tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-77342396844063100632024-02-07T08:43:10.537-08:00My Scribbles and InkAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783301584478246413noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7734239684406310063.post-67562508589550505592013-09-09T08:07:00.000-07:002013-09-10T21:43:44.429-07:00SCBWI Squam Lake Writer's Retreat - Day 1 - Voice Lessons<div id="yui_3_7_2_49_1378524203876_55" style="font-family: garamond, 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span id="yui_3_7_2_49_1378524203876_84">It's Friday, September 6, 2013. I'm here on the site of <a href="http://www.rdcsquam.com/" target="_blank">Rockywold-Deephaven Camps</a> in Holderness NH for the SCBWI Writer's Retreat </span>at Squam Lake, where On Golden Pond was filmed. I am deep deep in the woods. It's beautiful up here. It's dark out here at night. Really dark. No city lights, no street lights, no tv lights mucking up the sky. I forgot my flashlight. That nifty flashlight app on my phone helped some, but it's so dark here that the darkness has shadows.</div>
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Back in my room, writing this post, some animal is scritch-scratching on the roof over my bed. I'm too afraid to open my window and see what it is. I'll give it some time and pray that the animal settles down for the night or, even better, leaves.</div>
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Today we had an opportunity to submit a first page to be read aloud and then critiqued by the faculty: </div>
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<span id="yui_3_7_2_49_1378524203876_108"><a href="http://www.candlewick.com/authill.asp?b=Author&m=bio&id=1837&pix=y" target="_blank">Scott Nash</a> (illustrator & <a href="http://www.nashbox.com/" target="_blank">marketing guru</a>)</span></div>
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<span id="yui_3_7_2_49_1378524203876_111"><a href="http://johnmcusick.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">John Cusick</a> (writer & agent @ <a href="http://www.greenhouseliterary.com/index.php/site/about" target="_blank">Greenhouse Literary</a>)</span></div>
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<span id="yui_3_7_2_49_1378524203876_98"><a href="https://twitter.com/andrealmartin23" target="_blank">Andrea Martin</a> (associate editor at Harper Collins)</span></div>
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<span id="yui_3_7_2_49_1378524203876_116"><a href="http://www.lyndamullalyhunt.com/" target="_blank">Lynda Mullaly Hunt</a> (author)</span></div>
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<span id="yui_3_7_2_49_1378524203876_123">Wouldn't you know it, one of mine got picked. This one was a page from <i>The Other Side of Normal</i>, my YA about a dead homecoming queen hell-bent on winning back her crown.</span></div>
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<span id="yui_3_7_2_49_1378524203876_129">I received some interesting feedback from the panel. All of them said my writing is "very visual" and "sophisticated" (yay me!), that they "easily pictured the scene in slow motion," which they found "cool." John Cusick said "the images are fascinating." Andrea Martin said, "It sounds like this will be a fun book."</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK8gZDkiHgaHIwn0XJJChq3ZCSTd_-UejW_tuZkogBdUrGVKpzZAHHpMZDYQKDd-kjl7H_AWps7RsWh1_fkKeXCogNkjJ3DJ43bCWg47fr3-Xb7vpCtGsF__aL_RRTAaHb8QNYhtivLQo/s1600/fan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK8gZDkiHgaHIwn0XJJChq3ZCSTd_-UejW_tuZkogBdUrGVKpzZAHHpMZDYQKDd-kjl7H_AWps7RsWh1_fkKeXCogNkjJ3DJ43bCWg47fr3-Xb7vpCtGsF__aL_RRTAaHb8QNYhtivLQo/s200/fan.jpg" width="168" /></a></div>
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<span id="yui_3_7_2_49_1378524203876_167">And then the shit hit the fan. </span></div>
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3 out of 4 said that they wanted more voice so that they had a better sense of the main character. VOICE. I was laughing (crying) inside. Voice? Immediately, my MC let loose a torrent of verbal thrashing in my head. Then suddenly, she stopped. She stopped because these panel experts were unanimous in their opinion and they weren't kidding.<br />
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So, what the hell happened?</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiLKXkixeHmzyKfqVPcD2IT-0D5FW6filEkCuCxa7yJe3WbRRblC4yUsabCJeOwyLqJl5EgKKwTAEmeDH2NXdPZPOewsXO3GAS8pszafwJx2wVJM15Zw8rUWUPkf9PN6ZlymH1RqhLZVg/s1600/voice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiLKXkixeHmzyKfqVPcD2IT-0D5FW6filEkCuCxa7yJe3WbRRblC4yUsabCJeOwyLqJl5EgKKwTAEmeDH2NXdPZPOewsXO3GAS8pszafwJx2wVJM15Zw8rUWUPkf9PN6ZlymH1RqhLZVg/s1600/voice.jpg" /></a></div>
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1) Shock & Denial:</div>
<span style="font-family: garamond, 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Uh, yeah. First draft - bound to be some problems. Don't sweat it. </span><br />
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2) Pain & Guilt:<br />
I am so embarrassed! Why did I ever put my page in there to be read? Why did I <i>want</i> my page to be read? Here I am thinking I'm a good solid writer and *sniff* I was so wrong. I made a huge mistake giving up my other career.<br />
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3) Anger & Bargaining: </div>
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Wait a minute. This was so not my fault. Hearing what is written can be very different than reading what is written. If the speaker leaves out the pauses, skips the beats, doesn't emphasize italics, misses the taglines, and <i>doesn't read it like I would</i>... voice suffers. In other words, it wasn't the writer, it wasn't the listeners, it was the reader who didn't get voice - this was not my fault. It really wasn't.</div>
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4) Depression, Reflection, Loneliness:</div>
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This was not the reader's fault. This was not the listeners' fault. This was my fault. I now understand what they were saying and know for certain that this complete and total social and career embarrassment was absolutely, completely, and totally my fault. My page sucks. My writing sucks. I suck. Nobody likes the way I write. I'll never be a master writer. I'll never be a good enough conduit for these stories. And all these friends I made here? They're going to shun me.<br />
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5) The Upward Turn:<br />
Okay, I've taken a breath. I've calmed down. I've admitted to several people now that my first page was read. They're still friendly towards me. Sure, I was rejected, but not completely rejected. I'm starting to take this in stride. I'm looking over my notes. Really, this wasn't a complete disaster. I have a lot of material to work with. My writing has even improved since I first drafted this material. Why don't I give this scene another shot?<br />
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6) Reconstruction and Working Through:<br />
Oh, wow, this experience of having someone else read my work was damn near perfect instruction. It was like listening to an audiobook. I <i>love</i> listening to audiobooks. Someday my own novels will be available in that format. It's truly helpful to hear my writing spoken aloud BY SOMEONE ELSE BESIDES ME! I <i>know</i> how my characters sound. I can mimic their inflections when I say their lines. I can get their meaning and subtleties across just by the tone and rhythm of my voice. But random reader probably imagines a different voice than mine. She won't know my MC is an insecure schemer unless I <u>show it on the page</u>... and, gasp, even if I didn't do it here, I know I CAN DO THAT!<br />
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7) Acceptance and Hope:<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5X7djq4hGTxXUJgg4fiKXSDY2-jrXMWFDG8a_Lp4w9O_sAnKAcdPCuR1iJ_HUFxHZfefkzTjPJab8Gq1Dhg_LE50WKx9dD5VweEuRL9SpUT2DUE4tt7CfaXaXIK6lVTudwgnQhWNfF0w/s1600/fish+boomerang+muppet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5X7djq4hGTxXUJgg4fiKXSDY2-jrXMWFDG8a_Lp4w9O_sAnKAcdPCuR1iJ_HUFxHZfefkzTjPJab8Gq1Dhg_LE50WKx9dD5VweEuRL9SpUT2DUE4tt7CfaXaXIK6lVTudwgnQhWNfF0w/s1600/fish+boomerang+muppet.jpg" /></a>Okay, so this was both embarrassing and informative. I'm going to use what I've learned this weekend about myself, about the craft, and about the market, to improve my writing. What's more, I'm going to pay it forward and share a few pointers on voice, just in case you, dear reader, one day are slapped with a cold fish of similar feedback across your bright innocent cheeks.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Basically, <span style="color: #bf9000;"><b>voice in a nutshell</b></span> is the opinions and commentary of the POV character. Scenes should be filtered through this person's POV and emotions. Example: You know those annoying people who have an opinion on like EVERYTHING, yah well, ding ding ding, that's what the market wants. <span style="color: magenta;"><b>Especially include opinions on things that matter to the MC, the things she pauses and especially fixates on, those are key.</b></span> EMOTE. Have feelings. In other words, <span style="color: #bf9000;"><b>show why your POV character is nuts.</b></span></span></div>
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What's next for me?</div>
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Well, that animal on my roof has settled down for the night. It's freaking freezing here in the woods, so I'm going to double up my socks and snuggle down in my bed with all the covers. I'll probably dream of highlighters finding all those places where my MC might show her particular brand of insanity. She's going to love that. I have a premonition that my readers will, too.<br />
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What about you? Ever get slapped in the face with a cold wet fish? In other words, do you ever struggle with voice in your writing? How willing are you to wave your crazy flag?</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783301584478246413noreply@blogger.com0Holderness, NH, USA43.7320175 -71.58840950000001243.548477 -71.911133 43.915558 -71.265686000000017tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7734239684406310063.post-36993154481942972012013-07-27T22:21:00.002-07:002014-10-08T10:36:34.579-07:00Pain Builds CharacterI found this wonderful guide on Darcy Patterson's Fict!on Notes blog where she makes the point that emotional pain creates strong stories. Darcy took the visual pain scale commonly displayed on hospital walls and compared it to how much pain a character should be feeling at any point in a novel.<br />
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You can find her post here:<br />
<a href="http://www.darcypattison.com/characters/are-you-in-pain/" target="_blank">http://www.darcypattison.com/characters/are-you-in-pain/</a><br />
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Darcy has some great ideas and I've taken plenty of liberties with them.<br />
Here's a variation on the visual guide Darcy used, and my take on it...<br />
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<b><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: large;">Assess the Pain</span></b><br />
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<b>No pain.</b> If your character, especially your main character, is feeling no pain, you ain't got a story my friend.<br />
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<b>Mild pain.</b> You can start here when you're introducing your main character (MC) and her problem. You can end here, too, with tying up story threads and smoothing over residual pain. But when you move on, remember that meaty middle needs some punch!<br />
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<b>Moderate pain.</b> Your MC wants something but obstacles crop up that interfere with your MC obtaining her goal. You punch her in the gut. She's surprised. She's annoyed. She's frustrated. She's angry. She's holding her breath because <i><b>she's afraid</b></i>. <span style="color: magenta;"><b>Did you know fear is another word for emotional pain?</b></span> Yep. By invading her personal space, her physical and/or non-physical boundaries, you've introduced some primal fear. Tap into that pain and pay attention to how she reacts.<br />
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You can read more about fear and creating a character's emotional arc in my May 2012 posts, starting here: <a href="http://myscribblesandink.blogspot.com/2012/05/introducing-eight-stages-of-emotional.html" target="_blank">Identifying a Character's Emotional Arc</a><br />
