THE WAY OF THE WRITER: Some Under 140 Character Thoughts on Writing

Here's a collection of some of my Tweets on writing. I'm @whisperingloon on Twitter, and I usually tweet about writing, comics, and movies. You know, geek stuff.

As a creator, don't ignore negative criticism. Ignore negative critics. There's a BIG difference.

I've found as a comic book writer, I learn MORE from actually drawing my simplistic little comics. 24 Hour Comic Day was a GREAT boon to me.

Drawing, however awfully, pushes me to think like an artist. So when I script for an artist, I've walked a few miles in their shoes.

Ugh. Not a good sign when the WRITER is bored by the story ... time to take a step back and start over, methinks.

Best tool for great comics: EDITORS

Dragons! Big 'splosions! Swords! Mechanical armor! I love my job! Some days more than others. This is one of those days more than others! :)

In the days of ink and scroll the only hard drive crash you had to worry about was a club to the head or insanity. So I guess I have it good

Worst part about freelancing: Being told outright you don't get the job A. b/c you're not good enough or B. b/c you're not important enough. <-- That tweet followed by this one --> I should have a thicker skin by now, but I still don't. <-- which was followed by this one --> There's got to be some sort of cream that can do it. Probably prescription only, tho. :)

These were all posted on the same day:

#ComicWriting To writers: If you give a character dialogue in a panel make sure to actually mention that character in the panel description. <-- That tweet followed by this one --> #ComicWriting To artists: writers are sometimes forgetful, so remember to look at the dialogue to see if you need to draw someone in a panel

#ComicWriting EVERY page should end in a "mini-cliffhanger" to take readers to the next page.

#ComicWriting The page doesn't have to end with someone's life in danger. Just give the reader a reason to want to know what's next.

#ComicWriting Your page could end with a question in dialogue. An unexpected event. Something to push the reader to keep reading.

#ComicWriting Think of the end of each page (esp. odd numbered) like the commercial break of a TV show. Make readers curious what's next.

And these were also all posted on the same day (it's about writing for comics, but there's a lot that can be applied to prose and film):

some people say a comic is like a movie mixed with a novel. It's not.

#ComicWriting a comic book is like a movie mixed w/ poetry. Make every word count. Each line should push your plot forward.

#ComicWriting each action and line of dialogue should reveal something about your characters.

#ComicWriting long conversations are easy/lazy. Edit yourself. Push yourself to reveal the same thing in fewer words.

#ComicWriting & make sure something visual is going on. Movement, setting, or action. Point OR counterpoint to the dialogue.

#ComicWriting Long dialogue? Short? There is no right or wrong. What's best for the story? Strive for that.

#ComicWriting You may love a bit of dialogue, but let it go to serve story/characters/pacing. That's what readers care about.

#ComicWriting Edit yourself. Push yourself. Have someone else edit you (very important!). Ask & answer hard questions. Repeat.

Back to solo tweets:

Overweight. Scruffy. Wearing a black t-shirt ... w/ a comic book character on it. I'm not doing the comic book writer stereotype any favors.

And from my alter-ego, Professor Negatron:

#HowToMakeComics #FromAspiringWriter Tip #1: The bigger the explosions, the less character development you actually need.

#HowToMakeComics #FromAspiringWriter Tip #2: Snappy, semi-witty dialogue is easier than character driven dialogue, so use it often. Or only!

~ Ben 

    

THE WAY OF THE WRITER: Best Tool for Great Writing

I'm in my minvan, waiting for a red light, my eyes are wandering as I listen to an old time radio drama and I see the tailgate of a small pick-up truck. It belongs to some sort of service company, plumbing or something. I don't know. I don't remember who it was, all I remember is seeing the slogan on the back of the truck:

"YOUR FOLLOWING QUALITY SERVICE"

And all I can think is, "MY following quality service? What do they know about MY following quality service?" And then I chuckle to myself about my grammatical joking at their expense.

And then I stop chuckling to myself because not only do I have no one to share the joke with, not only would most people not really get the joke without me taking the time to explain it . . . it's not a very funny joke.

But it does highlight an important issue I've been thinking about a lot. The company spent money to put their message on the truck, and in doing so they spent money to put an incorrect message on the truck. They were missing the apostrophe and the "e" to make "you're" instead of "your". Because the message they wanted to get across was that "you ARE following".

Simple mistake. Common mistake. Easily avoidable mistake.

The editor is the writer's best friend. (Good editors, I should say.) The editor takes what you've done and pushes you to make it better. The editor doesn't let a missing apostrophe make you look careless (at best) and uneducated (at worst).

In a world where anyone can publish anything at anytime . . . editors are needed now more than ever. And if you don't have one, because your project isn't big enough, find one.

~ Ben

Other "Way of the Writer" posts:

Why Write?

The Weight of the Writer
Holistic Writing
Intentionality, part 1
Nothing New Under the Sun
Intentionality, part 2
It's So Rewarding
Productivity

Inspiration?

Keep Your Head Up

Dig Deep, or Method Writing

Fear

Dramatic Storytelling

Formula for a Great Story

Just Write

What Can VW's Li'l Darth Vader Teach Us About Storytelling?

Comic Writers Should Be Comic Artists 

Twitter as Dialogue Coach

THE WAY OF THE WRITER: Twitter as Dialogue Coach

 

While this post relates mostly to writing for comics, it does have it's application to film and prose as well . . .

I have long held that the old maxim about comic books which says they are "part movie, part novel" is completely and utterly incorrect.

