MY Next BIG Thing (W.I.P. [Work In Progress] Edition)

Still working on the Wordpress move, but will be dishing out some posts in the meantime, and today's post is partly thanks to Kelly Hashway's Blog. She tagged me for "The Next Big Thing." 

As on Kelly's blog, I'll share a few choice tidbits about my current WIP (Work-in-Progress) novel. It's been an off and on project that 've just started really kicking into high gear.

Here goes-

What is the working title of your next book?


The Baroque Weasel


Where did the idea come from for the book?

After reading some of the original Grimm's fairy tales, I got inspired to write my own style of fairy tale, though mine isn't as dark, and the female characters are more modern and proactive.

I also wanted to write a story about a weasel, an underused creature BEYOND the picture book world, and novels outside the confines

of Redwall (We're they're typically the villains), but in this story, the weasel's the hero. I LOVE to make misunderstood animals the heroes.

What genre does your book fall under?

A Fantasy/Adventure. It's either going to be Upper MG (10+), or straight YA (13+), but I'm not yet sure at it's current stage.

What actors would you choose to play the part of
your characters in a movie rendition?

First, I really hope it will be animated, since some live-action movie adaptations of books are REALLY meant to be animated, and in this case, not CGI, but 2D with some CGI effects if needed. Okay, that out of the way-

NOTE: My animal characters have full names like humans, just mentioning the animals they are for the purpoes of this blog post to avoid confusion.


Frankie Muniz (Or someone similarly pitched) As Aurel the Weasel (Gentle yet not too naïve)

Rachel Hirschfield As Henrietta Caulfield (Spunky but sincere is key for 16 year old human girl, Henrietta)

Christopher Plummer As Stragglefur the warm yet wicked fox (He can be menacing yet endearing, the latter is KEY for the antagonist's layered personality)

Antonio Bandaras As Vélasco the persnicketty crow (If he can affect a Sharp, fairly natural Spanish accent)

Stephanie Young As Chandra the warrior wolf (She can sound serious yet convey strong emotion, very KEY for Chandra)

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
(NOT FINAL): A lonely weasel who can turn into a human, helps down on her luck teenage girl save her father from a deadly curse, and fall in love on the way.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
I might go the self-published route, but that depends on being able to afford outsourcing the cover art and illustrations (I sadly don't illustrate), freelance editor, etc. That's assuming I don't get an agent with this or another book. (Cross your fingers, or tails, for me)

How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?
Not done yet! (It will be eventually…)


What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
I don't like to play the comparison game outside market purposes. But if it helps, but partly a semi-modern fairy tale, not too scarry or sappy, but not afraid to "Get Happy!"

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

Grimm's Fairy Tales and researching weasels and my desire to bring them together. It would also be my first book with a true villain, as opposed to a antagonistic rival character, who wasn't "Evil" to start with, and weren't trying to inflict his nastiness with (Intended) malicious intent.

What else about the book might pique the reader's interest?
You've GOT to love talking animals, which if you're reading this blog, you've got the fantastical fauna fancier in you, right?

Also, you'll have to accept not everything about my animal characters will be "National Geographic" accurate, but they retain much of their real life apperence, natural behaviors and instincts, etc. Think Half Beatrix Potter/Richard Scarry (Anthropomorhpic), and half E.B. White and Tor Seidler (More naturalistic, but might wear some clothes, and have human-like autnomy and self-awareness).

That's all for today.
Until Next Week, 
May the fantastical fauna be with you.
Taurean

Random Wednesday (5/30/12)

Random Wednesday is back. Once a week, I share some of my favorite sites, blogs and the like, that may more may not do with writing.  This week though, I'm going to have some writing related things to share, by highlighting some of the blogs posts I found helpful and informative during my recent long (and unplanned...) abstinence from blogging.


The World Crafter: Starting in the Right Place: Learn how my writer friend Katrina (Cat) take on an all too common problem for any writer, but especially for fantasy or non-plot centric writers.