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N.B., If you find your action is fury fast, be sure to provide your readers with breathing space by contrasting the active stress with some emotional rest.<br />
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<b>Severe pain.</b> Consider yourself a knife thrower. Your MC experiences severe pain when you throw a knife in her shoulder and then walk over and twist it. I'll bet your MC is wondering what the heck just happened. Then maybe she's panicking. It's crisis time. Oh, wait, there's another knife in the air and she forgot to duck. Zing! Struck again.<br />
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<b>Worst pain.</b> @#$% the knife is heading for her heart! Nothing motivates a character more than facing death. The death of her. The death of a loved one. The death of her dream. The death of her ideals. You get the picture. You are now at the <u>climax</u> of the story. Your MC's animal instincts kick in and she's in fight or flight mode. Either way, she can't take the pain anymore and something big has to happen. There must be some resolution, like maybe now she's the knife thrower and you're the target. Jeesh! Seriously though, most people in pain must find a release. For some people, that means taking it out on someone else. How does your MC react to the worst pain ever?<br />
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<b><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: large;">Pain in Perspective</span></b><br />
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So, let's put this pain scale in perspective. Don't throw knives at young children. What I mean to say is picture books don't need such an intense level of pain. Young children cry when something is taken away from them. Losing control over an object can elicit painful responses. Really, melt their ice cream cone, and that's about the level of intense emotion you want to aim for.<br />
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For a middle grade child, emotional pain becomes more personal and now maybe they've fear losing or have lost a friend, or a pet, or a teacher. Or, maybe they're the teacher's pet and they fear losing their status.<br />
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Young adult and beyond, even more personal, they're losing their self-identity. They thought they were a certain kind of person and now they're not so sure. Then BAM! now they're doing something they never thought they'd do and who does this make them now? Can they ever go back? Do they want to?<br />
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<b><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: large;">Painful POV</span></b><br />
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If you're having trouble figuring out point-of-view for your story, examine the key points in your story and find the character who is in the most pain. If you consistently find a secondary character in more pain than your protagonist, consider switching point-of-view. And, if you find characters in no pain or in only mild pain, refer to the chart above! Those characters can and will be ignored, so either delete them or figure out how to inflict some emotional pain on them.<br />
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Do you find the pain assessment tool useful for planning and/or reviewing your MC's emotional arc? As a writer, are you mean enough? I look forward to reading all about how you torture your characters. <b><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Leave your comments below.</span></b>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783301584478246413noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7734239684406310063.post-46735199995468270302013-06-18T18:27:00.002-07:002013-06-18T18:27:43.883-07:00Some recent reviews of books I've read...<br />
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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/2608124-melissa?shelf=read&utm_medium=api&utm_source=custom_widget" style="text-decoration: none;">Melissa's bookshelf: read</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/645156487?utm_medium=api&utm_source=custom_widget" title="Eleanor and Park"><img alt="Eleanor and Park" border="0" src="http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1345685973s/15795357.jpg" /></a></div>
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<img alt="5 of 5 stars" class=" staticStars" src="//www.goodreads.com/images/layout/stars/red_star_5_of_5.png" title="5 of 5 stars, it was amazing" /></div>
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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/645156487?utm_medium=api&utm_source=custom_widget">Eleanor and Park</a></div>
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by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4208569.Rainbow_Rowell">Rainbow Rowell</a></div>
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This has to be one of the best books about teenage love I have ever read. Ever. The emotions are so honest, immediate and vulnerable that they practically render themselves sacred. I was so wrapped up in their story, I put aside everythi...</div>
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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/605233410?utm_medium=api&utm_source=custom_widget" title="Mink River"><img alt="Mink River" border="0" src="http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328774549s/9250050.jpg" /></a></div>
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<img alt="5 of 5 stars" class=" staticStars" src="//www.goodreads.com/images/layout/stars/red_star_5_of_5.png" title="5 of 5 stars, it was amazing" /></div>
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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/605233410?utm_medium=api&utm_source=custom_widget">Mink River</a></div>
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by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4473390.Brian_Doyle">Brian Doyle</a></div>
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Achingly beautiful. This is one of those books that I just can't read in one sitting. Brian Doyle has stepped into my life as a favorite author. An author who speaks to my heart and my truth, his prose is elegant and easy and beautiful. ...</div>
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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/497130459?utm_medium=api&utm_source=custom_widget" title="Women Food and God: An Unexpected Path to Almost Everything"><img alt="Women Food and God: An Unexpected Path to Almost Everything" border="0" src="http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347857200s/6758423.jpg" /></a></div>
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<img alt="4 of 5 stars" class=" staticStars" src="//www.goodreads.com/images/layout/stars/red_star_4_of_5.png" title="4 of 5 stars, really liked it" /></div>
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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/497130459?utm_medium=api&utm_source=custom_widget">Women Food and God: An Unexpected Path to Almost Everything</a></div>
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by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3370.Geneen_Roth">Geneen Roth</a></div>
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tagged:<br />
spirituality, self-help, and non-fiction</div>
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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/491726877?utm_medium=api&utm_source=custom_widget" title="The Dovekeepers"><img alt="The Dovekeepers" border="0" src="http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1306253903s/10950924.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="gr_custom_rating_1371604833">
<img alt="5 of 5 stars" class=" staticStars" src="//www.goodreads.com/images/layout/stars/red_star_5_of_5.png" title="5 of 5 stars, it was amazing" /></div>
<div class="gr_custom_title_1371604833">
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/491726877?utm_medium=api&utm_source=custom_widget">The Dovekeepers</a></div>
<div class="gr_custom_author_1371604833">
by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3502.Alice_Hoffman">Alice Hoffman</a></div>
<div class="gr_custom_review_1371604833">
The Dovekeepers is a historical novel blown through by the winds of ancient Jewish and Egyptian magic and mysticism. The setting is ancient Judea in 70 C.E., a time of Roman domination and pogroms against the Jews. The story traces four ...</div>
<div class="gr_custom_tags_1371604833">
tagged:<br />
historical-fiction and supernatural</div>
</div>
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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/491727522?utm_medium=api&utm_source=custom_widget" title="Sacré Bleu: A Comedy d'Art"><img alt="Sacré Bleu: A Comedy d'Art" border="0" src="http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1331321350s/7743117.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="gr_custom_rating_1371604833">
<img alt="5 of 5 stars" class=" staticStars" src="//www.goodreads.com/images/layout/stars/red_star_5_of_5.png" title="5 of 5 stars, it was amazing" /></div>
<div class="gr_custom_title_1371604833">
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/491727522?utm_medium=api&utm_source=custom_widget">Sacré Bleu: A Comedy d'Art</a></div>
<div class="gr_custom_author_1371604833">
by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16218.Christopher_Moore">Christopher Moore</a></div>
<div class="gr_custom_review_1371604833">
Christopher Moore is one of my writer heroes. Nothing is better than a writer who is courageous enough to challenge themselves to improve their craft and not bend to industry standards. Here again, we find multiple POVs and a roster seco...</div>
<div class="gr_custom_tags_1371604833">
tagged:<br />
historical-fiction and supernatural</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783301584478246413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7734239684406310063.post-9618629417914616042013-05-02T09:39:00.002-07:002013-05-02T09:39:12.163-07:00What is this sh!t?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoV1xRHkL-Rt4LX5e2thwnaF9WewJOUPGvJlJ6bH1yGvrHtPrH7sn5Q8PtejxzO_j533FGOQHHyFpLotXKIuy27926PKH5RQtjmFELsaHQiVbBQt4Iuce_vEQCmbnv1SoZi5rYMQxVRj4/s1600/sunflower.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoV1xRHkL-Rt4LX5e2thwnaF9WewJOUPGvJlJ6bH1yGvrHtPrH7sn5Q8PtejxzO_j533FGOQHHyFpLotXKIuy27926PKH5RQtjmFELsaHQiVbBQt4Iuce_vEQCmbnv1SoZi5rYMQxVRj4/s320/sunflower.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
I've been an organic gardener longer than I've recognized that I'm a writer. I've gardened in front yards, side yards, backyards. In my hubris I've grown sunflowers on a balcony in Switzerland overlooking an enormous field of sunflowers. I've even guerrilla gardened, which, for the uninitiated, is not growing guerrillas but rather gardening in random public areas that need a bit of pretty.<br />
<br />
I've smiled, laughed, cried, gone numb, shouted in complete frustration, and fallen in love in my garden. When the garden's in full bloom, I pass the time weeding and watering, rapt with attention to every leaf and bloom, fruit, veg, herb, insect, and bird, and I often think about my latest WIP and feel my way through how the next scene wants to play out.<br />
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Now, early May, my garden is not in full bloom. It's lying there sleeping under a very thick layer of composted cow manure reminding me of the story I'm working on. That story, like my garden, is lean and mean and right now buried under a thick layer of bullsh!t author insecurity because I've changed my writing method from channeled download to structure structure structure and, true to her personality, my main character stubbornly veers off course between my fingerfalls on the keyboard.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1iCQjGIyvVKTl7RsEunuIDZYdXv9eboIa6HgpXFdvPvRQWPC7YBfgRToVzlBl8KH79w0wOFhm-g4T7huVlQzTdBY4JkhODq8h06P9vKb8uvSCfO6I-WF5bpNMLO6tXrlIZ0wuXJPAWRw/s1600/c92f1960707cd97571ab0513750ded0e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1iCQjGIyvVKTl7RsEunuIDZYdXv9eboIa6HgpXFdvPvRQWPC7YBfgRToVzlBl8KH79w0wOFhm-g4T7huVlQzTdBY4JkhODq8h06P9vKb8uvSCfO6I-WF5bpNMLO6tXrlIZ0wuXJPAWRw/s320/c92f1960707cd97571ab0513750ded0e.jpg" width="151" /></a>Back to my garden. I thought I was doing my garden a favor. Years ago, in another garden, I did this very thing, adding composted manure to my garden, or so I thought. Now my memory comes back that years ago that composted manure was mixed with topsoil before I laid it on my garden beds. This recent delivery of cow manure is simply composted cow manure from organically fed cows. There's minimal smell and it is indeed composted, but it's also thick and solid and mixed with hay or straw or some other unwieldy long grass that winds around the tiller blades and grinds them to a halt. Plus, there's such a thick layer of cow manure that I cannot reach the soil underneath. That sh!t is so thick I can't even hack my way through it.</div>