Something a little more accurate would probably be they are "part movie, part poem". In other words, to borrow from Conan O'Brien's "If They Mated":

 

 

So comics share the illusion of the passage of time and visual language with film; and they share the use of words to convey emotion, motivation, and added information with poetry . . . and together they tell a story in a way that is completely different than both, because comics are able to pull from both the visual and the textual.

But in a more concrete sense, comics share something else with poetry: the careful use of words. In a novel, words are chosen for impact, but there is more freedom because there are more words. In poetry, each word must be carefully selected to express the author's intentions in as concise and powerful a way as possible. This doesn't make one type of writing easier or more difficult than the other, it's just my observation in trying my hand at both.

Comics have a similar goal, but with an added limitation: actual page space. There is only so much room on a page, and every word takes away from that valuable real estate. I remember reading an interview with Neil Gaiman when I was first getting into the actual writing of comics in which he spoke of a single panel in a story that gave him, the artist, the letterer, and the editor trouble because the panel was beautiful, but the entire panel had stuff they didn't want to cover. So the question was what should they cover? What was the least important detail on the panel to cover.

For film writing, dialogue doesn't take up physical space, but time. Every added word adds split seconds, which add up to seconds, which add up to minutes . . . which adds to shooting time and the length of the film.

Enter Twitter. Every time I struggle to write a Tweet, so I can fit it into Twitter's 140 character limit, I find myself thinking about how similar this is to the struggles I have with my dialogue writing in both film and comics. 

There's one big difference: Twitter ALWAYS wins. It is 140 characters no matter what. With comics or screenplays, I sometimes can let myself get lazy. Fortunately, this is where having good feedback from writers I respect my my editors comes in. I cannot stress enough that the MOST VITAL part of the writing process is getting feedback from people whose opinion and feedback you can trust. It's often all too easy to spot writers who believe they're good enough editors of their own work. Yes, there are probably a lot of great writers out there who simply don't need editors. I'm not one of them. And neither are you. (Sorry for being so presumptuous, he said, writing a blog post without the use of an editor.) And even those writers who ARE great, well, usually, they recognize the importance of having a great editor who can make their great writing even greater. (See, an editor would have said, "You used the word 'great' four times." And I would have argued, "Well, I did it for symmetrical reasons or something." And the editor would have said, "Take out the first 'great', it's redundant." And I would have.)

So, Twitter can be a HUGE time waster. In fact, if I ever do Writer S. Blockhead again (a badly drawn comic about the hypocrisy of writer's block), the first one will be about Twitter. But, Twitter can also be a great exercise in word choice. 140 characters is a very comfortable character count for comic book dialogue. Can your dialogue fit into a Tweet? Why not? If there's not a compelling reason, consider revising it.

Or at least having an editor look at it.

~ Ben

Other "The Way of the Writer" articles:

Why Write?

The Weight of the Writer
Holistic Writing
Intentionality, part 1
Nothing New Under the Sun
Intentionality, part 2
It's So Rewarding
Productivity

Inspiration?

Keep Your Head Up

Dig Deep, or Method Writing

Fear

Dramatic Storytelling

Formula for a Great Story

Just Write

What Can VW's Li'l Darth Vader Teach Us About Storytelling?

Comic Writers Should Be Comic Artists

THE WAY OF THE WRITER: Just Write

If I were to start this little series of writings about writings again, I'd call it "Just Write". However, I have a feeling that's been taken. Come to think of it, "The Way of the Writer" is probably taken as well . . . but that's just my own little title to let you know that this blog post is about writing and the creative life.

On a message board I frequent (yes, those things DO still exist) one post turned toward a person who had a blank page because he wasn't sure about how to draw a panel. There are other factors involved, but it got me thinking about the blank pages and the blank screens and the false concept of writer's block.

Yes, I believe it's a false concept. I may be wrong. And tomorrow I may change my belief. But today, just walk with me down this path . . .

Writer's block, in some ways, is just an excuse. An excuse not to move forward because I don't have just the right idea. Just the perfect line. Just the ideal word. Just this, just that . . . when really I need to just write.

My biggest project right now is essentially taking what could be a research paper/essay and turning it into a graphic novel. Make it interesting. Make it visual (or why make it a graphic novel at all?). And it's been a struggle.

One particular sequence really gave me some trouble. The twenty or so page sequence I'm working on right now. For a long time I just sat and looked at it. Tried to figure it out. Puzzled over how to make it pop. Nothing. I wanted to make it just right . . .

In the end, I had to just write. (Ugh . . . just typing THAT makes me feel a little ill . . . but I think I'm leaving it in, cheesy as it may be.)

So I just dove in. Wrote the sequence with what was the best idea I could come up with to present the information. Did the whole thing . . . and then, a couple days ago, while working at Borders, ten minutes before I had to pack up and leave so I could get to something in time . . . another idea struck me.

This new idea was eight thousand times better. This new idea allowed for the information to be presented visually and with some quirkiness and fun.

This new idea meant that the entire sequence needed to be rewritten.

But it's going to be SOOOOOoooooo much better. (Eight thousand times better.) If I hadn't gone ahead with things, and just forced myself to write that draft, even though I knew it wasn't what I wanted it to be, I never would have came upon the idea I ended up with.

So was that earlier draft lost work? Wasted time? No. Unlike staring at a blank screen, unlike staring at blank paper . . . creatively, I was working and engaged in a way that just staring and struggling would never have achieved.

Just write. Just draw. Just play. In the creative arts, and maybe in other things as well, sometimes you have to do it wrong to figure out how to do it right.