Writer's First Aid: Quantity vs. Quality: Big Issue for Today’s Writer: If you need further convincing about what I feel is becoming a serious issue for unpublished writers today really isn't a "newbie rant thing" maybe what ICL instructor and established author Kristi Holl has to say might add more needed weight to the discussion.


Adreienn Kress, The Temp, The Actress, and The Writer: You Are Not A Fraud: One of my early mentors on the writer's path reiterates something we all struggle to embrace, but need to for our sanity if nothing else. We may not always agree, but our commitment to writing's same, it's worth checking out more on her blog, just be warned, she's more pragmatic and realist in her approach to writing than I am, and that's not a negative, just something to keep in mind.


Sometimes the best advice to the problem is presented in a "less than ideal" approach for our personality type, which in this case, is self-doubt.


Also, Here's My Wish List for Nonfiction and Reference Books I want this summer!


That's it for Random Wednesday. Next week, I'll share what's on my summer reading list this year, since I'm going to make reading more in general a high priority after a difficult start to 2012.

Birthday Tribute (A True Artist Who Taught Me A lesson I will Never Forget)

Today is my birthday, and as hard as I tried, I may not have any new posts up today, I'm trying to "Celebrate" and am still not feeling it yet, if I do update the blog further you'll be alerted via the new T.A.A. Twitter feed, which you can find here. 

Before I was using my Author Twitter feed, but it is more streamlined and less spammy to separate my Author Twitter feed and the one for T.A.A.

In the spirit of the "Random Acts of Kindness Blitz" that's going on other blogs today, I'd like to send special thanks to someone I've spent the last year working with on a project I wasn't ready to talk about, and while the plans for this project are delayed for various reasons (Lack of money sadly being one of them) she deserves my deepest, most sincere gratitude.

Illustrator Ellie Record

Aside from being a joy to work with, my experience with her will explain in part why T.A.A. was yet again "Going Dark" with no new posts.

Late last year I was seriously considering going the self-publishing route when lack of interest in my middle grade novel, and being unable to find my next story with agents left to try with it, it seemed my only option left, so I looked into finding ways to essentially launch my own indie press.

However, unlike some of my writer friends who took a more simple DIY approach, which can certainly work, as in their case, I personally saw the idea of going indie differently, not necessarily better, but different. I wanted my brand to look no less professional than the few, and thus hard to reach independent publishers that have survived past the early years of the recession and continue to thrive.

Unlike T.A.A.'s logo, which I've grown to love (Though not quite what I envisioned), its fine for a blog, but I need every aspect of my indie press, including the logo, to evoke three key things-

1. Professional (I don't shortchange what my best work deserves)

2. Playful (For the kinds of books I'd self-publish under this brand)

3. High Quality (Books from Candlewick Press and Dutton Children's Books is what I personally strive toward)

I spent much of last year, mostly through the summer, trying to find illustrators who could deliver the quality and style of illustration for a price I could actually afford, but even one drawing or sketch costs more money than I've ever had in my life, but then I found Ellie, and she was gracious enough to guide me through the basics of art direction, and even negotiate pricing.

However, here's where the story take a shameful (On my part) turn...

I had agreed to a price that I felt I could pay at the time without too much difficulty, but I didn't budget like I should and delayed it for months after she delivered the art I needed for the logo, and this weighed heavy on my conscience for months, which caused me to be unfairly short with people. 

Especially the writers in my support circle, who I never told about any of this, they knew I wanted to go indie, but nothing about the mess I got myself into with commissioning art that while under $1000 USD, was something I shouldn't have done without having it at the time.

For the writers in my support network who I hurt during this time (You know who you are) I again apologize. 

 I've since resolved the payment issues, but the aftermath of my mishandling things caused tensions between my grandma (My stand-in parent) and me, to explode, and we were already on shaky ground with each other before this, but thankfully she got something out of Mother's Day, more than I can say.


After today, that's one thing I'd be okay with staying in neutral, for both our sanity's sake.

