Unbroken Chain

Watch this space

2011-05-05T12:20:00.000-07:00

It's been about half a month since I updated this blog. Since then, I've more or less completely finished up graduate school. Yesterday was my last class. The only things I have left to do are grading for my discussion group and a rewrite of my Pilot for next Friday. I have, however, been reassured that if I wanted to I could just turn in my rough draft as is and I would still pass the class.

I don't intend to do that, naturally, but it is a bit of a load off of my mind. Especially considering that to get the pilot to a place I want it to, I'd have to do a very serious page 1 rewrite.

But all this finals stuff (hell, graduate school in general) hasn't left me with a lot of time to do other things. This is, I am lead to understand, just part of being in grad school. It's intense. It's boot camp. You will learn. You will study and write more than any other time in you life.

Time for life now. I've got the LA trip at the end of the year. I'm going to make connections. I'm going to write and rewrite. Find a job, and work, slowly, my way to supporting myself as a writer. And part of that is writing every day, and putting myself out into the world.

So I want to make this blog a more regular thing. And if I've learned anything here at school it's that planning matters. And that structure matters.

So I'm trying to think of structure and planning for this blog. I have a suspicion that the name of the blog will change, as I honestly have already gotten a strong hold on writing every day.

So I am going to take some time to reflect. I'd like to start posting my cooking successes and failures. My thoughts on games, shows, and movies I've seen (because holy crap, I actually have time to do all three of those things).

I may change services. I've heard tell that other places do a better job.

I have much to consider. But somehow I feel that this blog (and who knows, maybe a few freelance articles) are part of my professional writing future. Because, hell, as of a week from now? It's no longer my scholastic writing future.

New Orleans Easy: Dirty Rice

2011-04-15T06:22:00.000-07:00

I have recently reached an important tipping point in my screenplay about a serial killer in New Orleans. A pivotal scene, if you will. It's slowly all downhill from here as I rush headlong into completion, and I wanted to celebrate with all of you out in the internet. Plus, I need a writing warm-up to get the ol' word-muscles a going, so I'm going to share with you an authentic Louisiana recipie that anyone can do. It's simple, uncomplicated, and requires only one (completely optional) hard-to-find ingredient. Shall we begin? As it is my blog, yes, yes we shall.

DIRTY RICE
Recipie adapted from Susan Spicer's Crescent City Cooking

INGREDIENTS:

* 1/2 pound of ground beef (pork/turkey/human)

* The Trinity, consisting of:

* 1 small onion, diced

* 2 celery stalks, chopped fine

* 1 green bell Pepper, chopped

* 1 Red Bell pepper

* 2 Garlic cloves, minced, pressed, or otherwise eviscerated into small pieces

* 1 cup Chicken Stock (low-sodium if store brought, homemade would be best (another blog post)

* 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

* 1 teaspoon (or more to taste) of your favorite Creole seasoning. I prefer Tony Chachere's, and no, it's not cheating. I haven't met a Louisiana home cook yet that doesn't love the stuff

* 1 bay leaf

* Salt and pepper

* 1 1/2 cups long grain white rice (Although if you can find it, wild rice would be very nice

* Andouille sausage. Trader Joe's makes a chicken andouille that, while not the real thing, isn't too bad if it's what you can get.

OPTIONAL

* 1/2 pound of chicken livers and hearts. Whenever I roast a chicken, I just save these in a freezer bag in the freezer until it's time. If you're not feeling brave enough, though, the dish will be perfectly delicious without them. But you can only be a true Coonass (meaning a Cajun, believed to be from the French "connasse".)

1. Cook half of he white rice, either in a rice cooker or pot according to directions. If you're feeling fancy, you could also cook it Alton Brown Pilaf Style. (It's at the bottom of the website. Also, good Red Beans and Rice recipie).

2. Brown that ground meat in a big ol' skillet or duch oven (as you can see, I used a 12-inch cast iron skillet) over medium heat until the pink is gone. And stir it something fierce, you don't want any nasty meat clumps. The meat will spread through the dish. Like a blanket of meat. A delicious blanket of meat.

3. Turn the heat to high and toss the onion, celery, peppers, and garlic in. Toss 'em all around like beads on Mardi Gras day until they're nice and softened.

4. Return the cooked beef and the livers, if you're brave. Continue your wild man stirring until the livers are brown.

5. Stir in the rice, the chicken stock, Worsestershire sauce, bay leaf, Tony's, and salt and pepper to taste.

6. Bring the whole mess to a boil.

7. Cover it.

8. Put on some music, open up a bottle of beer or some nice white wine. Dance to music until the rice is nice and tender and the majority of the liquid has been absorbed. Somewhere around 15-20 minutes.

9. In the last five minutes, chop up the sausage and stir it in as well.

10. Remove from heat. Remove bay leaf.

11. Eat. With beer or white wine. Bourbon would also be acceptable, I guess. But I'd best not hear about you getting fancy with it.

Perfectionism: The Enemy of the Creative

2011-03-31T08:15:00.000-07:00

There is nothing intrinsically wrong with perfectionism, provided it doesn't get obsessive and out of hand. Perfectionism drives people to do better work, to pay attention to the details. Some careers, like law, require a degree of perfectionism. A tiny mistake in a contract can cause massive problems. But for creative people, perfectionism at the outset is our kryptonite.

Let me explain.

It is a common fallacy among those who want to be artists that "True Art" is an ephemeral thing. A hazy muse grasped, providing sudden inspiration. A work that springs forth from our heads fully formed like Athena (full credit for that last metaphor: Chris Csont).

When we produce a first draft that is less than perfect (as every first draft is), we beat ourselves up. This isn't going how it's supposed to. We're not real artists. It's not flowing effortlessly like it seems to for King, Nolan, or Banksy.

But here's the secret, and it's an important one to remember: With all those examples, we only see the final copy. Writers go through drafts. Artists make sketches. Sculptors make clay models. Even a digital artist will have a folder on their computer with save files of their pieces at fifty different steps in the process.

We're swans, we artists. Yeah, we make it look easy. But you have to remember that there's a lot of hard work going on beneath the water. So drop your perfectionism. Let that first draft come out unpolished, with it's on the nose lines and obvious mechanics.

You've got the next draft, the next model, the next sketch, to correct those mistakes. To make it what you truly want it to be. And trust me. When you see it coming out RIGHT this time? It's a truly excellent feeling.

If you don't love it, why make it?

2011-03-13T14:24:00.000-07:00

PAX East has come and gone. It warrants a post in and of itself, and it will get one. But I have a thought that's been in my head since yesterday, and I must get it out now.

To preface, there's been a doubt growing in my mind. Lately I have found myself increasingly concern with the idea that I'm going into the movie and writing business. And that, by definition, will make it work. I've heard occasional stories about people who get into the film business who grew to never watch movies because that was all work to them.

And that, to me, sounded truly awful. To grow to hate the thing you love.

I was in the signing line for Bioshock: Infinite, and I struck up a conversation with one of the creators, I believe it was Ken Levine.

He said that one of the reasons he really loves coming to PAX is that it's a chance for him to actually get out on the floor as a gamer and a con-goer. To see the other games that are coming out, to really geek out as a fan as well. Then he said this:

"If you're not a geek, if you don't really absolutely love games, then you really have no business making them."

It's never a question of whether or not you start to hate the thing that you do. You never can. You must never let yourself fall prey to the idea this is JUST work. That it's all just part of a grind. That it can never be fun.

Because if you don't care, you can't make it. If you don't care, you're trying to protect yourself. Oh well. It didn't work out. I got paid anyway, so it doesn't matter. Never be afraid to care.

Never be afraid to get hurt a little.

You have to care, or you really have no business making anything.

2011-03-01T12:30:00.001-08:00

Because on this month of ass-kicking, we must have a plan.

Monday: Beginner Body Weight Circuit.
Tuesday: Yoga
Wednesday: Beginner Body Weight Circuit.
Thursday: Boabom
Friday: Running (when doable without risking death by sliding on ice)
Saturday: Yaan Bao
Sunday: Rest. Lazily. Also: run a world so my friends can pretend to be people who came back from the dead with imaginary ghost friends.

This will be subject to change as I see how sore I get, and how time actually all works out. Given that Yaan Bao uses an element (in this case, a staff), it's a lot more work on the muscles than Boabom, which is a bit more cardio-yoga-y. If that makes ANY sense.

2011-02-28T14:48:00.001-08:00

SUBJECTS! SUBJECTS, GATHER ROUND, FOR I HAVE A DECREE TO PASS ON TO THIS LAND!

Now. I have had, in past years, many conversations with court adviser Jade on how much February sucks. That it, in fact, is short simply because it sucks so much. This February was no exception. It brought with it stress, hard work, and a truly godawful winter in Boston.

But, my friends, on this day, February ends. Spring, the wise and sage Professor Thompson has assured us, is just around the corner. With this new month dawning and the possibility of Spring in the air, I do issue this decree:

LET THIS MARCH BE THE MONTH OF ASS-KICKING.

This month, let us walk forth into this untamed wilderness with only a devil-may-care smile and our furious fists (not to be confused with Charlie Sheen's fists of fire) to aid us so that we may take life by the horns and then pummel it into submission.