~ Ben

PS -- That cheese earlier . . . makes me thing I'm gonna have a grilled cheese for lunch, See? Yet another bad idea leading to a great idea!

THE WAY OF THE WRITER: Formula for a Great Story

Thinking about yesterday's blog posting, and I came up with the following formula for a great story:

Character + Circumstances + Choice = Change

Repeat as necessary.

The above equation actually seems to work for both writing and, well, life.

What say you? Writing formulas usually are stifling . . . and there really are no rules. However, I this is something that I've been running my characters through when I write . . . although not in this form. It doesn't always work this way, but when I write I want my character's choices to push things forward. Random chance is okay, but only if it leads to a character choice that will push things forward again. And I think, ultimately, what makes a story satisfying is that when the main protagonist changes, and that change helps them triumph.

In other words, your character's choices should drive a plot, not the other way around. Which would be, you know, the plot driving the character's choices . . .

So, gentle readers, do you agree? Disagree? Have a better way to say it? (I thought about a more complicated equation, but I decided I wasn't smart enough to do some sort of "Character divided by circumstance times choice or whatever . . .)

~ Ben

Samurai art by Tim Baron, (c) 2009

THE WAY OF THE WRITER: Dramatic Storytelling

Something I was thinking about this morning when I woke up . . .

Dramatic storytelling comes from choices, not circumstances.

Why?

Ask yourself, which is more satisfying to watch or read: a movie with lots of cool action and events and special effects, or a movie where a character faces internal struggles while dealing with lots of cool action and events and special effects?

The best stories are about an interesting, relatable character learning about themselves and becoming a better person in the midst of, and sometimes because of, extraordinary circumstances. Or, sometimes, in inverse: choosing NOT to become a better person in spite of learning about themselves in the midst of extraordinary circumstances -- which isn't as satisfying, but still strikes an emotional resonance. But the best stories are about a character making choices and learning to make better choices, which will help them overcome those great odds to bring the story to its satisfying conclusion.

And I'm convinced we're attracted to these kind of stories because that's the way life works. I think because, at our core level, we know that life is not about random events. Rather, we know that life is about the choices we make. Life is about those times we choose good over evil . . . or evil over good . . . it's about those times we choose to reason and learn instead of being told what to think . . . it's about the times we choose to help someone rather than hurt them . . . it's about the times we choose to sacrifice. I believe that those are the things that we are attracted to in stories because those are the things that make life worth living.


~ Ben

Samurai art by Tim Baron, (c) 2009

THE WAY OF THE WRITER: Inspirational Quote

A little more from my favorite writer:

"Whenever you are fed up with life, start writing: ink is the great cure for all human ills, as I have found out long ago."

- C.S. Lewis, Letters of C.S. Lewis to Arthur Graves

Samurai art by Tim Baron, (c) 2009

THE WAY OF THE WRITER: Inspirational Quotes from C.S. Lewis

"It is impossible to write one's best if nobody else ever has a look at the result."

"What you want is practice, practice, practice. It doesn't matter what we write . . . so long as we write continually as well as we can. I feel that every time I write either of prose or of verse, with real effort, even if it's thrown into the fire the next minute, I am so much further on."

"I am sure that some are born to write as trees are born to bear leaves: for these, writing is a necessary mode of their own development. If the impulse to write survives the hope of success, then one is among these. if not, then the impulse was at best only pardonable vanity, and it will certainly disappear when the hope is withdrawn."

From The Letters of C.S. Lewis to Arthur Graves

Samurai art by Tim Baron, (c) 2009

THE WAY OF THE WRITER: Fear

"What's holding me back?"

It's a question I've been asking a lot recently. And I've realized part of the answer.

I've been facing some of that Ye Olde Writer's Block lately. It's not for lack of trying. I just can't get myself to move forward. Something has been holding me back. I think I've figured out the answer to that question . . . although, the answer to the answer is proving a little more elusive.

Of course you, dear reader, have already figured out what I have to say because, frankly, you know how to read. And you've read this far. So you've probably read the title of this entry.

What's holding me back?

Fear.

Whenever I start to work lately, I've found myself wracked with doubt. "What if it's not good enough?" "What if I'm biting off more than I can chew with this project?" "What if no one wants to read it?" "What if people finally figure out that I'm really no good?" "What if I can't support my family doing this?" (That last question has particular power recently, when a client did not pay me for a long period of time, at a time when it was really needed.)

I think these doubts are common for any artist. If an artist doesn't have doubts like this, they are either: 1. Delusional; 2. Arrogant; 3. Genius; or, 4. Terrible.

I think that my current round of fear comes not from a lack of ideas or motivation, but instead from some recent success and failure. The success I've had is prompting the doubt: "You'll never be able to keep this up" while the failure I've had is backing it up with a "See, I told you so."

So there's the answer to the question . . . but what's the answer to the answer?

In nature, fear is a good thing and it prompts the whole "flight or fight" response. In facing off with writer's block? I mean, let's face it, writer's block is nowhere near the same as a deer being stalked by a pack of wolves. Even so, the principle remains the same, I think.

You can face it head on, or you can run away. In my case, running is not an option. And yet it's been the option I've chosen. Instead of writing, I've cleaned my desk . . . repaired the harddrive that was holding some files hostage . . . cleaned my desk again (it gets messy fast) . . . watched Farscape (man, that show is amazing . . . why didn't I watch it before?) . . . cleaned out a filing cabinet . . .

I should be fighting. I should be working.

