C. L. Norman

Storyboarding and Writing Group

This week’s writing group revolved around storyboarding. One of our members taught a small lesson on it using the first act of Star Wars as an example. This is a technique I’ve heard of before and wanted to try but never actually followed through on. It seemed both easy and hard at the same time–and too much like outlining. Outlining being a technique I despise and just can’t seem to make work for me. After the mini-lesson I am all set to at least give it a try. 

Writing group is about to change its direction. We are changing the open attendance policy to a closed one. We will also be expecting more of the members and hopefully progressing forward as writers.

Reading

Speaking of storyboarding and writing group, I’ve been reading Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell in the Write Great Fiction series. I haven’t finished the book yet but seeing a breakdown on the three acts and what should go into each one is enlightening. It is also helping me understand why some author’s pacing works better than others. I look forward to finishing the book and beginning to use some of what I’m learning in my next story.

Storytime

I do the storytime for the young ones at the store on Tuesdays and for special occasions. This week I had my regular storytime and the Valentine’s Day storytime on Saturday. From my history on the stage I know that different days result in different energy in the children. My approach to storytime is to infuse it with a lot of pep and work the kids up a little bit and then give them a cookie and send them home with their mommies and daddies all sugared up and excited.

Saturday the kids were already so revved up that I was inclined to read them a bedtime story and quiet them down. Don’t get me wrong, I had fun and adore spending a bit of time with the little ones every week but for audience members to have trouble hearing me–me!–is a sign that maybe instead of the cookies and cocoa at the end, I should have given them a blankey and a pillow.

Did your week go as well as mine? Anything new happen you want to share?

        

February is here and a new list of movies to look forward to as well.

Dear John on February 5th: This romantic movie starring Channing Tatum (G.I. Joe) and Amanda Seyfried (Mama Mia) looks sweet and endearing. I have been a fan of Mr. Tatum since I saw Step Up. He has a talent for putting on a tough guy facade over a soft sweet interior. I, along with a lot of others, am looking forward to seeing how this love story plays out on screen.

Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief on February 12th: This trailer had me wondering where my son hid his copy of the book so I could get it out and read it. This is mythology and adventure rolled into one. It appeals to the geek and to the kids and many in between.

Valentine’s Day on February 12th: This movie has so many stars I like that for that alone I am interested in it. Then throw in the romantic comedy elements and I am hooked. The only thing making me a little wary is the many different storylines. Traditionally, I don’t identify well with those kinds of stories. I can’t connect with the story because of all the jumps. However, I still am very keen to see this one.

Shutter Island on February 19th: I’ve enjoyed watching Leonardo DiCaprio on the screen since he first walked onto Growing Pains. This movie looks like it is a paranormal suspense/mystery and as such fun. I want to see the eerie interesting parts of this movie and hope that it doesn’t tip over the edge into horror. If I haven’t mentioned it before, I don’t do horror. Nightmares, screams, shakes…it isn’t pretty. This movie may require having my husband’s shoulder close to hand but I want to see it and find out what is happening on that island.

What movies are you looking forward to this month?

        

Work

Many hours were made available to the employees at the store this last week and I took advantage of them. I took as many as they would allow and as such I kept very busy with that.

As a part of the above, I spent two shifts in the cafe for training. The first day of training on the register left me hopeful that I could get the hang of it all. The second day of training at the bar left me lost and confused. I viewed the machinery and bottles and mixing containers as the paraphenalia of the arcane. Clearly only wizards could understand the vocabulary and methodology behind the mixing of those caffinated beverages the masses crave.

And I am not a wizard. I am merely a mundane temporarily transported into the magical world of the cafe.

Writing

Grrr. Arrgh.

Those words sum it up. Time has been at a premium because of work and other draws on my time. However, I had time to write if I wanted to use it. Instead I spent that time staring at the screen, mentally paralyzed by the fear that what I would write would suck or be so great someone might notice my writing. I need to get over myself and just write those stories that swirl around in my mind and heart. Stop worrying about how bad or good they will be until after they are down and complete on my digital paper.

Open Mic Night

I participated in my first Open Mic Night this week. I read five minutes of one of my short stories aloud in front of several of the local authors. I was scared and excited and very glad I did it. I have never read my stuff to anyone before. I have read aloud to myself before but in front of others things sound differently. New, more awkward, less awkward. Hearing the feedback from audience members afterwords was a bonus. I will definitely be participating in the next Open Mic Night.

Books

I read Spellbent by Lucy A. Snyder this week. While I enjoyed most the story and the characters, I found myself distracted by what I perceived as flaws or oversights in the book.