Here is what I plan on doing for this MARCH OF ASS-KICKERY:

1. I will attend Chuck Wendig's Penmonkey Boot Camp
2. Between Herr Wendig's ass kicking and the wise counsel of my professors, I am going to wrestle my planning problem (both for school and life) as I would an alligator. I will then cut off this problem's tail and grill it like a steak. And eat it on a stick. Like I used to do at Jazz Fest.
3. I will start an exercise regimen encapsulating Yoga, Boabom, Yaan Bao, and the Nerd Fitness Body Weight Circuit. And, when it is no longer so icy on the ground that doing so will result in my death, I shall take up barefoot running! Well, Vibram Five Fingers Running!
4. I shall track my diet, and post it on this website. So that I may be held accountable. My goal weight? A healthy 165 pounds.
5. With Lumosity and sudoku, I shall train my brain. This forgetting stuff nonsense? I've had enough of it.

So mote it be. On this day tomorrow, I shall rise from my bed and begin the KICKING OF ASS.

Things I learned

2011-02-24T12:31:00.000-08:00

Which I may turn into a regular blog thing. Blog things are good. They help me gather my thoughts.

From both Despicable Me and Avatar: The Last Airbender (which I am semi-rewatching, and I could say SO much about in terms of storytelling, because it is a truly amazing film): Actions are worth a thousand words. You can have the most amazing speech in the world, you can have Sorkin-like dialogue, but no amount of words will say as much what a character DOES.

From Despicable Me: At the end of the movie, when Vector threatens the girls. Gru could give a speech about how he's not afraid, how he's going to come in and kill Vector. But he doesn't.

He punches Vesctor's camera, shattering the lens. In less than a second, we realize how much Gru has changed. And how screwed Vector really is.

Avatar does this all over the place. One of my favorites is in "Story of Iroh". Iroh says very little about his son, Lu Ten. I believe the closest is something he tries to say to Zuko about how he thinks Zuko as his own these days because of Lu Ten, but he never finishes it. Iroh's actions in that episode show you just HOW MUCH he misses his son, how much he loves Zuko (who isn't even in the episode), and we almost immediately understand how he came to be the man he is today, and what kind of man he used to be. It's brilliant.

The importance of being a good viewer

2011-02-12T15:11:00.001-08:00

When you write, you gain a superpower. Especially if you're a trained writer.

You gain... writer vision. The ability to see the gears of a story. To see where blocks of story start and end, the conflict that drives it. See the mechanics of the story in motion.

Of course, as the great sage Ben Parker told us, with great power, comes great responsibility. For writer vision is also a curse, in that you have to actively turn it off.

And sometimes, I'm in danger of forgetting to do that. And I think it's of vital importance that all writers, or hell, producers of story of any kind, remember to do that. Something about the written word, something about the stage or the silver screen, drew you to the place you find yourself in today.

Practice, training, and craft may have granted you the ability to see the turning wheels. But yesterday I watched two really good films. "Easy A" and "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World" (which I actually enjoyed more than the comic.

Halfway through Scott Pilgrim, I discovered that I had turned off my writer brain. I realized that the Act 3 break was upon us, but the Act 1 break had breezed right by me. And I hadn't noticed a damn thing about the inner workings of "Easy A".

All I noticed was that I was really jazzed to be watching two good, fun movies. I experienced a similar feeling when I saw "The King's Speech" at the beginning of the year. Or "The Illusionist" the other day.

I love seeing good movies. I love seeing them in the theater, and forgetting to look for the mechanics of the story. It reminds me why I'm here. It reminds me to write for those moments, those moments in the theater that make you go "HOLY CRAP, that was amazing!". Whether it was a giant explosion, or a tense piece of emotional drama.

I hope I never stop going to the movies. I hope I never lose that sense of wonder at the silver screen.

Fuck Doubt

2011-02-04T06:34:00.001-08:00

Last night, I had something I don't feel often:

A moment of doubt.

Not about the quality of my writing or my worth as a person, but about the entire enterprise. Getting a job, getting paid to write, actually supporting myself PERIOD. I mean, hell, I can see the end of schooling. It's in sight. And I am expected to work my way in the world.

And hell, I don't mind telling you, readers, it was SCARY. I don't care if it makes me seem young or a little sheltered, I had a true moment of doubt in myself, what I am doing, and my abillity to support myself.

But, oh so clever readers, you will have noticed that I said "moment". For it was only temporary. I stared it straight in the face, my doubt and fears. I said my Penmonkey's Paean. I cranked my ass kicking music (Suicide Mission from the Mass Effect 2 soundtrack. Love that shit.)

I reminded myself who I was. Those who helped make me who I am. Those who I helped to make who they are.

I am not JUST a singularly awesome individual, but the product of all those I have known, all those that have taught me, helped me, loved me.

And such a force cannot be stopped by something like doubt.

Never give up. Never surrender

2011-01-25T12:59:00.001-08:00

Although strategic retreats should be kept in mind.

It's been a crap day.  And kind of a crap month.  The day had a lousy start when I woke up and the girlfriend told me the shower wasn't working.  Plumber's gonna come tomorrow to fix it.

But I refuse to let this get me down.  I don't give up.  I don't give in.  I recall the words of Tim Curry in Galaxy Quest (one of the greatest movies ever).  "Never give up!  Never surrender!".

I've worked out.  I've stretched.  I have on one of my Ties of Power.

Fuck you bad day.  I am going to beat you to death with your own arm.  I am going to conqueor you like Cortez.  

I am Patrick Regan.  I am writer.  I am chef.  I am warrior.  I am going to push through this month to the next and the next  and the next.

Hoo-ah.

New Year's Goals

2011-01-02T15:32:00.001-08:00

I have grown to not believe in resolutions.  Resolutions imply that you WILL do something. And since none of us have fully mastered our clarvoyance (and if you have, please meet me.  You will know where.)

Instead, I hearby announce my New Year's Goals.  Things that I wish to strive for.  I shared them with my girlfriend Teresa and my brother James as the clock struck midnight and we set off fireworks, and I now share them with you, along with steps I plan on taking to get them done

Get my shit together
 
Given certain... events of the end of the last semester, this one is important.  I am not the most organized person in the world, and I need to take up my part.  To wit, I'm going to get myself on the Zen to Done system:

I'm trying to implement the habits three at a time so I don't fall into Resolution overload syndrome.   Currently I'm working on 

1. Capture.  I'm using my phone and it's Evernote, RTM, and Google Calender apps for this

2. Inbox decisions: iCal, Evernote, and RTM for this.  Check in with them at my computer and don't let things slide.  If I let things rest in my mind, they are consigned to the black hole of my memory.

3. MITs and Big Rocks.  This is a big one.  I sit down and decide each week and each day what are the most important things to be done.  Two or three things, max.  What MUST be done vs. what can be done.  I knock out the must dos early on, and if I have time, I can get the can dos later.    

Gain 20 pounds of muscle

Anyone who has seen me knows that I'm kind of scrawny, and I am working on this.

1. Calorie counting. Or, perhaps, more accurate, meal counting. I'm not sure I have the patience to actually do the full calorie count, but I think if I record what I'm eating, I'll do a better job of eating the amount that I should be to gain weight.

2. Exercise regimen schedule. I already have an hour of martial arts on Thursdays and Saturdays, but I think I can supplement that on other days, including a full work out on Tuesdays. My main guide is Nerd Fitness. In particular, the nerd in me likes the Online Fitness Guide. I'm thinking dual-classing Ranger Monk.

Get Published

This is a tricky one. Specifically, I want to publish a short story somewhere and get paid for it. It's part of Chuck Wendig's Operation: Your First Motherfucking Sale, and that's the... semi-guide I'll be following. The first step, of course, is writing a story. I've got one I started in July for the Operation. I'm going to finish it and see where it goes from there. I'm starting to build quite a stable of story ideas.

Have a screenplay I can submit to the Austin Film Fest

Inspired by my good friend Chris Csont. Part of what I'm doing in Grad School is building a CV that I can shop around for work and send to agents. I have two TV episodes (which I have no doubt could use some work and prodding), but I could use a feature or two to put in there. My two current features aren't up to snuff.

Cape Killers, I think, needs to be shelved for a while. I don't think I'm a good enough writer yet to tell that story. Or, perhaps, I think it's a story that needs to be told in a different format.

Silverlode, on the other hand, has promise, especially after I powered through to the end. I'm thinking that I'll use it for the Rewrite class, get it up to snuff.

That being said, I'm also looking at two other options. For Screenwriting IV, I'm thinking about starting a whole new script. A New Orleans crime drama. I've also got the option of working on "The Whistling Room" adaptation I started this semester. I'm pretty sure it's public domain, so I don't need to get the rights.

And those are my goals for the year. Here's to things getting better each year!

Radio Silent

2010-12-10T13:20:00.001-08:00

I'm going radio silent on Twitter, Facebook, Chat, and my blog until the 20th. I'll explain the full story when I get back, as it involves a big Come to Jesus moment, but suffice to say that, much like Scooby Doo, I've got some work to do now.

Character Creation: Virtue and Vice

2010-12-08T09:02:00.001-08:00

Character creation is sometimes a bit tricky for me. That is, I can come up with a gimmick that starts the character creation process, but I sometimes have trouble really getting deeper into the heads of characters, figuring out that all important beast: Desire. What the characters WANT.

Something I’ve found useful in starting to scratch the surface of my characters is a system from a tabletop RPG. Specifically the New World of Darkness. See, the NWoD has a thing called “Virtue/Vice”. Everyone’s got one in the NWoD, and it’s a great starting off point for characters. There’s stuff about Willpower and all that, but that’s game mechanics, and not what we’re looking at.

The system is pretty basic. Every character has a virtue (picked from the seven Heavenly of: Prudence, Charity, Justice, Hope, Faith, Temperance, and Fortitude) and a vice (picked from the seven Deadlies: Greed, Gluttony, Wrath, Envy, Pride, Lust, and Sloth). It also points out various ways that you can interpret the virtues and vices. And I really dig this idea as a way to start looking at a character. After all, every character (that’s a real character and not a two-dimensional cut-out)_, is going to have strengths and weaknesses. Both physical and of character. Something that could damn them, and something that may just save them.