Now for those of you who might deservedly think, "Why go through with something you didn't have the money for right then?" and this is the only honest answer I can give-

I believe in my writing. 

As much as I still agonize over the process, nothing I've done up to now has been fake, and every time I come to the computer, I push myself hard, maybe too hard sometimes.


However, the more ambitious your goals, the more I feel you have to surpass your limits to achieve your dreams. 


Sometimes this turns me into a jerky tyrant, and I'm not proud of that, and what it did to my writer friends, but thankfully they know any rage is rarely ever about them.


Only the effort from sharpening my skills and not letting harshly conflicting critiques (However valid) stop me.


I didn't do this to get rich (But I do need/want to make some money, and there's a happy medium between earning pennies versus millions, that's all I say about that), I did this as a proactive declaration of what I'm able and willing to do, so I can finally open some doors, after years of being blocked by closed ones. 


But that blinded me to the logistics of my situation.

While for some of you, spending over $400 is not a big investment (Medical bills, home mortgages and car and student loans can go well beyond that), I took what for me, and my life at this point time, is a BIG risk. Not just in money or time, but putting absolute faith in reaching the readers who will give my way of storytelling a chance, and prove to myself that there are still readers who connect with what I write, and by building a large and vocal enough following, I might open doors that otherwise remained closed to me.

Long shot, I know, but it DOES happen.


Despite how negative I can unintentionally come across, I'm really an optimist, even when it looks naive, it's how I maintain even an ounce of sanity on the worst days. Today is thankfully not of those days. 

Generally speaking, despite some of the angst and touchiness about self-publishing going away, it's still not easy or affordable to do it right, especially if you want to achieve professional results. 


I honestly feel it's the only way to logically reach readers who might still be wary of books outside the big 6, or small publishers like Candlewick or Holiday House, who have proven their mettle from many years and successful authors in the business, and I'm not just theorizing here.


As a reader myself, with little money to my name, I too have to be selective, since many of the books I'm interested in are never available in my library network where I live, and I often have to buy much of what I read, including the market guides, my local library, even through inter-library loan only has editions of CWIM (Children's Writers and Illustrator's Market) that are two to five years old. That won't do in finding markets THIS YEAR, and for those of you T.A.A. readers who are writers like myself, know what I'm talking about. 


It's why I get a bit testy when people tell me to utalize my library more, but aside from working out ways to get to the library, they rarely have the books I want to check out, and with the slow pace I read and retain information, I'm better off buying the book myself, so I can take my time, especially in the case of craft books or market/reference guides.

Maybe if I lived in a more book-friendly city, with far less debt, this wouldn't be as hard a problem.

Anyway, I sadly have been tempted to pack it in the past three years especially. As much as I take no one's gratitude and support for granted, there's still a difference between what my writer friends like about my writing, and finding either agents or editors who feel the same way, not to mention the readers I'm trying to reach in the first place. 

Back to the main point, in short I finally paid her for the initial sketches, but asked her to hold off coloring the art until the summer when I can pay that upfront a lot sooner, and hopefully that'll be cheaper than the initial sketches were, but they were worth the money I paid, and once the coloring's done you can the results when my indie press launches later this or next year. 

Originally, I planned to launch my indie press this month. But delays with the aforementioned logo art; limited funds to aid in book covers and other needed art, and the editorial process needed to weed out sloppy writing, not to mention the books I'm working on are either not emotionally, or technically ready to bring out--I had to delay the launch until things improve.

Ellie, thanks for being so patient and understanding of me the past year. I never intended or meant for things drag out this long. This has more to do with my lack of self-discipline and desperation on my part. I promise things will be different from this point on. 

As someone who can't create art visually the way you can, you deserved more than we agreed on, and I'm truly sorry for any inconvenience my delays of payment caused you.

Writers, there are two lessons I hope you can learn from this story-
1. Patience (Duh!)

2, Just as important, be willing to take (reasonable for your life and finances) risks.

Until Next Time, this your literary rat signing off for today.

Face Your Fear Friday - Episode 1

Today's Friday, and that means it's time to, "Face Your Fear."


