2012: New Years Resolutions Edition

So I thought I'd take my turn with the whole new years resolutions thing. I'm keeping them simple and easy this year.

First, I want to lose weight. I know, I know, everybody does that one. And I say it every year. But I have a really good feeling about 2012. This is my year to be skinny. Goals and resolutions don't work unless you have specific tactics for accomplishing it, and I have those for this weight loss goal. I'm going to eat more protein and vegetables and eat absolutely no desert or candy. As for exercise, I am going to go to the gym for a minimum of half-an-hour six days a week, or at least as much as possible. I am going. to. do it, you guys. But anyway, enough about that.

Then I have my writing goals. Those are my main goals for this year. I have four projects I want to get done before 2013.

1) Finish my novel, which will probably happen in January (I know I said I'd finish this year, I'm sorry. Consider my wrists slapped), edit it and start submitting to agents. Hopefully submitting will start happening sometime in the spring.

2) Finish a draft of novel number 2. I'm going to get started on that as soon as I finish the first draft of novel number 1.

3) Publish my short story collection. I'm super stoked about this one, guys. I even have the free sample story formatted and ready to go as soon as I press the upload button. Then in a few months when all the other stories have come back from submissions and are ready to go, we'll do the whole collection. I could still use tips on this one if you've got any.

4) Write a screenplay. I've wanted to for a long time. I'm a movie freak, I figure why not try my hand at writing one. This is probably going to happen later in the year, after the other three are finished. I'm going to need some good screenwriting software for this one. Any recommendations?

There are always the new years hopes that you don't really have any control over that would be nice if they happened this year, too. For example, I would love to get an agent. And maybe a boy who I think is hot who thinks I'm hot back. But like I said, those aren't things I have control over. They'll happen when they happen.

Anyway, those are my goals for 2012. I think they're pretty doable. I feel more anxious and realistically ready to face this year then I ever have before, and I think its going to turn out some good things. So like I said yesterday, bring it on 2012.

What are your goals for next year?

Sarah Allen

2011: So long and thanks for all the fish

John Green once said, basically, that the two years after graduating college are the hardest years of a persons life. This year has proved him right. It has also proved that even though being freshly graduated sometimes totally sucks, you live. And I can say even after only one year, it has gotten much better. And if his two year estimation is right, I only have one more year to go!

See, my life has always been pretty stable. My parents are still together, all my siblings are alive, and I've had a great education. High school was crazy busy and involved, but it was an easy crazy busy and involved, if that makes sense, and fun. College wasn't too bad either. I've always been pretty comfortable in a classroom, and I feel like the friends I made in college brought out and accepted and emphasized parts of me I'd never really been okay with before.

2011 shook things up. Graduating was the bomb that exploded my stable little world, and looking back I think I sort of saw it coming.

It's not even that anything drastic or totally traumatic happened. The epicenter of the bomb was May, and what I am now referring to as the I-Thought-I-Knew-Myself fiasco, when I tried a move out of Utah and learned what Alone really means. I still don't think moving out of Utah is a bad idea, but now I know how to be more realistic about it and much, much wiser.

So anyway, basically 2011 was a huge learning year for me, that sort of yanked my naked face in front of a mirror and didn't let go til I learned how to stop squirming.

And when your naked in front of a mirror like that, you learn a few things about yourself. And I mean Yourself with a capital Y, way deep down, without any outside input or titles or categorization. This year I learned that I am who I am because of three things.

1) My God. I never doubted my relationship with God. I never doubted He loved me, no matter what. No. Matter. What. And when you are lucky enough to have that security, there's a certain line of despair you just don't cross. If He's your rock bottom then you're okay.