There’s more than that, of course. There are goals, often multiple. Pasts. Hopes and fears. But a lot of it starts with the idea that there’s something good about the character and something bad. Let’s take an example, the Batman.

Batman virtue is Fortitude. I know, you thought I was going to say Justice. Nah, that’s probably more Commissioner Gordon or Harvey Dent’s virtue. Batman’s virtue is, simply put, he never gives up. He does not stop. He won’t stop fighting until he's dead, his ashes are buried at the crossroads, and you’ve made triple sure his ghost isn’t coming back. That’s why the Justice League knows they can count on him. He may just be a mortal (even an extraordinary mortal), but nothing will stop him. Not even someone like the Joker, would have broken the rest of the League’s spirit’s years ago.

Batman’s vice is Pride. He is an arrogant, untrusting bastard. He was left alone when his parents died, he made himself into what he is, and he’s not used to relying on people. The irony, of course, is that he has to. Alfred, Dick, Tim, Gordon, Barbra, Clark, Lucius, Selena. Batman could not BE Batman if there weren’t people who supported him, had his back, ran his company. It’s not feasible for any man to take all that on. But he often has a problem seeing that, taking a very “my way or the highway” approach. Or, even worse, “I’m just going to do it this way and you will all THANK me later.” (See the Tower of Babel arc for one of Batman’s biggest prideful fuck-ups).

You could most likely do this with any character. Because any character has something they makes them great and something that will make them fall.

Cuts of Meat

2010-12-07T06:34:00.001-08:00

My girlfriend and I are very different in some ways. One way, as she pointed out, is in communication. She wants to call and get face-to-face and get things taken care of as quickly as possible. I tend to go with e-mail or text because sometimes people need to think about their response, or I don’t need it immediately, or I think they’re doing something else.

Of course, neither of us is entirely right, and sometimes we let these tendencies lead us dumb places. Sometimes I am too reluctant to call when I should just take care of something NOW. Sometimes calling really isn’t the best option to get the information you want, or if you’re just passing along information like “I’m here and outside”.

It is not dissimilar to the cuts of meat we received from our Meat CSA last month and ate this past week. You see, we had two different cuts of lamb. A pair of delectable lamb chops taken from the tenderloin, and stew meat from the shoulder region.

Now, those lamb chops I sprinkled with some secret seasoning from the Smokehouse in St. Louis and cooked them like I would most any steak. Over as high a heat as possible (grill, broiler, or in this case, a smoking hot cast iron pan) for as short as possible (the longest I’ve ever seared was three minutes on each side for a skirt steak). Why?

Because I want to make the brown crusty goodness on the outside of the meat as fast as possible before the inside got overcooked and nasty. That meat is nice and tender and full of juicy flavor and should be eaten like that.

Now, the stew meat we browned, tossed in the slow cooker with a variety of veggies and stock and left on all day. That kind of meat is tough and thick, with lots of collagen in it. If you just sear it, but the time it’s actually done inside, the outside will be overdone and the whole thing will be nasty, tough, and burnt. Let it cook all day, though, and you get an Irish Stew to warm the heart of any Yankee (or Dixie man, in my case).

Not all things require IMMEDIATE ACTION. Not all things require the long, slow, cooking process.

Yes. I just compared problems in life to cuts of meat. I thought it was a really cool metaphor while I was eating the stew.

No. Seriously. This was tasty stew. Enough that I think I’m going to turn Mondays into “Cooking Mondays” on my blog.

Behold, the power of tea

2010-11-20T15:09:00.001-08:00

I love tea. This should be a surprise to absolutely no one who has known me for a period of time longer than twenty-four hours. I started drinking tea around the age of sixteen, because I needed help getting up in the morning and I can’t stand coffee.

But I really love tea. It’s delicious, often full of wake-up juice (except when it’s not), warm when it’s cold and cool when it’s hot.

But one thing I honestly really enjoy is the process of making it. I know that Starbucks kind of co-opted the phrase "Take Comfort in Rituals”, but honestly, I do dig the ritual of it. A number of countries have rituals surrounding their tea (England has a meal dedicated to it, Japan has an elaborate ceremony, Russia has their samovars and glass cups). I mean, honestly, there's an entire wikipedia page dedicated to tea culture.

And there’s something I really do enjoy about that. I enjoy my little ritual in the mornings, selecting from our little shrine to tea in the wall alcove, measuring, pouring, brewing, pressing. And the slow enjoyment of the aroma and the taste.

Really puts me in a good mood for my day. It’s my mini-religion. Teaism.

Now I kind of want some. Excuse me, I’m gonna brew up some tea. Earl Gray. Hot.

Workout Report

2010-11-18T14:10:00.001-08:00

Remember how I mentioned yesterday that I was going to start weight training? Well, to hold myself accountable, here is my first report of my weight training!

Using NerdFitness’ suggestions, my first work-out consisted of pull-ups, dips, squats, and reverse crunches. Here are the results:

Three sets of five reverse crunches

Three sets of four dips

Three sets of five squats with a bar

And…um…

Three sets of one pull-up.

Hey. Everyone has to start somewhere. Remember, even Batman was a punk-ass kid with anger issues until he started on his training. And, in pretty much all versions of the origin story, Batman got his ass handed to him by his sensei before he turned into the Avenger of the Night that he is today. Yesterday, Teresa started Couch to 5K. Today, I started with my three sets of one pull-up. In nine weeks, she’ll be running her first 5K. I’ll have another finished screenplay, two spec scripts, and doing I don’t know how many pull-ups.

Even Batman started somewhere. It was through his determination that he went from Bruce Wayne to the Dark Knight.

I LIIIIIIIIIVE!

2010-11-17T06:48:00.001-08:00

I no longer live in a horrific deadline zone, where there is nothing but things DUE all around me. And brother, is it good. That isn’t to say I’m not BUSY. I’m still writing everyday, keeping the chain unbroken (and I have gotten much better about that. All it took was putting “Chain” as a task on RTM. Long live RTM!).

But now that I’ve basically got a lock on writing every day, I feel I must replace this habit with a new habit. Now, as many of you know, I am kind of a skinny bastard. I often feel as though I am too skinny, in point of fact. So I have decided to gain some healthy weight, put on some fat and some muscle. This is a two-pronged attack.

The first is calorie intake. Now, naturally, I could gain weight by eating nothing but McDonald’s, but that seems like I’d be trading one problem for a worse one. So instead, I’m trying to eat more, but eat healthy things. Protein is a big one. Lots of nut butter. I have joined Daily Burn, downloaded their app, and as of today, will start loading things on it.

The second starts tomorrow, and that’s doing Strength Training. I’m taking my cues from a website called NerdFitness, because they seem to know what they’re talking about, they have helpful videos so you know how to perform the exercise, and they make Optimus Prime references. So starting tomorrow, I’m heading into the gym for some weight training.

Wish me luck!

Confession:

2010-11-09T07:00:00.001-08:00

I like country music.

Don’t hate me for it. But sometimes I want to feel like I’m riding the highways with a window down, my cowboy shirt on, and a hat tipped back. I don’t know where I’m headed, but I have a feeling that barbeque is there.

Hey. I’m Southern.

Now, a band that I have begun to really enjoy is Rascall Flatts. Partially because of Pandora. And I found them originally because I’ve had the song “Life is a Highway” on my iPod for like… two years. Yes, the one from Cars.

Shuffle threw that song on my iPod on the way to school this morning. That song makes me HAPPY. It’s my wake-up song. It makes me feel like I’m on a road trip to somewhere awesome. With the whole cowboy shirt get-up, a road side stop in coming up and all my friends in the backseat.

I think that part of the reason I love that song, aside from the awesome rolling feeling, is that it encapsulates my love of process. See, I’m a process person. My step-dad is similar. My mom and my girlfriend? They like results.

Which is probably why my step-dad is an engineer and I’m a writer, while they’re a teacher (former Geologist) and a law student, respectively. You have to love the process if you’re a writer. You HAVE to. Because it’s so hard getting to the result that when you get to it, you’re like “BWAH” and throw it away. And chances are, a lot of your results won’t even get published in some way.

But that’s okay, because for me, it’s not about getting to wherever I’m going. It’s about the open road, the wind in my hair, the local AM station on the radio, and the promise of a burger done local style. Speaking of which, I’m on a deadline, so I’m hitting the road.

I can’t worry about these things, I have deadlines

2010-11-01T11:06:00.001-07:00

My car has broken down. Something’s wrong with the radiator/anti-freeze system. The magicians of West Cork auto won’t have it fixed until the earliest. My mom’s coming into town on Wednesday, and I have two cinemateques I have to go to while she’s here because COM completely bollocksed the scheduling.

And yet, I find myself feeling pretty good about everything. I mean, my mom’s coming into town. I haven’t seen her in a while. Riding the T is kind of fun, I get to really feel like I’m in the city again and get all SORTS of ideas and images. I’m listening to Imogen Heap, which is one of the musicians I consider Fall and Winter personified (a post for another day). I’m a little worried about my puppy being in her crate so long, but I think she can do it. She’s a trooper.

I’m finishing up this blog-post warm up so I can get to work on all the writing and grading I have to do, and I’m confident I’m going to get it all done. I’m confident my car and my dog will be fine. I’m confident I’ll have enough time during my mother’s visit, that I’m going to pass my upcoming Boabom Semmai.

I don’t have time to worry or fret. I have a deadline. And that’s a good feeling.

