcing myself to keep away from the novel and work on other things, or at least, not the pages of the novel itself. This isn't an excuse for me not working on the novel, seriously. I need to back up from my novel's main plots so I can look at it with fresh eyes. Of late, ideas have been bubbling and my novel journal has been brought forth again. I don't know if I'll ever totally understand my writing process, but, so far, this French class really has had an inspirational effect on that process.

Dreaming About My Script

This morning I woke up and I had it. Or, at least, I had a lot of it. I dreamt about my script, about certain scenes that I’ve been mulling over for the past week or so. Not wanting to lose the images that I had dreamt about, I got out of bed and immediately started writing. Of course, there were a lot of absurdities in my dream that just didn’t make sense (Barney moving in with Robin and Ted because he’d lost his apartment, and me suddenly appearing to make eggs and toast for all the actors), but other things, like Lily’s relationship with her mom, and Barney’s war with one of his co-workers began to fall into place.

I still don’t have the complete “story,” (I can only ask so much of a dream!) but I’ve got the bones and a little bit of flesh now. This morning, I also did a little bit more research, a.k.a. I watched a few episodes to make sure I had some key facts on the background story correct.

I’ve wanted to dream about my writing, and key scenes I’ve been having trouble with, for a long time now. Granted, I’d been hoping to dream about my novel, but I’ll take what I can get it.

I’ve had dreams about writing before—sitting at a park bench and whipping out an entire chapter in long-hand, for example. But, I’ve never dreamed about, or at least remembered, specific things that I could actually use. So, I’m amazed that my dream was even slightly coherent and usable. Not only that, but in my dream, I played certain things over again, changing things slightly, and then running it by my boyfriend to see if he thought it made sense. It was like I was writing while I was dreaming. I wouldn’t mind if dreams like this happened more often!

I don’t expect this to be a nightly thing. Hell, I don’t even expect it to be a monthly or yearly thing. But the dream, at the very least, acted as an impetus to actually start putting things on paper. Lately, I’ve been writing without writing, if you will. I mull things over, wonder about characters and how they would react if I put them in a certain scene, but hadn’t committed very much to paper as of yesterday. As of right now, I have a good five pages. Not much, but it’s a start.

Writing a TV Script

Miss me?

Cuz I’ve missed writing on my blog.

My French is coming slowly but steadily along, and it did give me a bump of inspiration last week… but I’m still feeling a bit stuck right now. I’m smack dab in the middle of the story and I still don’t feel like I have enough motion driving the story forward, especially for the story that centers on Anne and the riots in Paris during 2005.

So, I’m taking a break, a.k.a. taking a step back from the novel. I was kind of wary about doing this, since I’ve had pretty good momentum until recently, but sometimes I just feel like I need to step back and reassess. And reassessment, for me, involves not looking at my story for a little while—at least a week, but no more than two.

At the same time, I’ve obviously got to keep the creativity and writing flowing, so I’m now working on something totally new and different. I’m writing a spec TV script (a script for a current TV show). For a long time, I’ve been curious about whether I could pull of a TV script, whether I’d enjoy it, etc., and figure it’s about time I try. After all, you can’t know if you’re good at something unless you try.

I have NEVER written a script. This is completely new for me, including how to format a script. But I’m already having fun with it. I’m basing it on the CBS show, “How I Met Your Mother” since I know the characters inside and out, given that I’ve watched every episode of the four seasons multiple times.

Comedy is not usually my thing, but since I know this show so well, ideas are already flowing like crazy. Plus, my boyfriend is a huge fan of the show as well, and we’ve somewhat been working as a writing team, bouncing ideas off one another, shooting for ridiculous plotlines (as are common on the show) while also making sure the plot makes sense for each of the characters.

This is totally unlike any writing I’ve done before, and, so far, I’m loving it.

Trying New Things: Classe française numéro un

I learned how to greet someone in French today. It was the basics of the basics in my first French class at Alliance Française de Chicago. I also learned the alphabet, the numbers one through twelve, and how to pronounce a few nationalities.

I’m somewhat less intimidated by French now, simply because I know a handful of words. At the same time, I know this is going to be difficult for me. Not only because—as I thought and as other blog posters have mentioned—knowing Spanish is both a bit of a curse and a bit of a blessing. “Spanish will help you identify what some French words are, but it will not help you in pronunciation,” said Professor Erwan Sorel.