2) My Family. When I was sitting alone on a bed in an apartment in a city I'd never been with absolutely no one that I knew with no really good reason to be there and wondering what the hell I'd gotten myself into, all I wanted was my mom. I always knew I loved and needed my family, but I didn't know till then how desperately. When I talk to people about family, I only rarely feel like people get it. It shocks me how many people don't like being with their family. And I don't think it's an unhealthy apron-strings thing either, for my seven siblings and I. We're a unit. And people don't quite get where the happiness and unity come from, either. People only see the happiness from the outside, which makes it look very superficial. It's all very big house, beautiful mom, piano recitals and Disneyland to them. They have no clue how big of an understatement it is to say that those things are just the tip of the iceberg. You don't have a family like mine without fights and bitterness and honesty and vulnerability and seeing the worst things about each other and coming out on the other end loving each others guts. You don't have a marriage like my parents without years, and I mean years, of seeing things the totally wrong way and doing the totally wrong things and thinking your right and thinking your wrong and staying together so hard it hurts until it doesn't hurt anymore and you realize you've figured something out and lost track of where you end and they begin. When nothing else was there, all of that was.

3) My Writing. And I'm being totally serious. When everything I thought I wanted or thought I was or thought was important got flipped upside down, one thing staid. I wanted to write. Not just write, but be a writer. Because of that, there was at least one thing to hold on to. There was at least one thing I knew I wanted, and because everything else was gone, I knew I really wanted it. God loved me no matter what. My family supported me no matter what. Writing is my what.

So with God holding me up, my family pushing me forward and a path of words to walk on, I say to 2012: Bring It On. And to 2011, thank you for what you've taught me. I realize now I needed those lessons in order to reach the kind of joy I envision for myself.

But most of all, so long, good riddance, and thanks for all the fish. Even though they were really hard to swallow.

Sarah Allen

Thinking about...

Thinking about how amazing it will be to finish this novel, including edits, and start submitting it to agents.

Thinking about how badly I want to publish the short story collection, how cool it will be to make a little money selling words, and how best to handle the business-y side of it.

Thinking about new years resolutions.

Thinking about King Jimmer and his skilz.

Thinking that The Adventures of TinTin wasn't all its cracked up to be. Graffics=way cool, character development=meh, pacing=huh?

Thinking about friends I love with all my heart and that's all I can do for them.

Thinking that this teaching thing is awesome and I love it, but I need more hours to make it sustainable, or that I need to think of something else to live off of in the meantime that will still let me write and nurse this teaching seed into fruition. Over-thinking has turned to worrying by this point, actually, but we're living and breathing and eating and sleeping and writing over here, so we're good.

Thinking that sitting on the futon with my mom flipping between Seinfeld and Chopped is a great way to spend an evening.

Wondering if my spreadsheet of book review blogs is enough and what else I could do.

Thinking that House most definitely needs a new romantic interest now that Cuddy's gone.

Thinking that Dr. Pepper is way way better than Coke or Pepsi.

Thinking that Pottermore has lost its thunder for me, and thinking that J.K. Rowling should really come out with something new. I'd read it and love it, I'm sure.

Thinking that Christmas was incredible, that I'm going to be old on Saturday, and that I'm so freaking out of my mind excited to get my pre-ordered copy of The Fault In Our Stars in a couple weeks. John Green rocks my socks.

What are you thinking about?

Sarah Allen

What books did you get for Christmas?

Hey guys! I hope you had a wonderful, wonderful Christmas. I know I did. There is nothing quite as happy as staying home with the family for a while. The break was very needed.

I'm sure most, if not all of us, asked for books for Christmas. They're kind of the best present anybody can get. So I have a two-part question for you: 1) What books did you get, and 2) How were they picked?

I'll do three of the books I got. Each was on a list I gave my mom, which is how they were picked out, but I'll try to remember how they ended up on my list in the first place.

Out Stealing Horses, Per Peterson: I had this one on my list because whenever I go to Barnes and Noble, the title and cover always jump out at me as particularly gorgeous, so I pick it up and the first paragraph is equally awesome. I don't think I would consider random shelf-hunting as my typical way of picking books, but it worked for this one.