Every Friday, you'll be given three days to meet a personal goal, and report back on what you learned, even if you don't complete your goal as planned, do you best to learn at least one thing that will help your writing process in the long run. If abundant success comes from countless failures, you will learn something worth learning, even if you didn't meet the goal as intended.


Be kind to yourself. Pick a goal that you know won't require more you can give in three days, something you know your writing lacks, and won't inherently require a certain kind of study or focus you know you can't achieve in that short a time frame.


For example, most writers can't draft a book or even short story in a day or two, however bad, but we can study up on craft and catch up on some market or story research.


Here are the rules (Only 3)


1. Pick a challenge that will aid in honing a weak point in your writing process. Small enough to finish over three days (Friday, Saturday and Sunday before Midnight)


2. Comment on this post before Midnight about the writing challenge you're giving yourself and why.


3. Report back here again in the comments on Monday before 1:00 AM Tuesday, EST. What was your weekend challenge? Did you complete complete the challenge, and if not, what did you learn from your challenge that will help your writing in the long run?


To all those who join me in this challenge, I wish you all luck.


So go and face that fear!

How Does Critiquing Make YOU A Better Writer?

I'm not back regularly, and will be busy with NaNoWriMo in particular for the next two weeks, but I wanted to have a discussion about something many writers will have to face once their story has been written, whether it takes a month or not, getting feedback to make it better.

I can't count how many articles I've read and interviews I've seen, heard or read where it's said at some point "Get second eyes on your writing." Not just for the technical stuff, which as important as it is, I really find it a pain sometimes, but also for things that don't work or should be removed, and often the case for me, doesn't make sense as currently written.

But how can you help others when you barely can help your own craft quirks and missteps ?

While many have told me you just have to say what I like and what I don't if I can't be technically helpful, I'm not simply talking about reading tastes and other subjective things like that. I just really don't feel I can help to the extent I was helped. It's one of the key reasons I had to leave my first critique group.

I was, and sadly still am, weak in the areas they excelled, so often I felt like if they had issues I'd never had or understood, how could I be helpful?

People can say "What X character did isn't convincing" until the cows come home, but knowing that, and even agreeing that is the case, doesn't mean finding a better way to do it just comes to you, and that's for critiquing others work and trying to edit and/or revise your own.

So in the comments I urge you to answer the following-

What's ONE  did you learn from critiquing others writing that made your writing better?

Only one to really zero in on what the greatest takeaway for you is.

Together, let's try to take crisis out of critiquing others writing, and our own.

Ciao For Now,
Taurean

The F.U.N. Factor - How To Make Your Writing and Reading Life Both Productive and Pleasureful!

Symbiosis.

It's one of my favorite words I learned as a kid. It speaks to so many aspects of life. Symbiosis is when two separate entires rely on each others strengths to help compensate the weaknesses of one another.

A more personal way to say "Teamwork."

For example, vegetable gardens not only need water and nutrient rich soil, but sunlight as well. Sunlight, water, and rich soil all play their part in keeping life cycle of plants and trees in balance.

The water cycle is also dependent on the sun. It's the light and heat from the sun that causes water to evaporate, become clouds, which brings rain, snow, or hailstones  rushing to the ground .In addition to sunlight though, wind speed and climate temperature also play key factors in the water cycle.

As we each walk down our own writer's path, we may want to achieve similar goals, like daily sharpening of our craft, writing new material on a reasonably consistent basis, getting an agent. Or make our first sale. We achieve these goals in different ways and at different times, usually (But annoyingly) on a longer time frame.

Regardless of how different your road differs from others, many things are a constant to all writers, whether fiction or nonfiction, short vs. long.

We must write, of course,  but we also must read, which is where our love for language starts after we learn our first words through sound as toddlers. Just like Peanut Butter and Chocolate, Bacon and Eggs, and Fish and Chips, Reading and Writing are of equal importance to writers.

