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.
A person's reading, viewing, and listening habits say a lot about them. Here's a peek into my listening habits. If you're visiting my blog, it's probably because you're interested in a lot of the same things I am, so you'll probably find something here that would interest you. My current crop of podcasts runs the gamut from serious to geeky . . .
Peter Kreeft: Not a podcast in the usual sense: this isn't someone sitting down at a computer and recording his thoughts, it's actually free recordings of Peter Kreeft's lectures. Kreeft is a scholar and theologian and expert on C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. His "podcasts" are interesting and insightful, dealing with spirituality, literature, and more often than not connecting the two. Already, I've enjoyed Kreeft's writings in hte past. Finding his lectures online was an incredible discovery.
Kaijucast: Kyle Yount is a huge kaiju fan. (Kaiju, basically, is the Japanese word for giant monsters like Godzilla.) Kaijucast has news, reviews, and interviews about Japanese monster movies and related things. He always has a guest with him, which is a good thing. I can't stand listening to people just talking on and on at length about things, even though they are things that interest me. I'd much rather listen to the give and take of a conversation. If you're a fan of giant monsters (like I am) you'll enjoy this podcast.
Gateworld Podcast: I'm a Trekster. And ironically, the best Star Trek podcast I've listened to is actually a Stargate podcast! I enjoy Stargate, and recently I've started watching many of the episodes free on Hulu.com, which has been a lot of fun. I can't remember how I stumbled on this podcast, but it was around the time the Star Trek movie came out, and I noticed they had a review of the movie in one of their episodes, so I downloaded it. It's a fun podcast, again a podcast with more than one host. The primary focus is Stargate, but they drift into many other geek areas, like Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, etc.
Old Time Radio: A lot of old time radio is in the public domain, or something that resembles the public domain. I don't know, really, what it is. Here's a few old time radio shows that have been converted into podcasts that I enjoy listening to: Gunsmoke: Marshall Matt Dillon keeps the peace in Dodge City in this series, which is pretty gritty at times and touching at other times. Sometimes the bad guys get away, sometimes the good guys make mistakes, and there's a dramatic tension that makes for good storytelling. Much of that coems from likable characters. I just started listening to some of these episodes based on the recommendation of a friend. Glad I did. Box 13: Because of this series, I want to see some movies with Alan Ladd, although I'm a bit afraid to do so! It cant match with my imagination of him from this series. Dan Holiday is a newspaper writer turned novelist who places an ad in the newspaper: "ADVENTURE WANTED! Will go anywhere, do anything. Write BOX 13, c/o Star-Times". He won't accept payment. Instead, payment comes in the form of the story ideas he gets. he won't break the law, although he frequently ends up as a suspect in a number of different crimes because of his adventures. Very fun, and Alan Ladd's portrayal of Holiday makes it awesome. Six Shooter: Jimmy Stewart plays a thoughtful gunfighter. He plays the character in classic Jimmy Stewart fashion ("Well, now, let's think about this before you start shooting. I mean, I'm faster than you are and it wouldn't be wise to, you know, call me out.") The reputation of his character proceeds him, and as he travels from job to job, trying to just quietly get along, he ends up in some pretty serious and dangerous situations, and also in some pretty absurd and funny situations as well. How many westerns can you think of where the main character takes on a gang of cattle rustlers in one episode and then judges a town fair jam contest in the next? Bold Venture: Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall bring their chemistry and banter to this radio program. Every episode has them trading barbs and flirting while they deal with a crime in the Caribbean, usually something that has to do with Bogie's boat: The Bold Venture. Zero Hour: Rod Serling hosted this series of suspense stories that were usually adaptations of current books. Each story was, at the beginning of the broadcast run, broken into five half hour episodes, which would air each weekday. I really enjoy these stories, although at first I was disappointed that they didn't have the same kind of "supernatual allegory" of Serling's Twilight Zone. This series was from the '70's.
Film Score Monthly: This is a great podcast that updates way too infrequently. They discuss different film scores, as you guessed from the title. I enjoy listening to film scores, and because of this podcast I've discovered a couple new scores to use while I'm writing. Again, this is a podcast with more than one host and they do a great job of making things informative and interesting.
MyMac Podcast: I'm a Mac guy, exclusively. This is the first Mac related podcast I've listened to. Truth is, I only started listening to it because of a Twitter contest they sponsored. But I like their podcast. Like the others I enjoy listening it, they have a topic that interests me, and they have more than one host, giving it a conversational give and take that is more enjoyable to listen to. I'm just getting into their podcast, and so far I want to keep on listening to it. They bring in guests and have news items and stuff. (Full disclosure: I actually won the contest! But that's not why I like their podcast.)
EXTRA CREDIT:
Here's a podcast I'm not listening to, but only because it hasn't started yet! Their first episode goes live tonight. There's a lot of webcomic podcasts out there, although all too often they can be pretty raw. This podcast looks to be something more in line with the type of thing I'd like ot listen to:
The Lightbox -- Illuminating Webcomics: From their website: "The podcast will focus on the craft of creating comics, the business side of the online comics industry, upcoming events, and webcomics news."