The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel: I might be mixing her up with someone else in my head, but I think I heard of Amy Hempel through my college creative writing professor, who said he had a literary crush on her. He also said his wife was okay with it.

The Sugar Queen, Sarah Addison Allen: Ok, I most definitely discovered this one because of the authors name, and please tell me I'm not the only one who looks themselves up at bookstores. She's on the NY Times best-seller list too, which honestly isn't saying too much in and of itself besides the fact that she's sold a lot of books, but I figure if a lot of people read someone named Sarah Allen, I should too. Just to, I don't know...be prepared.

So there's mine for this year. What about you?

Sarah Allen

p.s. That is not my picture up there, just in case you were wondering. Though I'm not saying I wouldn't like it to be mine.

Christmas Giveaway Gift-card Winners!!!

It's gift-card time! Yay!

*throws sprinkles and confetti*

And the grand-prize winner of the $15 Amazon gift-card is...(drumroll please)

Emily Voss!!!

Hooray!!

And the two winners of the $5 Amazon gift-cards are...(more drums...yes, that's right, keep going)

Tamsin Clement and Rochelle Melander!!!

Each of you lovely, fabulous people should have already received a gift card for the allotted amount in the inbox of the email address you used to sign in with rafflecopter. If not, or if there's a problem, please let me know.

Thank you to everyone who entered, I appreciate the support bunches and bunches. We're over 700 followers now! I know the numbers don't really mean anything, but how cool is that? You guys seriously rock. When I'm having a bad day reading your kind and supportive and helpful comments makes me motivated to keep everything going. And if you didn't win this time, stick around because there will definitely be more contests and other awesomeness.

And most of all, Merry Christmas!

Sarah Allen

Christmas Made Easy, Part 4: Movies

Movies are a classic part of the Christmas holiday. The only hard part is that there are so many to choose from. So I'm going to make that choice a little easier and give you probably my favorite Christmas movie ever:



If you haven't seen this adaptation of A Christmas Carol, do yourself a favor. Albert Finney is the best Scrooge ever.

Sarah Allen

Christmas Made Easy, Part 3: Oh the weather outside is frightful

So look for the beauty in the ice...

Or find a little sunshine in the backyard...

And most of all, don't forget to sing!



Sarah Allen

P.S. Why yes, I did take those pictures myself. I'm letting myself think it took more than just dumb luck.

Also, don't forget the $15 Amazon gift-card easy-peasy Christmas giveaway going on here at the bloggy blog. There's only two days left, don't miss out!

Christmas Made Easy, Part 2: Russian Teacakes

These are a tradition in my family, and well worth the effort.

Ingredients: 

1 cup butter or margarine, softened

½ cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 ¼ cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour

¾ cup finely chopped nuts

¼ teaspoon salt

Powdered sugar

Instructions:

-Heat oven to 400ºF.

-Mix butter, 1/2 cup powdered sugar and the vanilla in large bowl. Stir in flour, nuts and salt until dough holds together.

-Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place about 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet.

-Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until set but not brown. Remove from cookie sheet. Cool slightly on wire rack.

-Roll warm cookies in powdered sugar; cool on wire rack. Roll in powdered sugar again.

*Makes 4 dozen cookies

*Changes: In my family we nix the nuts, and instead wrap the dough around a Hershey's kiss before we bake it. That way its like a little present when you bite into it. My mom buys tons of different flavors like mint, cherry, hot cocoa, candy-cane, and of course regular chocolate. It's become quite a game to see which flavor we get. It's important to wrap the dough fully around the chocolate so its completely covered, but not too much bigger either. Too big, too much dough, too small, the chocolate melts through when you bake. That's why we don't do Rolo's anymore, although those were my favorite. This is what we do for my entire ward, meaning we do it for two days straight. We put on Christmas movies and do an assembly line with the littlest unwrapping kisses, mom and sister mixing dough, and the rest of us rolling the dough around the chocolate. Then we wrap each cookie in tin-foil, bag them, and deliver them around the neighborhood.