Early on, Jessie loses an eye and an arm. I thought the details about adjusting to the lack of an arm were done well. However the eye was a cosmetic injury with no affect on the character. I had to wear an eye patch in high school for 2 days and I know that it take a while to adjust to the change in vision and Jessie didn’t have to adjust. I found this oversight distracting.

The other problem I had was with the pacing. The first two-thirds of the book had a nice steady climb in tension but the last third became a frantic race to the end. A race that I had trouble keeping up with.

Macmillian vs Amazon

I read two articles today about this contretemps over e-book pricing, here and here. I am still enough of an outsider I don’t have enough information to form more than a gut opinion on the whole deal. Most importantly though I find this to be a herald of things to come. Upheavals and changes in the publishing world. Something to keep an eye on.

I, myself, am not a consumer of ebooks. Yet. I have tried various devices and feel to distanced from the words and uncomfortable with the medium. However, I do know that many others do not have this problem and ebooks will only get more popular as time goes along. This development is bound to have repercussions and growing pains.

How was your week?

        

So often I read or hear the advice, “act like a professional.” Act like a professional even before you sell that first story, even before I have any contact with the professional publishing world. Everytime I wait for the advice to be elaborated. How exactly does a professional writer act? I haven’t yet heard what this means among professionals.

Here I offer up what I think acting professional means:

• Dress with Style: From my observations of sci-fi/fantasy authors at signings and conventions, style of dress isn’t a set pattern.  Office folks dress in suits and ties and dress suits. Writers don’t dress all in the same fashion. They do all seem to have their own style though. One person may wear leather vests and cowboy hats, another long flowing dresses with scarves. This style they have adopted seems to be for official ‘appearances.’ Unofficially they may dress very differently.
• Research & Share: I don’t mean researching for those details that make stories real. I mean researching on the craft of writing. Most every author I have talked to or heard speak reads widely and often. They read from many genres, fiction and non-fiction. And they share the insights and knowledge with others freely.
• Follow Through on Commitments: Deadlines are met. Or if they can’t be met, plenty of notice is given so that the person expecting results can plan for the delay. Appointments are attended. Emails are sent. Writing time is shown up for. This one sounds the easiest but as a dyed in the wool procrastinator, I know this isn’t anywhere near easy but it is also the behavior that most distinguishes the amateurs from the pro’s.
• Public Mood is Always Positive: Aches and pains and woes in their personal lives aren’t shared with others. Criticism is listened to with patience and tolerance, at least outwardly. Response to criticism is done politely, sometimes with a touch of humor. Blogs, emails, and conversations with the public aren’t places to rant and complain but to educate and inform.

These are four behaviors that I have observed in the writers I have encountered. I try very hard to live up to these guidelines and act like a pro. Maybe one day I will be in a position to know the secret pro handshake and learn why certain things have to be kept secret, how to respond to fan emails, and how to communicate with agents and publishers about my work.

What do you think? How does one “act like a pro” in the writer world?

        

Writing Group

Met with the group this last week. Attendance was minimal but good discussion dominated. We decided that the open attendance policy encouraged by the store is actually stagnating the group and have decided that we would close up the group, limit membership to 6 to 8. In this way we can set requirements and goals engineered towards those in attendance. The change will come in a month or so, after we have a chance to talk to the semi-regulars and see who wants to make the change. I am excited for the change and hope that the group will start working for me again.

Writing

While I was zone maintenancing (cleaning and organizing the sections) at work today, my mind was free to wander. I found myself thinking about why I am having so much trouble putting words down on digital paper. I have quit all my online games and reduced several other distracting activities to allow more time for writing and yet, I am barely putting 10 words down in a day. I have come to the conclusion that a good deal of my problem is fear of success. Or rather a strange form of stage fright.

I relish normal stage fright. That butterflies in the stomach, palms sweating feeling one gets just before they go onstage or take the podium. I look forward to that feeling the same way folks look forward to the rush they feel on the roller coaster. I have started to receive some encouraging feedback on some of my stories. No acceptances yet but it seems to be closer to happening. And that is making me nervous that I may actually have to start delivering quality work on a more regular basis. It is my dream to succeed at writing but I am not use to dreams coming true. Something to work on and overcome.

Books

This wasn’t a big reading week. I finished up the last Harper Connelly book, Grave Secret by Charlaine Harris. I adored it. I think the series ended very well though the fact of it ending was bittersweet. I thoroughly enjoyed Harper and her world and am sad that I won’t be able to visit her again. At least in a new adventure. I’ll definitely be rereading this series in a year or two, if not sooner.

On TV

I caught up with my TV shows this week. New episodes of Castle, Heroes, Leverage, and Bones kept me entertained for hours on end. I adore the characters and their antics. And as always am very excited for more.

