Screenwriting Class Next Week

Hi,

If you're interesting in an 8-week course on screenwriting, I'll be teaching one at Pierce College in Puyallup, starting Monday, September 20.  We'll go through the basics of writing and rewriting a feature script, as well as marketing your script after it's complete.

If you're interested, you can sign up online at their website. And if you have any question about the class, just contact me at diane@spilledinkstudio.com.

I really enjoy this class. We spend a lot of time not just writing, but looking at movies and see how screenwriters create those fabulous scenes.

Hope you can make it.

Diane

Five Ways to Keep Your Butt in the Chair

I'm reading a book called The Happiness Project. (Great book by the way if you're looking at examining the level of happiness in your life and adding more.)

Anyway, the author, Gretchen Rubin is a writer by trade and talks a bit about writing in the book. One of the things she mentions is that most writers don't like to write. They may like the research, or editing, finishing project, putting ideas together, etc. but the actual act of writing can be a chore.

What a relief! I thought I was weird. I hear people say, "I LOVE writing," and I'm thinking, "Seriously? You have no problem keeping your butt in the chair?"

Writing is About More than the Keyboard

Writing is about more than sitting at your laptop and banging out words. I write a lot of articles, and besides writing, you research, interview, type up notes, gather photos, check facts, edit, as well and spend time trying to play well with others (editors, proofers, publishers).

Of all the pieces, writing is by far the hardest for me. In fact, despite what anyone says, it can be down right grueling at times. The final product no matter how fabulous, is never as cool as I imaged it would be. And although it's gratifying to have the completed article and a paycheck (and I truly enjoy being a writer, don't get me wrong) I thank god for deadlines, or I'd probably never finish a piece.

Your Own Stories

It's even harder though to keep my butt in the chair when it's a script or story. There are no deadlines to push me forward, just passion for my story.

I can have piles of notes, all kinds of cool scenes I've been working for weeks, or even months, and when I sit down to write them up, suddenly a run to the store for groceries or weeding will take precedence.

The hard truth is that writing takes discipline. And sometimes that discipline is hard to come by. So what can you do?

5 Ways to Keep you Butt in the Chair

So here are a few techniques I use. If you have some, please feel free to let us know.

• Join a writers group that requires you bring pages to each group session.

• Hire a writing coach

• Go somewhere fun to write — like a coffee shop, or your favorite sofa

• Treat yourself when you're done

• Make it a habit. Even if it's just 5 minutes, challenge yourself to sit down at 7 a.m. and write. After a few weeks it will feel weird if you're not writing at that time.

These are few that have worked (at times) for me. Mostly though, you've just got to bite the bullet and as Nike says, "just do it". You'll be happy you did though. I've never once regretted I spent time writing, and I'm guessing neither have you.

Happy writing!

di

Getting Back to Writing

I'm back, after a wild week. Didn't get much writing done, but did manage to experience a lot of stuff to write about — like finishing a house without my husband and I killing each other. In fact, there's probably a whole book in there somewhere.

Bad Water

The biggest event though happened in the bathroom. I finally got a few minutes to run a long-awaited bath. It's where I do all my first drafts and I had some serious writing to catch up on. I put in some bubble bath, started the water, and came back a few minutes later with my pad of paper and pen to get down to business.

When I walked into the bathroom I was assaulted by the smell of rotten eggs and a bathtub full of brown water. We'd smelled the sulphur in the water before, but nothing like this.

I'd like say that I immediately emptied the tub, but I wanted that bath so bad I just threw more bubble bath to cover the brown water and cover some of the stink, and jumped in.

Good Water

The next day I made a call to the water guys, who immediately came out a did a test. They told us what I'd already assumed from my bath — we had EXTREMELY hard water. The levels were off the charts. I was told we could keep the water the way it was, but my hair would eventually turn orange, among other things.

This morning we had a $4,700 filtration system put in. I wonder what the IRS would say if I took it off as a writing expense?

Oh well, the good news, I'm looking forward to my bath tonight and writing without holding my nose.