Last year we made over 1600. 

Sarah Allen

Christmas Made Easy, Part 1: Gift Shopping for Writers

This week, countdown week to Christmas, I'm going to feature a series of posts to hopefully take some of the stress and insanity out of the holiday season and bring things back to the fun and joyful side. First up, shopping for writers.

Really, writers are very easy to shop for. In fact, I'll just give you a list.

-Books. Always a good idea.
-Movies and music. Second to books, but a close second.
-Notebooks, pens, envelopes, stamps.
-Printer. Always need to print off stuff for editing and submissions.
-Time. (i.e. babysitting, cleaning, certificates to cafes, etc.)
-Fish or a turtle. Muses, you know.
-If not something live, a teddy bear. Someone to talk to. Or maybe that's just me.
-Plants. We need to get our oxygen somehow.

Not hard, right? Hope this helps!

Sarah Allen

Deja Vu Blogfest: Romance Movie Guide

This post is part of the Deja Vu blogfest. I was going to do something more writerly, but then I thought, heck, it's Friday.

Ok, so as long as we're being sentimental, I thought I'd give a list of what I think are well-written, well-done, happiness-inducing romance movies. In my opinion, these movies give good artistic lessons, as well as pure enjoyment.

-Sabrina (1995): This is one remake thats better then the original. Harrison Ford's Linus Larrabee seems suave, collected and calculating until we see how lonely and vulnerable he actually is. These secretly vulnerable characters are my favorite, which is one reason I adore this movie. Harrison Ford plays the balance of power and vulnerability perfectly, and may I add that he is incredibly appealing to look at, even as an aging business man. Julia Ormond is also fantastic, completely adorable, and her physical transformation in Paris always stuns me. She is beautiful and absolutely sweet. Greg Kinnear is also very charming and fun. All in all, a very well-done film.

-Moonstruck: I know, I know, it's Nicolas Cage, but don't let that dissuade you. I'd been reading about this movie in a screenwriting book, and then I found out Cher won the Oscar for best actress, and it was also nominated for best picture. Those factors outweighed the Nicolas Cage issue so I decided to watch it, and I was pleasantly blown away. Even Nicolas Cage gets it right in this movie. His "We're here to love the wrong people" monologue is so well-written, and Cage does a great job with it. Cher and Cage are wonderful together and the family is absolutely hilarious and heartwarming. This movie is very Italian and utterly delightful, which in this case may be the same thing. After you watch this movie, you won't be able to stop smiling. I'm smiling just thinking about it.

-Terms of Endearment: This movie comes with a warning--only watch it if you are prepared for heartbreaking, poignant, real life, exhilarating, stirring, Academy Award for Best Picture winning awesomeness. This is not a light movie. Hollywood doesn't come out with movies like this anymore, and it is an incredibly rewarding watch, but just be ready. The entire cast is phenomenal, Shirley MacLaine in particular. Her character is so incredibly real-life, and despite her crusty exterior, you can't help but love and feel for her. She has some wonderful scenes with Jack Nicholson, and the whole movie is incredibly well-written. Watch this movie. With a box of Kleenex.

-Much Ado About Nothing: This is a classic. Obviously a Shakespeare film is going to be well-written, but in this movie it almost feels like Kenneth Branagh shows you exactly how well-written it actually is. From the humorous to the poignant, he seems to show you exactly what Shakespeare was trying to say. His speech about what he is looking for in a woman is perfectly delivered, and shows how absolutely "guy" Benedick really is. His delivery shows the beauty and profundity in lines like "Serve God, love me, and mend." And then of course there is Emma Thompson, who is in no way outdone by Branagh. She is smart, beautiful, clever, and passionate. Like the movie itself.