Take a walk

2010-10-28T11:45:00.001-07:00

A statement I don’t think anyone’s likely to argue with: Boston is amazing in the Fall. The leaves are all changing colors. And not to the crap brown and piss yellow I grew up with down south. To the most vivid yellows, oranges, and reds I’ve ever seen in my life.

The flip side, of course, is that this being Boston, it starts getting cold and wet pretty quickly. Biting winds and whatnot.

But sometimes? Sometimes you get a day like today. When it’s in the low seventies. And you take your dog for a walk through Franklin Park, running her through Orange falling leaves. Walking through the dense grove of multi-colored trees. So closely packed together and skirting so close to the cement path that they might as well be walls or brambles.

You take her off the cement path down an unpaved trail, a blanket of yellow leaves. Blocked only by a natural barrier, seemingly formed over years of dirt, leaves, and the detritus of life. A wooden crate, a baby carriage. Mementos of someone’s time on this earth.

And beyond the barrier, you can see the most incredibly red, like the trees are on fire. And you find yourself wondering, actually wondering, if that’s the golf course on the other side. Or if maybe you’ve forgotten a bit of wonder since growing up, and fairies are real.

Damn. I wanna play me some Changeling: the Lost.

On your way back, you stop by the veterans that are always sitting on the park benches by the entrance. The one in the wheel chair pets your dog. Tells you some war stories. About how kids taught him patience, and how patience saved his life when he was with the Marines. Learn about a statue that seemingly springs to life in Chinatown of the founder of Daoism.

I know that everyone’s busy. Lord knows I have a lot to do. And the weather’s sometimes not the best for it. But my friends, if I could give you one piece of advice for today:

Go take a walk.

Triumphant Return

2010-10-26T07:13:00.001-07:00

Greetings, mortals! I know you missed me, but I was laid low by a nasty daily bug. But now it's time to get back on the horse. I am a WORKING MAN. I have pants on, I have many due dates, an outline to revise (because I edited it while sick. Bad idea), scripts to grade, and other personal projects! (Shine my shoes, for example).

But today, I need to talk about getting things done ahead of time. I was talking with someone the other day about due dates. We were recounting all the times that we had done assignments the day before, and a few people brought up times they had done assignments the morning of. High school taught me this very bad behavior. I got used to the idea that no matter what the assignment, I could honestly just kind of put it off, dump a bunch of words on the page, and it would be aaaaall good come grade time.

These days, as I'm being reminded, not so much. See, I finished up a recent outline project late. Largely because I mis-remembered the due date and found myself scrambling to finish. I had it done, and I figured "I'll proofroead it before class".

Then, of course, I got sick. Nasty sick. "There was about an hour period when I was so fatigued I couldn't follow the plot of a TV episode" sick. And obviously I got better, and pretty quickly (by Friday evening I was ready to kick the ass of an angry werewolf), but I don't really do my best editing sick. Nor do I think the best about getting formating right.

And that, fundamentally, is my fault for not being more vigilant about when things are due, and understanding that I am not a kid any more. I am not even a college student any more. I'm a grad student, I'm graduating into the real world, where I'll have to hold a job until I can build up enough to go full Freelance Writer, or even Staff Writer or whatever's in the future.

If I have to make these mistakes, learn these lessons, it's to be here. I'm glad I am learning them now. Now it's time to learn from them.

Check this out:

2010-10-17T16:14:00.000-07:00

It is beyond Wicked Awesome. So, who knows of Harry Potter?

Okay, good, all of you. Wait a second, who's that in the back without their hand up? Seriously?

SERIOUSLY?

Okay. Go pick up HP and the Philosopher's Stone. It's cool. I'll wait. I've got a chicken roasting anyway.

Okay, done? Cool. Check this out:

This? This is JK Rowling's grid o' plot for Order of the Phoenix. Each chapter by title, along with what's going on in that chapter in relation to: the Order of the Phoenix, the main plot, Voldermort, the love triangle, everything. All very ordered, methodical, and thought out.

Now, if one of the most popular novelists (fantasy and young adult, if you want to get technical), pulled this off by resorting to this level of organization, what does that tell us still bucking for success, not even greatness?

Meat CSA

2010-10-16T14:50:00.000-07:00

So I think I've mentioned before that I've been getting a veggie CSA since June. This week was no different. Corn. LOTS of greens. Peppers and chilles. Green tomatoes (so there will be fried green tomatoes in the future, yes there will). LOTS of frozen herbs locked up in ice cubes. Cilantro, basil, mint, parsley, purslane, etc.

BUT. But but but. What I have missed? Meat. We removed it partially because of Omnivore's Dilemma reasons, partially because of price reasons.

Until we found... a MEAT CSA. A place that makes all-natural, perfectly good, ethically treated, DELICIOUS meat. And this week? This week we got our first month's shipment. In it?

2 Lamb chops
2 Smoked Ham Steaks
1 package of ground beef (need to weigh it)
2 REALLY BIG (or 4 normal sized) pork chops
1 thing of pig bones. I shall use it to make DELICIOUS STOCK.
1 whole chicken. It's defrosting tonight. We're gonna spatchcock it, put some herb butter beneath the skin, and roast it up good.

I will keep everyone updated as to what we do with it. Me, I'm thinking hamburgers in our future.

The List

2010-10-14T10:19:00.000-07:00

Chuck Wendig, the Mad Meth King of the High Hobo Seas, recently noted in a recent blog post that we writers, as a whole, are pretty insane people. And high-strung people. Lately I have begun to suspect that I am calmer than the average bear in this regard, but I am still prone to bouts of anxiety and melancholy.

HOWEVER. Upon inspiration from my friend Ryan Cohen, I have devised a list. For while we writers may naturally be inclined towards being crazypants, I feel we should endeavor to fight it. I've been touching on this in my "Care and Feeding of your Writer" posts, but here I am codifying it into The List. The List of things to do when you're feeling stressed out and freaked out.

(Caveat: I am no medical professional. I am a random idiot who's detailing what works for him. Seek a medical professional if you need REAL help.)

1.Food

You need to eat. It's kind of vital. And when we don't have things we need to live, our bodies start to get pissed off at us. And they do this by making us crabby and unhappy. I put food at the top here above water for one important reason: It is notably easier to miss eating than it is to miss drinking. I don't know about everyone else, but after a while, hunger pains tend to go away. Or I simply don't notice them to begin with.

In addition, while water is basically everywhere, when you're suddenly struck by hunger, you can focus on things that probably shouldn't eat. Convenience store food, McDonalds, etc. Look ahead, think ahead. Have meals and snacks on hand.

2. Water

Much like food, you need water to survive. And while Cola and juice and whatnot taste nice, sometimes? Only the clear stuff will do the trick. I generally have a Nalgene with Brita filtered water on at most all times. Because being thirsty SUCKS.

3. Sleep

Who needs sleep, the Barenaked Ladies ask? We do. Many studies have proven that sleep will wake you up better than caffeine (these studies from the institute of researching the very very obvious, who are currently working on the color of the sky).

I loves me some tea, drink gallons of the stuff. But I know that if I'm really feeling fatigued and if I have twenty minutes, what I need to be doing is taking a nap. For me, a nap isn't trying to hit REM sleep. If I lie down, close my eyes, and don't move, it's usually enough to do the trick and work me back into ass-kicking shape.

I also like the Android White Noise app.

4. Sun

This was a huge problem my first semester of screenwriting school around Winter. See, we had a class that was in a windowless room in a basement with next to no break. It was so long that we went in when the sun had been up an hour and a half, then the sun was setting when we came up.

I started to go outside for a bit during break to eat my snack and man, did that help my mood. Seriously, though we have the reputation as mole people? We shouldn't be. Bad for us. That's the good thing about having a dog. Not only does she cheer me up by napping on my lap, she forces me to get outside.

5. Exercise

Yes, yes. I've been saying I would talk about my exercise habits, and one day I will. But for now, let's just say that even going on a WALK can do the body good. I used to go on a lot of walks during my REALLY anxiety ridden period, and I always felt better, although I didn't make the connection until later. I did make the connection on the fact that no matter what I was doing, getting out of Krav ALWAYS made me feel like I was on top of the world.

Yay endorphins.

6. Do something

If you are all up on those above, chances are what's bothering you is some kind of stressor. Work, school, life, etc. In my experience, the only thing that can help?

Do something. If you can do something about the stressor? Do it. Work on it, get help for it, ask for it to be removed, but do something about it.

If it's something you're waiting on? Do something else. ANYTHING else. Been meaning to polish your shoes? Dust the house? Beat GTA 4? Now's a good time. Almost everyone I know with this kind of anxiety has said that it always gets worse when they have time to think about it, because they have time to overthink about it and get paralyzed by the thought of it. The only way to stop that, at least for me, is to put something else there so it can't take hold.

And that is it. My personal list. Mind you, it is a personal list, one that needn't work for everyone (although I'm gonna go out on a limb and say 1-3 are pretty universal, unless you are some kind of cyborg). Still, I hope you've got some kind of list of your own, because it's amazing how circumstantial stuff like food can affect your mood.

Moments of Terror

2010-10-12T17:23:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, when you're a writer, you feel those moments. Those moments of huge emotion that you're gonna use later on down the line. Actors get them too, I am told.

Point of explanation: I now have a new puppy. Her name is Cass. There are pictures a few entries down.

Today, Cass got spayed. Major surgery, that is. And while I have been personally reassured the people at the MSPCA know what they're doing, I was still pretty freaking worried. But I go to class anyway.

During break, I check my phone to see if I have any messages. I do, as it happens, have one missed call. It's from a number I don't know. With a 617 Boston area code.