Hmmm, perhaps I shouldn't be blogging. Of course, writing this blog is a good warm up, right? Or is it just another thing that I'm attaching importance to in an excuse to avoid what I should be doing?

Time to face those fears head on. Time to lower my head, stomp my foot, and launch my antlers headlong into that pack of wolves!

After I make some tea . . .

~ Ben

PS -- I love swamp monsters.

Samurai art by Tim Baron, (c) 2009

THE WAY OF THE WRITER: Inspirational Quote

"When functioning as it should, in secular as well as religious contexts, imagination is the most important means by which higher truths can be communicated." - Robert Houston Smith, Patches of Godlight: The Pattern of Thought of C.S. Lewis

Samurai art by Tim Baron, (c) 2009

THE WAY OF THE WRITER: Dig Deep, or "Method Writing"

They say "write what you know", and really, "they" are pretty good at saying things that sound simple and make sense . . . until you start trying to do it and suddenly you find yourself asking, "What the heck does that mean?"

First off, how can you write something you don't know? I mean, take a look at that statement. If you write something, you have to know it . . . because if you don't know it, it's not in your brain, and you can't write it. You may not know MUCH about what you're writing, but that is easy to remedy: through research you can learn about something . . . but knowing ABOUT something is not what "they" are talking about. I think.

I believe when they say "write what you know" they mean this: when you write, dig deep. Connect with each of your characters, by doing what some people may call "method acting".

Recently, I've been trying to apply "method acting" principles to my writing. "Classic Acting" (my term, I think) is when you simulate emotions as you act a part. You simulate laughter, you simulate weeping, you simulate the feelings you are portraying. And some actors are quite good at this. "Method Acting", on the other hand, is where you actually draw upon those emotions so that in the moment you are acting, you are feeling those feelings. Instead of just acting sad when you play the part of a girl who just lost her puppy, you draw on your own memories of that day when you found out your kitten was run over by a snowplow. Instead of just going through the motions of laughing when another character tells a stupid joke, you bring up your own memories of that day when you found out your best friends kitten was run over by a snowplow. You get the idea.

"Method Writing" is the same idea. When writing about a serious tragedy or writing about a personal triumph or writing about a introspective realization . . . you bring these emotions up from your own well of experience. This is where you beging writing what you know in earnest, not just writing what you know about! This is where if you spend all your time cooped up watching movies or reading comics, you aren't going to be a very effective writer because you aren't experiencing life! Your emotional experiences are limited to what you see in front of you, not what you feel.

Feelings are what connects people. Love. Passion. Happiness. Silliness. Pain. Sorrow. Unless you are a callous person with no soul or are experiencing overwhelming emotions of your own, if you see someone experiencing these feelings you will be empathetic to the person who is feeling these emotions. You will connect with them, based on your own experiences with these feelings. You speak with a lovesick teenager . . . you'll remember your own embarrassment when you felt that way, and maybe even be slightly annoyed with them -- but that annoyance comes from empathy. You speak with a heartbroken teenager . . . you'll remember when your own heart was broken, and either feel bad for them or, again, annoyed. But these feelings come from shared experiences. Someone tells a joke that's not all that funny? You may find yourself laughing simply because other people are.

Art has a dual purpose, although these purposes often wrap around each other. It can be cathartic, a way to sort through feelings on an internal level; or it can be to connect one soul to another, on an external level. This is why I "preach" about the power of art, and why it bothers me when I see people minimizing art as "it's just a story" or "it's just a joke". No. It is a connection between two souls. Or two brains, if you don't believe in souls. Whatever, the concept is the same. It's an interpersonal connection.

To truly connect, though, the story must FEEL true! It must feel right! It must feel recognizable! Art is a caricature of real life, and as a caricature it must be something people can look at and see recognizable features.

So, writers, dig deep. Work hard to make your stories and characters as emotionally "true" as you can. Doing this will cause a connection between your reader and your characters . . . and --this part is scary -- you.

The only way you can do this is to get to know your characters . . . and get to know yourself . . . and then, "write what you know".

~ Ben

Samurai art by Tim Baron, (c) 2009

THE WAY OF THE WRITER: Inspirational Quote

"Whenever you are fed up with life, start writing: ink is the great cure for all human ills, as I have found out long ago." - C.S. Lewis, Letters of C.S. Lewis to Arthur Graves

Samurai art by Tim Baron, (c) 2009

THE WAY OF THE WRITER: Keep Your Head Up

When I go running, I find myself facing two things: growing fatigue and growing discouragement. And when I run and I start to feel tired and discouraged, I find myself lowering my head. Pushing through. I started running with my head down even when I wasn't tired or discouraged. It just became the way I usually did it. Now, I don't mean my head was bowed and I wasn't looking where I was going, but generally speaking my face was angled down. My eyes were looking ahead maybe half a block, if that.

When I noticed this at one point when I was just not feeling like I was going anywhere, and I lifted my head and fixed my eyes on a point down the road. It seemed to me that this SHOULD be more discouraging. It was a LONG stretch of road ahead. (Actually sidewalk, but who care.) But instead, I found a bit more energy. Looking ahead of me, I was able to run with more purpose. I had a destination. I wasn't focused on where I was; I was focused on where I was going.

If you are creative artist, you've got approach things in much the same way. You can't just focus on where you are, you have to be looking ahead at where you're going.

Doing this can requires having a destination in mind. With a run, I know my destination. Down the road, around the corner, and back home. But if you are a writer or artist, the destination is not nearly so well defined.