-As Good As It Gets: This movie is utterly sweet. It is the story of two people with messed up lives who are finally able to accept solace in another person. Jack Nicholson's character is like many of us--someone who keeps messing things up for himself. He starts off on the right track, but then says something that ruins everything. But he keeps trying, and Helen Hunt keeps forgiving, and in the end they find out how much help, happiness, even love, they can get from each other. This movie has several classic lines, like "you make me want to be a better man." Enjoy the progress the characters go through, and let it progress you in your own screenwriting.

-Sense and Sensibility: Another classic. Emma Thompson shows her true brilliance in being able to not only act fabulously, but in also writing such a well-done adaptation of a Jane Austen classic. Every person in this movie does a fantastic job. What I love about Jane Austen movies, and this one in particular, is the characters who try so hard to be rational, logical and proper, and then have moments when they totally lose it. Emma Thompson has some great "losing it" moments. If you plan on or have seen this movie, don't miss this deleted scene.

Honorable Mentions:

Any other Jane Austen movie: Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion especially.
What Women Want
You've Got Mail
The First Wives Club

What do you all think? What have you learned artistically from these movies or any others? What movies would you add to this list?

Sarah Allen

Finalized (?) Plans for the Short Story Collection

So you know my short story collection idea?

First of all, I want to thank you all for your suggestions and support. There were a couple of you who said you'd buy the thing, so that plus my mother means I may sell three whole copies! But anyway, the point is that you guys are awesome and gave me some great ideas.

The final answer is yes, I'm going to publish a short story collection.

Here's what's going to happen:

First, there's going to be a bit of waiting, because all of my stories are in the slush piles of various magazines, and I need to wait for them to be rejected before I publish them myself. I could pull them from submission, but I kind of want to wait out this one last round of submissions and see how it goes. So it may be a while yet, but its coming.

Second, (which may actually get done before step one) is to get editing and cover design done. I happen to have a sister doing an editing minor and another sister who's an illustration major, so that works out pretty nicely for me. I'll have some other editing/writing/reading friends look it over too, so you can trust that the editing and cover art will be totally kick butt.

Third, release. The biggest bit of advice I've gotten so far is to release each story individually, and then as a collection for a higher price. I really like that advice, but I'm going to do a kind of a variation on a theme here. I'm not sure I want every story released individually, and I also like the idea of having the whole collection available for a pretty cheap price. Like I said before, this is about me getting out there and just being available rather than a huge marketing or money thing. So what I'm probably going to do is, as the stories start coming back from submissions, I'll pick one sample story and release it for free, and then when I'm ready release the whole collection for $1.99. That way I get the bonuses of multiple releases, plus I'm really, really available.

And there you have it. That is the plan. Sound like an okay one? More suggestions? There are other fun ideas floating around in my brain right now too, like other stand-alone $0.99 releases and POD options and other awesomeness. Definitely going traditional route with my novel, but I'm kind of loving the self-publishing party going on here and I hope it works out for me to do both. Even with my short stories, I'm self-publishing some and keeping a couple back for additional traditional (alliteration llama!) submissions. Both seems like a perfectly good idea to me.

As far as this specific collection goes, though...is this a good plan? Any advice on orchestrating a book release? I've been reading blogs and researching for a long time now, so I have a few ideas, but I need all the help I can get. I've got a few months to get get things planned right, but I've never done this before, the whole being published thing. So this will be an adventure.

Sarah Allen

Christmas Story Creative Writing Prompts

For fun:

Write about a reindeer other than Rudolph.

Write about the only present she didn't want.

Write about what elves do in the summer.

Write about the courtship of the Clauses.

Write about a Christmas tradition and where it came from.

Write about Christmas in China.

Write about Christmas at a fast food chain.

Write about Christmas from a pet's perspective.

Write about Scrooge from the Ghost of Christmas Past's perspective

Write about Christmas at a rest home.

Mix Christmas with another holiday, like Halloween or Valetine's or Presidents day.

Write about Santa in a ballet class.

Write about the sleigh stowaway.

Write about how Mrs. Clause spends Christmas Eve.
.
.
.
Any other ideas?