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If it were a writing/editing exercise, I'd offload it onto a separate document or maybe just delete the whole sh!tload of it and start again. It's not a writing exercise though. It's my garden space. Maybe there's a lesson in here. Maybe in my writing I'm expecting too much perfection from a first draft. <br />
<br />
Or maybe, next time, I'll get my compost from a modern unicorn and my stories will write themselves.</div>
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For more information on organic gardening, go here: <a href="http://www.organicgardening.com/" target="_blank">http://www.organicgardening.com/</a><br />
For more information on guerrilla gardening, go here: <a href="http://www.guerrillagardening.org/">http://www.guerrillagardening.org/</a><br />
For more information on a 1936 modern unicorn, go here: <a href="http://blog.modernmechanix.com/bull-with-single-horn-is-modern-unicorn/">http://blog.modernmechanix.com/bull-with-single-horn-is-modern-unicorn/</a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783301584478246413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7734239684406310063.post-59659356242059985662013-02-01T19:18:00.001-08:002013-02-01T19:22:06.248-08:00Find Me<div>
My library overfloweth.<br />
<br />
I have 8 bookcases with double deep rows of books, read and unread, plus tippy "read this soon" bedside stacks, a well-worn public library card, a Sony e-reader, a Nook, and a Kindle.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Find me and my reviews here: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/2608124-melissa" target="_blank">Melissa's Goodreads</a></div>
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<br /></div>
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If there are any good reads you're reading, do share!<br />
<br />
What are you reading now?</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783301584478246413noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7734239684406310063.post-90646931097382390022013-02-01T18:50:00.000-08:002013-02-01T19:17:54.626-08:00If- by Rudyard Kipling<br />
<h1 style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif; font-size: 26px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 24px;">Writing, to me, is a way to experience life through another lens. I push my characters to the brink of disaster and then allow them to fall over the edge. Why? Because I want to know how they react. Under that, I want to know how I might react if I were them and then measure it against what I feel would be true for me in the same situation. Of course, inherent in writing fiction and probably in examining our own lives and comparing them to someone else's is that false sense of self. Sometimes we can't see our own faults, and we don't recognize our own blessings. With that in mind, I'll leave you with the words of Rudyard Kipling, and the encouragement to build scenes that test your characters' morals and their dreams of leading meaningful lives.</span></h1>
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<span style="font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></div>
<h1 style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif; font-size: 26px; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px;">
If-</h1>
<h4 style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;">
<em>By Rudyard Kipling</em></h4>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px 0px 15px;">
If you can keep your head when all about you<br />
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,<br />
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,<br />
But make allowance for their doubting too;<br />
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,<br />
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,<br />
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,<br />
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px 0px 15px;">
If you can dream – and not make dreams your master;<br />
If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim;<br />
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster<br />
And treat those two impostors just the same;<br />
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken<br />
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,<br />
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,<br />
And stoop and build ‘em up with worn-out tools:</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px 0px 15px;">
If you can make one heap of all your winnings<br />
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,<br />
And lose, and start again at your beginnings<br />
And never breathe a word about your loss;<br />
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew<br />
To serve your turn long after they are gone,<br />
And so hold on when there is nothing in you<br />
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px 0px 15px;">
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,<br />
‘ Or walk with Kings – nor lose the common touch,<br />
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,<br />
If all men count with you, but none too much;<br />
If you can fill the unforgiving minute<br />
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,<br />
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,<br />
And – which is more – you’ll be a Man, my son!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783301584478246413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7734239684406310063.post-89433971428550433222012-12-05T18:24:00.000-08:002013-02-01T19:23:51.112-08:00Big Life Drama Moments<div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEGpbLyVEnfdTqDvjVHRZWNfVVLakimunR2BUjGp9yUDI9RL3DvSJ1hRaSCNq_iqHT92N1P5GtwgmtUoIgpuEkHEJulU_h-noiqNf_6J29iZBnNZ51pWRkNNPmOYlw7OlBF8IOCnmNN5U/s1600/good+grief.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEGpbLyVEnfdTqDvjVHRZWNfVVLakimunR2BUjGp9yUDI9RL3DvSJ1hRaSCNq_iqHT92N1P5GtwgmtUoIgpuEkHEJulU_h-noiqNf_6J29iZBnNZ51pWRkNNPmOYlw7OlBF8IOCnmNN5U/s1600/good+grief.jpeg" /></a>I experienced a major life change last month. Actually, the whole of 2012 was a bit of a challenge. My mother moved in last January, suffering from serious health issues that were quite mysterious, mostly painful, exhausting, and frustrating for her, me, and the rest of my family (meaning, my husband and 2 kids - no one else, I'm an only child). Typical of our relationship, my mother and I clashed and bashed as only alpha mothers and alpha daughters can do in times of unyielding I-don't-know-what-the-heck-to-do-nowness and I found myself in the odd position of trying to take care of my mother, and protect my kids from all the drama.<br />
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In my world, when someone I love is suffering, it can really set me off-kilter. And the bratty me that never wants to grow up is stubborn about not wanting to reverse roles with my mother. For the adult me, not knowing why someone is suffering, why they can't help themselves, why I can't help them, consumes my patience like a half-starved wolf. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi-H2SIVQt1ni2f0Oky5hnZ5oB7y_eKw7MFyWCpTLpYi2krvxwWkmsqyu1RF7WbRfbsTBuS_xlMJm8Dh2JszuNdKox3I5SbxNFFdwG1ePQW2arRiTDlJC1GwaP52O9PY8-mDWjaBF19Nk/s1600/wolf+bay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi-H2SIVQt1ni2f0Oky5hnZ5oB7y_eKw7MFyWCpTLpYi2krvxwWkmsqyu1RF7WbRfbsTBuS_xlMJm8Dh2JszuNdKox3I5SbxNFFdwG1ePQW2arRiTDlJC1GwaP52O9PY8-mDWjaBF19Nk/s200/wolf+bay.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
September 2012 rolled around and after a sudden kidney failure, she finally had a diagnosis thanks to the persistent efforts of the medical team at Beth Israel Deaconess: stage 4 Hodgkins Lymphoma. Normally HL is treated with high success rates, but as my mother had been struggling with symptoms for six years, she had a steeper hill to climb and pretty soon that hill became a mountain. She passed away on November 6, 2012.</div>
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My mom's passing <strike>was</strike> is tough, and it came too quickly after my father's passing in 2008. Remarkably though, my years of studying emotional character arcs and universal story arcs for both my writing and my healing practices have served me well in real life. I've learned that big life drama moments aren't meant to suck us down into an abyss of sorrow or anger. These moments are in our lives to teach us about ourselves, about life, and about the magic fabric that ties all of our hopes and dreams together. If we, once in a while, allow ourselves to step back from the immediate experience and observe how we deal with crisis, we can mine the experience as something more than just a tragedy. It might even make for a good story someday!<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: purple; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">w</span><i><span style="color: #0b5394;">h</span></i><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">a</span><span style="color: #38761d;">t</span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">'</span><i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">s</span></i> <i><span style="color: #38761d;">y</span></i><span style="color: #e69138; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">o</span><i><span style="color: blue;">u</span></i><span style="color: #674ea7;">r</span> s<i><span style="color: purple; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">t</span><span style="color: #cc0000;">o</span></i><span style="color: #e69138;">r</span><i><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">y</span></i><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>?</i></span></span></b></div>
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My experience with my mom's illness, her diagnosis, her treatment, and her death has transformed me into something more than I once was. More compassionate, more loving, more understanding, more filled with awe, more at peace. While I don't recommend you all go out and get yourselves a life-or-death circumstance, I do wish for you (and your characters, for all you writers out there!) to find the courage it takes to <i>free yourself from your beliefs about what an experience should be</i>, so that you may <u>discover the transformative experience that it really is</u>. </div>
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Blessings to you in 2013 and happy writing!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783301584478246413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7734239684406310063.post-80926664293001057852012-09-16T19:47:00.001-07:002012-09-16T19:47:26.518-07:00September MagicIt's September. A new year for school. A new year in the Jewish calendar. Time to buckle down. In the spirit of new pencils and pens, apples and honey, I'm making myself a promise. I'm going to go full-steam ahead and finish the final round of edits of my upper MG fantasy novel in the next two weeks.<br />
<br />
<br />
I'm almost there. I can taste success in the wind (or at least smell the apple pie in the oven). Let's see, this is about my 7th round of edits. I'm on page 193 of a 270 page manuscript and I finally have a brilliant idea for how to fix my first chapter to reach out and grab my reader friend's nose and pick it. You read it here: For the first time ever - it is possible to pick your nose, pick your friends, and now even pick your friend's nose. Satisfying, isn't it?<br />
<br />
<br />