That means you've got to define it yourself!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

1. Personal Goals. Personal goals are just that: personal. These are somewhat abstract goals, and some of them may never really feel like they've been attained because they are really a work in progress. These can be goals like "learn something new today" or "be the best I can be".

These personal goals are goals that help you become more self-aware. They are goals that cause you to take a look at who you are and how you do things and, hopefully, push you to be better. Because they are abstract, I debated not putting them on this list, but I think that as you strive to be a better, successful creative artist, you also need to strive to be a better human being. These are spiritual goals.

The success of these goals can be hard to measure. "Hmm, I'm a 7 in 'be a better person' today." it just doesn't happen, does it?

In writing and art, it is just as hard to measure. Saying you'll "write better" is difficult to measure, yes, but setting goals like that will cause you to take steps toward achieving them. You may not be able to see how much better you are in your chosen art on a day to day basis, but you will be able to see if you've worked toward bettering yourself or not every day.

These goals are abstract, as I said, and as a result are somewhat amorphous. That's okay. As you grow and change, these goals should grow and change with you.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

2. Professional Goals. Professional goals are hard, because success is, honestly, out of your own hands. You can set a goal like "get an agent in two years" or "get published before 2012", but the success of these goals lie in the hand of agents, editors, and publishers. And frankly, they don't have the same enthusiasm for your goals as you do.

Still, it is good to set these goals. Use them as milestones you can point to as you grow as a writer or artist. For me, in the past, one of my professional goals was to be published by someone other than myself (Community Comics, a comic book publisher, was run by myself and three other men -- being published by Community didn't count) before I turned thirty. And when I was 29, Image Comics published The Hedge Knight. My current professional goal is to have another project lined up before my current project is finished. The first of these goals was about my career, the second of these goals is tied directly to providing for my family.

But do not let them get you down if you do not make those goals. These goals are meant to help you move forward, not stop you in your tracks. If you find a goal becoming unattainable or if you do not make one of these goals, adjust them. Or use the failed goal as an opportunity to assess what you are doing to meet the goals. If "get published before I turn thirty" is a goal, and on your thirtieth birthday you still haven't been published, take a look at what you've done to meet that goal. Is it because you didn't write anything? Or is it because you just never found the right connection with a publisher, even though you did try? Do you need to get some help with your cover letters?

Success with these goals means moving on to the next goal; failure means assessing what went wrong and addressing it for the future. Either way, you're pushing yourself to become better.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

3. Practical Goals. Practical goals, unlike professional goals, are completely in your hands. These are things that can range from the tiny to the enormous. And they provide the most encouragement, I think, when things get tiring or discouraging. Challenges like NaNoWriMo, in which people set a goal to complete a novel in a month, or the 24-Hour Comic, in which people write and draw twenty-four pages in twenty-four hours, are extreme examples of a practical goal. There's a timeline (one month or twenty-four hours) and at the deadline there's a tangible product (a novel or a comic book). Practical goals can include things like "1000 words a day" or "half a page of art a day" or "three submissions this month".

A practical goal is a goal that you can easily measure. It is a goal that gives tangible results. And, as a result, it is a goal that will often times encourage you as you look at your other goals.

As with the professional goals: success means moving on to the next goal; failure means assessing what went wrong and addressing it. You should have both long range and short range practical goals, for immediate accomplishment and satisfaction and to have as a destination to strive toward.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

There is a fourth type of goal-setting. It is one that I didn't think of until just now, and it is one that many people do not think is valid. It is one that other people put too much stock in. Me? i think it is important. However, I think that you can't build your career on it.

4. Dreams. These are those big idea, crazy wishes. For me, an example would be that I have a dream to write a Man-Thing story for Marvel Comics or an Aquaman story for DC Comics. It's a dream. It fits into my career nicely, but it's not a practical goal by any stretch. Marvel and DC have plenty of amazing writers at their beck and call. The likelihood that they might be interested in someone like me writing a C-List character like Man-Thing and Aquaman (although Aquaman SHOULD be an A-List character!) . . .

Well, let's just say it's a dream. It's not bad to dream.

Some people say "there's dreamers and there's doers". I disagree, I think we need to be a little bit of both. But don't let your "dream" of selling your science fiction novel idea to Steven Spielberg get in the way of, you know, actually writing the novel!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

So keep your head up! Keep your eyes on the road ahead! With each step, with each day, push yourself to be not just the BEST you can be, but to be BETTER!

~ Ben

THE WAY OF THE WRITER: Inspirational Quote

A bit longer quote today. My friend Tim Baron pointed me at an article in the C.S. Lewis collection of essays "God in the Dock" that I hadn't read for a LONG time. Pulling that book out to peek at the article he wanted me to read, I left it in our front room. Tonight, I picked it up and flipped through it and found myself getting interested in another essay, and there was this passage:

"Until quite modern times -- I think, until the times of the Romantics -- nobody ever suggested that literature and the arts were and end in themselves. They 'belonged to the ornamental part of life', they provided 'innocent diversion'; or else they 'refined our manners' or 'incited us to virtue' or glorified the gods. The great music had been written for Masses, the great pictures painted to fill up a space on the wall of a noble patron's dining-room or to kindle devotion in a church; the great tragedies were produced either by religious poets in honor of Dionysus or by commercial poets to entertain Londoners on half-holidays.

"It was only in the nineteenth century that we became aware of the full dignity of art. We began to 'take it seriously' . . . But the result seems to have been a dislocation of the aesthetic life in which little is left for us but high-minded works which fewer and fewer people want to read or hear or see, and 'popular' works of which both those who make them and those who enjoy them are half ashamed . . . (By) valuing too highly a real, but subordinate good, we have come near to losing that good itself."