One Writer Gets a SIGN

Maybe we writers are an insecure lot — or maybe it's just me — but as I write, I'm wondering if this manuscript is even worth the time. I like the story, but will thousands of others like it too?

Maybe my time would be better spent learning to knit or working at a food bank.

Looking for the SIGN

I'm continually looking for that SIGN — the SIGN from the universe that I'm on the right track. Let me put this another way, I'm not looking for signs, I'm desperately searching for signs. I'm so desperate, I'll make them out of thin air if I have to.

Here are few of my recent SIGNS:

• My computer was open to my story when I sat down (of course, I was working on it when I left, so chances of this sign were pretty good).

• I'll be working on a working on a story and talk to someone who has the same name as one of my characters (I helps that I always have a character named Mike.)

• My favorite song comes on while I'm writing. (Helps to have LOTS of favorite songs.)

• At least one line comes easily that day.

• Lucky pennies. (Of course, I leave them so I can find them again and again.)

The Real SIGN

I realize that I fabricate most of my signs. But what can I do, I'm a SIGN junky.

That's why today is a big day. I had one — a SIGN! Not one I made up, but an honest-to-god SIGN. I was writing a scene in the story where a woman talks to a little spider and the spider leads her to a chamber. As I'm writing this, the tiniest spider you've ever seen slides down on his web and lands on my computer.

Is that a sign or what?!!

I picked him up and set him out of harms way, then wrote like crazy. This next manuscript is going to be great, I can feel it now.

Also, I might leave the window open (accidently, of course) to let a few more spiders in.

di

The Create a Character Challenge

Just got back from a conference in Oregon. It wasn't writing related, but fun.

I found myself jotting down different characters or pieces of characters I could use for stories. Like . . .

• the cute Canadian guy from Quebec, who had a German wife. What language they spoke I wasn't sure, but he enjoyed fishing for Pike and and hockey.

• There was the guy who had completed a industry documentary, but he was also a former baseball player and was pitching reality TV ideas in LA. He was also a big fan of romantic comedies.

• There was the professional chainsaw carver that looked like a young surfer, with his sun glasses fluid movements. He'd actually trained as a carver and was doing spectacular carvings, like sea turtles swimming in coral.

Character Journal

I've always jotted these types of things down in my journal, but now I'm thinking of starting just a "character" journal. I'm challenging myself to a character a day for a year. Not a lot of work, just quick, minor character sketches, some cool details, or whatever makes sense.

The Challenge

Want to take it with me? I know, you're saying, "But I won't meet 365 this year."

Don't worry. On those days you don't have a new person, you can use a past friend or relative. That's just a good, because I think we forget how colorful some of our friends are.

Are you with me? Hope so. And also hoping you'll share some of the extra special characters you come across.

Happy writing!

Plumbers are Keeping Me from Writing

We're are finishing up a new house and the last piece is the plumbing. Most of the sinks have been installed, toilets, and even the dishwasher. But what hasn't been installed is my BATHTUB!

I do most of my creative writing (well, the first draft) in the bathtub. For three weeks I've been walking past the beautiful bathtub, still wrapped in plastic, cursing the plumbers — who by the way are now missing in action.

Hijacking a Bathtub

Without access to my tub and Mr. Bubble, I'm going through a type of withdrawal. Last week I put together an emergency writing bag — towel, soap, bubble bath, pen and paper — and headed off to my mom and dad's. As soon as I hit the soapy water, I was writing like crazy, trying to catch up.

I'm sure our plumbers have no idea they are standing in the way of some great fiction. Maybe if I called and said, "Get over here! It's bad enough our washer machine and sinks aren't installed yet, but the bathtub is high priority. I've got script I want to get a producer."

At the very least, I might get their attention.

di

Small Things Make for Big Stories

I was listening yesterday to an interview with Louis and Mary Leakey's granddaughter, Louise. She talked about how one goes about discovering fossils in Africa. It's pretty simple — you walk very slowly and look at the ground.

