When I signed on to write for the Public Domain Universe--the brand new podcast project that is the brainchild of writer/producer/comedian Ben Fort--I broke my cardinal rule of storytelling: always know the end of the story before starting to write from the beginning. A project like this podcast, though, is unique. In fact, it's very much more like a television show than a book (or a book series), and for that reason, I've had to approach it... differently. A bit like the Doctor, if you will, stepping out of the Tardis, with a sense of, "I'm not sure exactly how I got here or how this is going to end, but I'm certain I'm supposed to be here, and together, with my companions, we'll make sure to have the best darned adventure we can! Oh yeah, and hope that everything turns out resolved and neat and tidy when we're through, too."
Speaking of Doctor Who, this whole experience of writing for a podcast--and the difference between writing for a podcast and writing a novel--has allowed me to really explore different sorts of storytelling options available on television. Some shows are finite. They're clearly only made to run for a set number of seasons, so the writers have a sense that they are writing to some sort of END. I imagine--and I've always imagined, because I'm a writer, and this is the bonkers sort of thing I sit and think about when watching TV--that it's still incredibly challenging to write TV shows like this, because one never knows if they will be renewed season after season. In fact, I think this is probably what went awry with the plot of LOST around seasons 5-6. Without a set end or end date, writers on shows are, I imagine, often left having to come up with probable endings, and then filler when the show is renewed again (or fumbling to wrap things up if they are not). Some shows manage it well, some shows do not. With a show like Doctor Who, though, the sky (the universe... all of space and time!) is literally the limit. And this is what makes Doctor Who so successful, and so brilliant. There doesn't have to ever be an ending. The Doctor can endlessly regenerate. The universe will never be too small. There are infinite worlds to be explored, and with them, infinite stories to be told. What an alluring concept! In that regard, my cardinal rule does not apply, because the Doctor IS the story, and the "end" of the story is that he has no end. But, alas, his companions always do, and that's what forms the real drama, and the keep-you-coming-back story arcs, season after season. And, of course, the writers on a show like Doctor Who have to know the beginning and end of each of the companion's stories. And as I'm now writing for a show--albeit just a small start-up podcast show--I'm adjusting to the fact that I may not know the end of our metanarrative, and I may not know where the other two writers are taking their characters, and I may not ever know if our show is going to be renewed for a second, third, fourth... season, but what I DO, and CAN know is the stories of my characters--my companions, if you will. We don't have all of time and space to explore in the Public Domain Universe, but we do have, well, all of the characters in the Public Domain we could explore using, if we wanted to, and that gives us a lot of options for a lot of stories to come. Will you come exploring with us? We may be small now, but if there's one thing I've learned from the Tardis, it's that good things often come in small packages. *Find the Public Domain Universe on the Interwebz: http://publicdomainuniverse.com/ ~If you're only interested in following my stories on the PDU (Cinderella), you can find my page on the website HERE. *Listen to the Public Domain Universe on iTunes HERE! It's Free! *Follow @PDUpod on Twitter to stay up-to-date on all the latest episodes and to interact with the writers and producer!
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I love to draw. I'm not terrible at drawing, but I'm also not very good. Like most of the creative arts, I have a natural knack for it, and if I had ever received good instruction, I probably could have become quite proficient, but alas and alack for time and energy and life. When I was a child and had more of all three, I used to keep sketchbooks for all my stories, and those sketchbooks were like gold to me. You see, I'm an incredibly visual person, and as such, my stories live first in my head--in full, vivid, sharp detail--and it's always been the case for me that the itch to get the images down on paper has overwhelmed, at times, my better sense that tells me I'm not a good enough artist to do the images justice. (Someday I'm convinced I WILL make movies, but there's so much that has to happen first.)
