The Plot Thickens: What I've Learned About Writing From TV

Full disclosure: I don't have cable. And because the hubs promised that we had a digital television even though we, in fact, do not, we never got one of those box things for the digital switch, so even the basic channels come in like snow. Which is kind of nice, since I live in Florida. But basically, my access to television is limited. We have Netflix, and the majority of my queue is filled with seasons of shows I've heard great things about (mostly because I can only spare 20, 40 minutes tops a day for TV, so watching movies is really out of the question). If I really love a show, I'll start watching the current episodes online, but other than that, I'll just wait for the new season to come out on DVD.

That being said, I do have to admit that my limited television watching has actually taught me quite a bit about plot devices and unique ways to tell stories. Many of my favorite shows have a unique storytelling style that I admire, and could thoroughly enjoying in a book.

Take, for example, my latest find: How I Met Your Mother. I'm currently at the beginning of the third season of this show, and I think it's pretty hilarious. I mean, come on...NPH? Jason Segel? Yes, please. But aside from the acting talent and the cute story lines, the way the story is told in a very smart way. OK, so you have to majorly suspend your disbelief that two teenagers would sit through their old man's ramblings about nothing related to the story they actually want to hear. And also the fact that dad's voice has totally changed for narrating purposes, but in flash forwards that take place in the same time period, his voice sounds like it did when he was in his 20s. Aside from those obvious errors, the show manages to do something incredible - tease what's coming, and still keep me interested. The best example I can think of is the Robin/Ted relationship. Robin is introduced in the second or third episode, and hilarious antics ensue. At the end of the same episode, the dad says "That's how I met...your Aunt Robin." And from there after, whenever Robin is referred to by the narrator, she's always called "Aunt Robin." And yet, even though I knew these two were never meant to be, I still found myself routing for them as a couple when they did get together. And there are many other times when the show does this - they'll hint that something will or won't work, but you won't find out how exactly it happens until two or three episodes later. (This is definitely another perk to having the DVD - watching multiple episodes in a row.) It's pretty smart storytelling - it sucks me in, because I have to know why, in the end, it turns out that way.  

Another show I love is Arrested Development. Sadly, AD lasted just three short seasons before it was canceled by some short-sighted executives at Fox. But I still think it's probably the best show that's ever been on TV - smart, funny, and rewards you for being a loyal watcher. Throughout the show, the characters make little references to things that happened in earlier seasons. In AD, of course, they're doing it for comedic effect, but a novelist could use this device to lay clues to a mystery, build suspense - or just for comedic effect. The jokes were so well laid-out, and there are so many, that after years and years of watching the episodes, I still find new ones every time I play the DVDs (and trust me, I play them often.) So not only did I enjoy them the first time around, but knowing those little hints were there made we want to re-watch - if you can learn how to use them in your writing, maybe you can make people want to re-read.

Finally, as much as I hate to admit it...LOST had me hooked. Even though I had no clue what was going on half the time, I still had to know how it all came together. Maybe it was the fact that they kept introducing new mysteries, almost right up to the last second. Maybe it's that, just when everything got a little too crazy on the island, they gave us some beautiful off-island stories to keep everything grounded. Maybe it was simply that there was so MUCH story there that I had to dish with my co-workers for an hour everyday after I watched the episode just to figure out what happened. No matter what it was, there was something about that show that got to me, and stuck with me, and made me want to watch. (And that very last few seconds? OMG. Totally perfect way to close, I think. But no spoilers here, since it was less than a week ago and it's totally plausible that people haven't gotten to it yet.)

So now, thanks to HIMYM, AD, LOST, and many other shows, I've learned to take television more critically. I don't simply watch and ignore. I watch and think, "Is this a good plot device? Could I use it somehow?"

What about you? Do you ever learn anything from television (or movies - like Momento!) that help you in your writing? If so, which ones?

The Power of Positive Thinking

Last night, I was in my writer chat, spouting off some of my favorite type of humor - the self deprecating kind. While all of my friends were encouraging me to finish my book and put it out there into the universe, I was LOLing and telling them there was no point, because it probably wasn't good enough, and I was probably a big fat failure, and I was probably going to turn out like this guy:

In his defense, it's a lot of pressure being on those shows!

After a few minutes of my hilarious antics, my friend Anna told me to shut the heck up already (but in a much nicer, more positive way, because she is awesome). Anna told me that she only wanted to hear wonderful, positive thoughts from me for the rest of the night and, indeed, the rest of my life. I can't guarantee forever, but I told her I would write a blog post dedicated to the power of positive thinking just for her.