She also said that it's hard for those of us who look at computer screens to transition to fossil finding. In fact, it takes quite a while to learn how to look for little things in the dirt.

We used to have the skills when we were small. Little kids are fascinated with things in the dirt — partly because they are close to the ground and it's all right there. But we lose the fascination and the skills as we get older, taller, and purchase computers.

Don't miss the cool stuff

This got me to thinking. How many cool things am I missing as I walk past them? Probably quite a few. So, this February I'm going to try to get my "dirt looking" skills back. I'm going to notice things that are at my feet — kneeling down and checking the dirt out when I think of it and putting the iPhone away when I don't really need it.

Why? Because it's small details that make up great stories and there is a lot going on at foot level — flaking paint on a porch step, the crunch of the crushed rock under your feet, leaves decaying on a sidewalk and leaving a perfect imprint, or the rocks that work their way up to the surface on muddy days.

But besides adding more texture and color to my stories, I think noticing them will add more texture and color to my life.

Thank you Louise Leakey!

Input versus Output

There are days when you write (output) and there are days when you're experiencing life (input). Today was an input day — and I have the chemical burns on my arms to prove it.

My job today was to clean out the garage. I hadn't expected it to be a dangerous assignment.

Cat Litter

First off, I had to deal with at least a dozen half empty cans of paint. You can't take them to the dump unless the paint's dry, which was a problem because tomorrow is dump day. I read on the internet that you can quickly dry paint by adding cat litter. It worked. Only five bags later and two hours of sniffing cat litter dust, the paint is hard as a rock.

Don't Burn Laminate Floors

Next, I learned that although laminate flooring burns, it could be toxic. I apologize for my carbon footprint today. I had no idea how much plastic went into a few planks of that stuff. I tossed them on a bon fire, the wind changed and I sucked up more toxic gas than I would have liked.

Mouse Dust

Last, I moved boxes out of the garage. It turns out our garage is one large mouse colony. Every box I moved sent a plume of dirty mouse dust into the air. The plumes stunk (worse than burning laminate) and I breathed in things I'm sure would keep me up it night if I knew what they were.

Input

I'd like to think this was a productive writing day because I have all these new experiences, but I'm hard pressed at the moment to think of a story where I need a character that through her own stupidity inhales disgusting, possibly toxic, substances all day.

Maybe the next input day will be better . . . and my chemical burns will heal.

Truth is too Strange for Fiction

I love talking to my mom because she's always sharing local stories that start out with something like, "Did you hear about Bob? He was crushed by his tractor." or "You should be keeping those plastic bread bag clips. A teacher in Eatonville is trying to collect 1 million."

Local Flare

Last night's story was a keeper. Mom started out with, "Did you hear about June? She ran over her own foot?"

I shook my head. June's a short woman in her late 60s who recently had a heart surgery and shouldn't be running over pieces of herself. She may be of tough farm stock, but people are only so tough.

Mom said, "June got out of the car to get the mail and left the car out of gear. It started to roll and June went after it." It turns out that in retrieving it, the car managed to run OVER June and she was stuck underneath with the car resting on her ankle.

I asked how June fit under the car — she's not exactly svelte.

Mom shrugged and went on, "It was dark, and the car was in the middle of the road. Luckily, someone stopped to check it out and noticed June's hand sticking out from under the car, trying to get his attention." Mom demonstrated.

Mom went on to explain that had to explain to the young man how to drive the car off her — I assume in a manner that would cause her the least amount of injury.

Remarkably, mom said, June had no broken bones, but her ego's a little damaged.

Collecting stories

I've started collecting these stories because they're both strange and entertaining . . . and I LOVE them. Unfortunately, I can't use them "as is". Truth is stranger than fiction, and that's why readers won't believe your "true story" if you use it straight up in your fiction.

One of my first scripts included a bunch of weird stuff from my home town. The consensus from several agents was "The story's great, but none of those things could really have happened. Could you make it more believable?"