Plus, this is the first language class that I’ve taken since high school, having fulfilled all the college requirements before getting to college. Meaning, it’s also the first time I’ve worked on learning a language in eight years. So, yeah, I admit, it’s still a bit intimidating.

But, it’s invigorating too.

Last night, I felt overwhelmed by my novel. I sat down to write and to move around a few scenes, and I felt utterly stuck. I felt like I wasn’t making progress. The scenes I was working on were stale and maybe even unnecessary. What am I doing? I asked myself. My writing stinks. There’s no drama, no tension. My thoughts dragged me under, as if I was being swallowed by quicksand. So, I stopped trying to write, and I picked up a large volume to brush up on the basics of the French Revolution.

Note to self: reading a detailed history doesn’t clear your head; rather it just fills your head up with even more information—information that you know you need to somehow touch on in your novel if you’re going to make the novel understandable to young-adult readers.

So, I admit. I gave up writing, and research, for the night. I felt, at the same time, drained of and overwhelmed by words and ideas. As I said, I was stuck.

French class started to change that. I realized that, by taking this French class, I’m approaching my novel in, well, a novel way. I’m learning the language that some, but not all, of my characters know. My main character isn’t fluent, but she wants to be. She tries studying it too, although in a totally different way than I do. But, nonetheless, by creating a different way to access my novel and my characters, by learning French, I feel like I’m making the first step towards making some real progress with my novel. That reassurance helps more than I’d ever expect.

Writing clearly is not just about writing. It’s also about doing research—but not just the research you discover within books. It’s about experiencing and trying new things, like taking a French class.

What new things have you tried or learned in order to access your writing in a different way?

Put Down That Book!

I talked a little about "reading deprivation" in the comments, but think it deserves a post here as well.

Anyone who knows me, knows that I love to read. A Lot. So, I'm definitely not saying people shouldn't read, not at all. But for you writers/artists/creatives out there, specifically the ones who feel blocked, I suggest not reading - books, magazines, blogs, etc. - for a week. This "reading deprivation" can do wonders for your creativity.

In the past, I justified my copious amounts of reading by saying that reading inspired me: not just through the ideas and images evoked through the written word, but also because reading allowed me to "see" how an author achieved a mood or a feeling. I told myself I was "studying" the way an author wrote.

But reading is also a wonderful way to procrastinate and put off writing, too. When I get stuck on something I'm writing or if I feel like putting off writing for a little while, I tend to pick up a book or a magazine or read a blog. So, when I was following the excercises in "The Artist's Way," by Julia Cameron, I wasn't too suprised to see that she recommended a week of "reading deprivation." But it was hard, by God it was hard.

I first read the chapter on "reading deprivation" a couple years ago, while I was half-way through a flight back home. I knew Cameron was right without having to think about it. I used reading as a "crutch." Despite the three novels in my backpack (I always carry a few spare novels on trips, just in case I get through them super quick), I didn't crack a single one of them open. When you're on a plane and your sister is asleep in the seat next to you, it's extremely hard not to pick up a book. But I didn't. And for the six days after, I didn't either. At breakfast, when I normally thumbed through a few pages, I talked to my mom more, or I sat, chewing my cereal and scribbling notes for the story I was working on. I started using my lunch breaks at work for writing (and sometimes errands). And, instead of reading before going to bed, I wrote.

My excuse, in the weeks prior, for not writing generally revolved around not having enough time. Suddenly, by not reading, I had more time than I expected. And I didn't use that time for just writing, I filled it up with more activites, more time with family, more time with friends.

Granted, I'm still an avid reader. But the week of "no reading" taught me how to find that careful balance, to make time both for reading, writing, and all the other fun stuff.

So, put that book down, and give it a try. I guarantee you'll be surprised by the outcome; and definitely let me know - in a week - how it works out.

Will Work For Food

So what if Adam Gertler didn't win on last season's "The Next Food Network Star"? The Food Network gave him his own show, "Will Work For Food," anyway. And, in my opinion, Gertler should have won in the first place, and not "Big Daddy," Aaron McCargo, Jr.

I don't know if this past Sunday's show was the first of the season (the show was originally announced back in the summer but I hadn't heard of it until a commercial last week), and yesterday was the first time I'd seen an episode, thanks to my DVR.