C.S. Lewis

From "First and Second Things" in God in the Dock

"The Way of the Writer" articles:

Inspiration?
Why Write?
The Weight of the Writer
Holistic Writing
Intentionality, part 1
Nothing New Under the Sun
Intentionality, part 2
It's So Rewarding
Productivity

Samurai art by Tim Baron, (c) 2009

THE WAY OF THE WRITER: Inspiration?

My good friend Tim Baron, who also happens to be THE Tim Baron who drew the samurai from the above image, e-mailed me after looking at my "Writer S. Blockhead" cartoon about inspiration. Basically, he said, "You need to block about what to do when that inspiration doesn't come."

The answer is not easy, and I'm pretty sure there's no really good right answer. The closest I can come to, and what I was trying to hit with the cartoon, was this:

Do something about it.

So saying this, I reminded of the financial expert from Saturday Night Live last year:



But there's more to what I'm saying than just, "Identify the problem; fix it!"

When inspiration just falls, it's heavenly. It's a feeling unlike any other. It's like connecting with God. It's almost as if the Creator says, "I'm going to give you a glimpse into what it's like to be me." When words flow, it's an amazing and powerful and triumphant thing. (Speaking of the initial output. Sometimes, it feels bad when, looking over the work, it's not as good as you thought!)

Conversely, when words do not flow it can be a frustrating and terrible thing. It hurts. It's demoralizing. It feels like, at the worst of times, a complete disconnection with the world, with God, and with self. At best, it's a source of frustration.

And there are other factors, too, and when those other factors figure in it's even worse. A lack of inspiration in the face of a deadline, self-imposed or not, makes it even worse. For me, recently, I faced a writer's block when I had to get a project done so we could pay our upcoming mortgage. Talk about heaping a nice scoop of terrible onto a plate full of awful.

But here's where it comes down to that whole "fix it!' idea. (And actually, this ties into my next Writer's Blockhead cartoon.) If you don't feel inspired, you have two choices: put down your pen or pencil or keyboard or whatever and walk away, or push through. Make it happen.

The inspiration didn't fall like rain today? Do a rain dance! You gotta call down the rain, man!

How? Praying helps. Going for a walk. Taking a break. Those sorts of things. The article I came across from Yahoo about energy has some good things to do that will stimulate the ol' brain cells. These books, Write: 10 Days to Overcome Writer's Block and The Write Type (both available in my "Way of the Writer" bookstore -- ordering from it gives me a little kick back . . . just sayin'), have a lot of practical advice as well as some introspective exercises that can reveal some interesting things about how your unique creativity and your creative process.

But there comes a point where you just have to do it. Make yourself do something, anything, no matter how awful it feels like it will end up being. If, like Writer S. Blockhead in the cartoon, you're just going to wait for inspiration to fall on you, it's not going to happen. Getting inspired, sometimes, is a battle, not a gift. It is something that you must choose to go after. It is something you have to fight for. You have to pursue inspiration when it does not pursue you.

Some practical ideas:

• set goals for yourself -- concrete goals you can keep track of like page or word counts
• spend time surrounded by other creative people who are also working on something creative
• just write or doodle, letting whatever happens happen, and then "ride that wave" into whatever it is you want to work on
• take a break that involves physical activity -- this will not only stimulate different parts of the brain, it will get blood flowing to your brain as well
• work on something else, perhaps something smaller, especially something that can bring about a feeling of success

These are just a few ideas. But the bottom line is this: you can't just hope something strikes you.

~ Ben

(Ironically, Tim didn't know this, but the next Writer S. Blockhead cartoon also tackles this subject.)

Other "The Way of the Writer" articles:

Why Write?
The Weight of the Writer
Holistic Writing
Intentionality, part 1
Nothing New Under the Sun
Intentionality, part 2
It's So Rewarding
Productivity

Samurai art by Tim Baron, (c) 2009

THE WAY OF THE WRITER: Productivity

Just read an awesome article that popped up on my front page when I fired up my computer this morning.

It's about energy, and how to effectively fight against habits that drain your energy during the day. And it's amazing, I think, how much this applies not just to a 9 to 5 setting, but to writing as well.

The link: http://health.yahoo.com/featured/50/out-of-energy/

Let's see, which ones am I guilty of?

Energy Zapper #1: Being Addicted to E-mail

Check. And it's not just e-mail. Twitter, I've learned, can be a creative black hole for me. How much energy have I spent composing a message, rewriting it multiple times to make it fit into the 140 character limit.

Energy Zapper #2: Visual Clutter

Check. That little cartoon I just did is accurate in one sense: I'll spend time tidying up when I really should be writing. It's inaccurate in another sense: my desk has never, ever been THAT clean!

Energy Zapper #3: Being Bored

Check. I've found that often when I tackle a new project, or come back from a break on a project, I have a hard time getting into it. I think part of that comes from the idea they talk about in the article: "Ever sat around for an hour or more not tackling a chore or work because it's just so darned monotonous? Mental foot-dragging, boredom and lack of motivation are draining, says Dr. Salerno. "Put simply, we like to see results, and getting things done gives us a mental energy boost." So avoiding tasks deprives you of that high."

Their solution is one that I plan to explore in a future "Way of the Writer": I call it the "Biggest Loser factor", but that's just because The Biggest Loser made me think of it. From the article: "Find a partner for encouragement."