Tomorrow night, Life Unexpected premiers. The actress, Shiri Appleby, portrayed Liz in the TV show Roswell. I loved her character and the show so much I am really looking forward to watching her in a new show. My only complaint is that it is on at the same time as two other shows I enjoy. Guess that is what the DVR is for.

D&D

We have a new player in our D&D group and I have a new character. Both of us are gnomes. I am a bard named Magpie and he is a gnome barbarian/rogue. We are having a lot of fun in this game. My character’s personality is still developing and she (and I) have no idea how to react to the flirting from the half-orc monk. We will have to see how it goes.

How was your week?

        

Last week, I died.

Ok so I didn’t die, my D&D character died. Xyresh, the 4th level Factotum/2nd level Wizard, has gone to the great beyond. A lucky strike with a hefty weapon ended her adventuring career forever. Alas, alas, alas the day.

Xyresh’s companions very respectfully gathered up her body and returned her to a temple for burial. She was carefully laid in her coffin and then prayers were said over her. Then, she was stripped of every single item of value and buried.

This isn’t atypical of D&D games but I have actually managed to play for nearly 20 years with very few deaths. Maybe this made the callousness of it all stick with me more. I don’t know. What I do know is that while they were selling Xyresh’s favorite piece of equipment, I had a very vivid picture of the bow being placed in her hand as an infant. That picture then flashed forward to the bow in her hand in her grave. In between these two pictures a story lives.

Don’t get me wrong, I have ideas and snippets of ideas all the time, non-stop, every day. Rarely though do the ideas resonate through me to the degree that I literally jumped up and grabbed my computer so I could start jotting down notes.

The story isn’t about her exactly and it isn’t set in some D&D-esque world but the story has got me working on writing again. Instead of procrastination. And all because my DM husband rolled a nat-20.

What inspires you?

        

Looking back over the last week:

Haiti

The terrible earthquake in Haiti has been all over the news and the social networking sites. My heart and prayers go out to those enduring the tragedy and those rushing in to provide aid.

Books This Week

I have finally managed to get back in my reading groove. I had been feeling like I couldn’t read like I use to because I should be writing. Instead I have ended up feeling smothered and very unlike myself. This week I am back in my reading groove.

I read Grave Suprise and An Ice Cold Grave by Charlaine Harris this week. I gotta say that Harper Connelly and her ‘talent’ is so intriguing and fun. I am thoroughly enjoying the pace of these books and the who-done-it plots are surprising but not cheating solutions. I am still not sure how I feel about the relationship between Harper and Tolliver yet but I have already found myself recommending these books to others.

I read Belle by Cameron Dokey. It is a retelling of the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale, another of my favorites.  This tale had enough differences to make it fresh and engrossing. If you like fairytales, I highly suggest this one.

I also read Dying Bites by D. D. Barant. This combines a portal story (ie Narnia books) with an Urban Fantasy. In the world Jace, the protagonist, ends up in, humans are a very small minority and supernaturals dominate. I enjoyed this book enormously and can’t wait for the next one in the series.

Movies

Last night, my husband took me to see The Book of Eli. Wow. I loved it. It had action. Post apocalyptic setting. Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman. One of the big reveals at the end was awesome in that clues had been so well seeded throughout the movie that it was an “ah ha!” moment. My husband and I spent the whole drive home pointing out those clues to each other. There is every likelihood that we will be owning this film when it is released on DVD.

Writing

I am finally getting myself back in the writing groove after the chaos and vacuum that is the holiday season working retail. Stories are living in my head and pressuring me into putting them on paper. My habits are still rotten but I am working on them.

How did your week go?

        

I’ve been co-running the local writing group at Barnes & Noble for a year now and have learned a thing or two. Things that help when the time comes for 2 to 8 faces, with high expectations for themselves and for the group, turn towards me for where we will be heading tonight.

I have learned that being prepared with notes and possibly handouts is a must. Preparation in general is key. Some nights I am tired and a little frustrated with how things are going and I don’t prepare as well as I should. These nights usually turn into social hour. Not productive and it adds to my frustration.

Read and critique sessions are all very well but when you have an open attendance policy it leaves new people out in the cold. They haven’t had a chance to read the pieces that are up for discussion. It leaves them feeling left out and I hate that feeling and don’t want to inflict it on others. Writing prompts and discussion of different writing techniques, markets, and events are much more successful. Everyone can contribute and join in on the fun.

A note on read and critiques: If you do them be careful not to let any one person monopolize the speaking time. Then it becomes a lecture and that is a whole different kind of meeting.

Forums for the group are only handy when used. If traffic and posting on the site is sporadic at best, the tool gets rusty and no one wants to use it.

Come early to set up the space but not too early or you end up alone with passersby staring at you. Having the space ready for the members is nice as they can come in and set down their grande/venti mocha-whatever and start catching up on the news. This allows for gossip and the like to get out of the way before the serious business of writing discussion begins.