If you knew me and the current state of chaos in my life, you'd probably think I'm crazy to set this deadline for myself. Take this week for instance: my went into the ICU and requires daily visits, both daughters have colds, my dog is rolling around in something stinkerific in the backyard, I'm waaaaay behind planning a bat mitzvah (as in, not even started), my front stairs are torn up, there's some weird emergency light shining on my car dashboard, and oh yeah, housekeeping got bumped down to Z priority (obvious!).<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidgfUZdKXCbe8kwUo3IKgJwKKo3VAZtLCBvBOPtHkojRRzFRgCbnqnkrftnZv4Dkv9wsil3WFmd_ytVseKcvafiKeECSnLOC368FeV0y34t1mO2P7sK9N4GUwmNnLEJcZAKjdRDiWimEs/s1600/magic-wand.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidgfUZdKXCbe8kwUo3IKgJwKKo3VAZtLCBvBOPtHkojRRzFRgCbnqnkrftnZv4Dkv9wsil3WFmd_ytVseKcvafiKeECSnLOC368FeV0y34t1mO2P7sK9N4GUwmNnLEJcZAKjdRDiWimEs/s200/magic-wand.gif" width="154" /></span></a><br />
<br />
If you know me well, you'll realize that I thrive in chaos like this. Seriously. I am the eye in the storm. I <b><i>will</i></b> meet my deadline. How will I manage? A whole lot of willpower and a sprinkle of magic. <br />
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Love you! Now go work your own magic.<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783301584478246413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7734239684406310063.post-33163164533705624312012-08-12T21:19:00.001-07:002012-08-12T21:21:04.850-07:00WriteOnCon - to post or not to post<script src="http://cdn.widgetserver.com/syndication/subscriber/InsertWidget.js" type="text/javascript"></script><script type="text/javascript">if (WIDGETBOX) WIDGETBOX.renderWidget('e3746005-2fa5-4863-a1ef-82bf84a88eec');</script><br />
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<br />
Once again I'm participating in <a href="http://writeoncon.com/" target="_blank">WriteOnCon</a>. For those of you who don't know about it, it's a TOTALLY FREE online writers' conference for kid lit. Registration is free. Participation is free. Lurking is free. Exposure to industry professionals is free. Critiques are free. It's all free. Did I say free? Yes, I did!<br />
<br />
Basically in all my spare time this Tuesday and Wednesday, I'll be sitting on my coccyx in front of my computer and absorbing information like a sponge. Hopefully, I'll make a few friends along the way.<br />
<br />
Obvs, I'm excited about the conference. So, now why have I been debating whether to post my QL and first 250/450 pages? It's like the blind-date jitters, I guess, and the reasons basically center around self-esteem (i.e., how bad do I suck as a writer?). <br />
<br />
It's weird that this fear of being seen peeks its ugly head in my room right now when opportunity is pinging on my computer screen. Seriously, why doesn't my fear have any logic? And why have my friends been asking today about the saboteur archetype as defined by the brilliant Caroline Myss?<br />
<br />
Saboteur - sabotage. Fear gives rise to self-sabotage. Oh.<br />
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Best not to let irrational fear get in my way. My writing has stood naked in front of my critique groups already and survived without coloring me permanently pink from embarrassment.<br />
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So, what am I going to do?? Plan of attack. <br />
1) Troll through other people's writing;<br />
2) Leave some critiques. <br />
3) Breathe<br />
4) Post QL. <br />
5) Enjoy<br />
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Participating in WriteOnCon 2012? Friend me! user name: <a href="http://writeoncon.com/forum/member.php?4891-petrichor" target="_blank">petrichor</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783301584478246413noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7734239684406310063.post-65449145133494622662012-06-07T13:53:00.001-07:002012-06-07T14:00:50.306-07:00It stuck in my brain and spoke!<br />
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A funny thing happened today while I was reading my writing partner <a href="http://georgeanthonykulz.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">George Kulz's blog</a>. George enters lots of writing contests. One that he entered twice back in May was at <a href="http://genniferalbin.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Gennifer Albin's blog</a>. </div>
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Gennifer posted a series of images and asked readers to post a caption of 150 words or less. The contest winner was awarded critique of their query letter by Gennifer's literary agent, Mollie Glick of <a href="http://www.foundrymedia.com/index.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Foundry Literary and Media</a>.</div>
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Today is well past May, obvs. Didn't matter to me. One of the images, the one to the left of this post, stuck in my brain and spoke. So, what the hey, I wrote down the words and hit submit. Sometimes inspiration grabs hold and shakes the words loose!</div>
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For Gennifer's blog and my (late) entry, check out: <a href="http://genniferalbin.com/agentversary-entry-day-5/">http://genniferalbin.com/agentversary-entry-day-5/</a></div>
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Mine is the seventh entry. My writing partner George's entry is the first.</div>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783301584478246413noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7734239684406310063.post-83143447146832831142012-05-21T13:53:00.001-07:002012-05-21T14:26:14.641-07:00Creating an Emotional Arc: Stages 5 - 8<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://encrypted-tbn2.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR8VNqgpLpQ7gsJvi7HHjazjEikTv3eRVuaUiQP1XaBhkUZGSMY" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://encrypted-tbn2.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR8VNqgpLpQ7gsJvi7HHjazjEikTv3eRVuaUiQP1XaBhkUZGSMY" width="161" /></a><i><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;">Mirror mirror on the wall: <br />
how to be the most inspiring kick-ass character of them all.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">A lot of writers will end an emotional arc at stage 4, with the main character confronting and then defeating the mean evil dude, tag on a quick conclusion and call it a victory. An ending like this is exciting and something we know and anticipate as readers. It’s also a technique that’s handy for carrying your emotional arc through a book series until its resolution in the final installment. For more on </span><a href="http://myscribblesandink.blogspot.com/2012/05/creating-characters-emotional-arc-in.html" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">stages 1-4, see my earlier post</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://encrypted-tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT5s5fKhd7kvUwPwnoXIAl9vO-WeNoEaMLwUm-pftQfkhkv55UMUQ" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://encrypted-tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT5s5fKhd7kvUwPwnoXIAl9vO-WeNoEaMLwUm-pftQfkhkv55UMUQ" /></span></a><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Using the Harry Potter books by way of example, I wasn’t particularly surprised about the endings in books 1-6, but I felt a large measure of satisfaction about them because good triumphed over evil. Still, something emotional was left unresolved, and I felt that emptiness both as a reader (and as a movie-goer) because Harry was a more tortured soul with each consecutive book in the series. J.K. Rowling finally and inevitably addresses Harry’s soul in book 7 when Harry is, at last, able to clear his emotional traumas so that healing can begin. We know Harry’s been able to heal because at last he is confident and his personal boundaries are solid when he stands on the platform and waves goodbye to his children aboard the Hogwarts Express.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">As difficult as it is to leave Harry Potter aside, let’s pick up where we left off running through the 8 stages in clearing emotional trauma. (1) Something happened that (2) angers our character and makes her feel threatened, so she (3) takes her anger out on other people – blaming them, because if it weren’t for them she wouldn’t feel like she does now. (4) She gets so angry that she works up the courage to confront the person who did her wrong and battles them. Maybe she raises her voice, maybe she swears, maybe she even goes ninja on the villain! Now the dust settles and she’s standing amid the aftermath of stage 4. Where does she go from here? <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">5. Finding the mirror</span></h3>
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Up until now, our character’s anger has motivated her to seek retribution and justice. Her most natural human reaction now would be to justify her actions by believing that she’s right, that she’s in the right, that she has the right, that the other is just plain wrong. She's trounced the villain and now some might already call her a hero, but not me. I want her to inspire our readers, so we dare her to reach stage five and look beyond her own self and consider that the villain may not be a one-dimensional evil force but rather a more complex character with his own set of values and fears. Before I'll call her a hero, s</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">he needs to learn from this experience and bring back some wisdom.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">She’s ready to learn. Now that she’s released the pressure valve on her anger, she is calm enough to engage in some logical and perceptive thinking. She pulls in the reigns on blaming and projection and begins to see how she may have co-created the situation. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<a href="https://encrypted-tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTcrYmkg-1_VTn4_2st0wogehPgxqG5Q-qPKW0TzFu4kWFGIOOrmg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://encrypted-tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTcrYmkg-1_VTn4_2st0wogehPgxqG5Q-qPKW0TzFu4kWFGIOOrmg" width="320" /></span></a><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16px;">She notices the chink in the villain’s armor, a whisper of his vulnerability. And now our character flexes her maturity muscles because rather than take advantage of the villain’s vulnerability, your character begins to wonder why the villain acts the way he does. She wonders if the villain is afraid of something and then discovers what that fear is. She explores </span><i style="font-size: 16px;">why</i><span style="font-size: 16px;"> the villain might fear that something, and what his belief is about it. Soon she sees that the villain believes something false, and that false belief creates a fear that compels the villain to act out to protect himself or something or someone he cares about.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Can you see why most characters screech to a halt before they’ve reached stage 5? Finding the mirror is hard! Finding the mirror requires a certain amount of psychological and emotional maturity from your character. She must be able to look for the life lesson in what happened and begin to appreciate the role the villain played in teaching her that lesson. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">**NOTE: In exploring this stage of finding the mirror, you might notice that your character has sadistic fantasies about exploiting the villain’s vulnerabilities and finding sick and depraved ways to cause the villain further pain and suffering. This fantasy behavior is <i>Totally. Perfectly. Natural.</i> Enjoy it and move on.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">6. Recognizing the reflection</span></h3>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">If you’re like me, then your life is basically a soundtrack. Memories and ideas stir up lyrics to songs. The song evoked at this stage 6 of emotional clearing is a no-brainer. Before you start moonwalking and waving around a sequined glove, take a moment to appreciate that something magical happens before that Michael Jackson “Man in the Mirror” moment.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Maybe your character sees the villain as selfish, quick-tempered, untrustworthy, or manipulative. Superimposing their reflections, your character has the opportunity to see that </span><span style="font-size: large;">the villain is reflecting or mirroring back an aspect</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> of herself. She too can be selfish, quick-tempered, untrustworthy, or manipulative. I'll go so far as to call her a hero if she can now sees that she has done the same thing that she judged the villain for doing. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Powerful, eh? Damn straight. Wait, there’s more. When your character’s anger crumbles it brings a delightful chaser of empathy and sadness because she understands first-hand, the fear that drives both her and the villain to that behavior.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Sit with that a moment. Your character the hero looks in the mirror and sees the villain and her own image superimposed. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Your hero and your villain are one and the same.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> Chilling. If you’re inclined to write like Edgar Allen Poe, maybe you want to stop here. Let your character suffer a mental breakdown, convincing herself that she will never ever get out of this endless loop of pain. Allow her to be haunted by the sound of her own beating heart. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #4c1130; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>"I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity." ~ Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Or, you can move on to stage 7. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">7.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Forgiveness</span></h3>