Energy Zapper #4: Poor Posture

Check! Check! Check!

Energy Zapper #5: Toxic Indoor Air

No. Well, at least one of these doesn't count against me. Working in the home has SOME advantages!

Energy Zapper #6: Eating Too Much at Once

Check. But not as big of a check as it used to be!

Energy Zapper #7: Living in Artificial Light

Check. When I was running outside, this wasn't as big of a factor. Now, however, I'm using an exercise machine that's in the same room where I do all my work! I really need to remember to get outside more.

Energy Zapper #8: Listening to Negative Nellies

Not check! First of all, working in the home has some more advantages here. I determine who and what I listen to. But there have been some toxic people that I've just had to cut myself off from, because I let myself get sucked in and I realized that I didn't like that. And when they couldn't or wouldn't stop, even after I tried to talk about it with them, I chose to stop.

This happened when I was a teacher as well. I stopped eating in the teacher's lounge because, frankly, the teacher's lounge is a bastion of negativity and toxicity. Those teachers called it blowing off steam. I called it mean-spirited and ugly. And I found myself doing it, too! So I took to making intentional contact with teachers who were not like that, and found my own attitude changing in the process!

Energy Zapper #9: Holding a Grudge

Not check.

I hope.

This goes back to #8 as well, though. I've used the word before: "toxic". They use it in the article, too. A grudge doesn't just hurt you, it poisons the people around you. Forgiveness isn't just for the other person, when we forgive it helps us heal as well!

This article is an excellent article, all things considered. The many different solutions for office productivity also apply, I believe, to my writing.

What do you think? Which of these apply to you?

~ Ben

THE WAY OF THE WRITER: It's So Rewarding

In the book Write. 10 Days to Overcome Writer's Block. Period. by Karen E. Peterson, Ph.D. (is it bad that I actually enjoyed putting so many periods into this sentence before the end?), Dr. Peterson has a chapter about rewarding yourself for writing.

It's an interesting concept, and one worth exploring . . . writer's block or no. I found that I already did this, although in two different ways. On one hand, whenever I finished a large project I used to "celebrate" by going to a movie. (I usually go alone. Every time I start a new large project my wife and I flirt with the idea of going out to dinner together as a celebration, but that usually doesn't happen. Four kids, you know. These days, if we get to go out on a date, it's jut to celebrate being able to get a baby-sitter!) The other reward has been being able to pay the bills.

Peterson's strategy is different, and more structured. Every minute you spend writing, reward with another minute of something else. In some ways, the reward strategy becomes a replacement for the things you were using so you wouldn't write. An example she gives is this: checking e-mail. Think about that. Instead of checking your e-mail when you should be writing, you use checking e-mail as a reward for writing! She uses a one to one formula for the "time" rewards. Twenty minutes of writing "equals" twenty minutes of reward time.

It's an interesting concept. I'm not sure I could pull off the 1:1 ratio of reward time . . . until I think about how much time I waste when I really should be writing. Just last night, I sat in front of the television with a movie, thinking to myself, "This would be a good time to work on that one idea."

Looking at my day, I see a lot of wasted time. A lot. And, as much as the phone commercials would like you to believe . . . time cannot be recycled.



That doesn't mean that time used to do things like watch tv or reading a book is automatically wasted time! Not at all! We need to recharge our batteries, take in some input when we're spending so much time pouring out. But, with a personality like mine, it easily becomes wasted time. It easily and quickly goes from "recharging my batteries" to "being lazy". That's where I need to work.

~ Ben

THE WAY OF THE WRITER: Inspirational Quote

"Don't be afraid to strive for truth, beauty, and excellence."

Me, trying to be clever on Twitter. :)

THE WAY OF THE WRITER: Intentionality, part 2

This is the second part of my thoughts on "Intentionality".


Practical intentionality. What's that all about? Well, it's about all the stuff you do in real life. Money. Family life. Spiritual life.

If you are a writer, you simply must take note of these other parts of your life. Writing and creating are good, but often I see people letting other things take a backseat to the creative parts of life.

MONEY

Money isn't a bad thing. It makes the world go around and is the root of all evil, but it's not really a bad thing. But, if you are making a living with your writing/creativity or supplmenting your regular income with it, here's some things you should remember:

1. If someone pays you to write something, that's income. And you should report it on your taxes. When you are doing small jobs for people, it's easy to hide, but it's also illegal to hide it. If you made enough money to pay income taxes, and you got paid to write, it's part of that.

2. It's not a bad idea to get help when figuring out how to deal with those taxes. There are some special things you can do with your taxes when you write and make money . . . or even it's it's considered a hobby! Things like write off comic books. :) But you really should get help with that. My blog does not qualify as help, by the way. My blog is telling you to get help.

3. Be smart with your money. Keep track of it. Don't use credit cards. Etc. Creative people aren't really very good with numbers, often times. Keep track of your money and ask for help with taking care of it. Be intentional.

FITNESS

I've banged this drum in some other posts, but I'm doing it again here.

Creative types are too often lethargic types. Heck, Americans are too often lethargic types! DO NOT let that be you.

Now, if you're like me it's either too late or it's getting to be too late. By "too late" I mean you're already overweight and getting worse. But it's NOT too late to get started taking care of that!

If you work a desk job, any desk job, it means you need to work extra hard at getting yoru body healthy and keeping your body healthy.

There simply is no reason not to set aside three hours every week to work at getting healthy! There simply is no reason to stop eating so unhealthily! (Bonus: it's being smart with your money, because if you eat less you're buying less!)

