E is for Empathy

If I had to pick one word to describe why I think writing (or theater, music, painting, photography, or any other kind of art) is important, that word would be empathy. In my mind, the greatest purpose of art is to help us understand and appreciate the feelings, thoughts and attitudes of another human being.

Think about it. After reading a good book you have a sense of someone else, through both the characters and the tone and voice of the author. We feel their pains and joys, and understand and sympathize with their flaws, sometimes major ones. If I met a greasy, creepy, rude, hook-nosed middle-aged man I would be nervous and antagonistic. But after reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, maybe not. I might try to understand.

Each book we read (each play we see, painting we view, song we hear) elicits an emotional response that helps us understand the emotions and thought process of others in a way we would not have been able to without that personal experience. We are so stuck in our own heads, and art is a way to help us out. I have not had experience with intense betrayal or rejection, but after Jennifer Hudson and Dreamgirls, I know better what it is and even a little bit what it feels like. If I had a friend get cheated on, this would help me empathize.

Another thing. If I was the one cheated on or betrayed, I would have seen it before, and might have some perspective. I would have seen someone cope, and know that coping is possible. Perhaps most importantly, I would know I wasn't alone. C. S. Lewis said, "We read to know we are not alone," and that is absolutely true. I am just beginning Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca, and already the main characters self-consciousness, self-doubt and feelings of inadequacy have helped me in my own struggles with those kinds of things. Every book gives you someone who understands.

And you can give it right back. Art helps us properly appreciate the good and understand the bad in others. This is why I think writing is such a noble profession. To create art that can make this connection between people, we have to be utterly and vulnerably honest with ourselves and get the gut core of our feelings and thoughts. Its hard to explain, but it puts a mirror up to the reader and the human race.

I know this is a bit philosophical, and a bit of a nebulous idea, but I hope it kind of makes sense. To put it as simply as I can, art is meant to help us understand each other. In that cause, happy writing :)

Sarah Allen

D is for Design

Its important. I'm mostly talking about web design here, with your social platform on things like blogs, Facebook, YouTube, etc. If people can't understand whats going on or your sites are inaccessible or unnavigable, they're not going to know what your all about let alone come back. Thats the beauty of Blogger and YouTube, which make clear, comprehensible design easy.

Although, adding flair and snazziness is still up to you. I'm obviously not much of a designer, and though I've tried to keep my sites from being confusing or muddled, I would love some ideas about adding a little sum'n sum'n. Pretty sure there are some cool sites to help personalize or beautify your sites, aren't there? I just don't know where to go, so ideas would be great. I've found some absolutely gorgeous blogs out there, and I'd love to know all your secrets :) One of my favorite examples of beautiful design is the website for the magazine Cavalier Literary Couture. Although they still haven't responded to a submission from September...whats up with that?

Anyway, best of luck your web designing. Keep things simple and clear and you, so that people can find you easily and like what they find. Happy writing!

Sarah Allen

C is for Cliche

They make your writing flat, uninteresting and impersonal, and yet come oh so easily. I feel like there are all kinds of cliches all around us every day. Avoiding them in our own work is what truly gives us our voice and makes us unique. There are some things I think can help us do just that.

Detail. I firmly believe detail is what makes the writer and grounds the reader in any story. Without detail the story means nothing. Here's what I mean. Compare:

Blake wanted her so bad it hurt

with

Blake ran over and over in his mind the lopsided dimples that deepened when she saw him, the way she shuffled through radio stations like a deck of cards and stood on her tip-toes at drinking fountains, and the merest whiff of the cinnamon vanilla scent of her hair put a constrictive pressure all around his ribcage.

Which is more interesting?

Research and experience. Know a lot (from books and personal experience) and get realistic in how you describe things. I once heard somewhere that some famous writer spent an hour looking at the faucet dripping so he could describe it for himself and not have to rely on anything trite and overused. Maybe we don't have to go that to those lengths, but you can bet that writers description of a faucet dripping was absolutely not cliche. Experience and read about everything you can. That way you can know for yourself and know what and how other people have written.

Be honest. No matter how painful it his, dig down until you get to the real gut emotional truth of something. Nothing genuinely true is cliche. Be honest with your characters, your story, and yourself. There are lots of ways to do this, too. Some writer pour their whole heart into something, whereas writers like Ernest Hemingway keep things incredibly gritty, stark and factual and let what they present do its own emotion invoking in the reader. Whatever works for you, but be honest.

Even being conscious of cliche helps you avoid it. Try the best you can, your writing will benefit greatly from it. Hope this helps, and happy writing!

Sarah Allen

B is for Bowie

So, I know David Bowie isn't everybody's cup of tea, and to be honest, up until recently he wasn't mine either. It's not that I ever didn't like him, I just thought he was a bit too strange for me. But here's the important thing: I always found him interesting and intriguing. He has a unique, dramatic style that just took a while to grow on me. And those eyes...

My path to Bowie love I think has some lessons for us writers. I had some limited exposure to Bowie as a kid through the movie Labyrinth, a cult classic if their ever was one. Even as a kid, the movie and Bowie himself were interesting and oddly appealing, but just not my groove. I got older, watched the movie a few more times and even listened to a few of his other songs. Still, interesting, but not something I wanted to put lots of time and energy into. Then recently, I was babysitting my little sister and she picked Labyrinth for our movie. It was then it all kind of culminated, and I realized the awesomeness, newness, talent and deep albeit strange attractiveness that was David Bowie. He is still not my typical thing, still not an easy jive for me, and I still have some getting used to as far as his music goes. The thing thats different, though, is that I want to get used to it. Even though it has taken time, Bowie has successfully drawn me in to being an official fan, and being willing to put in time, effort, even money to being a fan. He did this through being new, unique, and himself so that I was interested and attracted from the beginning, even if it took time to make me a full on groupie. And now, when I had one songs worth left on an old iTunes gift card, what did I pick? David Bowie.



So enjoy something unique and untypical today and see what it brings out in you. Happy writing!

Sarah Allen

A-Z: A is for Application

For those of you unaware of the A-Z blogging challenge, its an awesome blogfest hosted by Arlee Bird's Tossing it Out. The challenge is to blog Monday through Saturday, with posts themed A through Z. I've been trying to blog every single day, including Sundays, and this will provide some organization and motivation as far as that goes. It's not too late to sign up, if you're interested. So, for the letter A.

A is for Application.

Apply yourself. Get your butt in the chair and work. Make goals and work for them every day. Writing is fun and wonderful, but work still needs to be done. Applying yourself will truly make the difference between failure and success.

Apply to contests, magazines, agents editors. Submit your work, even though its scary. Get your poetry and short stories to some literary magazines, and even after rejection, keep it circulating out there. Submit your manuscript to agents and editors. Nobody can read you if you're not out there, and you miss all of the shots you don't take.

Apply your tools correctly. Writers have more responsibility for marketing these days then the ever have, so learn how to successfully use tools like Facebook, Twitter, blogs, even more niche sites like GoodReads, AuthorDen, Authonomy, any of those other writer network sites you can use for your benefit and that of your readers. And you don't have to do this all by yourself, either. Don't be scared to ask for help. If you have a brother who can do beautiful blog design, ask him if he'll help. Network with people, don't be shy. Correct application of all these tools will help you reach the largest number of readers.

Hope this helps! Tomorrow we'll talk about B...
Sarah Allen