And for a moment, I have this feeling of stark, terrible dread. A horrible fear that something has gone wrong with the puppy during surgery and she's dead.

Stark, petrifying, fear.

Then I listen to the message. Turns out it's just BU doing their silly emergency system test. (They kind of overdue the crap out of the emergency system. The slightest thing and you get two texts, an e-mail, and a phone call).

So, you know, happy ending. Puppy is lying next to my girlfriend right now, sleeping peacefully (hard day, she had). But still. I'm gonna take this moment and remember it.

Announcement

2010-10-09T14:38:00.000-07:00

Let it be known that on this day, the tenth of October in the year of our Lord two-thousand and ten, my girlfriend and I adopted a puppy.

Her name is Cass. Short for Cassandra Cain. AKA, Batwoman. The one who couldn't speak, because she was taught to read people, rather than speak.

We named her this because she is deaf and doesn't bark much. Also, we are Batman nerds.

She comes home Tuesday.

Let rejoicing ring through the land.

Nostalgia

2010-10-07T06:24:00.000-07:00

I had a weird nostalgia jag last night. Best way I can describe it was I had this realization of... not going home any more? I mean, that's ridiculous. I'm going home this Christmas. I'm juggling three homes, but I am going home. For a variety of reasons, travel is not a problem for my family, despite being spread out. But it was the realization that I'm really not going to LIVE at my mom's house again, in the place where I grew up.

By the same token, I do not go to my dad's place in Austin any longer, because I do not leave in a place where I can just drive up in an hour if the mood so strikes me.

And... I called my parents because I needed to talk getting home logistics and getting a dog and after I hung up? I felt okay. I really did. Sometimes we lionize the past (I can be very guilty of this). And yes, the past had great parts. I love all my friends from San Antonio. It is, legitimately, a great town and a wonderful place to live. Bostonians couldn't cook Mexican food if their life depended on it (OH MY GOD I MISS SALSA AND TACO CABANA SOME DAYS).

But we move on. And we move forward. And as Spider Jerusalem pointed out: On the balance, that tends to be a good thing. We get older. We get better at our craft. Game's not up and over yet just because I have to start thinking about bills and how to pay my rent. Balancing writing with school with the housework with wanting to play video games.

Game's just started.

The Care and Feeding of your Writing, Part III: Some time to yourself

2010-10-06T17:15:00.000-07:00

You! Yes, you, over there. In the writer's chair. Have you had some time alone to yourself lately?

Not writing. That's work time. Or outlining. Or doing chores while working at home. That is doing chores.

Have you done something fun, by yourself? Sat down and read a book for fun? Gone for a walk in the woods among the turning leaves? (Or the park in my case). Played a video game?

I know that many have family and friends and significant others. I, for example, have all three of those things. I love all three of them and enjoy spending time with them.

But sometimes, we just need a little time with ourselves. In our own minds, away from the world. In fact, it not only feels good, I think it's important. We can't live our lives for everyone else, AND for our work. We need time for ourselves.

Go pick up a book. I recommend "Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss if you haven't read it and love fantasy. Go watch a fun TV show or movie. I advise Burn Notice and "Brick". Go play a game. I understand Dead Rising 2 is out. And the new Castlevania, Fable, and Fallout are coming out. If you want to look more retro, might I suggest the Persona series?

I know we all have many things to do. But don't forget: You matter too. If you don't have your head on straight, you won't write your best.

Sometimes, shit happens.

2010-10-05T06:29:00.000-07:00

So, it's 9:30 here on the East coast, and I'm starting my writing day. Normally I'm up at 6:45, everything's done and out the door by 8:00, and I get to crackin'. What happened? Well, my girlfriend woke up feeling under the weather. I convinced her to stay home, at least for the morning, made her some tea, and cuddled with her until she fell asleep. I shall be checking in on her throughout the day.

Unfortunately, I also fell asleep.

Whoops.

None of this, I should make very clear, is an indictment of my girlfriend. The point is not that. The point is this:

Shit happens. It always happens. It will always happen. There will always be someone sick. There will always be something that needs fixing. There will always be a sudden emergency dinner run. If I am to be writer of any stripe, if I am to make this into my career?

I must look at this shit, say "Okay", and wade into it. I must deal with it. And when I am done dealing with it, I must turn back to my writing and continue as if nothing happened. Because I have a DEADLINE tomorrow, and that Burn Notice Outline won't write itself.

So I am going to listen to some Masterplan and HOO-AH!

When did it cold?

2010-10-04T12:27:00.000-07:00

No, seriously. When did this happen? Last week it was warm out. Like unbearably so. How warm you ask? How humid?

It was so humid that even I noticed it. I'm from New Orleans. I have to be beat over the head with a sink to realize humidity. The air was basically water. That's how wet it was.

And as of like yesterday? It's fall. Like full-on, leaves are colors, air is crisp, I have to pull out my jacket fall. I, in fact, underestimated how fall it was. I brought my rain jacket, as it looked rainy outside. It hasn't actually rained, but I am sorely missing my army jacket. Maybe my leather jacket. Not the full pea-coat, but getting down there.

My point is, I think, I like coats. Coats are cool. Coats fit my body type (long and lean), because they're all swirly and make me look a bit bigger than I actually am. Plus, I can run and they billow.

'Course, the flip side is that some of my jackets are too big. They kind of swallow me. My leather jacket is a bit like that. Honestly, I'd get them taken in if it weren't for the fact that I'm actively trying to gain weight right now.

You know, that would be an interesting blog post. I think I just found a future topic.

Taking Notes

2010-10-03T06:51:00.000-07:00

Beware speaking around writers. We take notes.

And, if you yourself are a writer, you should too. But you might say "But Patrick, I only write high falutin' hard SF and Epic Tolkenian fiction". To which I might say "Really? That seems really hard and two very different markets, but okay, whatever. Oh, and still take notes."

Because people are WEIRD. And they will tell you some weird stories. And even if you right one step to the right of reality, those stories, those basic human conflicts, carry over in a way that would surprise you.

The other day, I saw a man practicing violin in a completely empty building. There was even a for rent sign out on front. A small list of real life stories that can come from that: struggling artists needs a place to play, a man so sick of his home life that he has to come here to find his creative outlet, a professional musician who wants to have some practice time away from the orchestra, a man who plans on turning the store into a instrument shop.

At the same time, this moment brings dozens of more "odd" stories: A man must, Eric Zahn-like, play a specific song here every night, the only thing keep a resting horror from emerging on the city. An ancient and bitter vampire demands tribute from his urban neo-feudal subjects, the playing of a song that he doesn't even remember the importance of, it's a character moment for a space station commander, or his flight commander, to find an empty space and play. It's the act of a magician, practicing his song-craft (and let's not even get into the idea of magic as music). A man, as the world ends around him, goes to the only place he can find and fiddles while it burns. Or plays a requiem for a world falling apart.

Okay, now I kind of want to WRITE these stories...

Writers gotta Write

2010-10-02T08:29:00.000-07:00

One thing I sometimes have trouble with is that when I can't think of something to write, I won't.

This, I know, is a mistake. Not just because you can always go back and make stuff better. Not just because, hey, this shit is due. But because: "Writers gotta write".

I've heard that advice from SO MANY PLACES I don't even know who to cite it to. In fact, if there was a single piece of consistent advice I have gotten from every single writing teacher, book, blog, and famous person, it's this:

Write. Write some more. Does it hurt? Are you bleeding from your very eyeballs?

GOOD. NOW KEEP WRITING YOU FILTHY MAGGOT. AND I DON'T WANT TO SEE YOU STOP UNTIL YOUR CHARACTERS SCREAM FOR MERCY.

Because, as a friend of mine once reminded me, this isn't just an art. It's not a sudden bolt from nowhere that we let flow perfectly through our fingers. It's not just a business, where we have to get paid (though I would like to get paid, please. I have to buy a new mouse. Or get this one fixed.)

It's a CRAFT. A craft has tools. A craft has techniques. But more than anything else, a craft requires you to PRACTICE. You must always be writing. Fear not running out of ideas. Ideas are cheap. Fear instead of letting your skill atrophy.

That is why I write this blog. Why I've started writing it everyday, even though I suspect very few are reading. Because it primes the pump, warms me up. Because I MUST write.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have a Modern Family Outline to write. And I have already kicked a few tires and lit a few fires.

Quick thoughts before I'm out the door:

2010-10-01T04:53:00.000-07:00

Something I've noticed in regards to the whole "write every day" habit. We tend to not want to write. Because we have some kind of "writing steam" we can run out of, and it needs to be saved for the REALLY GOOD STUFF.

But I am a firm believer in the concept of the warm-up. Much like exercise, I do only have a limited amount of energy for things. But if I just run into lifting weights, I'm gonna get tired, quit, and probably hurt something.

On the other hand, if I go for a jog, I find myself in the out-working mood. I want to do something else along with my jog, since I've already got my work-out clothes on.

By the same token, if I write something not related to my current projects. Something small and easy and with no pressure (say, I don't know, a blog post), then I find myself IN THE WRITING MOOD. I find my pump is primed for writing. I think "Well, I've already got my typing fingers and my WORKING MAN CLOTHES on. Might as well open up Final Draft".

Further thoughts on the importance of Pants

2010-09-30T07:16:00.001-07:00

There's something to be said, I think, about dressing like a grown-up. As XKCD tells us, we are adults now, and that means we get to decide what that means. I am an adult now, in graduate school, working on a career. I have an apartment I share with a girl I am in a committed relationship with. However, I strive to not lose that sense of childlike wonder and fun. I still read comics, I still (when I have time) play video games. I play cops and robbers (only I have dice and it's hunters and monsters). To be an adult and put away childish things does not mean we give up what we love. I still have a loud hawaiian shirt I've had since high school. I love this shirt (although I need to get it tailored a bit), I am not giving it up.