<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">If your character is anything like me, I’m basically in shock in stage 6 when I see how the villain is mirroring back my own bad behavior. Then I move into feeling awful about myself at the start of stage 7. Now, the only thing that’s going to see me through and inspire others to take this journey is finding my way to forgiveness. Here’s how it’s done.</span><br />
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<a href="https://encrypted-tbn3.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSEljGH7QBgEzwFn8Dto2KM5zVyb_KKRHinhRnt1bEVXogrtZj4kg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://encrypted-tbn3.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSEljGH7QBgEzwFn8Dto2KM5zVyb_KKRHinhRnt1bEVXogrtZj4kg" width="200" /></span></a><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">In stage 6, your character is staring at herself and the villain superimposed in the mirror and she’s seeing that they’re both afraid of something and it caused both of them to act out in a similar manner. Whatever the behavior is that is reflected back to her, it is one that ultimately is motivated by fear. It’s time for your character to do some exploring into her psyche. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Her next step is to ask, </span><span style="font-size: large;">“What am I afraid of?”</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> Let her spill her guts and talk about all the things she’s afraid of. A pattern will emerge that will point to a common theme in the things she says about herself, others, and the world. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">This theme highlights your character’s </span><span style="font-size: large;"><i>false core belief</i></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">. It developed over time, usually from childhood and is influenced by significant life events and particular life circumstances. A core belief is always an “I” statement, as in “I am unworthy.” She will hold onto this core-belief with a vise grip. A belief “Nobody will choose me” is called <i>a supporting belief</i> and it is a prediction about what others will do or have done. Her way of interpreting other people’s reactions gives the core belief the appearance of being true and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Your character is going to recognize how she has self-sabotaged by focusing on information that supports her belief and ignoring evidence that contradicts it. More, she is going to realize that her (and the villain’s) core belief is false and she is going to begin to understand and forgive herself for acting out in defense of that untrue core belief.</span><br />
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<a href="https://encrypted-tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR36ZMRLG9QpcBygs7QlqI2gftmoGzDFVHe1J1onAKmCpspXIpUhA" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://encrypted-tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR36ZMRLG9QpcBygs7QlqI2gftmoGzDFVHe1J1onAKmCpspXIpUhA" width="199" /></span></a><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">8. Letting go & moving on</span></h3>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">No surprise, core beliefs are hard to change. However, your character kicks ass and she’s going to do just that. She’s made it through 7 difficult stages of clearing her emotional trauma and she is not about to backslide now. She is going to shatter the illusion of the core belief and uncover the truth, which will be a statement completely opposite from her false core belief; in this instance, “I am unworthy” shifts to “I am worthy.” And she’ll reinforce this </span><span style="font-size: large;">new positive core belief</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> with evidence and information.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">At this point, there’s a tangible shift. All those emotions your character felt, the anger, pain, blame, empathy and sadness transmute to appreciation and gratitude for the villain. Realizing the powerful gift brought by the villain in this encounter, your character can at last release him. She may even feel compassion for the villain and be able to apologize and validate his pain.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Now, when your character looks in the mirror, the glass is clear and she sees only herself. True, strong, wise. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Totally worthy.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> Mirror mirror on the wall, she is the most inspiring kick-ass character of them all. Seriously! She’s cleared emotional trauma. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The conflict is over.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Bonus – there’s more trust in her relationships because she’s able to work through conflicts when they arise rather than run away.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Summary</span></h3>
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">So,
there you have it. Three blogs and an</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><a href="http://myscribblesandink.blogspot.com/2012/05/exercise-to-tap-your-anger.html" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">exercise</a><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">giving you my take on creating an
emotional arc using anger. In case you missed</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><a href="http://myscribblesandink.blogspot.com/2012/05/introducing-eight-stages-of-emotional.html" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">my
first post</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">, here are the eight stages in one handy list: </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #20124d;">The 8 Stages</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #20124d;">1. The
smoking gun</span></span></div>
<span style="color: #20124d;"><u1:p></u1:p>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">2. Anger</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">3.
Projection and blaming</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #20124d;"><u1:p></u1:p>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">4. Expressing
anger and releasing pain</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #20124d;"><u1:p></u1:p>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">5. Finding
the mirror</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #20124d;"><u1:p></u1:p>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">6.
Recognizing the reflection</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #20124d;"><u1:p></u1:p>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">7. Forgiveness</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #20124d;"><u1:p></u1:p>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">8.
Letting go and moving on</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #20124d;"><u1:p></u1:p>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Most
of the time, we go through these stages intuitively. These are the times when
the smoking gun isn't aimed at us, or it misses its target, or our shields are
solid enough to protect us. Other times, the bullet hits its target and we
are hurt enough to get angry. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Anger
is an energetic signal that you are ready to make a change. <i>How</i> you
want to make that change is a mental decision. It involves calculating the
variables between changing the other person (doesn't work), changing the
situation (might work), or changing something about yourself (worth a try).
</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">When
a person in real-life or a character in a novel is brave enough to work through
their anger and change a core belief about themselves they are, in my
opinion, </span><i><span style="font-size: large;">the most inspiring kick-ass character of them all.</span></i></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Let
me know what you think about this post series, and if there are other ideas
you’d like to explore with me. I’d love to hear from you!</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783301584478246413noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7734239684406310063.post-9832631209594638942012-05-14T09:03:00.000-07:002012-05-14T09:03:00.120-07:00An exercise to tap your anger<br />
<h2>
Go ahead, beat up your sofa!</h2>
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For this post, I want to back up a bit and really dig into stage 2 of the <a href="http://myscribblesandink.blogspot.com/2012/05/introducing-eight-stages-of-emotional.html" target="_blank">8 stages of emotional clearing</a>. Stage 2 is where your character must tap into her anger. <a href="http://myscribblesandink.blogspot.com/2012/05/creating-characters-emotional-arc-in.html" target="_blank">As I said in my earlier post</a>, many people get stuck at stage 2 because they don't recognize how anger disguises itself in other emotions or behaviors.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVg97DhLpRkL01t4qrAzT_-oCrdhoejCg_m3oipelUuAB-dpd0kS8OIxj7HX0ImkWm2beECSaKxfzXnx0UhywP7QNPK8thg82XnMFWgqlfUSpLXZ3cHYdi8giNZhmpFDKpxGy_RiESi0U/s1600/theatre+masks.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVg97DhLpRkL01t4qrAzT_-oCrdhoejCg_m3oipelUuAB-dpd0kS8OIxj7HX0ImkWm2beECSaKxfzXnx0UhywP7QNPK8thg82XnMFWgqlfUSpLXZ3cHYdi8giNZhmpFDKpxGy_RiESi0U/s200/theatre+masks.png" width="200" /></a></div>
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If you or your character has no clue how to touch anger or are just plain afraid to do it, this is the exercise for you! </div>
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<div style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
Getting in touch with anger. Ooooh, that's a fun one. <span style="font-size: 12pt;">For someone who has a difficult time accessing anger, the key is to find something that's opposite of your normal routine. So, for instance, for people who spend much of their days in their brain (writers, software engineers, bankers, really any desk job) physical techniques can be very effective for releasing anger. People who are quiet can benefit from using their voice. Here's a great technique that combines both types of release, physical and vocal. </span></div>
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Things you'll need: </div>
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<ol><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioJKl0nNSg499PfZDIDXq_vmqIeJvHqz_2f-cVHTFQBxrXqKXugoRGuqz7hcULtCT1aGyj45O7J9ZpYJgBPyZRUzFXIN3N9sQTmDJcDERVl55135h-69GZG09EMqCZMvDEYCLYumkKccw/s1600/whiffle+bat.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioJKl0nNSg499PfZDIDXq_vmqIeJvHqz_2f-cVHTFQBxrXqKXugoRGuqz7hcULtCT1aGyj45O7J9ZpYJgBPyZRUzFXIN3N9sQTmDJcDERVl55135h-69GZG09EMqCZMvDEYCLYumkKccw/s1600/whiffle+bat.jpeg" /></a>
<li>whiffle bat (plastic bat)</li>
<li>sofa</li>
<li>room to move with no breakable objects, people or pets nearby</li>
</ol>
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Get yourself a whiffle bat and stand in front of your sofa. Now think about a person who triggered you. Picture them in your mind. Hear their awful words. Picture them pointing their finger at you, yelling, accusing, blaming as they cross your personal boundary. Feel how your belly starts to churn up some energy. You're starting to feel that familiar flight or flight sensation. Stick with it. </div>