June's story

Now I collect my strange, local stories and piece them out as needed. For example, I already have a use for a hand coming out from under the car, summoning help.

Too bad truth is TOO strange for fiction, because June's is a great little story!

One Way to Come up with Descriptions

Yesterday was one of those creative days — or someone had slipped me something.

Everything looked like something else. I drove past a river and was sure I saw a grizzly bear dipping his toe in the water. It turned out to be an enormous stump, burnt orange from decay, that had no doubt been there for decades.

Up the road I thought I spotted two, 20-foot crocodiles coming down from the top of a tree. I knew it couldn't be true and didn't even stop to figure it out.

What Does it Look Like?

Now that I write this, I know why I'm seeing odd associations. I'm reading a book of short stories by Annie Proulx — one of the best writers out there in my humble opinion — and she always wow's me with her descriptions. Just the dozens of ways she described clouds in this last book has left me breathless.

It reminded me of an exercise a writing instructor gave us in college. He told us that we should constantly be looking at things and coming of associations and descriptions. For example, a branch might look like arthritic fingers or the outstretched arm of a mother to a child. He told us to do this exercise forever. He said it would be hard at first, but would get easier.

It was hard! I practice it once in a while when I'm driving. But as I've been reading these Annie Proulx stories, I've desperately wanted to get back at it and writer better descriptions.

Hallucinations

So I've been practicing, and I think my subconscious (or muse) is also in on the exercise. Even when I think I've stopped trying to come up with descriptions and have turned to something mundane like taxes, the muse is still at it — spotting grizzly bears and crocodiles.

Last night I about jumped out of my skin when I thought I spotted two eyes — 3 feet apart —staring out of the shadows of a fir tree. I didn't check it out, I just locked the door and told my muse to start making some less scary associations.

J.P. Patches — You're My Hero

Today is my birthday and also the anniversary of one of my coolest writing memories.

If you grew up in the Northwest in the 60s and 70s, you probably remember J.P. Patches. In the late 60s, I was a dedicated viewer and of his TV show and an official Patches Pal.

J.P. had this thing called an ICU2 (I See You Too) TV set and he would look into it and tell kids on their birthdays where they could find presents.

On my 7th birthday J.P. looked into his I See You Too TV set and told me, Diane Mettler, to go look under my bed. I screamed upstairs and there was a present, just like he said. It was my first diary — green plastic vinyl with a little gold lock, which was extremely easy to pick. Good thing, because I lost the key immediately.

I wrote in that diary the first day I got it and I've been writing diligently in journals for four decades.

It was a big day for me. J.P., wherever you are, thank you!! And mom (who I'm sure had a hand in it too) I'll give you a big hug later.

Have a wonderful day today!

How to Carve out Writing Moments During the Holidays

Is the holiday season crazy busy or what?

I just checked my calendar and I have three days between now and Christmas day that don't include a social event — and that doesn't take into account time needed to buy presents, mail christmas cards, decorate . . . watch Christmas movies. When is a person supposed to find time to write?

It's tempting to say, "I'll get back to it in January." Just like it's tempting to eat those extra Christmas cookies. But we have to be strong. And creative. If we don't have the time, we have to make it.

Here are a few of my tricks for carving out time. If you have any others, please share.

1. Get there early. I try to show up at lunches or dinners at least a half hour early. I use that time to peacefully sit at the table with a cup of coffee working on my manuscript. Yesterday it worked out GREAT! I got there early, and the person I was meeting was late, and I had over an hour to write.

2. Make a writing date. Find another writer and set up writing dates during the season. This can be as simple as meeting at the library with laptops. However, it's important to get these on the calendar as soon as possible.

3. Waiting in line. I spent 20 minutes waiting in line at the post office yesterday. Thankfully, I had my notebook with me so I could work on my story. It also made the wait less boring.

4. Plan writing into shopping. Take your writing with you to the mall. After you've been shopping for a couple hours, head to a coffee shop and take a break and write for an hour before going back at it. You'll give your feet a break, and you'll get some words on the page as well as gifts in your bags.