But I think an important part of being an adult now is recognizing that these items have a time and a place. That people do judge you by your appearance. I keep my favorite shirt, of course. I wear it at home, on weekends, when I'm relaxing. When I step out onto the beach.

But not all times are hawaiian shirt times. And when I step out to do business, or to learn, or to meet people, or when I AM A WORKING MAN, DAMN IT, I want people to have a good impression of me. To see me as I see myself. A put together, stylish, creative professional. Someone who does artsy thought work, but gets that work done.

As Kim Costello, my episodic drama professor put it: "The age of the bohemian writer is over. Get yourself a tie."

Now, if you are a man and want to learn to dress like a grown-up (which men seem to have trouble with more, I have noticed), I recommend the following blog and series of posts:

Put This On
And
Art of Manliness' Dress section

The Importance of Pants

2010-09-29T05:05:00.000-07:00

"Clothes make the man. Naked people have very little influence on society" - Mark Twain.

I am currently wearing slacks, a collared shirt, a vest, and a tie.

I am wearing all these things because tonight, I am running my undergraduate workshop/lecture. And because tonight I am a working man, I believe I should dress appropriately. For one, it shows proper respect to the students. I am saying "I give enough of a damn about your learning that I am making an effort to look like I know what I am talking about". For second, it projects to the students that they should listen to me, because I do know what I'm talking about. I wouldn't want to listen to someone who didn't care enough to wear a non-stained shirt either.

But the third reason is for me. Because nothing reminds me that I am in TEACHING MODE like a tie. To teach is, in a way, to take on a persona. That of "Wise teacher". The tie, the shirt, the vest, these are my costume, my props, and my armor. They help me inhabit this role, remind me that I have the knowledge to inhabit it. I know my script, as it were. If I ever get flustered, I think "No, wait. I know what I'm talking about. I'm wearing a tie, damnit. People who know ties know what they're talking about. (Especially bow ties. Bow ties are cool.)

The same principle, I have discovered, applies to when I'm not teaching too. Mur Lafferty of I Should Be Writing calls this "achieving pants".

The idea basically goes that while writers and other people who work at home have the liberty of writing in our pajamas or underwear, we really shouldn't. Because it's hard to get yourself in the mindset of work whilst in your comfy pants. You put on your comfy pants when you relax. If my comfy pants are on, I should be relaxing. Hey, what's this story nonsense in front of me, I'm gonna go play some Persona 4.

But once you achieve pants, and for me, achieve collared shirt and possibly vest, you are wearing the clothes of a PROFESSIONAL WORKING MAN. Or woman. And if you are A PROFESSIONAL WORKING MAN (or woman), you can shout, Spider-Jerusalem-like, AWAY FROM ME DISTRACTIONS. I HAVE PROFESSIONAL WORK TO DO. DO YOU NOT SEE MY SHIRT? IT HAS BUTTONS! AND A COLLAR, MO-FO!

The Care and Feeding of your Writing, Part 2:

2010-09-24T17:38:00.000-07:00

I'll show you the life of the mind!

So, in continuing my series on the life of the writer, and how to care and treat for your writer if you have one, I'm gonna talk about something that's important to both those around the writer, and the writer himself.

Namely: Eating.

Writers?

Please remember to eat. And remember to eat well. Owners of writers? Remember to feed them and make them eat well.

We writers aren't notorious for our healthy habits. We either forget to eat (THIS GUY RIGHT HERE) or we eat foods that are not the healthiest. Whether because we're trying to make up for not eating or out of stress or just because it's easier to get the Cheetos because, hey, they're right over THERE.

This leads to bad things. The first is our rep as mole people who are unhealthy looking.

But the second, and more important, is that it can lead to unhealthy attitudes. Unhappy attitudes. These include, but are not limited to: "Oh my Lord, this is terrible, I'm just going to delete it now and save myself the trouble." "I have to be an actual adult! Pay bills! I can't do this, because I suck and won't be able to bills", and the always popular: "Why can no one understand my tortured soul?!"

These thoughts are the enemy. The enemy LIES. Therefore, these thoughts are lies. Ignore them. Fortunately, the enemy can easily be banished by food. And he will stay away longer with HEALTHY food. So remember, writers, eat when you're supposed to. And heat healthily. I, for example, chased away some doubts with some healthsome Learning Experience Won-Tons.

We'll talk about exercise later.

The Care and Feeding of your Writer, Part 1

2010-09-13T11:06:00.000-07:00

Never leaving your writer alone

I have decided to do a series of posts for those who are not themselves writers, but must live with them. I know you are out there in my incredibly small reader base. But you must understand, we writers are, by definition, a strange bunch. Not just in that we are creatives (bad enough as it is), but that we are committing ourselves to some very strange work habits.

Today, we are going to talk about imagination, and why you can never leave your writer alone.

This weekend, my lovely girlfriend had to go home for a family thing. This left me at the apartment from Friday to Sunday night alone. Naturally I didn't just sit around the whole time. I saw people, I went out and did things. I prevented the stir-craziness I had developed two years ago.

But I still had one problem, one which in my experience, all writers share.

For you see, all writers have over-active imaginations. Pretty much by definition. We have to, it's our stock in trade. As Neil Gaiman once tweeted: "The stewardess just told us 'The docking people haven't responded to us, we're not sure why'. My thoughts: 'Because they're all dead'."

Often times, this can make us amusing and sometimes morbid people to know at parties. But when we're alone? Particularly in a dwelling with some room to move around in? Well then every floor creak becomes a man with a knife. Every tap against a window becomes a ladder propped to break in. Every loud door slamming shut a gunshot.

I should add, I live in a pretty safe neighborhood. The worst that happens is that there have been car break-ins for people who left their GPS out in the open. This didn't change my imagination at all.

Our over-active imagination is both our curse and our blessing. Writers, next time you get left alone, try to capture that feeling. Remember what it's like to expect everything to be something off. Use it, channel it the next time you want your characters afraid. Every moment is possible material. From the guy you see practicing violin in the empty office suite to that feeling of dread when you're alone and you hear the house creak.

Those who love and live with writers: For God's sake, get them a pet. Seriously.

Writing for Small Children

2010-08-28T14:25:00.000-07:00

This last week, I finished up my summer job. I was teaching Science to small children at an institute that I'm going to keep nameless for sake of covering my butt.

Now, my main job was to teach science to 4-8 year olds. But a series of events lead to me having a class free and my boss asked "Hey, Patrick. Would you mind teaching a film elective to the older kids?" The older kids were 9-13 and I figured why not? Plus, you know, when the boss asks if you're a God, you say yes.

So I've got five or six 9-13 year olds, plus my 14 year old assistant. All of which want to not just be in the film, but want to be part of the creative process. I've already decided that I will just write the script myself, but I want to include them on it. How do I do this?

I started by sitting them down and getting them to wrap their heads around what a story actually was. I told them that all stories have three things.

1. A dude. Male or female. Human or otherwise. If you're feeling really advanced, your story might have "dudes". There must be people this story is about.

2. This dude must want something. There are few movies about nihilists or the Perfectly Enlightened. There's got to be some thing the dude is reaching for.

And, and this is the most important:

3. There must be something stopping 1 from getting 2. This is key. It's the difference between:

Once upon a time, a guy woke up thirsty, so he got some water. The end.

And:

Once upon a time, a guy woke up thirsty, so he went into his kitchen and THERE WAS A HUGE FUCK-OFF DRAGON. Thinking quickly, he grabbed his chef's knife to act as a mini-sword, but the dragon reared back and blew a plume of toxic flame at him. He dodged to the left, trying to stab at the neck, but the Dragon was much faster and darted in for a horrific bite that would tear him in half. But at the last possible second, he leapt up over the dragon's head and dispatched him with one blow. He then got his water and went back to bed.

See? Both have 1 and 2 (a dude who wants some water), but only the second story has 3 (a dragon). As I put it to the kids, which is the more interesting story?

I may have more on this topic as I ruminate on it.

Broadcasting from the new Home

2010-08-22T19:39:00.000-07:00

Man, it's been a while, hasn't it? You must forgive me, my loyal audience of... however many people read this. Between my job and the MOVE I've had like no time at all to blog.

On Tuesday, I'm heading with Teresa to St. Louis. Week after that, school starts again. I'm working really hard on Chuck Wendig's Your First Motherfucking Sale project.

That's the big one, I think. The big project on the front right burner. (Our front right burner on the new stove is bigger than all the others. Don't worry, pictures will be forthcoming). This new place is a really nice apartment. I mean, really nice. Big enough for us to stretch out, we've hung up enough stuff that we feel like... adults, I guess. I mean, sometimes I feel a bit like I'm just playing house, but I feel like a grown-up who occasionally throws grown-up dinner parties and pay bills.

It's why I want to make my first motherfucking sale. Because it'll help me feel that I'm not just playing writer. That I am one. That I can put it on my business cards and it won't just be play-acting.

I'm gonna make my first sale, ladies and gents. And I am going to tell you all where to find it.

On the importance of Prep

2010-07-28T17:00:00.000-07:00

So let me tell you about my usual morning. Yes, this is actually going to relate to the blog post title, just wait. Uncle Patrick knows what he's doing.

Usually.

Except for that one time with the bread knife.

And the hot pan.

But hey, who's counting?

Anyway.

My usual morning goes like this: Alarm goes off. I hit snooze for five minutes, often times this snooze is less a moment to sleep and more a chance to cuddle with my girlfriend. This pre-morning cuddle, we have discovered, immensley improves out outlook on the day.