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!)
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
Okay, here's a short list of some really funny blogs out there.
Animals with Lightsabers: Someone posted this link through Twitter and it's AWESOME. I wish there were more to it, but it seems to be relatively new. Some of those pictures look just plain hilarious. The title alone should say it all. It is what it is: animals with lightsabers.
Awkward Family Photos: This one has been around longer, has a much larger database, and, honestly, is a lot more funny. As much as I love kittens wielding Star Wars inspired weapons . . . these pictures are just a bit more universal. And painful to look at. All you can think while looking at these pictures is "thank God no one has sent mine in".
So it's been a little while since I've just done a fun update here.
Actually, it's been a little while since I've done ANY posts!
See, I've had some heavy duty deadlines that I had to meet, for Hand of the Morningstar and for the Christ project I'm working on.
But last night, I got to be a superhero in my house!
Two years ago, I posted this about mice in my house. We've had mice in our house since then (not as often as I've expected, actually), but last night . . . last night we had something else. And last night . . . I was Batman . . .
I watched an awesome movie last night. Started it at 10:00, meaning I didn't get to bed until after midnight. My wife was asleep. I put on my iPod and listened to a bit of an old time radio podcast . . . but heard something rustling in the corner. As I popped out the earbuds, my wife heard it as well and snapped awake. We listened for a moment and then, while confused about having a mouse in our room (we've NEVER had mice upstairs, that we know of; we never bring food upstairs), I went downstairs and got a trap ready. I set two traps downstairs in the usual spots (if a mouse was upstairs, that had to mean they were downstairs) and brought one upstairs to put in that corner, by the dresser, where the rustling could be heard.
My wife couldn't sleep, so she read for a while. Then, we heard it. The mouse, again. That quick? Was he really going for the trap already? We heard something that sounded like a soft thud. The trap? Then, in the dim light of my wife's reading lamp we saw it. Flying around our room . . .
A bat.
My wife and I have two doors in our room: one to the hallway, one to the bathroom. We shut those doors and went into my daughter's room, where the attic access is, to check . . . I don't know what, actually. Apparently, we didn't shut the door quick enough, because while I was in the closet, my wife said, "Ben! It's in here!"
Suddenly, my wife is screaming to my three daughters (who were now awake) to cover their heads with their blankets; the bat is flying back and forth in their room; my two oldest girls are crying and screaming and terrified and confused and, amazingly, covering their heads with their blankets; my youngest daughter is just laying in her bed, watching calmly, sucking her thumb like this is a normal, everyday occurrence; and I'm trying to figure out what we're going to do.
I decide to get the girls out of there and try to trap the bat in THAT room, but as soon as I grab my middle daughter and before I can even explain to my wife what I want to do, the bat leaves the room. Problem solved. We put my son in the girls' room (he was awake by now, and there was NO way he was going to miss out on the action) and I trapped the bat in he bathroom (which has two doors -- one to our room and one to the hallway).
I'm going to catch this thing.
I try to net it in a bed-sheet for a little while, tossing the sheet out like a net while its flying back and forth in the bathroom. No dice. Not even close. The bat finally lands up on top of the windowsill. I leave it alone. It's obviously better at this game than I am . . . but I'm not done. I'm not going to give up. This bat is mine.
My wife and the kids, rather than be cooped up in the girls' room, all go downstairs while I plan my new strategy. It's 2:30. Other my middle two girls being terrified to the point of tears and shaking, it's party time. My wife breaks out the milk and graham crackers, let's them play some educational computer games.
There's no open doorway upstairs, nor are there any windows without screens in them. This bat cannot be made to go outside. I have to catch it.
My plan: a wet towel, an oatmeal can, and a plastic colander and plate. Step one: use the colander to catch the bat on the windowsill, because it's so close to the ceiling it's hard to get anything else up there in that corner, then slide the plate under it. Step two: if the colander just disturbs it, and it's able to fly away, hope it lands on the floor, clap the oatmeal container on it, slide the lid on. Step three: if it doesn't land, throw the wet towel on it while it's flying. Step four: take it down to the empty giant garbage can outside.
I look at that bat, and it's obvious to me none of those plans will work. I decide to skip steps 1-3, skip to 4. I get that garbage can and the lid, thinking I'll just use the lid to pull it off the windowsill and right into the garbage can.
That just makes it fly away, and it flies to the doorway that leads into the hall. It crawls under the door and stops halfway. Out-loud, I say to that thing, "You're smart, but I'm smarter."
It's thinking, I'm sure, "You're the one talking to a bat. How smart can you be?"
I run through the other door, into our room, and into the hallway. New plan. Set the oatmeal can over the bat, push open the door, and BAM! Snap the oatmeal can on it.
I look down at that little bat. It looks up at me. It's tiny. Flying around, it seemed so much bigger. It had a wide wingspan, and especially in the dark, when it was fluttering around, it seemed huge!