But this is also where new writers especially face one of the first big challenges prior to or shortly after either getting an agent or miraculously sold your book by going direct to a publisher, something that's getting harder to do now versus decades ago.

Sometimes, you may find reading is not the same as it was when you weren't writing, which for the purposes of this topic, writing with publication being your eventual goal.

Before, you read what you loved and didn't have to justify or explain it to yourselves, you just appreciated it when a certain story or writer's style speaks to you and your interests and experiences.

Once we start writing, and want to publish some of that writing, things change a bit. Now you take second looks as books you normally wouldn't because they're causing a serious buzz among readers and fellow writers, and winning an award or two only adds fuel to the fire surronding the accolades of a certain book, series, or author.

Some of these books you may like too, others you simply will not, even if it's in the same genre or type of book you're trying to write. First, know that it's OKAY not to like it, or to simply not be good at a book you like reading, I'm sure many writers like books in certain catagories they don't feel good at or have any interest to write themselves.

Think of how people have gone loony for memoirs this past decade, but that doesn't mean all the writers who loved memoir, should or frankly want to write their own.

Now you'll hear many writers who say they don't have this problem, and I'm seriously glad they don't, I don't wish this kind of pain and frustration on anyone, even my worst enemies.

For those of you T.A.A. readers who know or have once felt this pain, or know someone who has, it is REAL, and thankfully, can be healed. For the next week starting today, I'm going to put into practice, a way of making peace with the rivalry issues writers who want to get published and build a writing career always face and how to rise above them.

Readers, it's time to get the F.U.N. back in READING, not just writing.

I know many published writers, and publishing insiders, tell you not to let the market solely dictate everything you write, or READ for that matter.  At the same time, new writers are also force fed the saying, "Study the market" often more so than, "Show, don't tell."

But this isn't about arguing one over the other, because they are both important, this is really about learning how to write, and read, that doesn't sacrifice the pleasure for the practical. This is about-

The F.U.N. Method for reading and writing-

F for freedom
U for understanding
N for necessity

Over the next week or so, I will explore each aspect of the what the F.U.N. method is all about and how you can tailor it to fit the kind of writer and reader you are.

Snow or no snow, for all you four seasoners, Spring is coming soon, and it's time to take back the fun reading and writing gave us, while still pushing yourself toward excellence in your craft one day at a time.

Check back tomorrow for our first stop-

Freedom!

Until then, may the Fantastic Fauna be with you.
Taurean

Take the "P" out of pain and add "G" for Gain

No Pain, No Gain.


At some point we've all heard or been told this phrase countless times in our lives. Especially in recent years, when our economy, government, and even Mother Nature dealt us pain we often fear they'll be no gain at all.


But this is neither a financial or political blog, this blog is for aspiring and emerging children's book writers, but trust me, I'm going somewhere with this.


Just like the troubling times going on worldwide, and in our respective homelands, every man, woman and child faces their own trials and triumphs. But just as our predecessors survived and thrived despite The Great Depression, and two World Wars almost back to back, we'll survive these tough times too, even though sadly many of us will recover far slower than others.


But while the modern phrasing of this now clichéd saying is most well known, it comes from an old proverb coined by one of America's most influential voices, Dr. Benjamin Franklin, who said in his Poor Richard's Almanac: There are no gains without pains.

While this witty pearl of wisdom is mostly used in modern times as a self-motivator to physical fitness, it definitely applies to writers to further understand our craft, and sharpen it, like a hand crafted Chinese meat cleaver.


You'd be surprised at some of the common turns of phrase we still parrot today were first penned or made it wittingly candid by him.


"A penny saved is a penny earned" is another of his most well known quotes.One I've yet to master, but at least I'm not drowning in debt, and that was a ditch I nearly dug myself in, but now I'm in the black and intend to stay that way.


But Time is Money, A place for everything, and everything in it's place, and even, Honesty is the best policy. They all came from the witty Doc Franklin himself, whose words no less true now as they were in colonial America, but despite all the ignorant prejudice and inequivalent among the American colonists faced with England, and even amongst themselves, imagine how scathing it could've been if we had colonial equivalent of television, Facebook, or Twitter? Can you say, "Social Death By Journalism?" 