Sarah Allen

Self-publishing a Short Story Collection: Good Idea, Bad Idea?

Ok guys, here's what's going on. I've been writing pretty much my whole life, and writing seriously since my first creative writing class in seventh grade. We're not going to go into what my previous novel attempts have been like (hopefully the current one is going to change all that), but through all this time I've ended up with maybe a dozen short stories that I have confidence in, that I like, that I would be comfortable putting before the world with my name attatched.

And frankly, my dears, I'm ready to have something out there.

If that means waiting and working until my novel is done and ready to be sent forth, then that's that. But I couldn't sleep last night because I had this idea come to my head that I couldn't stop thinking about and over-analyzing and wondering why I hadn't thought of it before: why not take the stories I already have and publish them myself as a collection?

I would love to have even something small out there, as sort of a calling card. I would love to have something to offer all y'all so that you have some idea who I am as a writer. I would probably keep two or three stories back for further lit mag submissions, and then publish the rest (at least the ones that fit together) as a collection. I definitely plan to go the traditional publishing route for my novel, but best case scenario doing a short story collection now would get me readers and connections that would only help with that. And I could maybe even start making a little cash selling words, which would be fantabulous.

But. But. What if it backfires? What if people don't take me seriously afterwards? Is it a bad idea to start this way, and should I wait for the traditional route? I know short story collections never do particularly well, even traditionally published ones, and I'm okay with that because this would be more like a calling card, beginning sample type thing, like I said. I know, too, that self-publishing means doing my own marketing, and I feel like I'm ready, or at least anxious to try my strength as far as that goes. But what if I, heaven forbid, lose readers or potential connections because of it? I do have every confidence in these stories, and believe they represent my best work and who I am as a writer. But going without the traditional publishing filter still feels risky, no matter what I'm putting out there.

Perhaps it feels more risky because with self-publishing, whether it goes extremely well or extremely not, it all comes back to you. And with these stories and at this point, I feel like that's a risk I'm willing and ready and anxious to take...but I thought I'd get your thoughts first. I want to make sure I'm thinking this through thoroughly, seeing it from every angle, taking the most positively calculated risks.

So. A self-published short story collection. Good idea? Bad idea?

Sarah Allen

Happily Ever After

Who says we can't have it?

Who says religion doesn't apply?

Who says being in a church run by old men is a bad thing?

Who says they don't understand?

Who says stories don't tell the truth?

Who says German accents aren't attractive?

Who says General Conference is boring?

Who says being Mormon is restrictive?

Who says we can't be happy?

Not me.

Sarah Allen

Some David Hyde Pierce? I think so...

Just thought I'd share one of the greatest episodes of television in the history of the world. Especially the last scene. This episode is called 'Mixed Doubles' and I think its from season four. I don't think there's ever been a character quite as endearing as Niles Crane, but of course, we know that on this blog already, don't we?



Enjoy, and have a good weekend :)

Sarah Allen

Date a Girl Who Reads

"Date a girl who reads. Date a girl who spends her money on books instead of clothes. She has problems with closet space because she has too many books. Date a girl who has a list of books she wants to read, who has had a library card since she was twelve.

Find a girl who reads. You’ll know that she does because she will always have an unread book in her bag.She’s the one lovingly looking over the shelves in the bookstore, the one who quietly cries out when she finds the book she wants. You see the weird chick sniffing the pages of an old book in a second hand book shop? That’s the reader. They can never resist smelling the pages, especially when they are yellow.

She’s the girl reading while waiting in that coffee shop down the street. If you take a peek at her mug, the non-dairy creamer is floating on top because she’s kind of engrossed already. Lost in a world of the author’s making. Sit down. She might give you a glare, as most girls who read do not like to be interrupted. Ask her if she likes the book.

Buy her another cup of coffee.