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The person is coming at you, still yelling, accusing, blaming. You can't even hear the words any more. Just a roar in your ears and flashes of their angry face. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlTVku18LDO7CPQtSUZJ6_Dc24q5mDfhR8tGppvYm81r5ddyDh-EZuZ_3I8m4rhMN9oSWrZXsKXy6s8wRwtueDE839uoBZOL-VI9N04X507dCr1hWB8Kcf7fLzChCCi8wkMYcni1AjW3Q/s1600/Red-Sofa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlTVku18LDO7CPQtSUZJ6_Dc24q5mDfhR8tGppvYm81r5ddyDh-EZuZ_3I8m4rhMN9oSWrZXsKXy6s8wRwtueDE839uoBZOL-VI9N04X507dCr1hWB8Kcf7fLzChCCi8wkMYcni1AjW3Q/s320/Red-Sofa.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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Now pick up the whiffle bat</div>
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Give yourself permission to pummel your sofa. </div>
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Really swing and whack. Cuss. LOUDLY. Blame the source of your anger. Cuss them to hell. Keep going until you have no more whacks or cussing left to do. Drop the bat. </div>
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Notice your energy. Notice how you feel. </div>
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Write that feeling down, or discuss it with someone. Do you feel lighter? Do you feel lost? Do you feel more yourself? Do you feel pleasure? Do you feel guilty? What do you feel? However you feel, ask yourself why. What need did that release in energy fulfill? What needs do you still have? </div>
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Come up with some ways to fulfill those needs.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJuZaewCcK41NGfrV51vWQCA8kRMtqVDjIGL7sqc3CDqGBv27ZpwA7cRqceOgmDYylnGsUTLF91RHUSElqIaq2Awlf2fONvRXjYgJPAH6R1SJq4XCi04lt3-0m2tl97zVUQ6v0BYR2qnY/s1600/impropriety+improve.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJuZaewCcK41NGfrV51vWQCA8kRMtqVDjIGL7sqc3CDqGBv27ZpwA7cRqceOgmDYylnGsUTLF91RHUSElqIaq2Awlf2fONvRXjYgJPAH6R1SJq4XCi04lt3-0m2tl97zVUQ6v0BYR2qnY/s200/impropriety+improve.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>
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You're a writer - remember those feelings. Allow your character to draw on them to move through their own issues. When your character recognizes their needs, they'll come up with a plan.</div>
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The technique above is very useful for expelling a large amount of anger and resentment very quickly. <span style="font-size: 12pt;">Notice how you feel about the technique. Your reaction to the technique is a reflection of how you feel about releasing anger. For some, the technique can be frightening and overwhelming. Others relish the idea of pummeling something, swearing and screaming. Some people only want to scream. Some people can't scream at all, or won't cuss. And others give only wimpy taps with the bat. For some, the session goes on for ages until they are physically and emotionally drained. For others, the session lasts only a couple of minutes. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Whatever you</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">won't</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">do, or had difficulty doing in that exercise, those are signals of your personal boundaries, your code of behavior. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOSgbs8mgnXVdbnwHwEcaDGFQedTdsmONGZWL-1_J1oVJSUTaQTrrB6TeF9P_5mhu870xvBps15qSoCxPuS9BJNPBZB32VUfxyHD3Kq3wZ-PrkH5Jtn6eC59RL0cUTrDdVVpBHXucwesc/s1600/line+in+the+sand.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOSgbs8mgnXVdbnwHwEcaDGFQedTdsmONGZWL-1_J1oVJSUTaQTrrB6TeF9P_5mhu870xvBps15qSoCxPuS9BJNPBZB32VUfxyHD3Kq3wZ-PrkH5Jtn6eC59RL0cUTrDdVVpBHXucwesc/s1600/line+in+the+sand.jpeg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Keep in mind though that the boundaries are artificial boundaries - you make them, you can break them, you can make those boundaries flexible and healthy. You're in a safe environment - just you and the whiffle bat and the sofa. Nothing is going to break. No one is going to get hurt. Things can only get better. Now, in this safe environment, is the time to give yourself permission to shift energetically. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Giving yourself permission to release your anger in a safe environment is a great step toward healing. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Because you are replacing the person who triggered you with an inanimate object, and you are quickly releasing a large amount of energy in a safe environment, the technique shifts your attention away from the other person onto you. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Participating in the experience energetically imprints itself on you, shoring up your personal boundaries and giving you confidence that you can take care of yourself in the future. And with that confidence of being able to work through your anger to identify and fulfill your needs, you are less likely to be triggered by other people.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
And now let's shift to writing. I'm curious. How do your characters deal with anger?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783301584478246413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7734239684406310063.post-43930964460069239902012-05-07T08:00:00.000-07:002012-05-08T06:22:24.097-07:00Creating a Character's Emotional Arc: in stages 1 - 4<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLwkwxuHH4OL2UJtUp7XdY7MFrgrCb6jtIWNuEkLtOy8y8b2NeWFl_q9qozqVCNRLhRwDr74uld4ibZMUnZUyl7So6fPPiPGFUsmL-xbXyZeOFUK0I-Sey1ilBJXECVDdgm5IQhOnHy8w/s1600/cherries.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="126" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLwkwxuHH4OL2UJtUp7XdY7MFrgrCb6jtIWNuEkLtOy8y8b2NeWFl_q9qozqVCNRLhRwDr74uld4ibZMUnZUyl7So6fPPiPGFUsmL-xbXyZeOFUK0I-Sey1ilBJXECVDdgm5IQhOnHy8w/s200/cherries.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Imagine how excited I was to
learn that my years of training in energy medicine and psychology could
actually help me construct a fictional character’s emotional arc! Now quadruple that and add a cherry on
top because when I think about the ripple effect and how relaying this info on
to you and how you can use it to reach your readers, I’m over the moon with
excitement and gratitude. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">We’ve
arrived at the fun part, where we see how to create a character’s emotional
arc. Let’s get to it. We’ll start
with stages 1 through 4.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br /></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPST68bJ6RU-2AV9HsVfKy6lQalnS8VKFCixz-wTMZeXYGdBQzty9vaU5ym45u9Sz3sbVkAbBB2jLgfOqRUO24C77IxGzj87tGurlUVVKLLk0XCOCFVTieqNYzPlbAIslSr_Fl3tlwIuQ/s1600/smoking+gun.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPST68bJ6RU-2AV9HsVfKy6lQalnS8VKFCixz-wTMZeXYGdBQzty9vaU5ym45u9Sz3sbVkAbBB2jLgfOqRUO24C77IxGzj87tGurlUVVKLLk0XCOCFVTieqNYzPlbAIslSr_Fl3tlwIuQ/s200/smoking+gun.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana;">1.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>The smoking gun</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Picture a smoking gun in your
mind and chances are you’ll sense something sinister is afoot. Smoking guns
indicate that someone violated a personal boundary or an agreement on how they
are expected to behave around you. In writing, we call this threat or danger
“the inciting incident.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br /></span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana;">2.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Anger </span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Biologically speaking, our
bodies react to a perceived threat or danger by releasing certain hormones like
adrenalin and cortisol, speeding our heart rate and
increasing blood pressure, slowing digestion, increasing blood flow to major
muscle groups and adjusting other autonomic nervous functions in order to give
our bodies a burst of energy and strength.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Emotionally, the inciting
incident triggers anger. Anger may be hard to recognize beneath the layers of
anxiety, self-pity and sadness, but it’s there and your character will need to use that anger as a driving force to move through to the next stage. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br /></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia16g7UFynMdUzghzA7OlkJPHr1o6MkybEgXpSRRch5YFpIEW_y4TcIbUaZ7Ri1CDXECRpgrU8kIFRuijsSL3HXZzLfjUmepn9KT8XiRXS3NdJdJm4vkVrrnON5X9IXnejSahug1ViREs/s1600/expressing+anger.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia16g7UFynMdUzghzA7OlkJPHr1o6MkybEgXpSRRch5YFpIEW_y4TcIbUaZ7Ri1CDXECRpgrU8kIFRuijsSL3HXZzLfjUmepn9KT8XiRXS3NdJdJm4vkVrrnON5X9IXnejSahug1ViREs/s1600/expressing+anger.jpeg" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Finding the anger can be difficult because by culture or by nature, a lot of people don't allow themselves to get angry. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;">They feel uncomfortable or even go so far as to believe they have no right to their anger. Are you one of them? Sometimes we need to give ourselves permission to fume in order for our characters to do the same. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Look for clues to your character's anger. If you find her saying something like, </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;">“It’s not worth getting upset over,” that's a clear indication
that she is stuffing her anger. Other indications are </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;">typical
behavioral responses to the threat. Males typically respond with fight
(aggression) or flight (social withdrawal, substance abuse), while females
typically respond by protecting to their children, if they have any, and by seeking social support in groups. But hey, it’s your novel. Who’s to say that
your character must conform to these typical roles? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Just remember that at this stage your character does not want to be nice, she wants to be ANGRY.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br /></span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana;">3. Projection and Blaming</span></b><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaG8RdAp8FUfeyNM95DRpxZdpytVtagBz-FQ77r_jSShG5qf7-TQ0ak_V_6V1jX8nIEHKZf0eBc6kjRlazv03yU8EFpfQXtPfmTuaq41RREaZpsltmFRkDa8Ky0gJv2C5wh-INVPknDXU/s1600/blaming.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaG8RdAp8FUfeyNM95DRpxZdpytVtagBz-FQ77r_jSShG5qf7-TQ0ak_V_6V1jX8nIEHKZf0eBc6kjRlazv03yU8EFpfQXtPfmTuaq41RREaZpsltmFRkDa8Ky0gJv2C5wh-INVPknDXU/s320/blaming.jpeg" width="212" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Now that your character is
good and angry, go ahead and let her blame someone for causing her to feel that
way. Not taking responsibility for our own feelings is called projecting. Many
people project and blame out of earshot, but never confront the person with
whom they are upset. It’s easy to see why. Most people would think twice about
expressing their anger to the person holding a smoking gun.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br /></span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana;">4. Expressing anger and releasing pain</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Your character has finally
surmounted the obstacles of stages 1, 2 and 3. A round of applause is in order
because it takes courage to make it this far. You’ve reached the turning point in your novel. This is the
step where your character expresses her anger toward the transgressor, the
villain, the mean and evil dude, and finally stands up for herself. This is
when your reader is anticipating a smack down and it is a cause for
celebration. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">How your character stands up
for herself, depends on the intensity of the boundary violation and the
inciting smoking gun incident. Mild violations may require just speaking up
about it. Stronger violations, the kind that elicit reader response, may entail
speaking up plus throwing in a few choice cuss words for good measure, dammit!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">But what if your character is
not willing to scold the mean and evil dude? Totally not surprising. Most
people feel pretty weak when it comes to expressing their anger. Ultimately though, s</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;">uppressing anger is futile.