I'll take Death by Chocolate instead, cake that is.


One of my favorite Franklin phrases is one I first heard in 2002-


"A learned blockhead is a greater blockhead than an ignorant one."


Peanuts Charlie Brown I imagine would find much solace in that quote. I sure do.


What I gather this means is that it's never too late to better one's education, or build character, and integrity where previously there was none. Something I think all writers, but especially newcomers to the field like me, need to remind ourselves every day, minute, and hour we live and on the endless journey to improve our writing, for ourselves, and the readers we one day want to have. 


Many wise and more patient writers than I always told me, the journey is more important than the destination. But I believe it's too stark a message. Though I've come to see the truth to it. The destination is still important. 


If it wasn't, many of the truly joyous moments in our lives, both as a country, as well as individuals, would've never occurred. I hope Ben's Words, and mine, bring you the comfort and joy I'm starting to find again.


I'll leave you with my all time favorite quote from Dr. Franklin I sincerely wish all my readers and fellow writers can achieve in some form, for their sake, and for the sake of the future generations of wordsmiths-


"We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately."



Until tomorrow,
May the fantastic fauna be with you.
Taurean


P.S: While I applaud Ben for his searing sentences that speak truths we often recoil against, but need to hear anyway, I feel sorry for dogs everywhere when he uses these loyal, brave, and playful companions as metaphors on the sins and frailties of human nature. But I did find one dog quote by Dr. Franklin that shows that loyalty. As an animal lover,  whether the creatures of fact, or fiction, it was a quote I was glad to find.


Many Thanks, Ben. Many Thanks.

Career Themes and You!

Inspired the blog, "The Other Side of the Story" by Janice Hardy, author of The Healing Wars Trilogy.


Note: If you haven't read it yet, click here to check it out before reading this further. 


I don't follow a lot of blogs on a regular basis, but the ones I do are either extremely helpful to me as a writer, or they're just plain fun, but nearly all of them are inspirational and deeply empathetic. 


In the case of writing blogs, one of the most helpful ones I discovered last year was The Other Side of the Story, by the author of the well loved Healing Wars Trilogy by Janice Hardy.


While I've never met her in person, both Janice, and her blog, have been integral to my meltdown recovery. Her blog is full of practical, useful advice, even if it's not as easy to follow as it is to explain.


So many good writing blogs are hindered from being great because they usually (But not always) focus on the facts without taking personal feelings and setbacks into account. 


Recently she wrote a post about something I've never given great thought to before. Our career theme.


We all know most writing contains or address a specific theme, but did you know your writing career in and of itself can be theme oriented? I didn't. At least not to extent in which Janice talked about  on her blog. 


When you really think about it, not all bakers, banks, and businessmen and women have the same ideas about what the job means to them, outside of making money or being a nonprofit charity. The same is definitely true of writers, even those who write the same genre or type of story.


Think about all those books about plucky redhead girls: Pippi Longstocking, Anne of Green Gables, and Judy Moody. (Judy might be a carrot-top, but I'm not sure, her color covers and doll's hair looks reddish to me) All of these girls were written by different authors from different eras, connected only by their gender, and their heroine's hair color, and their heroines are unique and distinctive in their own way.


All stories have a theme, or themes, of some sort, whether fiction or nonfiction. Every writer has their own career theme too, things you like to explore or talk about in your stories no matter what you write, be it fiction, nonfiction, or poetry.


For example, not all love stories are straight romance, and not all romances are sex-driven, just like not all Women's fiction involves dating or relationships. 


Now if only there were more books "For men" that don't always involve crime-starved, perverted loners who drink and gamble to the umpteenth degree...


Anyway, back to the point, for Janice, her career theme is "Moral Grey Areas." Stories that explore characters whose actions and choices are neither all good or all bad, and tough questions don't always have a clear cut "Right and Wrong" answer. It's bittersweet, open-ended, and arguably more true to "Real life." Even if the world, people, and events are entirely made up.