5. Get up a little earlier. If you're not too sleep deprived already, you might want to set your alarm clock for a hour earlier during the holiday season. Write when you're fresh and before you're wiped out by all the activities.

Hopefully these are a little help during the season. Keep writing!

ho, ho, ho

di

Movies versus Novels

I just saw a rough cut of my movie, Growing the Big One. I still call it "my movie", but at this point, there's not a lot of "me" left.

I may have come up with the story, written the script, and written rewrites of the script, but the final product is far from mine. Lots of people have been involved — actors, directors, producers, and even other writers.

It's a lot different story than I imagined at the start. I might not like all the changes, but it's also a lot more "produced" than it was on my laptop.

I'd always heard that if you want more control, then write novels. It's true. But you say, "I really like to write movies and see my story on a screen." I can't argue that.

Sometimes it's hard to decide. Here's my short Movie Versus Novel list for what it's worth.

	Movie	Novel
Control of story	Maybe some if you direct & product	Quite a bit from start to finish
Money	Better than a book	Not a lot of rich novelists
Ownership	They own it	You own it
Union	WGA	You’re on your own
Respect	Not much – you’re at the bottom of the Hollywood food chain	Quite a bit
Viewing	3D & in living color – very cool	Read it
Breaking In	DAMN HARD	DAMN HARD

It's hardly an exhaustive list, but it covers some of the highlights. If you think I've missed some important ones, please share. Writing is hard work, and it's just a bit easier if you pick the right medium.

Have a great Thanksgiving!

Add Tension to Your Scenes

Another day, another embarrassing moment.

I had an interview yesterday, which I was extremely excited about. I'd prepped like crazy — everything from pulling work samples together for a week to flossing twice on the drive in.

When I got home, I was feeling exhausted but pleasantly positive about the experience — that's until my husband pointed out I had my shirt on inside out.

Multitasking Scenes

Since I can't go back to the interview with my shirt on right side out, I've tried to see what I can salvage from the experience.

If I look at it as a scene versus another embarrassing experience, I did learn something about adding tension.

Ideally scenes should have more than one thing going on at a time, and they should leave the audience wanting more.

In the Diane Interview scene, there was multiple layers:

Layer #1

• Character stresses and preps for the interview

• Character interviews with potential bosses

• Character feels confident as interview concludes

Layer #2

• The audience sees the shirt inside out

• The people conducting the interview see tag on the shirt

We leave the scene not only wondering if the character will get the job (the primary reason for the scene), but by adding tension (the inside out shirt), we:

• learn more about the character and her dress habits

• wonder if she will ever notice if her shirt's inside out

• wonder what the reaction will be if she does notice, and

• wonder if this is going to forfeit her the job

Good Interview

So, I guess it was a good interview in that I learned how to beef up my scenes.

But I also learned that I'm going to have SOME LOOK ME OVER before the next interview.

di

Turn Embarrassing Moments into Comedy

It would be nice if I could avoid embarrassing moments, but that's not happening any time soon. It's like I have a guardian angel with a sick sense of humor following me around.

Over the years, I've learned to just grin and bear the moments, but then jot them down later to use in stories later when I need a little comedy.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) I've chalked up quite a few recently:

• Halloween: Each year we throw a Halloween party for friends and family. This year, after everyone gone home and I was changing out of my costume, I realized that the back side of my "dead english maid" costume had ripped out. It appears I'd been mooning everyone all evening. To make matters worse, I'd been wearing my floral print, granny panties.

No one had said a word, which made me wonder, did they think it was all part of the costume? Were they telling their friends the next day, "Diane's costume was pretty weird. She was an Inappropriate Dead English Maid with Hideous Underwear. Yeah, it was as gross as it sounds."

• Restaurant. Two days later, on our way to lunch, the butt of my old jeans ripped out. (Obviously, I need to call Jenny Craig.) What was I wearing underneath? Those same, stupid floral print granny panties.