Let her know what you really think of Murakami. See if she got through the first chapter of Fellowship. Understand that if she says she understood James Joyce’s Ulysses she’s just saying that to sound intelligent. Ask her if she loves Alice or she would like to be Alice.

It’s easy to date a girl who reads. Give her books for her birthday, for Christmas and for anniversaries. Give her the gift of words, in poetry, in song. Give her Neruda, Pound, Sexton, Cummings. Let her know that you understand that words are love. Understand that she knows the difference between books and reality but by god, she’s going to try to make her life a little like her favorite book. It will never be your fault if she does.

She has to give it a shot somehow.

Lie to her. If she understands syntax, she will understand your need to lie. Behind words are other things: motivation, value, nuance, dialogue. It will not be the end of the world.

Fail her. Because a girl who reads knows that failure always leads up to the climax. Because girls who understand that all things will come to end. That you can always write a sequel. That you can begin again and again and still be the hero. That life is meant to have a villain or two.

Why be frightened of everything that you are not? Girls who read understand that people, like characters, develop. Except in the Twilight series.

If you find a girl who reads, keep her close. When you find her up at 2 AM clutching a book to her chest and weeping, make her a cup of tea and hold her. You may lose her for a couple of hours but she will always come back to you. She’ll talk as if the characters in the book are real, because for a while, they always are.

You will propose on a hot air balloon. Or during a rock concert. Or very casually next time she’s sick. Over Skype.

You will smile so hard you will wonder why your heart hasn’t burst and bled out all over your chest yet. You will write the story of your lives, have kids with strange names and even stranger tastes. She will introduce your children to the Cat in the Hat and Aslan, maybe in thesame day. You will walk the winters of your old age together and she will recite Keats under her breath while you shake the snow off your boots.

Date a girl who reads because you deserve it. You deserve a girl who can give you the most colorful life imaginable. If you can only give her monotony, and stale hours and half-baked proposals, then you’re better off alone. If you want the world and the worlds beyond it, date a girl who reads.

Or better yet, date a girl who writes."
Source: The Monica Bird

How do they write like that?

There are some writers that make me ask that question a lot. Here are some examples of what I mean.

"Serve God, love me, and mend."
-William Shakespeare, "Much Ado About Nothing"

"Because nothing true can be said about God from a posture of defense."
"Night and light, silence and difficulty, it seemed to me always rigorous and good."
-Marianne Robinson, "Gilead"

"I was not good at drawing faces. I was just joking most of the time. I was not decisive in changing rooms or anywhere. I was so late because I was looking for flowers. I was just going through a tunnel whenever my mother called. I was not able to make toast without the radio. I was not able to tell if compliments were backhanded. I was not as tired as I said."
-Jonathan Safran Foer, "Here We Aren't, So Quickly"

"If we had a keen vision and feeling of all ordinary human life, it would be like hearing the grass grow and the squirrel's heart beat, and we should die of that roar which lies on the other side of silence."
-George Eliot, "Middlemarch"

"Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs."
-Norman Maclean, "A River Runs Through It"

"Think of the force of life, yes, but think of the component of darkness in it. One of the things that's in whale's milk is the promise of pain and death...I shall be richer all my life for this sorrow."
Wallace Stegner, "All the Little Live Things"

How brilliant are these people. Seriously. I mean, what does it take to be the kind of person who can write things like that? Inherent genius? Years and years of practice? An MFA?

It's not like I'm trying to write like someone else. I can only write like me, and that's that. And it's not like there's one guaranteed way to get to that level of poetic genius, or that there's even one set definition of what "genius" is. But still, these peoples writing blows me away, and I want to blow people away too. Or at least get as close as I can. Maybe just a little breeze, but something...

I guess its a combination of things: studying, practice, honesty, observation. And we just have to pray for the rest.

What do you think?

Sarah Allen

Christmas Giveaway, Amazon giftcards and all. Hooray!

Hello everyone :) So, in the spirit of December and because you all are just so awesome, I'd like to do a little giveaway with a little sum'n sum'n. Amazon gift cards, to be precise.