Of course, I couldn't mention positive thinking without talking about Dr. Masaru Emoto. Dr. Emoto is a Japanese thinker and scientist who wanted to discover the effect that words and intentions could have on outcome. So he got a high-powered microscope, then froze water and examined and photographed ice crystals that had been exposed to different thoughts and words. And the results were incredible. You can read all about his experiences in his book, The Hidden Messages in Water, but I'll give you a brief run-down here to show you that Anna is absolutely right - positive thinking is important. 

It's not surprising that the crystals in the water looked different when they were exposed to different sounds/words, because each word has a different vibration. But when you look at what the actual crystals look like...well, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves:

 Thank you (See more thank yous in different languages - all beautiful!)

Love and appreciation

You make me sick, I will kill you

Mother Teresa

Adolf Hitler

Water, before offering a prayer

Water from the same location, after a prayer

Uhm, wow. So I think it's safe to say that positive thinking - whether it's about love, respect, water, or your book - can get you some pretty beautiful things. So remember, even when you're not feeling so hot about your latest project, and even when you think it's all doom and gloom, try to remember the water crystals - or at least let everything come up puppies and rainbows...

 (That picture's for you, Anna)

and unicorns!

Image source of awesome

What's your go-to story for positive thinking?

Sunday Funday! (27)

Happy Sunday! Today was an especially happy day for me, because my husband officially set a date...for our visit to the Harry Potter theme park!! We're heading over June 25, and I'm upgrading the free passes we got from his mom to an annual pass so I can visit all year long. Sometimes, living two hours away from Orlando has its perks.

Anyway, this was a great week in blogging! Here are some of my very favorite entries:

No one likes the idea of rejection. But every once in awhile, a writer bites back. Check out the most recent example of a writer's rejection of their rejection over at Editorial Ass.

Nathan Bransford discusses how to write the one-sentence pitch! He gives a formula, then tells you how to jazz it up a little. I'm still totally stressed about the idea of my pitch, but this post definitely makes me feel a little less queasy.

One of the biggest pet peeves I have in YA lit is when female characters stay in abusive relationships (be they emotionally or physically abusive - though the emotional abuse is much more rampant than the physical) for no reason. It just seems that some of these characters should be smarter than that. Or maybe not. Fortunately, The Character Therapist has a great post on 10 Reasons why your character might stay in an abusive relationship. As someone who's talked often with her therapist and social-worker friends, I definitely think this list is spot-on. So if your character needs to be (or is) in an abusive relationship, please, please, please, make sure he or she is the type of person who would actually stay in one.


Donna over at the First Novels Club discusses how we deal with jealousy as writers.


There's a new blog on the scene, and it's after my own heart! It's called League of Extraordinary Writers, and it's a blog by debut dystopian authors - a genre I love, and the type of authors I love to support.

What do writing and women in drag have in common? Click here to find out - and work your inner fierceness!

Hope you all had a great day!

Why Home Decorating is Like Writing, Part One

I have a confession: I have another hobby.

I know. It seems totally impossible that someone with no time to sleep actually has time to consider doing something aside from writing in the few waking moments that she has, but, what can I say. I like to torture myself. Anyway, lately I've been getting into decorating and renovating my house. Since I'm on a serious budget (and I mean serious) all of my "new" decor is really stuff I find in thrift stores or consignment shops and fix up to display in my house. And every time I go through the process, I can't help but be reminded of the writing process.

Take, for example, the lamp I recently found at my local Salvation Army. I'd been looking for a good lamp for weeks, ever since I refurbished an adorable end table and decided it needed a lamp to sit on top of it. I wanted one with a nice, interesting shape, but also one that wasn't totally huge. Finally on my third weekly visit to the store, I found the perfect lamp. It was just like searching for the perfect idea for your next novel - I didn't know what I was looking for, in particular, but as soon as I saw it I knew it was the one.

I really wish I'd taken a before picture, because this thing was pretty hideous. Much like the first draft of a WIP, it had great bones, but it was speckled with awful brown spots, almost sponge-painted on. Just terrible, classic thrift-store tacky. But after some primer, a can of yellow spray paint, and an incredibly adorable (and possibly too girly for my husband's tastes) shade from Ikea, I transformed my thrift store find into this:

It's so cute I want to die a little.  And it just took a little bit of revision, and the ability to look beyond the hot mess of what the lamp was and see what it could be. (If that doesn't remind you of the writing process, I don't know what does.)