Unexpressed anger is toxic and your character will find a way to release it. Instead of
confronting the evil dude, you might find your character turning anger inward
against herself, or letting it out sideways by lashing out at the innocent, or
even taking a circuitous route by engaging in passive aggressive behavior
against the perpetrator. How your character manages her anger might violate
personal boundaries and agreements and trigger an angry response from someone
else. And yes, you can count me in among the wicked and wily scumbling my
fingers and sneering, “Mwah ha haaaa!” because this kind of tension triggers
subplots. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">But remember, if your
goal is an emotionally rewarding ending, suppressing anger is not ultimately
the answer. <i>Your character must express her anger directly in order to release
the pain.</i></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIaTAIxF7ggznT6JOynfxRIFxHez9oFGSF1kWn4vtqjex9snetkjhaSWyA8bvAD0DqUipBAzeEDWTk4CZeLSihRDrzFmUt_aSE9jirG5r5p2nOxSpHXVNcDhdiqmjLJ7pF0ebdN1wh3cI/s1600/mountain+flag.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIaTAIxF7ggznT6JOynfxRIFxHez9oFGSF1kWn4vtqjex9snetkjhaSWyA8bvAD0DqUipBAzeEDWTk4CZeLSihRDrzFmUt_aSE9jirG5r5p2nOxSpHXVNcDhdiqmjLJ7pF0ebdN1wh3cI/s200/mountain+flag.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">A lot of writers will stop
here, either subconsciously or purposefully, with the main character confronting and then defeating the mean evil dude followed by a quick
conclusion, and call it a victory. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">How easy is it for you to express your anger? Do you confront the transgressor or does your anger come out in other ways? Are you uncomfortable at any point? </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Where is your sticking point?</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783301584478246413noreply@blogger.com1Massachusetts, USA42.4072107 -71.382437440.9067172 -73.9092929 43.9077042 -68.8555819tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7734239684406310063.post-18280560452134062402012-05-02T08:53:00.000-07:002012-05-02T19:47:59.397-07:00Introducing the Eight Stages of Emotional Clearing aka Identifying a Character's Emotional Arc<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Over the years, I’ve come
across many techniques to clear negative emotions. Some of them occur
naturally, and sometimes alarmingly, in our bodies. For example, toxic emotions
can result in stomach upset similar to food poisoning and have its consequences
with a day or more on or in front of the toilet. Or, our bodies can try to
eliminate those toxins in other ways, as in hair loss, skin rashes and
breakouts. Alarming, disgusting, nasty gross, yessiree. Go on, <a href="http://myscribblesandink.blogspot.com/2012/03/inspire-your-readers-through-emotions.html">see my earlier post</a> on why it's important to clear negative emotions.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYfig2FYvWaW9eO7QluydMUSVT5hFnzuA08RCa_fOicuC5oOq6mEAYj5E6vN_L-mubT-J_07b9r_Lq50a7GB8_T3tBxn7FRxW9M_oDSjBbZaIlPaJt-f_9hPf9uYL_xHE0HdBjvVBp9yU/s1600/chin+mudra+releasing+pain.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYfig2FYvWaW9eO7QluydMUSVT5hFnzuA08RCa_fOicuC5oOq6mEAYj5E6vN_L-mubT-J_07b9r_Lq50a7GB8_T3tBxn7FRxW9M_oDSjBbZaIlPaJt-f_9hPf9uYL_xHE0HdBjvVBp9yU/s200/chin+mudra+releasing+pain.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Techniques that I’ve used
in my healing practice to </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;">help my clients navigate through some pretty tough times</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"> might be EFT, holding
alarm points, meditation, energy work, massage, and counseling. They are all
extremely effective techniques</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;">, but
they’re not easy to translate into a MG or YA novel, especially where I want to
express a character’s emotional arc through action and interaction with other
characters.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">That set me to thinking about
kids and how they might express their emotions and the consequences. Really,
they’re no different than the teens and tween we all have living in our own
psyches. Tweens and teens often don’t have access to any of those healing tools,
and their raging hormones often result in confusing emotions and anger at some
level for losing control of someone or something. The anger then spurs them to
lash out either at people around them, or themselves, setting up conflict. Even
in adult literature, those steamy scenes are wrought with conflict and that
inner voice that asks, “Uh oh, what have a I done?” <o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: Verdana;">The conflict is what makes a plot intense. It’s the page-turner. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br /></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha-q0-hmgCkXAyhPwyAJE_qgyO18MdtYZQQT-gl9YUyJ73H9dxSMeHQ6tvNToCCBnEF6DC-kz7M0K1eUwDhP7f8zs-gms5Tf7Pub8gRIKRxQRM-fPxdmfio1iauXD_Cs8yMsTi8plPcRs/s1600/page+turning.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha-q0-hmgCkXAyhPwyAJE_qgyO18MdtYZQQT-gl9YUyJ73H9dxSMeHQ6tvNToCCBnEF6DC-kz7M0K1eUwDhP7f8zs-gms5Tf7Pub8gRIKRxQRM-fPxdmfio1iauXD_Cs8yMsTi8plPcRs/s200/page+turning.jpeg" width="200" /></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Conflict only gets you so far. Readers look for a satisfying ending. For me a satisfying ending would serve up justice, makes me feel good, and ties up all those loose ends. But as a writer, I can't go on only what I would like to see; I also have to consider what the character in my story wants. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;">The ending to a story is set up by how the main character suffers those conflicts, and it is rendered satisfying by how they resolve those
conflicts in a way that is deep and meaningful for them, probably one that doesn’t involve breaking
out in hives or spending the day in the bathroom. </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOEqne7exkIh61wSfUp7j6u9sDnG_5dPELAN87zLAWgvbyIBj8qNmIRibHyQgXawWQTm5ikV88caOUcZAycHedWRu6rRJCU6eFI12pm4x1btGFocHuPVVnj97f1D3O0XjH9hR1YE1FDtc/s1600/eight+stones+on+water.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOEqne7exkIh61wSfUp7j6u9sDnG_5dPELAN87zLAWgvbyIBj8qNmIRibHyQgXawWQTm5ikV88caOUcZAycHedWRu6rRJCU6eFI12pm4x1btGFocHuPVVnj97f1D3O0XjH9hR1YE1FDtc/s400/eight+stones+on+water.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">To nudge my characters along the their emotional arcs, I loosely borrowed from the wisdom of </span><a href="http://store.debbieford.com/pages.php?pID=55" style="font-family: Verdana;">Debbie Ford</a><span style="font-family: Verdana;">'s Shadow work in </span><i style="font-family: Verdana;">Dark Side of the Light Chasers</i><span style="font-family: Verdana;"> and came up with eight stages of emotional clearing. These are
stages that everyone goes through to resolve emotional pain and trauma.</span><br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana;">The 8 Stages</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">1.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>The smoking gun<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">2.<span class="apple-converted-space"> Anger</span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">3. Projection and blaming<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">4.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Expressing anger and releasing pain<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">5.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Finding the mirror<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">6. Recognizing the reflection<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">7.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Forgiveness<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">8. Letting go and moving on<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Most of the time, we go through
these stages intuitively. Other
times we get stuck and need a bit more nudging. I like knowing where my
characters get stuck because that informs their personalities.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Want to know more about these
stages and how to build a character's emotional arc? Read on.<o:p></o:p></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783301584478246413noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7734239684406310063.post-1818995981630387742012-03-22T09:21:00.010-07:002014-10-08T10:29:55.483-07:00Inspire Your Readers: Emotions<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibeuJaCT9TkmvVTKgCwq9ZjYLJn1DZcgtLrslE7MVoLYIUoAOV03cwkNQg8yCFgO3yoz7jj9Hc3JotFvQQMZbIO85bhxNiljN9oyokda1gfp1hLn2e1zttmu_Dr7zSpnCL78hOoAR17EI/s1600/Sh+5+tree.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibeuJaCT9TkmvVTKgCwq9ZjYLJn1DZcgtLrslE7MVoLYIUoAOV03cwkNQg8yCFgO3yoz7jj9Hc3JotFvQQMZbIO85bhxNiljN9oyokda1gfp1hLn2e1zttmu_Dr7zSpnCL78hOoAR17EI/s320/Sh+5+tree.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5722798710812531266" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 320px; margin: 0 0 10px 10px; width: 229px;" /></a><br />
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<b><span style="color: #f88000; font-family: Arial;">The Road Not Taken<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial;">Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,<br />And sorry I could not travel both<br />And be one traveler, long I stood<br />And looked down one as far as I could<br />To where it bent in the undergrowth;<br /><br />Then took the other, as just as fair,<br />And having perhaps the better claim<br />Because it was grassy and wanted wear,<br />Though as for that the passing there<br />Had worn them really about the same,<br /><br />And both that morning equally lay<br />In leaves no step had trodden black.<br />Oh, I marked the first for another day!<br />Yet knowing how way leads on to way<br />I doubted if I should ever come back.<br /><br />I shall be telling this with a sigh<br />Somewhere ages and ages hence:<br />Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,<br />I took the one less traveled by,<br />And that has made all the difference.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">-- Robert Frost<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p> </o:p></div>
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<br />
I thank my high school English teacher, Mr. Hancock, for introducing me to that poem and others by Robert Frost. I loved that poem then, because I thought I really “got” what Frost was saying about himself and making decisions. Even back then, people labeled me a decisive person, probably because I frequently went with my gut feelings. But what those people didn't see was that on the inside I was jelly - constantly questioning whether I made the right choice. Did I choose the right classes? The right extracurriculars? The right friends? The right clothing? Big decisions, little decisions, any one of them could change the course of my history. Robert Frost and I were simpatico. We had an understanding. I could relate to him standing there in the woods wondering which path to take. </div>