Its quite simple, really. All you have to do is be a follower of this blog. That's it. There are other ways to enter too that you can check out if you're really hankerin for some Amazon goodies. On the 23rd, just in time for Christmas, we'll pick one grand prize winner who will get a $15 gift card, and two others who will win a $5 Amazon gift card. That way you can get something cool for yourself that you really want.

So spread the word and feel the Amazonian love. Er...that didn't quite come out like I intended it...

Sarah Allen

Using my powers of sentimentality for good, and not for evil

"Sarah, Sarah, Sarah. Use your powers of sentimentality for good, not for evil."

My high school creative writing teacher said that to me once. I try. I really do. But sometimes its so hard to control myself, even when I want to.

I am an...lets use the word effusive (effervescent, exuberant) type of person. I get told to calm down a lot. And that translates heavily into writing, where the things that matter most to me in my stories are not the plot twists or elaborate settings, its the dig-down soul-searching heart-wrenching moments that happen inside the character.

And that's not such a bad thing in and of itself, I think the emotion has to be there for the story to reach people. But(and this is where it gets hard for me) they can't happen always all the time. Otherwise it gets sentimental (sappy, saccharine). You have to earn those emotionally climactic moments for them to stand out and be effective.

I know all this, and still have a hard time. It is much, much easier for me to make emotions happen than to make things happen, and that can make for very mushy writing. I'm grateful that my sentimental tendencies were pointed out to me at an early age by a wise and very helpful teacher, and I'm learning when to give in and when not to. But I guess my question is, how do I keep the emotion high when the scene is more action-oriented rather than emotion-oriented? How do I know when I've gone too far with the sentimentality?

When editing comes I know one of the things I'm going to be doing is adding action and concrete detail and draining some of the mush. Keeping my bad habits in mind as I write helps, but I know I'll need to go back and fix even more, and I'm getting pretty good at catching myself either as I write or afterwards. Don't worry, I'm not going to be putting out anything that hasn't been meticulously combed through by me and bunches of other people much smarter then me. They're the ones who can really act as my gauge.

So yeah, how do you find an emotional balance throughout every scene? What are your evil writer tendencies?

Sarah Allen

Occupy Wallstreet and the 99 Percent Movement: A Contribution in 2 Pages

It looked fun, so I did it my way. You know you want to do one too :)


Have a fabulous weekend!

Sarah Allen

December is the Bestest Month

I love December :) It seems like October and November went so fast they were almost never here, but I'm glad its December now anyway. There's just so much awesomeness in December. Christmas, The Osmond Family Christmas album (I know, I know, I'm such a Mormon), New Years Eve, my birthday. Snow isn't annoying yet. And I love the feeling of getting ready for a whole new year, and how it always feels like its going to be so much better than the one before. Which I really do think this year, because 2011 was rough. I'm expecting big things from 2012, and I don't just mean the Olympics.

I love the Olympics, especially gymnastics and ice-skating. I love midnight bowls of cold cereal. I love sitting in my room writing blog posts with the window open so my room gets really cold and then I shut the window and turn on the heat and snuggle in my blanket with my teddy bear. I love being 22, but I'm excited to be 23. I love snow, especially when I'm inside looking at it from the safety of a warm house. I love the word December. It's a cool word. I love polar bears. I love boots and coats and gloves, but not scarfs. I miss Postum (I know, I know, I'm such a Mormon). I love mountains with snow on them. I hate skiing, but I like ski lodges. I love icicles. I love count-downs, especially to Christmas. I love Clay Aiken and Barbra Streisand and David Archuleta and Josh Groban and Celine Dion doing Christmas on the radio. I like fireplaces and stockings. I like The Grinch with Jim Carey and Scrooge with Albert Finney. I love making Russian teacakes for two days straight with my family. I love being hijacked into my home wards Christmas pageant, even though I really don't. I love this:

What do you love about December?

Sarah Allen