This certainly doesn't describe me or my writing at all, at least not at large. So what are my career themes?


First and foremost, most of my stories deal with friendship in some form, from making new friends, to keeping old ones, and honoring friends who are either dead or you're no longer close to.


To me, friendship is vital for every person to experience, second only to family, and loving ourselves despite our flaws and quirks.


What makes friendship especially interesting to me is that unlike families we're either born into or adopted by, we can choose our friends, and we can change them as we ourselves change throughout life. 


That's why friendships that last throughout most of your life are very special to me when I read about them, I never got that, so those of you who have a friend or two you've known most of your conscious life, treasure them for those of us who have to live much longer to form similar bonds.


But like families (Either by birth or adoption) we hurt when our friends are hurting, and we they die, the feeling of grievance and loss is no different than losing a blood or adoptive relative or family pet.


One of the biggest advantages of having friends, especially friends closer to your actual age, is you can be equals, whereas with  friends older than ourselves or older kids or adults in our family, there's a distinct, normal, and yet semi-annoying sense of respect and restraint you must have.


Of course you must respect your friends as well, but it's not the kind of respect you'd give your teachers. sports coaches , and your parents and/or parental figures.


I've only recently discovered my second career theme, which for now I'll call The Reverse Peter Pan Syndrome, or the T.R.P.P. Syndrome for short (Acronyms are fun, if not always easy to say)


One of the hallmarks with Peter Pan is kids never having to grow up. The reverse of this is wanting to grow up, but here's the twist, you constantly feel frustrated and fearful of how long it's taking to "Grow up," at least in the ways we want most.


For me, it's how long it takes to be more Independent, to not be so dependent on my family for money and transportation, and being so behind an burnt out on education.


I have to admit, there are times I feel I'd be better off as a kid than the depressed, undereducated, temperamental 20 something I am now. But I soon remember the flip side, for all the pain and downright sadness associated with the many milestones and mishaps of adulthood, I learned wonderful and meaningful things about myself that my younger self couldn't do, or simply not understand. 


I got smarter. I learned to care about others and not just myself, and while I'm not 100% temper tantrum free, it doesn't happen nearly as often as when I was five since I have better (Mostly)  self-control, and hey, even the uber mature folk slip up sometimes.


While I haven't written much about this myself yet as I've just discovered it, anyone who's read books by memoirst Kelly Corrigan and about the "Quarterlife Crisis" us 20 somethings go through, you'll get a general idea of what I mean. Stories, both true and fictional, about feeling like a child trapped in an adult body, and not yet knowing how to make peace with onself, and feeling good about where you are now, versus when you were a kid, and loving yourself in the present as opposed to what you hope to be in the future.


I definitely have problem in this department. It can be hard to "Love the present you" when the thinks you can't stand about yourself cause you and those around you, and live with, to be miserable.


Now I'm not trying to go all "Hippie Psychoanalyst" on you, but  feelings play more of a part to both the writer's craft and career, than a lot of Type A by-the-book folks like to admit.


Unless your natural inclination is to see things in a highly pragmatical manner to begin with, trying too hard to be analytical takes all the fun and adventure out of the writing process, believe me, I speak from painful experience. Past and Present.


Often I think writers confuse the word "practical" with "paranoia." There's a not-always-fine-line between the two, and leaning too far to either side only brings frustration and heartbreak to the writer, and maybe even greater chaos than they already deal with.


So take some time today to think about your career theme(s). Just remember, these themes don't just describe a paticular book or story, they describe you as a writer, and what you most value, fear, and/or respect the most about life and the human condition.


With that, here's a quote by me that I hope I'll be known for one day-


"Even when the story's not about us, it's still about what we, the writers are about, mixed with the blessings of our imagination."


Hope to hear some feedback from you!


Until Tomorrow,
May the Fantastic Fauna Be With You!


Taurean


P.S. I'll update the Future Headlines tomorrow as I return to my typical posts on craft.