When the alarm goes off, I pull myself out of bed. I shower. I dress I groom. I do some stretches. I like to do a Sun Salutation, but I'm also trying to slowly get my girlfriend in the habit of doing it, so we're starting easy. Maybe Tree pose, or Warriors I and II.

I flip on the kettle, water the plant, and pour myself some cereal. I eat the cereal, pausing to pour the water into my french press to let the tea brew for three minutes.

At this point, I usually have some free time, so I look at my e-mail, skim my feeds. I doublecheck RTM and check with my girlfriend to see if there's anything she very much needs me to do that day.

When the timer goes off, I pour the tea into mugs, and we're out the door to school and work.

Now, did anyone notice anything missing?

Anyone?

Yes, you in the front with the ludicrous glasses.

Yes! Yes, very good! E-five.

Nice.

At no point do I pack a lunch, pack my bags, put tea in the press, or water in the kettle. Why? Because I do all of those things the night before. I do it so that in the morning, I have this crazy easy process that lets me just waltz out the door at a relaxed pace, while letting me get up relatively late.

My girlfriend has begun studying for her upcoming finals, and she's begun making flash cards. She was worried that she was spending too much time making flash cards and outlines instead of studying. However, I talked to her about it and we concluded that this prep work will make her study time WAY more efficient.

Rather than just running around like a metaphorical chicken with its metaphorical head lopped off, spraying metaphorical blood everywhere, she's going to have a road map (outline) and a set of important points (flash cards) to study from. She will know what to study, and how to study it. No time wasted once the studying begins. And the act of this prep is, in and of itself, studying, because it puts the information in her head.

This is how I'm beginning to view story prep-work, something I have trouble with. Research, character bios, outlines, scene cards, etc. I'm using them much more than I used to, but it's still something I'm still learning to wrap my head around.

I want to WRITE. I'm like a horse at the gate and I'm all “Let'sgolet'sgolet'sgo” and I burst through the gate aaaaaand I get there in the story and go “Wait a second, what does my protagonist actually want again?” And I realize that my jockey's still pulling on his pants.

Whoops.

I want to view research and writing prep like I view making my lunch the night before and putting in the fridge. Sure, it's not doing the actual thing, but it's laying the groundwork so when the time comes, when the rush is on and the fire's in your eyes, everything just sails so smoothly you can pause to check your e-mail. There'll be bumps, sure. There's always bumps. That's life and first drafts.

But if you do your prep. If you make your sandwich the night before. Do your research, make your character bio and your outlines. Then you can just roll on past those bumps with time to spare.

Pixar

2010-07-11T16:19:00.000-07:00

Pixar movies remind me of why I want to do what I want to do. More than that, Pixar movies remind me why I'm glad to be alive. Because as dark as they get (and let's face it, WALL-E, Up, and Toy Story 3 can get pretty damn dark), there's always this inherent inner core that says "It's so good to be alive. There's so much beauty in this world. And, best of all things, there's always love."

My deepest of deep dreams is to one day write a movie like that. That conveys that kind of emotional hope, because no matter what's going on. No matter how bad a week might have been, or what kind of problems might be coming up, a Pixar movie cannot fail to make me smile. Make me realize that anyone who says the world is full of terrible things is, themselves, full of shit.

Or, as my friend Joe once put it:

"Pixar cannot do wrong. Only okay."

Heat Waves and Appropriate Format

2010-07-08T17:21:00.000-07:00

It. Has. Been. Hot. So. Very. Hot. It's getting better. And there's an air conditioner is on the way. But it's been hot, and I swear, there is nothing worse for mood, productivity, or general humanness than a heatwave. I'm pretty sure Southern manners evolved to keep people from KILLING EACH OTHER AT ALL TIMES during the summer.

But I also want to post some general musings about format. That is, film, television show, book, etc. I have been musing, and I have come to the conclusion that some stories only work in certain formats. And that those stories, if they are to be put in another format, must be changed quite a bit.

What got me thinking about this was the recent release of The Last Airbender. The adaptation of the wildly popular and absolutely amazing TV show. The TV show used the format to its fullest, building an intricate world and telling an epic character driven story.

The movie, by all accounts, sucks donkey balls. And by most accounts, part of the problem (among other things) is that the adaptation is poorly done. The world building is done in massive exposition and voice-over. Lots of telling, not a lot of showing. And they spend so much time world building, there's not time to build characters. And without characters, you've got no story.

So always remember, before you start your story, ask yourself: Is this really a movie? A book? A game plot? A TV show?

And if you decide that it is, be sure to write for that.

Update

2010-07-05T19:04:00.000-07:00

So it's been a while since I updated here. I must also admit that my chain has become seriously broken. My main excuse? New job. Learning the ropes of a new job is one the craziest thing. Even if it's something you've done before, it's a mess trying to learn how the power structures work, official and unofficial, where the toner is, where to put your lunch, etc.

The girlfriend and I have also been mainling X-Files. It's a real interesting look at character and the importance of tone. Even some of the really boring episodes (and there are some boring ones in the Alien Mytharc) can be saved by interesting characters (Cigarette Smoking Man, the Lone Gunmen). And how the best episodes are, in our opinion, the ones involving Scully and Mulder's interaction. When they're wisecracking, or arguing, or whatever.

Anyway, I'm afraid there's not a lot to say at the moment. Or rather, there is, but I'm sub-dividing them into blog posts. This is just me, assuring you I'm alive and letting you know what's going on.

To Paraphrase Derrial Book

2010-06-22T17:45:00.000-07:00

You can survive on soy protein for the rest of your life with enough rosemary.

Or, in this case?

Cilantro.

I effing love cilantro. It is easily my favorite herb. It is fresh and clean and always makes me think of summer.

Now, I spoke earlier of planning with a CSA. Here is an example. Let's say that your CSA has given you a metric buttton of DELICIOUS, FRESH cilantro. You can mix it in with many dishes, but you've got to use up a lot of it, because cilantro doesn't last too long, even kept in water like we do.

So, if you're a man who went to college in San Antonio and has a love for Mexican food, with a girlfriend who is half-Mexican on her father's side (as in, he immigrated from the country) and you have a lot of cilantro, what do you do?

Make motherlovin' tacos. That's what you do. We are, in fact, gonna make them TWICE. This night was black bean tacos:

And on Thursday? A personal favorite:

FIIIIIIIIIIIIIISH TACOS.

CSA: Community Sustained AWESOME

2010-06-20T12:25:00.000-07:00

So I have elected to make this a food blog as well as a writing blog. Because food is creative. And delicious.

As an explanation, the girlfriend and I have, this summer, joined Farmer Dave's Community Sustained Agriculture, or CSA. The basic thought is that you pay a certain amount (400 dollars) and each week, you get a box full of vegetation goodies from this local farm. You don't always know what you're going to get, because it depends on what's fresh and ready to be picked.

For example, this was the haul from our first week:

Here is it in the fridge:

The thing about this kind of shopping is that, while you get a boatload of REALLY fresh quality vegetables, you have to use all of them each week. Some things, like cilantro and the bok choy, will go quick. Others, like the garlic scapes or the beets and turnips, will keep a while. The scapes in particular we want to keep, as they are GOLD. They are so gold they are getting a separate post.

So how does one deal with such a treasure trove of veggies? Well, there's planning (another post) and there's prep. The moment you get home, you need to cut, wash, and dry all the greens. Cut the greens off of the root plants. An excellent website to check on this is www.stilltasty.com . It's also good for those moment of "Is this still edible?".

So we cleaned, cut, and spun. When we were done, we suddenly found ourselves left with these:

Radish and beet greens. Most would throw it away? Us? We looked online and found This badass aricle on Serious Eats. Basically we chopped up the greens. Sauteed them in a non-stick pan in a little olive oil until they were slightly wilted. Cracked in four eggs and stirred them until they set. For aromatics, we chopped up one of the garlic scapes, then added some salt and some black pepper.

Topped off with some cheese and viola:

Dinner for two. Mind you, it was a bit low on calories/carbs, so we had the chance to eat a mess o' popcorn at Jonah Hex, but that's pretty easily remediable. Next time, I think? Couscous.

Stephen King's Birthday

2010-06-11T11:23:00.001-07:00

Probably the last time I'll ever get to use that as a title.

Anyway. According to legend, Stephen King writes every day. Supposedly this is partially because he's using writing as an outlet for an addictive personality (in his book On Writing, which you really need to read, he mentions problems with alcoholism).

The writing every day ethos, or more accurately, the "Treat Writing as your Job and WRITE" ethos, is one of the few pieces of advice I've seen and heard from quite literally every authority on every sort of writing there is.

So Stephen King writes every day. Except his birthday. Today is my birthday. Today I am going to break the chain with no guilt.

Because everyone deserves a day off. You simply cannot go on full cylinders every day. You have a limited amount of brain juice each day. You recharge a little each day. Sometimes you need to take a day off, to give it full recharge time.

The results might just surprise you.

Broken Chain Lesson

2010-06-07T10:22:00.001-07:00

So, last night we had an incident. A ROACH incident. We've been having roach issues, but last night we found one in the sink and several nymphs in a nearby cupboard. This required clearing, cleaning, and spraying.

Fear not, for the exterminator came today. A quiet, unassuming man whom I believe has bested a giant Madagascar roach in hand-to-hand combat and whom the bedbugs know, in their tongue, as "The Oncoming Storm". He took care of it.

But truth be told, in all the excitement, I didn't write that night. My plan was to take care of it in the evening, as I watched Treme. Life came up, obviously.

What's the lesson to be learned from this broken link?