But writers and artists are already working low impact jobs. If you are into science fiction, fantasy, or comic books then you are even more likely not to be into physical activity. (Let's face it . . . you know it's true. The Simpsons' comic book guy wasn't created in a vacuum!)



But that doesn't mean you have to stay the cliché! But you have to be intentional about it! You simply must.

I've written enough about this, but I just want to close with this: a healthier life is a better, longer life. And a longer life means you get to share more stories with the world!

SPIRITUALLY

Americans don't just ignore the unhealthiness of their physical bodies. We're also pretty good at ignoring our spirit. This topic is a little difficult to talk about, of course, since so many people believe so many different things. Of course, I approach things from a Christan perspective.

But Christian or not, as a writer you spend a lot of time looking inward. When you are creating, you are playing the part of God. And if there's emptiness inside, that emptiness will be expressed. But if you are seeking truth in your life, that search will be expressed in your output.

CONCLUSION

The bottom line is this: you shouldn't just be seeking to be the best writer you can be. You should be striving to be the best person you can be . . . which will help you to be a better writer. You should be intentional with your entire life. You should strive to be empathetic in your relationships; this will help you get into your characters' skins. Healthy body = healthy mind. Etc.

The point is, you CAN be a great writer. But you have to be intentional about it.

~ Ben

THE WAY OF THE WRITER: Nothing New Under the Sun

So I was all set to get excited about Tim Burton's new Wonderland movie, assuming it, like Willy Wonka, was going to be an adaptation of the book.

I was wrong.

Here's a description of the plot, from Slashfilm:

"The film is actually a sequel to the original story, and follows Alice, now 17 years old, as she escapes from a snooty party and follows a white rabbit down a hole, back to Wonderland. The White Rabbit is convinced that he has the right girl, the one who had visited the magical land ten years prior. But Alice doesn’t remember her past visit to Wonderland. The creatures of Wonderland are ready to revolt and are hoping/waiting for Alice to help them, but will she? Can she?"

The problem? It's not a problem, really. Just that it sounds a lot like the plot of this comic book:

The Oz/Wonderland Chronicles #0
Cover by Casey Heying

The Oz/Wonderland Chronicles, published by BuyMeToys.com. (I'm the writer of the book.) Issue #0 came out four years ago. Issue #4, wrapping up that first story arc, will come out this year.

The Oz/Wonderland Chronicles #1
Cover B by Phil Noto

The Oz/Wonderland Chronicles is a bit different from Burton's Wonderland, in that both Dorothy from Oz and Alice from Wonderland have grown up and gone back to Oz and Wonderland, after not remembering their past visits to those magical lands. And in The Oz/Wonderland Chronicles, the creatures ready to revolt are from OZ, not Wonderland (although the creatures from Wonderland are certainly going to help), and they are waiting for Dorothy to help them.

The Oz/Wonderland Chronicles #1
Cover A by Joe Jusko

So, yeah, they're not exactly alike. But they are similar enough to make me feel a bit uncomfortable. I mean, our story and Burton's, on a surface level, are very similar.

The Oz/Wonderland Chronicles #2
Cover A by Joe Jusko

Please don't get me wrong. I have no doubt in my mind that Burton and his team have NEVER seen The Oz/Wonderland Chronicles, nor have they heard of it. I'm certain of this. I'm not suggesting that they have stolen/plagarized anything.

This is just a great example of the "there's nothing new under the sun" concept of writing.

The Oz/Wonderland Chronicles #2
Cover B by Boris

In truth, there is nothing new under the sun when it comes to story telling. I mean, once you boil stories down to their core, you're left with just ONE story:

"Somebody wanted something, and something got in the way."

Seriously, apply that to ANY story. 99.99999 out of 100 times, it'll fit. (The other 0.00001 times out of 100, when it doesn't apply, are just because we weren't creative enough in the application. :) )

The Oz/Wonderland Chronicles #3
Cover A by Joe Jusko

But there's nothing new under the sun. What makes something NEW is how the story is told.

For example, I sincerely doubt that Burton will use the "sword in the stone" motif that we used in Oz/Wonderland #3. That's something "new" that I brought to the "new Wonderland story" table. It separates Burton's story from ours, because while on the surface our stories are similar, underneath you've got two very different people with two different backgrounds doing two different things.

Of course, in doing so I've ripped off a classic fantasy image. Hopefully, what we turn around and do with it also takes it to a different place than the original, and countless imitations, do and did.

The Oz/Wonderland Chronicles #3
Cover B by Glen Orbick

"There's nothing new under the sun". It's somewhat depressing, especially in a situation like this, where someone HUGE, like Burton and Disney, are doing something so similar. I was involved in another situation like this, when I worked on the series Auto-B-Good a while ago. I wrote one episode of the series about anthropomorphic cars, and the weekend I flew out there to meet with the producers about some other things, the Pixar movie Cars came out . . . about anthropomorphic cars.

I had a concept called Quantum Mechanics that I was going to develop, but ended up combining the characters with another concept of mine called Timeflyz. The marriage worked well, and not long after making the change I saw a comic book come out called Quantum Mechanics. Good thing I changed the title!

It happens all the time, though. Two asteroid movies the same summer, two volcano movies the same summer, two Robin Hood movies the same summer, etc.

Truly, there's nothing new under the sun. There's not much that can be done about it, other than this: tell YOUR stories, tell them to the BEST of your ability, and tell them NOW . . . before someone else does. Someone like Tim Burton!

~ Ben