TED Talks for Writers

Ok, so I know these are long. I really was going to come up with my own thoughts based on these three talks, but they're just too good not to pass on. If you have to wait till your boss isn't looking, or even till you're home later tonight, so be it. But watch. You won't regret it.

Andrew Stanton: Writer for Pixar

Amy Tan

Elizabeth Gilbert

Anyone else have some good TED talk recommendations, or just know of some good writerly vids?

Sarah Allen

How to stop yourself from dying your hair blue

So I don't know about you, but I'm pretty much one of the most impatient people ever. I get really, really antsy and stir-crazy when I know how I want something and it's...not that way. Combined with an Amazon sized stubborn streak, this leads to some pretty single-minded, bull-headed plowing forward.

However. Sometimes there's just nothing you can do but wait. When you're waiting to hear back from grad school, jobs, beta readers, agents, there's simply nothing you can do to speed up that process. I feel like I'm waiting on all the things right now, and sometimes it drives me crazy. Grad school, beta readers, jobs, the final spark for the next novel. All of it's up in the air, and sometimes I feel like pounding the desk and screaming "I need some instant gratification right now! Or at least some kind of win." I haven't even been waiting that long, really, for most of these things (except job...*le sigh*), but like I said. Impatient to the max.

But yeah, since there's really nothing we can do to make someone else go faster, we can only manage things on our end. This pent up ball of crazy wibbly wobbly waiting energy has been interesting...it's led to a spontaneous haircut (thought of dying my hair blue...but I'm blond...so green...yeah...) and a spontaneous $80 spree on art books and colored pencils and markers and a sketch book. I'm still working on finishing up edits for novel #1, and brainstorming/outlining novel #2, which is the next big project. But I've got to do something while I wait or I will go mad. So here are some ideas for side projects that I've come up with. Any of them sound interesting to you?

• Video: Oh the things YouTube has made possible. Everything from vlogging to interactive stories. Or audio-visual poetry and children's picture books. All things I've thought about and wondered if I'm crazy.
• Art: Anyone who's cracked open my sketch book can tell you I'm definitely no artist, but it's actually been super fun to just see what we can come up with. It's a very interesting mental exercise to use your hands in that way. Carpentry, sketching, painting, clothes-designing. I highly recommend it for the antsy pants.
• Photography: In a way a blend of the above, but also cool. Photoshop might be a worthwhile investment, and you could do some cool stuff with that plus superimposed poetry. 
• Music: This is the one I've dabbled in the least. I guess I'm more intimidated. I think trying my hand at lyrics would be awesome, but I wouldn't even know where to start with the music part. I can read music, but that's about it. So much for those 8 years of piano. But yeah, maybe this is one of your secret talents/passions that you can unleash for a little while.
• Mini writing projects: Still working on putting together that short story collection. Really that means waiting on the magazines to reject the rest of them, because I might as well give them a shot. More waiting, right? But still, this kind of project. Amazon and the Kindle has opened all sorts of options. If you have something you just really want to get out there, you can. I've actually considered starting work on a non-fiction book. (about having Turners Syndrome...we'll see).
• Real life cool things: Like auditioning for plays or volunteering at the local aquarium or animal shelter. Or visiting national parks or museums in the area.
• Gardening: Because it's spring and it's beautiful outside.

Anyway, these have got to tide us over, and really I think they could turn into some pretty cool things. What do you think? Do you need mini-projects too, and what are some other project ideas?

Sarah Allen

(Image Source)

Movie Review: The Hunger Games

No spoilers, don't worry.

So it's three in the morning and I just got back, so these thoughts are preliminary, scattered, and written on a very empty angry stomach, but I need to get my thoughts out.

Because guys, it was awesome. Really, really well done. Totally enthralling, and I literally jumped higher and screamed louder than I have ever in a movie before. You'll know which part I'm talking about.