I spent the next couple hours finding a dozen ways to keep my butt covered, like running from the car to the restaurant holding the back of my pants together. That night, I threw away the granny panties.

• Food. Not long after, I was carrying pizza out the car and tripped. I dropped the pizza and while spinning my arms to keep my balance, managed to also step in the pizza. On the bright side, I did this with my butt entirely covered.

Lesson Learned

It would be nice to avoided these situations, but they happen. Luckily, we're writers. Most people are just embarrassed when things like this happen. We get to use them!

Signed

Red Faced in Enumclaw

Great Scenes by Calvin and Hobbes

My Dad gave me his collection of Calvin & Hobbes comics to reread.

This time around I wasn't just laughing, I was inspired. Every strip — about four or five frames — is a unique scene with a beginning, middle and end. Most are tiny, stand alone mini-stories.

What's more amazing is that writer Bill Watterson came up with new, fresh ideas day after day after day. Holy smokes. I complain because I'm having a problem coming up with one good scene to bridge my second act to my third. Heck, Bill would have written 40 fabulous scenes in the time it's taken me to come up with one.

7 Comic Book Tips

I learned a lot about scenes last night, like:

1. Scenes don't have to be long — in fact they must be as tight as possible

2. You can convey volumes with one expression

3. You must have a beginning middle and end

4. Great scenes are character driven

5. Make them fresh and catch your reader quickly

6. Get in as late as you can, and leave as early as possible

7. Leave them wanting more

You've probably already seen these snowman strips, but I'm printing them out and posting them on my bulletin board — a remind of how great scenes should be written.

di

Are You Compelled to Write?

In the last several months I've heard no less than 4 agents, 3 publishers, 1 manager and 5 producers say that they are looking for for writers who are "compelled to write".

What they mean by this — I think — is that they're looking for writers who are more driven by the act of writing than they are by the desire for a big check. They're looking for the writer who (I quote), "just keeps churning it out."

The manager even said, "I don't want to represent the writer who just writes one script a year."

Compelled or Crazy?

The phrase "compelled to write" bothers me partly because it makes me think of some wild-eyed, crazy person with their desk overflowing with manuscripts . . . and also because I'm not compelled to write.

The writing process is hard. There are about a million things I find more enjoyable than sitting in front of my laptop trying to fix a scene or figure out why my subplot isn't working. It's mental boot camp! Half the time I'm wondering, "Why am I doing this again?"

What I DO like is getting a response from readers.

Storyteller

What drives you to write? I'm curious, and would love to hear.

I'm not compelled to write, but compelled to tell stories. No, let me change that. I'm compelled to have my stories HEARD — to bring something to the reader that matters. Maybe that's what the industry folks are talking about too, but that's not quite the vibe I get.

Stories are a conversation. If no one reads my story, it's like talking on the phone with no one on the other end. Or telling joke without someone there to laugh. It seems pointless.

I don't need the big check, but I do need a minimal audience. Heck, one person will do.

Gentle Reader

Stephen King, one of the most prolific (dare I say compelled) writers out there, talks about the gentle reader and taking them by the hand through the story. That's a great image and one that helps when the writing gets tough.

But I have to wonder if Stephen King would have been such a prolific writer if no audience had shown up. Would he have stopped talking to a non-existent crowd or would all those novels be filling up his closets?

Your thoughts?

Crazy writer?

Sorry for rambling. I guess I just heard "compelled to write" one to many times and snapped.

Keep writing. I know your readers are waiting.

di

Give the Monkey a Banana

Last Friday, producer Tracey Becker, spoke to the NWSG (Northwest Screenwriters Guild) members. (She was one of the producers of Finding Neverland, staring Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet.)

Tracey had a lot of great stories about her experiences as an actor and producer. One piece of brilliant advice stood out for me — "Give the Banana to the Monkey".

Simple but True

The advice is simple, give the audience/producers/industry what they want. Don't try to sell them stories they don't want or can't sell.

If they are looking for character driven, high concept stories, give them those. Don't try to sell them your story about three women in a restaurant talking their divorces — it doesn't matter how dripped in drama those divorces are.