But then, as I was putting the final touches (literally, the very last spray) on my lamp, disaster struck. I got a little overzealous, came a bit too close with the paint can and bam! Drip city. Oh noes! What to do? Hm...what would a writer do when there's a plot problem that seems a little bumpy? Research! So I did a Google search for "Removing spray paint runs" and found some useful information. Since my runs currently look like this:

It's obvious I have a little more sanding, then some painting to do before I can finally display my lamp for all the world to see. But if writing's taught me anything, it's that revisions are a long and painful process, so waiting a week to show off my adorable lamp hardly seems difficult.

The best part about doing all these little paint jobs (including a totally botched dresser and nightstand set, which may make up part two of this post) is that painting really lets me clear my head and think - and whenever I'm thinking, my brain always turns to my WIP. Some of my best ideas have come to me while I'm refurbishing something, or browsing the aisles of the thrift store. So even if this new decorating craze has taken some time away from my writing here and there, in a way it's also helped me connect to it again. 

The Art of the Multi-Dimensional Villain

Everyone loves to hate a villain. They're evil. They're miserable. They're always running about mucking up everyone's lives. In books where the villain wins, you want to cry and throw things a little, and the times when the hero is vindicated, you can feel your heart swelling.

Still, just because a villain is technically the bad guy doesn't mean he or she should be all bad. In fact, you need to find a way to give your villain some depth, otherwise they'll fall totally flat and will be unbelievable. Even the big historical villains had a hard time somewhere along the way - and that often turned them into the person they became. Hitler, for example, had a troubled relationship with his father, who beat him and sent him to a technical school, even though young Adolf wanted to attend a school for artists. Serial killer Ted Bundy struggled with depression, and found out as an adult that the parents who raised him were really his grandparents, and his "older sister" was actually his mom. Another serial killer, Charles Manson, also had family and abandonment issues; apparently, Manson's mother once sold baby Charles to a childless waitress for a pitcher of beer. An uncle rescued him a few days later. Although these stories certainly don't excuse what the men would eventually become, they do make you feel just a little sorry for who these men are and what they had to go through - a crucial element in the art of villain creation.

Until recently, I had a villain who was all evil, no sorrow. Then I chatted it out with my writer-friends (who are awesome), and now he has some neurosis that fit his character oh-so perfectly (I just have to write them into the MS. Don't you love revisions?) Since talking about my character will make no sense - you don't know him or my story, I thought I would share some of my favorite, well-known, multi-layered villains with you. (Please note that the character discussions obviously have some spoilers for their back-story, so if you're not familiar with the story but plan on being one day, perhaps you want to skip over that character and move on to the next. They're not too bad, but maybe you'll hate me if you read them. I don't know, but I do know that I don't want you to hate me if you don't like spoilers without warning, so...You've been warned.)

Exhibit A: Sue Sylvester

Quote: "I will go to the animal shelter and get you a kitty cat. I will let you fall in love with that kitty cat. And then, on some dark, cold night I will steal away into your home and punch you in the FACE."

Sue is a great villain. She is mean to everyone - everyone - the students, the teachers, even herself, at times. Her intentions are always clear and never waver, and even when she seems to have a last-minute change of heart, in the end we see it's all about getting rid of the Glee club and getting the funding for her Cheerios back. She's selfish, obnoxious, arrogant, and hilarious. But then, about halfway through the first season, she did something that seemed so heinous that even I was appalled - she invited a girl with Down syndrome to join the cheerleading team (a very un-Sue move). Of course, people were suspicious, and Sue pushed the girl hard to keep up at practice. When her behavior was questioned, Sue just said she's not going to treat the girl any differently because of her handicap. At the end of the episode, we saw Sue visiting her sister at a nursing facility. Her sister has Down syndrome, and our evil villain was so sweet and caring that I almost cried. In fact, every time Sue visits her sister and shares this little glimpse at her softer side, I get a little choked up. I love the softer side of Sue, and it's almost enough to make me forget that she's totally sabotaging everyone in the Glee club - almost. 

Exhibit B: Mrs. Coulter from His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman 

Quote: “Oh, there is more suffering to come. We have a thousand years of experience in this Church of ours. We can draw out your suffering endlessly.”