When you're writing a story, however, getting the images just right IS important, and that's one reason why my bumbling attempts to draw what is inside my head has always frustrated me. Yes, I realize it's my job to paint pictures with my words, but when creating worlds that don't exist, the longing to see those worlds is sometimes overwhelmingly powerful. And I'm not one to believe we ever create ex nihilo, so sometimes having the images to view as we create is also, in and of itself, a form of inspiration. So allow me to let you all in on a little secret of mine... Now, instead of sketching out my characters or settings, I collect images on Pinterest. I've had an author account on Pinterest for years, but I kind of just picked at it, never really realizing its full potential until recently when I downloaded the app. And Pinterest is so vast, I can usually find just what I have in my mind, or close enough, or sometimes (even better) what I never knew I wanted but come to realize is related to my idea through the Pinterest search engines. Eureka! Now I scroll through it while cooking dinner and doing other menial tasks, and I collect images to people and inspire my worlds. Some of my boards (like my Girl in the Sea board) are public, but I keep several private boards full of images for future projects I'll someday release to be viewed by all--once the books are written. I can't tell you how helpful Pinterest has been for me as a working mother who also--oh yeah--writes books, public speaks, and manages all my own marketing and social media on the side! I no longer have time to sketch, but I do have time to Pinterest, and that means I can still visualize my stories. And if I can visualize my stories, I can better bring them to life through words, and that benefits my readers. Check out my Pinterest boards HERE! I hope you will be encouraged to start your own writing inspiration boards, too. 3/14/2017 0 Comments 9, 7, 4, 2, 19, 7, 4, 2, 1? What is this--LOST? I have to admit--I felt a little clever coming up with that title, but it's actually not all that clever. I just couldn't fit everything into the title that I wanted to, so I had to shorten it to numbers.
9 Books 7 Awards 4 Boys 2 Jobs 1 Me Since 2008 when I wrote The Six and decided I would seriously pursue a career as an author, life has been insane, so those numbers represent the insanity--and the achievements--of the last nine years. Of course, I didn't add a number for my husband, but he is the supporting force behind it all, and without whom I couldn't do any of it. He's so supportive of my crazy career choices that when I said a couple weeks ago, "Hey, I need to drive 11 hours north to Washington DC to look around and see what it's like for book 3 of The Breeder Cycle," he said, "... Okay!" (But that will be a blog for another day.) Back to the numbers... I have often felt split these last nine years. When I started seriously writing, I had just finished up my first year of teaching. I love teaching. I always will, and I have given 110% to my students, but teaching is not my primary vocation or passion. Writing as a hobby can be done in snatches of time here and there, but writing as a career demands hours and hours of time--it demands the sort of attention that a true second job demands. And I was not interested in writing as a hobby. Over the years, I wrote, and continued writing, and developed my social media platforms, built this website, and signed with The Writer's Coffee Shop Publishing House in late 2011, re-releasing books 1-3 of The Gateway Chronicles in 2012 and releasing book 4 all in that year, while also giving birth to my third son (THAT was a YEAR). Several of my books hit bestseller status on Amazon as the years went on, and the demands of two jobs and a growing family on one Me seemed sometimes to hit the tipping point. Being an author has sent me on some grand adventures, too--Austin, TX; Sydney, Australia; Savannah, GA; Atlanta, GA; Nashville, TN; Los Angeles, CA; and Miami, FL--and entered me into discussions with movie directors, graphic novelists, and other fabulous people. Between 2015 and early 2017, I have received 7 awards on my books, opening up new opportunities. But I now have four children, and all this time I've remained a teacher, and that has always called me home. And when I'm asked how I've done these things and lived this double (or triple, really) life, sometimes I'm honestly not sure. Because it seems impossible to juggle--to have juggled--all these things for all these years. What I do know, though, is that the teaching chapter of my life is coming to a close. I am incredibly thankful to my school and my students and my years teaching, but as I shop around my 9th manuscript to agents and publishers, I know that the only way for me to keep my priorities straight--as a wife and mother--and to be true to my passion and vocation, is for me to focus on my writing career. SO, the numbers will be changing at the end of this school year! Hopefully I will have finished my next book, so perhaps that number will be up to 10 by then. I don't know if I will have won any more awards, but maybe! That would be nice. We'll see. Still only 4 boys--we are DONE. 1 job! Full-time author. And 1 Me who will hopefully be better rested, better focused, and better able to take on new challenges in the publishing world! |
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