We look at each other for a moment, and I go to make my move. I put the can over it and it backs back into the bathroom. I hear it screech.
This ends now, I think. It flies back and forth, back and forth, trying to find a way to escape. There is no escape.
I pick up the garbage can. Slowly, I close in on it, holding the can up in the air. It flies by me, veering off, its flight path shortened with my every step . . .
I watch. I wait.
It avoids the can.
It will not go past me.
"C'mon," I hiss. "Closer."
It comes close to the open end of the can. Close enough! I swing the lid of the can around, force the bat inside the garbage can, and slam the can on the ground a I force the lid into place.
I stop. I listen. I look. I see nothing in the room. But I can't hear . . . wait. Yes! It's in the garbage can!
I did it.
The kids didn't calm down, even after we all decided to sleep downstairs in the living room. Party time. Celebratory, this time. Eventually, they fell asleep. But I couldn't.
Yeah. I was the superhero in my house last night. Last night, I was Batman.
I went to the Marvel 70th Anniversary party held at my local comic shop last night.
It was a lot of fun and I got to see a lot of people I haven't seen for a while. We ate cake, which was good, and we decorated the cake, which was a LOT of fun.
Here's a picture of the cake: The artwork was done by some of the artists who were at the party. I can't remember who did what, but you'll notice the Thing, Ghost Rider (drawn by my friend Andy Jewett), Human Torch, and Spider-Man (drawn by my Oz/Wonderland co-creator and artist Casey Heying). I also got in on the fun, drawing one of my favorite Marvel characters:
That wasn't the ONLY artwork I did, though. A special comic to commemorate the anniversary was put out by Marvel. The Marvels Project #1 went on sale at 9:00 PM on Tuesday across the country as many comic shops put on anniversary parties. One of the variant covers was a blank sketch cover. Now, the artists who showed up at the party last night are all talented guys and did some awesome sketches of things like Two Gun Kid, Stan Lee, the Avengers, G.I. Joe, and a number of other Marvel characters.
Not content to just sit back and watch, I decided to get in on the action. Of course, I couldn't just do a sketch . . . a drawing by me just isn't going to stand alone. I'm a writer. There's a reason you will probably never ever see me referred to as a writer/artist.
So if I was going to do this, I had to rely upon what I could do. Write. If my drawing was going to have any value, it would be in a different context. So here's what I drew:
The "Avengers Assemble" gag was the third one I drew. I like it, though. It's fun.
Here's the second one I drew. I got the idea from two sources: first, one of those awesome artists I was talking about drew an incredible sketch of Two Gun Kid riding through the Old West, and I made a joke like, "Hey, awesome Lone Ranger"; second, I just yesterday was reading Maurice Horn's book Comics of the American West, specifically a section about masked cowboys and the glut of them that appeared in the '40's and '50's, ripping off the Lone Ranger in an attempt to capitalize on superhero comics. (I'm reading the book because of my new-ish webcomic, Ace of Diamonds, which takes a public domain comic series about one of those masked cowboy rip-offs and "remixes" it -- I'm rewriting the dialogue and the plot but retaining the artwork to create a something new.)
The first one I drew is probably my favorite, though:
I love Aquaman and Sub-Mariner. Aquaman is the one DC character I'd like to get a chance to write. Sub-Mariner I like as a character, although I don't have the same desire to write him. However, I can't STAND Sub-Mariner's costume. I love that costume he wore in the '70's with the fin/wings and the jacket. The Speedo styled shorts with the shell belt buckle? Ugh.
Anyway, I had a fun time. Casey and Kelly know how to put on a fun party, and it was interesting to see the different people who came into the store for the festivities.
I was just shown this short slide show from MakingOf.com.
I have to say, I'm a HUGE fan of looking at concept art. Since I'm a writer and not an artist, this may not seem to make sense, but I do get a lot of inspiration from looking at books of concept art for movies. My favorites are The Art of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, The Art of the Lord of the Rings, and The Lord of the Rings Sketchbook. It's inspiring, and sometimes kickstarts the old imagination when I'm "blocked".
Anyway, here's some AMAZING concept art from the new animated Disney princess movie, Rapunzel:
Isn't that just gorgeous? I cannot wait to see that on film!
In looking at that, I'm reminded of the original "Disney princess" movies, which were simply sumptuous in their design.
I'd love to see concept art from Sleeping Beauty. I love that movie, although to be honest it's not the most compelling of the Disney movies, it's the most beautifully designed.
Anyway, back to Rapunzel. It looks like a return to form for Disney, in style and tone anyway. Let's see if they are able to make it as compelling a story as well.
Some photos have been taken of the dragon head for the Dawn Treader -- the boat the Narnians use to in their journey from The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
I'm looking at these pictures and I'm having a mess of thoughts.
Part of me thinks it's gawdy . . .
Part of me thinks it looks like it may be perfect . . .
And a BIG part of me is just plain happy they're making this movie!!!
