lori sizemore

HarperCollins has set up a website called Authonomy to

flush out the brightest, freshest new writing talent around.

 

I try to leave out the parts that people skip.

~Elmore Leonard

No kidding, the best advice I ever read.  For a while I’d be all… “Ugh, I have to write that scene,” and if you don’t want to write the scene, why the hell would anyone want to read the scene?  Sum it up and move on.  You don’t have to write a play by play of life for your characters–only the important parts.

I realize there are times when self-doubt about the ability to really pull off an important scene slips in, but that’s the thing: you know it’s an important scene.  In that case, write the damn thing and pretend it’s just a placeholder scene so you can move on.  Sometimes, this little trick is all that keeps me sort of sane.  You’re not writing THE scene.  You’re giving your muse the chance to stretch out a little before the real writing starts.  ;-)

I’ve been looking for something to give me that Bitch, OK! feeling. My plan is to write during the week, and plot/revise/layer on the weekends. And it works. I think it works really well for me. But it doesn’t make it any easier to just sit down and do it.

In a purely whimsical way, I present these to you:

Magic Bean Wishes
Plant these bean seeds and watch them magically rise up from the soil with an inspirational message stamped on each bean. Grow indoors or out. Includes 15 assorted beans with messages such as “faith,” “love,” “heal” and more.

I kind of really want these…

Those Rules, the capital R ones, can stifle a young writer (and by young I mean novice).  You can spend so much time on your first draft making sure that you don’t overuse adverbs, use correct grammar, don’t head hop, include enough description–augh, the list is endless.  You can spend so much time following all of those Rules that you don’t give yourself permission to write badly.  But I promise you this, if you don’t let yourself just freaking write, you will never find your voice.

Let your characters say what they need to say.  Infodump if you have to.  That’s right.  I went there.  Make up bad metaphors.  Just write what’s in your heart, what comes up and into your mind and let it all go.  The Rules are for rewriting.  Writing is the fun part.  Writing is where you let go, and just be YOU and write your story the only way it can be written–with your voice.  Write it the way you hear it in your head, the way you see it, and leave the Rules for after.  I promise this, too: you won’t regret it.

So I’m watching movies considered to be some of the most romantic movies for many decades. I’ve watched Gone With the Wind and An Affair to Remember more times than I’ve changed my clothes, almost, so I wanted to start with something new (to me). This is, technically, research for a character, who would’ve been watching these movies at a certain point in her life. But, I thought, if I’m watching some of the best romances ever, why not examine the GMC? Maybe I’ll learn something.

Movie: Sabrina

Hero: Linus  Cold-blooded corporate raider	GOAL	MOTIVATION	CONFLICT
Internal	To be compensated for the life his brother took by being irresponsible.	He feels cheated out of life, out of making his own choices, and weighed down by responsibility.	His brother continues to be irresponsible David, and he is the one Sabrina loves.
External	To complete a billion dollar deal with Tyson Electronics.	He’s always been the best. He needs this deal because Tyson has the best television of the future.	David, his brother, is ambivalent about marrying Tyson’s daughter and Sabrina is the perfect excuse to cancel the engagement.

Heroine: Sabrina  Transformed chauffeur’s daughter	GOAL	MOTIVATION	CONFLICT
Internal	To fall in love.	Sabrina wants David because she has watched him sweep women off their feet; she’s shy, has no self-confidence, and is the chauffeur’s daughter. She doesn’t see herself has lovable.	She believes she’s in love with David, but that’s just a fantasy. When she falls in love with Linus, he admits he was just using her to get her out of the way to protect his merger.
External	To be seduced by David.	Sabrina has been obsessed with David her whole life. His seductions are a symbol of love for her.	Linus keeps interfering with her time with David and spending time with her in order to make her fall in love with him and forget David.

Okay, I don’t know if that’s right, and welcome any opinions, but that’s what I took from it. When I first watched it, I couldn’t think of a single thing Sabrina wanted. I wondered if she had a goal at all. In this movie, Linus’ external goal is obvious; it’s his internal goal you have to search for, hidden in the character. With Sabrina, her internal goal isn’t obvious, but it is the ruling one. Her external goal is tied tightly to her external goal. Linus’ is, too, but he doesn’t realize how much of his life he’s missed out on, and how much he resents his brother for that, until he sees his brother living a life he would like.

Breakfast at Tiffany’s is next. I’ll try to have that for next week.

Is a Van Halen song.

But also, right now all I can think of needing as a writer, is an orchard of trees from which to make my own paper, and a few squid for ink.

Photos courtesy www.jupiterimages.com

This is not the sort of post you want someone reading over your shoulder, so I’m going to slip a fold in here.  You click it when you’ve got a few minutes of alone time.
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I mentioned on Saturday that the house planning book I bought didn’t live up to my expectations.  Here’s hoping this will:

The Home Quick Planner includes 700 precut, reusable peel-and-stick, 1/4-inch scale furniture and architectural symbols, plus a 5,600 square-foot floor plan grid to help you design your own building, remodeling and decorating projects. (Also good for moving.) Symbols include everything you need from tables, chairs, couches, beds and pianos to every standard kitchen cabinet and appliance, an extensive assortment of bathroom fixtures and cabinets (for example, twelve sets of sink designs, six different showers, and a dozen various baths and whirlpools), plus windows, doors, walls, switches, outlets, lights and much more. Simply lift the symbols and arrange them on the floor plan grid to design floor plans, move furniture and make changes. Step-by-step instructions and “Design Details: Critical Dimensions & Clearances” are provided to help you improve your design and save money. After you’ve finished designing your floor plans with the Home Quick Planner, you can build a three-dimensional model of your design with the 3-D Home Kit (also by Daniel Reif).

Okay, so they will stick and peel, which makes me happy.  I can’t imagine trying to keep up with 700 small pre-cut shapes!  Also, from what I understand, 1/4″ means they can be used on real floor plans.  Not that this helps me any.  I draw mine or download samples from Houseplans.com, depending on my needs.  Hey, if I really love it, maybe I’ll even get the 3-D Home Kit! But the biggest plus to this is I can make it, scan it, and print it out so I have the floor plan. That’s not going to happen with the other.

Will update!

Remember this material girl recommend that I bought on the spot?

I thought that the furniture stuck onto the paper, like colorforms.  I thought wrong.  It clearly says so, on the back of the book.  Unfortunately, it does NOT say so on Amazon’s web site.

This is what I got:

Click to enlarge, but you can see it’s like… some boxes.  And a few pages of graph paper.  Which I already had.  And mine’s nicer.  So, I recant my recommend.  Don’t buy it.