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<br />
But now, after a half a life of learning and reflection, I read that poem and I know Frost understood <i>me</i>. And you. And the neighbor down the street. And that little kid sitting on the corner begging you to buy a pack of gum in some third-world country. I know this because r<span style="background-color: white;">eally great writers like Frost look inward to see outward. They have an ability to express their soul's journey and relate it to the journey of all souls. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">T</span><span style="background-color: white;">he challenge and gift of talented writing is to let the reader know they're not alone in their emotional experience of a challenge or conflict, whether it's making a decision that might lead to regret or working through a conflict. </span><span style="background-color: white;">Inspirational writing, blatant or subtle, has the additional task of helping us clear our emotional wounds. It's my belief that this holds true for both fiction and non-fiction writing.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">Whether the author is conscious of it or not, great writing (a character driven novel, for example) is doing just that - clearing emotional wounds. For some writers, this journey from conflict to resolution is intuitive. For others, it's not so easy. Why? Because most of us have never been taught how to clear negative emotions from our bodies, and it's no easy task to write about something we don't know how to do ourselves in our daily lives.</span></div>
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<br />
Why is it important to clear negative emotions? I'm going to take advantage of my winding paths of education to impart some hard-earned knowledge that solidified during my three-year training as a Certified Energy Medicine Practitioner. When a conflict is left unresolved, we harbor negative emotions and create imbalances in our energetic layers. <span style="background-color: white;">In our physical bodies, imbalances can lead to illness and disease. In our mental bodies, imbalances can create frustration, anxiety, depression, and associated disturbances. Emotionally, imbalances can result in acting out destructively, directly by becoming enraged, or indirectly through passive-aggressive behaviors. All of these imbalances can challenge and even be destructive in our relationships, both with ourselves and with others. And frankly, negative emotions can be plain exhausting if they're not cleared. </span></div>
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<br />
Your mind might be trying to block this information right now. There are certainly times when mine does. My internal voice (aka, my inner child) is fond of whining. And when I write and I'm trying to dig deep into my characters, they whine even more loudly, "You want me to face my emotions? <span style="background-color: white;">It's too hard!</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">Why do the process work when I've already learned to ignore and bury all that pain?</span><span style="background-color: white;">" Hearing that voice is when I remember this nugget of wisdom that came to me in story form during meditation....</span></div>
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<i><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="background-color: white;">Simply dressed in a white robe and sandals, balancing sacks of clothing strung on either end of a thick bamboo pole, I was a washerwoman </span><span style="background-color: white;">standing at the bottom of a vast stairway</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">in Tibet yearning for the wisdom of the cleric above. </span></i><i><span style="background-color: white;">I started to climb. </span></i><br />
<i><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="background-color: white;">At first, I could easily balance the weight across across my shoulders. I was used to long days of shouldering other people's dirty laundry. As I climbed further though, my neck and shoulders grew hot and sore. Further still, I found my steps slowing and now even my legs and feet ached. Half-way up, I rested. I sat on a wide plateau, wiping the sweat from my brow and considering whether to continue my climb. </span></i><br />
<i><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="background-color: white;">The cleric in his saffron and brick-red robes smiled at me. Encouraged, I once again shouldered my burden and forced myself to continue. Now the pole dug into my neck and my back hunched over. I pushed myself to continue even though I hurt and my burden was almost more than I could bear. I was a washerwoman. These dirty clothes were my responsibility. I would not leave them behind. </span></i><br />
<i><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="background-color: white;">But almost at the top, I found I was too weary to take another step. I un-shouldered the pole and let the clothing drop, but even without the extra weight, I was so worn out that I struggled to continue the few remaining steps. </span></i><br />
<i><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="background-color: white;">At last, I faced the cleric, who was at once old and young, male and female. He laughed at me. Why would he laugh at my efforts? I was confused. I became indignant. My anger turned inward. I admonished myself for wasting my time and effort on the climb and for abandoning the baggage that other people had entrusted me with. Then I felt angry toward the cleric.</span></i><br />
<i><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="background-color: white;">"You present me with a difficult task and then laugh at the foolishness of my undertaking? I came for your wisdom."</span></i><br />
<i><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="background-color: white;">The cleric's eyes twinkled. "I will tell you what you already know. You could have left your burdens at the bottom of the stairs." </span></i><br />
<i><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="background-color: white;">Only then, looking back at the pile of laundry I had </span></i><i style="background-color: white;">abandoned below</i><i style="background-color: white;">, did I feel the burden truly lift from my shoulders. Only then, could I look back and laugh.</i></div>
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Next up, <a href="http://myscribblesandink.blogspot.com/2012/05/introducing-eight-stages-of-emotional.html">a technique to clear emotional baggage</a>.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783301584478246413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7734239684406310063.post-24002965005918406202012-01-08T22:49:00.000-08:002012-01-10T07:49:41.292-08:00NESCBWI 2012 Conference: Keeping It Real<div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span><span><span style="font-size:10.5pt"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 191px; height: 264px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjictilsgi6jGkD1aVoVrvZulqtx9eueYYuO7P1iXzEzqADJpDGg16YSti3zW6cffWLuDmq1okHPLeLKiFo05OQCieanVgnBOhusNrR6s2kvtiBpdAmL82ht28CuAif8QUnkPGg41r05Ks/s320/bookstars.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5695836249621177826" /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span><span><span style="font-size:10.5pt"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span><span><span style="font-size:10.5pt">The annual New England SCBWI Spring Conference opens its registration on January 23rd, 2012. </span></span></span><span><span style="font-size:10.5pt">This year's theme is "Keeping it Real: Reality and Worldbuilding in Fiction, Nonfiction, and Illustration."<br /><span><br />You can find the link to the conference here: <a href="http://www.regonline.com/builder/site/default.aspx?EventID=1033118">NESCBWI Conference Registration 2012</a></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span><span style="font-size:10.5pt"><br />This year, the conference will be Friday, April 20, 2012 - Sunday, April 22, 2012, at the Sheraton Monarch Place, in Springfield, Massachusetts. I haven't personally visited the new site, but I hear it is fabulous and will accommodate the larger crowds that have been frequenting our regional conference over the last few years. Word is, New England conferences rank right up there with NY and LA.<br /><br />Why does our conference attracts such large crowds? It could be because we attract renowned authors, illustrators, agents, and publishers to lead workshops and give keynote addresses. This year, for example, Sara Zarr is delivering the Author Keynote on “The Meaning in the Mess: A Case for Writing Life As It is, Not How We Wish It.” Sarah is the acclaimed author of four award-winning novels for young adults. And, Harry Bliss is delivering the Illustrator Keynote on “Laughing Between the Lines: on Pictures and Humor”. Harry is an internationally syndicated cartoonist and cover artist for the New Yorker Magazine and has illustrated a number of award-winning children’s books.<br /><br />Our region is also notable for the fact that so many award-winning authors and illustrators live right here in New England. They’re members of the NESCBWI, and they continue to attend our conferences, lending us their depth and breadth of knowledge and ideas, and yes, their smiles and laughter.<br /><br />But what really sets our conference apart, is the people who put their time and energy into making the New England SCBWI successful. From the Board Members, to the Conference Faculty, right on down to the weekend volunteers, we are a region of abundant generosity. NESCBWI is an entirely volunteer-run organization and we depend on more than 100 volunteers each year to make our conference not only a success, but one of the most exciting, educational and best attended SCBWI conferences in the country.<br /><br />This is my third year as Conference Volunteer Coordinator. Is it a lot of work to organize 100+ volunteers? You bet. It’s also fun. As a general rule, children’s book writers and illustrators are fun people to be around. We’re topped off with a sprinkle of magic fairy dust that makes us silly and approachable, generous and thoughtful, imaginative and big-hearted. Plus, we’re really really smart (and humble). Our wisdom is is found in our words and pictures and permeates the fabric of time and generations. It’s fun to attend a conference and it’s fun to volunteer. In fact, if you want to volunteer at this year’s conference, you can write to me at: <a href="http://www.blogger.com/nescbwi2012help@gmail.com">nescbwi2012help@gmail.com</a>.<br /><br />The New England regional conference is a great place to make friends and connections. Learn a new skill, go deeper into your work, find a support group. Inspire and be inspired. Get involved. You’ll find what you’re looking for at NESCBWI’s Spring Conference.<br /></span><span><span><span style="font-size:10pt"><br /></span></span></span></span> <!--EndFragment--></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783301584478246413noreply@blogger.com11