Be open to new events around town and share, share, share, with the members of your group. Open mic nights, writings conferences, lectures; all of these things could be of interest to one or more of the group. Sharing with them encourages them to share back. The group learns more and bonds more over these kinds of events.

In general the most important thing is to be willing to learn and change your mind as things go along. Open attendance combined with once or twice a month meetings that last for barely more than an hour means things can’t always go the way you want. Being flexible and ready to go with the flow, as long as that flow is towards better writing, is a good thing.

Note: I have also learned I ramble.

What have you learned about writing groups? Have you any suggestions for me?

        

This week started off with a lot of cleaning. And when I saw a lot, I mean A LOT. The store has a tradition every year following the holiday crowds, chaos, and general emptying of the shelf of all books that anyone could possibly want. This tradition is affectionately known as “snap-back.” Snap-back is not unlike spring cleaning. It is the time when the store needs to go from dingy and disheveled to shiny and sparkling. The amount of dust bunnies I made friends with this week were so many I lost track of some of their names and developed a close friendship with others. (Fifi, George: Remember we have lunch scheduled next week)

Tuesday is storytime day and I had a lot of my little friends show up to hear me read. It is my favorite part of working. Those shining faces waiting anxiously for me to start the stories and more importantly to finish them so they can have their cookie. Never underestimate the importance of cookies.

Also learned of a writer’s workshop at our local con that I hope very much to participate in. I am working furiously on birthing the character who I hope will carry me through the story I want to submit.

Writer’s group this week had very small turnout but a lot of ideas and momentum were generated. I hope we can keep that energy going throughout this year.

I also had a good laugh when I discovered the 5 Star Wars Facebook updates via a blog I read regularly.

I read two books in the Once Upon a Time series for kids, the retellings of the Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty fairy tales by Cameron Dokey. I love fairytales and have toyed with the idea of going for a degree in Folklore but money and location become a problem. Instead I settle for reading a lot of versions of the fairytales. I also read Tempted by PC and Kristen Cast and was slightly disappointed. This book felt very predictable and more as if it were a transition book than a fully realized plot of its own. It felt like it was bridging what had gone before with what will come after.

I had a birthday party for my older son who will be 9 this week, a birthday party/baby shower for a very close friend who is expecting in a couple weeks. She almost didn’t show up for her party but we had a load of fun when she finally did.

Today we went and saw Leap Year together and I was right. I loved it. A wonderful romantic comedy with the funny and sweet spots all in the right place. Though I felt the symptoms of not writing enough keenly as I found myself analyzing the formula of a romantic comedy during it. As each scene started I was thinking “This is one of those kinds of scenes that reveals this kind of information to the audience or to the protagonists.” Ah well. I enjoyed it and that is all that matters. Right?

How was your week? Did you have a good one or do you just want to forget it and move on to the next?

        

Here is a list of movies that will be released this month that I am looking forward to seeing.

Leap Year on January 8th: With Amy Adams and Matthew Goode, this is a sweet romance with all the mystery of Ireland and Leap Year thrown in. I’ve been a fan of Amy Adams for a while and I am looking forward to seeing her chase after her boyfriend and find love in this movie. The plot reminds me a bit of  French Kiss and I adore that film.

The Book of Eli on January 15th: With Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman, how can this not be a good movie? Besides it is a post-apocalyptic tale and so it appeals to the geek in me (and my husband who adores that genre). It appears to have several good action sequences which I am a sucker for. I am also dying to find out what is so special about the book. Is it the only bible to have survived the apocalypse or is there something different about it?

The Spy Next Door on January 15th: It’s a Jackie Chan comedy. What else needs to be said?

Extraordinary Measures on January 22nd: With Harrison Ford and Brendan Frasier, this movie looks like it is guaranteed to provoke a tear or two. It also looks like it could be a feel good type movie which I like on occasion. Couple that with Harrison Ford AKA Han Solo & Indiana Jones, and Brendan Frasier AKA Rick O’Connell, and I’ll love it.

Legion on January 22nd: With Paul Bettany and Dennis Quaid and thrills and special effects, this movie is again for geeks. As of this posting it isn’t yet rated but from the trailer I would say it will probably be R. The violence hinted at in the trailer has be wincing a little but everything else about this movie looks neat. If my husband comes and holds my hand, I’ll be watching it. Watching it between the times I am hiding my face against his shoulder.

When in Rome on January 29th: With Kristen Bell and a touch of magic, this romantic comedy hits all the things I love in a movie. Add in Danny DeVito and Angelica Huston and this movie looks like a fun romantic ride that will be just the thing before February and Valentines Day.

How about you? What movies are you looking forward to in January? And why?