There's no comparison between "Will Work For Food" and "Big Daddy's House." McCargo's cooking show is spliced together strangely (too many takes, I'm guessing?) and he still tends to mumble and say odd things that, really, say nothing about the food. (I only watched a few minutes of "Big Daddy," but that was more than enough). Gertler's show is more about what happens before a person can get cooking; More of a "Dirty Jobs" kind of show, if you will.

The trickiness of any show like this, is that it depends on learning a job from someone who is hopefully interesting and entertaining, like Adam.

In the first segment, Gertler joined the crew of a lobster boat and learned how to reel in lobster cages, measure a lobster, and rubber band the crustacean's claws. The work was interesting, but the man in charge of the lobster boat was not. As Adam asked questions of him, it was like pulling teeth. Adam, with his quirky personality, and his talk of feeling green could only do so much. Lesson for writing? All of your characters need to be fleshed out or have a distinctive personality. You can't have one character take over, for he feeds and works off the other players around him. The captain of the lobster boat did have one redeeming moment, though. "Where's your lobster bib?" Adam asked as they sat down to enjoy their catch at the end of the day. The captain responded, "Real lobster men don't wear bibs."

The second half of the show really picked up, definitely in part because of the beekeepers that were training Adam. While Adam was decked out in a full beekeeper suit (in 100+ degree weather, no less), the professionals only wore headgear, not even bothering to use gloves, saying that they slowed them down. They explained how to smoke the bees before handling the hives as well as the different kinds of honey bees - the queen bee, workers, and the drones (who don't sting). To demonstrate that the drones really don't sting, they shoved one into Adam's suit. Awesome.

Adam's random, offbeat humor makes this non-cooking show enjoyable. Let's just hope his "employers" keep entertaining as well. But no matter what, Adam Gertler has me as a fan.

Trying New Things: Learning French

I signed up for my very first French class this morning. It's about time; I've been working on my novel, set in 2005 Paris, for well over a year now. And, I'm currently planning a trip to Paris in July, so I'm sure knowing a couple phrases of French could only help me.

As with anything new, it's kind of intimidating, trying to learn a new language now, after only having studied Spanish during high school. (And I know French is nothing like Spanish). When I walked into Alliance Francaise de Chicago, everyone - including students standing at the front desk - chattered in French. The receptionist turned to me and rattled off a question in French; I only understood the word, "Bonjour."

"Beginning French?" I said. He immediately switched to speaking in English, his speech heavily accented.

This is definitely going to be interesting. Classes start next Saturday. I'm sure I'll update on my "progress" in French.

Convo with the Cashier

Setting: Buying food from the grocery store attached to my building

Characters: Me; Cashier

========

The one and only SCENE

Cashier: How are you doing today? (scans my purchases)

Me: (nods head) Pretty good. How about you?

Cashier: (in high-pitched voice) Super-Duper!
(cashier shakes his head and starts putting my food into a bag)
Cashier: I don't know why I said that. It made me sound like Barney.

(I raise my eyebrows; Barney Stinson of HIMYM jumps to mind - yes, that's how obsessed I am with the show)

Cashier: You know, the purple dinosaur?

Me: Oh, of course.

Cashier: I swear. I don't watch Barney. Ever.

Why "Finding Inspiration" is So Important

I've already noticed, in the days since my Jan 16th post, that I'm tending towards tagging my posts with "Finding Inspiration" more often than not. I wondered if I was using this tag too liberally, if I was treating it as a catch-all rather than a specific category. Then, today I realized that "Finding Inspiration" is so pertinent to writing life that it's only natural for most of the things I write about to fall into this category.

As writers, we notice things. If you're like me, you keep lists of things that catch your eye, or of interesting - and, often, random - conversations you have during the day. And that's where "Finding Inspiration" comes in; it provides a place for you to remember and share those moments, actions, images, and conversations that might influence what you and I write about next.

Today, in Jenny Rappaport's blog, Litsoup, there was a Book Block about the middle-grade novel, Emmy & The Home for Troubled Girls, by Lynne Jonell. As with all the Book Blocks Jenny posts, the feature author summarized her novel and talked about where she got her inspiration. The last paragraph discusses the genesis of any story (italics mine):

"I think, as writers, our subconscious minds push up images, snatches of songs, tantalizing odors, evocative phrases; and we need to pay attention. These incoherent fragments are the first tiny green shoots of something that has an elaborate root system already in place. I watch for these. I kneel down and give them my full attention; I water, fertilize, weed, I do everything in my power to coax the stories up. But without the seed first rotting in the ground for years and years, and then sending up a first exploratory frond, I have nothing to work with."