(Excuse my use of the movie Mrs. Coulter for the picture. Nicole Kidman was creepy, but the movie totally missed the mark in every way, and made the first book way less awesome than it really was.) Mrs. Coulter is one of the most terrifying women in literature, in my opinion. She comes off so sweet and innocent, like she really wants to protect and help young Lyra. She takes Lyra under her wing, and Lyra is ensnared by her beauty and grace. Of course, we find out soon enough that Mrs. Coulter and her evil little golden monkey are actually up to no good, and are in fact responsible for ordering the separation of children from their souls. Mrs. Coulter is evil, definitely, but she also has a complicated past that wraps her up even further in the mysteries of the book. I won't spoil the past here, though, because I'm hoping you pick up the book (maybe even order the series from The Book Depository for just $19! For three amazing books!) and find out for yourself what makes Mrs. Coulter multi-dimensional - and whether or not she redeems herself.  

Exhibit C: Lord Voldemort from Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling 

Quote:  "There is nothing worse than death, Dumbledore!"

Voldemort is probably my favorite example of the sympathetic, multi-dimensional baddie. We hated him through five books, our hate only growing more passionate with each one, then, suddenly, we read Half-Blood Prince, and we started to feel just a little sorry for him. Obviously, the kid was still totally creepy. But you could see exactly where he got his Muggle/half-blood hatred from, even through he himself has a Muggle father. And the situation with his orphanage, where he got almost no personal attention, and had no idea who he was or how to control his evil urges and power, was obviously not ideal. If only he'd been raised by someone who cared, then maybe none of this would have happened. If only Tom Riddle Sr. had really loved Merope enough to stick around. If only Merope had been strong enough to get herself together, run a comb through her hair, and be a badass single mother. If only Marvolo Gaunt wasn't such a misogynist jerk to his only daughter, then maybe she could have been strong and independent all along. But none of those things happened, and instead Voldemort turned into, well, Voldemort. Raised in circumstances much like Harry's, he became something very, very different - and of course, this comparison to our hero only further heightens the complexity and sadness we feel for our lonely villain, who uses power to get friends he's never had. Is it possible to cry through snake-like nostrils? I'm sure lonely Lord Voldemort can tell us it is. Then he blows the head off another Muggle, and we forget we ever felt sorry for him at all.

There are a ton of excellent villains with many layers - layers like onions. (Yes, shameless Shrek reference there. Which, hey, there's another villain with issues! Not Shrek, but Lord Farquaad, who is so short he's self-conscious about it and tries to overcompensate by being a raging jerk.) So, you tell me...who's your favorite multi-dimensional villain? 

Sunday Funday! (26)

Happy Sunday everyone! I literally went dancing in the rain today (OK, it was in my bathing suit, but still.) I also spray painted a lamp and went to an arts and crafts show, and did some writing stuff. Earlier this week, I read some awesome blog entries around the Interwebz. Entries like....

So I was way behind on Shannon's blog, apparently. Who knew? As I was catching up, I found this juicy tidbit about going with your gut in revisions. It's a great lesson in writing and in life.

A lot of us are headed to writer's conferences in the next few months, which means (if you're anything like me) you're totally freaking out about your pitch, and wondering how to make it perfect. Never fear, Rachelle Gardner has your back! She gives some tips for the perfect pitch. 

Linking Nathan Bransford blog is really NBD - pretty much everyone is doing it. But I couldn't resist sharing this awesome post on crafting voice.

Heather over at Secret Adventures of Writer Girl shared a wonderful list of ways not to raise a reader - it's fun and there's so much truth in it.

Have you been rejected? I haven't been rejected in the writing world yet (only because I haven't queried), but I certainly expect to be rejected one day. And when I am, I will have this list of famous authors who were rejected repeatedly - and sometimes rudely - before they finally found a publisher handy. This is my favorite kind of motivation.

And finally, this is totally not writing related at all...but this kid is freaking amazing. He's only in 6th grade! This is some seriously awesome motivation to keep practicing your skill when talent like this exists in the world. (OK, I know a lot of you might have seen this video already. And the kid was on Ellen. But I added the link at the beginning of the week. Anyway, what you might not have seen yet is the two songs this kid wrote himself....seriously. Click here to see him perform his song, Broken Hearts, and here for Stars. So, Greyson...where can I buy the album?)

Contest Winner!

The FORGIVE MY FINS and GOTH GIRL RISING (plus extra swag) contest is closed!

I came this close to 200 followers, but never quite got there, so sadly that third book I was going to give away will remain in my possession (for now anyway...*evil laugh*). But don't be sad, because we have a winner!

I let random.org do the picking for me. And out of 156 entries, random.org liked number 22 the best. And number 22 is...

Elizabeth Briggs!!!

Congratulations, Elizabeth! I'm sending you an email in about 2.5 seconds. If I don't hear from you in 72 hours, I'll be forced to pick a new winner. And that's not good for anyone (except maybe the new winner).

Have a great day everyone!