YA dystopia is definitely an acquired taste for me, meaning it took prolonged exposure and conversation with friends (i.e. my roommates) who consider it their favorite genre, to convert me. I think it has something to do with my frequent difficulty in relating to the heroine in a lot of YA books, something to do with their being way awesomer and, to be honest, a little stupider than me. And given my propensity for older, slightly weathered, damaged men (see Aragorn; Snape; Edward Fairfax Rochester), it's probably not surprising that I don't usually find the teenage love interests, well, interesting. Hence my incredible difficulty in writing YA love interests, which actually only makes me want to give it a serious go at some point. But really, give me Mr. Darcy or Arthur Clennam any day.

Having said all that, I do legitimately love YA literature, and like I said, plan to try my hand at some point. And I really liked this movie. Yes, I'm coming back to it. Some slight awkward moments, (me and teenage romance...hmmmm), but also kind of hilarious. But mostly terrifying and scary. Not something to bring you're six year old to, obviously. Some fantastic acting (Stanley Tucci anyone?), good pacing, great graphics. Mostly I appreciated how well they kept to the source material. Actually one of the closest I've seen. It was fabulous to be sucked in like that, and we all were, let me tell you. This is why I love midnight showings. The crowd energy is tangible.

Anyone else go? Planning to? Once you see it let me know what you think.

Sarah Allen

Titles ideas from the notebook

I gather title ideas in the back of all my creative writing notebooks, and it's been a while since I've given a list of some of them. So here goes:

• Rise Ye Sunken Ships
• Lilith Don't Live Here
• Aftermath
• The Honey Union
• How To Land on the Moon
• How To Spy in French
• Refrigerated Voice
• Through the Clowns Mouth Darkly
• The Darker Side of Yodeling
• Blow with the Harmattan
• What I Really Learned at Traffic School
• The Boots My Mother Gave Me
• If Leaves Fell in Springtime
• This Time Not in Petticoats
• On a Solo Saxaphone
• The 9 1/2 wives of Oscar Pickendoom
• 13 Ways to Love a Black Boy

Hee hee, that was fun :) I like looking through my old notebooks, and titles are fun. Do you have any fun title ideas? Which of these do you like best, and what story ideas do they inspire?

Sarah Allen

Things To Do While Waiting for Beta Readers

It's happened guys. I haven't finished editing the whole book, but I'm done-ish with the first 16 chapters, and I had an oh-duh moment when I realized I could just send those chapters off to readers so they could start. So I did/am in the process of doing so. Meaning some people have them and some others will get them/be invited to get them soon. Gah! It is crazy guys. I wrote a novel that people are reading. Another former roommate came to visit my visiting former roommate and I came home from work and saw her reading my book on the couch and she was even distracted by it instead of talking to visiting roommate for a while and it made me smile and giddy and warm and !!!!!!!!!!!! inside.

Now comes the beta-reader wait. And since waiting can really suck, here are some ideas for what to do in the meantime, which may or may not come from personal experience:

• Flail and squee and dance around singing loudly to Wicked and Pocahontas and Smash.
• Read 'The Book Thief' in one day.
• Finish editing.
• Work on the cover and formatting of a short story collection to upload on Amazon once the rest of the stories get rejected from the magazines to which they are currently submitted.
• Think of fun/weird/random/plausible ideas for YouTube videos (marketing and creative outlet rolled into one) like audio-visual poetry or video children's books. Then realize that if you want this to be your own project and not have to rely/impose on anyone else you have to do the illustrations yourself. Spend more time deciding if that's possible/ridiculous/worth it.
• Spend inordinate amounts of time on Pinterest, IWasteSoMuchTime, and AccioBrain. Realize it's probably good that Pottermore isn't open yet.
• Re-watch series two of Sherlock
• Spend increasing amounts of time on QueryTracker and AgentQuery.
• Also the gym. Hopefully.
• Try hard to start or at least brainstorm novel #2.
• Freak out some more and try really hard not to bug the readers, at least not the ones who've only had it for a 24 hours.
• Look up pictures of Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston.
• Browse Craigslist, stressing and over-analyzing the best way to support yourself for the next year before you apply to grad school.
• More flailing and squeeing and trying not to bug.

So yeah. That's sort of what I'm thinking will happen for the next little while. Anyone else waiting on beta readers? What are your suggestions for making the wait more bearable?

Sarah Allen