By posting to the category "Finding Inspiration," I'm taking the first step in noticing that "first tiny green shoot." I'm thinking about images and conversations, and wondering where they sprung from, why they're stuck in my head, and why I even noticed them in the first place. Someone once asked me how I came up with the idea for my work-in-progress novel, Through Charlotte's Eyes. It started with a footnote in Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. Then, I started researching - I knelt down and dug into the earth - and the story started falling into place. This is just one example of the principle at work in "Finding Inspiration" and in the sentiment expressed by Jonell. It's also why I'll keep posting to "Finding Inspiration" as much and as often as I'd like.

I Was (Not) There

Every morning, I turn on the TODAY show so I have something to watch and listen to while I get ready for work. That's where I first saw the images of the US Airways plane crash in the Hudson River. It's where I heard the interview of Casey Anthony's ex-fiancée. It's also where I learned how to escape from a car that has crashed and is sinking into the river.

Some of the TODAY segments are admittedly fluffy, but I often like how they approach subjects/news. So, between that and the way NBC has been hyping it's "continuous live coverage" of Inauguration Day events, my expectations ran high for the 20 or so minutes that TODAY was on in my apartment.

Instead, the camera was focused on the back door of the Blair House every second my TV was on this morning. NBC was waiting for Obama to exit and get into the town car, but he and Michelle were running late.

I suppose this is a risk that comes with "continuous live coverage”; unexpected things occur, like Obama running late, and they don’t know how to fill the time. The commentators (who might have been in New York, I don’t know; they never once showed them) tried filling the time by talking about how today was history in the making. One of the commentators also mentioned that when Obama and Michelle left the Blair House, whenever that might be, it would be the audience’s first chance to see what the Obamas were wearing.

Don’t get me wrong. I was and am just as excited as the next person for Bush’s last day and the new beginning that Obama promises to usher in. But, seriously, after all this hype, I get to watch the back door of the Blair House?? Even when they went to a reporter standing outside of the White House, reporting on the final hours of the Bush presidency, the TODAY show producers split the screen so we could still watch the Blair House and wait for Obama.

I wanted to see the crowd forming in the National Mall (they cut to that for about two seconds). I wanted to hear from the people about what this day means to them. But, instead, I got to watch the back door of the Blair House. What is the value of ‘live coverage’ when it just means watching a door? Does it symbolize how long we’ve waited for this day??

I was there in Chicago’s Grant Park on Election Night. I was there to see Obama become President-Elect. I was there to see excitement and happiness exude from each and every person in that crowd. But I was not there in the National Mall—where the crowd was double what it was on Election Night—to witness Obama’s inauguration live and in person.

Perhaps I’m venting about the TODAY show’s focus on the Blair House back door just because I’m disappointed at not being there today. Or, maybe I just didn’t get lucky in the 15 minutes of news coverage that I got to see this morning. Or, perhaps TV news stations should reconsider doing live coverage every single moment of today, and focus on the importance of this day in other, more memorable, ways.

I’ve been watching different parts of the live coverage (which, admittedly, I did record), and my favorite parts are hearing Obama speak, seeing the crowd’s excitement, and hearing what this day means to people the world over. But, this morning, I got to see the back of Blair House.

The True End of Christmas 2008

My real Christmas tree finally came down yesterday. It was about time. Not only was it January 17th, but the tree was dried out and every time I touched it, the needles dropped to the ground. Tyler and I unwound the Christmas lights, both white and copper balls, which caused branches to break off. Then, because of the condo building regulations, we had to bind up the branches, in hopes of not dropping too many needles on our way down.



We used plastic packaging wrap since it clings to everything. It worked alright, as you can tell, but it didn’t bind the tree enough. You can also see all the needles on the ground (clearly, we made a mess).

As we (literally) carted off the tree to the bowels of the condo building, where the dumpsters are located, more needles and pieces of branch fell off, leaving a trail behind us, especially when we squeezed the tree through doorways.

I know it’s way late to be taking down a tree, but I justify it by the fact that the Daley Plaza tree is still up as well. Granted, the hundred or so foot tree is really about 30 trees and I know it’ll take just as long—if not longer—than it took to put it up (more than a week). The other difference? While the Daley tree may still be up for a little bit, now that my tree is down, Christmas 2008 truly feels over.