Value Proposition

I'd heard this advice before, but it was in a corporate environment. They called it the Value Proposition.

When I was writing for the Weyerhaeuser Company a few years back, the leaders hit upon this novel idea — instead of inventing products and then trying to convince customers they needed them, why didn't they ask the customers what they needed and create those products.

I wrote countless articles on the topic, trying to convince people this was the way to go. The articles were filled with phrases like "the sum total of the benefits the customers will receive as a result of the relationship".

I should have just written . . . GIVE THE MONKEY THE BANANA!

But MY Story is Great

You might have that amazing story that isn't high concept/genre based/[you fill in the industry need], but one you know they will LOVE if they just read it.

You can try to sell it. It'll be tough though — maybe impossible.

Tracey's advice, see if you came make that amazing story look like a "banana". Could the divorce drama told in a restaurant be retold as a thriller? A romantic comedy?

There are tens of thousands of books and scripts being written each year. The competition is fierce. We would do ourselves well to get the bananas to the monkeys.

Love What You Do

A couple weeks ago, I spoke to a Gig Harbor high school film class about screenwriting — the ups and downs I'd experienced.

The Downs

As I went along, I realized there were a lot of downs.

• As a writer, lots of people will reject your work — quick possibly for YEARS

• You'll be rewriting countless hours, with no assurances of a sale.

• When someone does buy your script, you will loose creative control.

I left thinking, "I hope I didn't tell them too many downs. I hope I didn't turn anyone against writing. I hope they saw there's a lot of good stuff too."

The Good Stuff

Writing's a personalized journey and the good stuff for one writer is completely different for another. My good stuff? Where do I start?

Working to become a screenwriter has lead to:

• a freelance career

• meeting my husband

• traveling around the world

• wonderful friends and experiences

• and eventually a movie and some money

Class Response

I got the thank you card from the class yesterday. I was hesitant to open it, expecting something like, "Thanks for nothing!!!"

Instead I read, "You truly reminded me that you should absolutely love what you do. Thank you so much!"

It made my day. Despite the downs, I realized I really DO love what I do. How cool is that?

Everything comes with ups and downs. I guess the trick it choose the thing you're passionate about — it'll make the roller coaster ride worth while.

When You World Gets Wild . . . Take Notes

In the last 72 hours I have:

• had our house broken into

• attended a funeral

• had two offers on our house

• thrown a Halloween party

• judged a writing contest

Sometimes life throws a lot of stuff your way — stuff that takes a lot of emotional energy. It's hard to sit down and write when things feel like they're moving so fast you can't keep up.

Take Notes

I've listened to countless writers tell me, "I can't write right now because of all the things going on in my life." Not true.

OK, maybe it's hard to stay focused on a story when your overwhelmed, but you can still take notes. In fact, this is the best time, because these moments — loaded with emotion and drama — will make great scenes. (Not to mention, jotting them down will help you vent a little.)

Here are just a few of many I gathered over the last 72 hours:

Note #1 - Sheriff's interviews can be calming in a crisis.

Note #2 - Sheriff's are people too. Ours forgot to write down the items stolen, then had to get the info again back at his truck.

Note #2 - Criminals aren't all smart. In fact, some of disturbingly stupid.

Note #3 - Eulogies impart not only information unknown to the audience about the deceased, but impart a great deal about the person giving the eulogy too.

Note #4 - It's humbling to find out your costume ripped out in the back and you've unknowingly mooned your friends all night.

Note #5 - My husband and I can have a romantic moment picking out battery-activated alarm systems at Home Depot after a stressful day.

These were a few of many moments I wanted to remember. I added a few more details. In fact, a lot of my notes are the simple details within the scenes — the boarded door of our new house, the trays of spaghetti at the funeral, the crestfallen faces of the home buyers when we said we'd already gotten another offer.

Bringing Your Life to Your Writing

I say capture it, use it. You may not be able to write your story now, but you will soon. And this is the stuff stories are made of.