If it's important, don't schedule it for late in the day. If something comes up in the morning, you can still do it later. If something comes up late in the day, then that's it.

So hence forth, writing Pomodoros start BEFORE lunch. (More on Pomodoros later)

Broken Chain

2010-05-30T10:33:00.000-07:00

So you might notice a number of breaks up there. As per my promise, I owe an explanation.

Short explanation:

I was on vacation.

Whether I had just flown in to New Orleans, was enjoying a day out, or was in the middle of a massive drive back to Boston (And we saw some wonderful things in this great land of ours, which will be the subject of another post on Tuesday).

Explanation as to why these are not good excuses (and there are a very small number of good excuses):

I was able to write. In the car. We had driven eight to nine hours that day. Through some truly miserable traffic. And yet, while my girlfriend was driving, I popped out my notebook and wrote. In the car.

It was a short description for my Vampire game (which is going to wrap up REALLY soon). An important piece of a puzzle. It wasn't much, but it met my criteria.

I have to keep reminding myself. Some days I write a lot. Some days I write a little. Most days I write in between, but I have to MAKE the time to write something.

What's a Link?

2010-05-17T08:39:00.001-07:00

I think that's an important question I need to answer if I'm going to keep this blog going. If I'm going to keep this chain going.

What qualifies as a link in this chain? How much must I write in one day for it to qualify as a link in the chain?

Obviously, I don't think I can just say "whatever". Two words or sentence does not a link in the chain make. Under that logic, I could write down five random words down, say "Donesies!" and call it a day with Alan Wake or Red Dead: Redemption (coming out tomorrow!). I want to a professional, this does not cut it.

On the other hand, I can't really put a huge "You must do five/ten pages! There must be this many words!" Because sometimes I do not have it in me to hit a set deadline. Or, on other days, I don't have the time. This Saturday, Teresa, Ruxi, Chris (of Learning to Suck) and I moved Teresa's stuff out of her apartment and in to mine. It wasn't a lot, and it wasn't far, but as anyone who has moved knows, moving is HARD. It took the entire day and I was dead on my feet when we got back.

No five pages from me there.

So what's a link? It's vague as hell, but to me, a link must be something SIGNIFICANT. On Saturday night, I did a very short character study about Sam Fullbright, protagonist of Cape Killers. It helped me identify what must be the central conflict of the character. I might finish a short story. Finish an important scene, or a series of necessary scenes.

I can't give a concrete example of what is significant, because each day, it is going to be different. Going to change. So I'll just have to be vague. Some links will be longer than others, but each link has to matter.

Into the Hopper

2010-05-11T12:42:00.000-07:00

Write,write,write,write.

The whole point of this blog is that writers gotta write. And that we get better as writers by practicing writing. By treating it as a craft. And if we want to make $$$ off of writing, we'd best treat it as a job. That is, something we do regularly, every day.

But, here's the thing: It's not all just writing. I was going to make a post today about the importance of reading, watching, taking in material that others have put out, but Chuck Wendig went and beat me to the punch.

I am not about to try to out-Wendig Wendig. He does a great job of arguing why you need to constantly be putting more material into your writing hopper. Ideas to steal, inspiration to call upon, voices to absorb.

More, I'm thinking about the kinds of material I put into the hopper these days.

PUT IN THE GOOD STUFF

Time was, I would basically put anything into the hopper. I'd buy DVDs because of the box, pick up a used game on a whim, watch every TV show I could, and come home from the book store laden down with BOOKS. Sometimes just because of the cover art.

Irregardless of quality, I would generally stick with whatever I bought. Read it all the way through. Stick with a show, even if I didn't particularly like it (Hello Buffy Watch through Season 4).

Maybe I'm getting older, but I'm way more inclined to discard something if I'm honestly just not that into it these days.. I mean, part of it's the whole "Crap in crap out" philosophy, but it's also a question of time. I have many things that require my attention: personal stuff, writing, finding a job, fixing up the apartment, chores, spending time with my girlfriend, building my robot army, mastering the art of swordmaking, etc. I have to make sure that what I put in is something I want put in, not just something I put in because "Hey, it's on. I should put that in the hopper."

I think I trace this impulse back to the moment I quit watching Heroes. About... halfway through the third Season. I distinctly recall turning to my roommate after one line and saying "Oh God, that made no sense." He didn't respond. Just stared at the remote.

I picked it up, turned it off, and deleted our DVR recording. From what I've heard, I didn't really miss anything.

It continued when I realized how much I was letting Dollhouse build up. Or when I decided to stop watching Dexter. Dexter was a bit of the previous. I realized they had been building up, then I saw a specific moment that made me kind of go "I'm not sure I'm on board with where this is going."

This isn't meant to be a value judgment on those shows. More that I realized I was watching them out of a sense of duty. Putting them into the hopper because I felt I had to. That's the wrong way to go about it. If it feels wrong trying to put it into the hopper, if it feels like you're forcing it, well then you probably are.

It's a strange mix. On the one hand, you have to put things into the hopper. It's important. Chances are you started writing because you loved stories. On the other hand, you have to, at some point, start building filters for the hopper. You can't just shove whatever in, just because it's there, or because you feel "crap, something's got to go in this hopper and I sure as hell can't put in this wrench or my pot pie".

It's got to be worth putting in the hopper.

Broke the Chain

2010-05-08T08:59:00.000-07:00

My lovely and brilliant girlfriend Teresa noted something this morning.

She noted that I had, in fact, broken the chain.

So thus, I must provide a reason for the past two days of unbroken chain-ness. And, my friends and neighbors, it is a reason both triumphant and, well, a little lame. Like getting the record for most complete new World of Darkness knowledge (something I, as you know, am moving towards anyway).

Triumph!:

I have finished the first draft of my first script on Wednesday night! I'm going to spell-check/typo-check on Sunday, then send it in. I feel like a badass to have it done. It's freaking awesome. I'm gonna give myself some distance, then start reviewing.

The lame:

I was so freaking worn out after all that (Wednesday was a freaking sprint of a writing session) that I couldn't bring myself to do any more writing. I mean, don't get me wrong. I got stuff done. I've started cleaning out my apartment for the anticipated move in. Moved my clothes, culled my books, cleaned out redundant kitchen tools. Bought a spice rack, shower caddy, new sheets, etc.

Saw Iron Man 2 (my thoughts on that may be forthcoming).

Played Mass Effect 2 (It's one of the goals my girlfriend wrote up for me).

But I didn't start anything new. And while I feel that, yes, I earned a bit of a relax, I should start something new. Anything. Gaming related, script related, or a piece of flashfiction for Pseudopod's flash fiction contest. (PS: If you like horror, you should subscribe to Pseudopod. Some of the scariest short stories I have ever read/heard. Ditto for Sci-fi and Fantasy for Escape Pod and Podcastle

So, when it comes down to it, reasons for chain breakage: Mental exhaustion.
Next time: Write, but be nice and easy about it. Flip over a few tarot cards, brainstorm ideas. That's enough.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to clean out my foot locker and start my Pseudopod story. Hopefully these two won't intertwine and there's no Shoggoths in there.

Permission to Suck

2010-05-03T18:17:00.000-07:00

So my buddy Chris? His blog is called "Learning to Suck". It's from something I once said to him, I believe. "You need to learn to give yourself permission to suck". Which is in and of itself a paraphrase of something Mur Lafferty said, and so on.

It basically comes down to the idea that you need to write through stuff you know is bad, because in a second draft, you will get the chance to make it all better. It's okay to not be awesome all the time.

Typically, this is something I've pretty well internalized. I somehow can take my feelings out of the equation during criticism, taking things like "You need to completely rework most of it" in stride.

But every once in a while, I just get frustrated with what I'm writing. What I've got right now, for example, I am very aware does not work as a coherent whole. It's action packed, but it's light with a lot of dead plotlines that disappear by the wayside.

And that's okay. Because this is a first draft. The first unbroken chain. And it's a messy chain. But only my fellow screenwriters, who have their own messy chains will see it. Along with my mother, father, possible step-parents, and my girlfriend. And I have it on authority that those people love me.

I'm working on 15 days straight. That is half a month of writing, at least a little, every damn day. That's a record for me. Easily. I can't give up now just because I don't necessarily like it.

That's what the editing chain is for. It's the chain I go and beat the story with until it behaves.

FYI

2010-05-02T17:35:00.000-07:00

Through a two week unbroken chain (HOLY EFFING CRAP TWO WHOLE EFFING WEEKS? I DO NOT RECOGNIZE MYSELF. HAVE I BEEN REPLACED BY A POD PERSON? SOMEONE TELL ME!) and notecarding my second act?

I have, this night, FINISHED my second act. And, as a first draft, it is full of holes. But oh Lord this is playing in my head and goddamn, when I fix it up, it is going to look awesome.

In the words of the Great Alton Brown

2010-04-26T16:09:00.000-07:00

I had another post about index cards, but I'm gonna sideline it for the moment. I decided I need to state, at least for myself, WHY I want to get organized.

I realize that on some level, being organized is kind of a goal that lasts forever. There's no one point where you get the "Got Organized!" achievement unlocked, 500 points, and you never have to organize again. Organization is a process. It's a habit you form, so you always do it.

Why get organized?

Because, in the words of the great Alton Brown:

Organization will set you free.

Lemme 'splain.

I am very good at improvisation. I'm good at thinking on my feet. I can react quickly and organize people into doing stuff. Argument over where to go for lunch? I'm there. Momentary panic about how to get everything you need to get done in one day? I'm your man. Early on a Saturday night, friends over, no idea what to do? I'll have us at a movie, dinner, and a late night board game session. Or pub, concert, and light tacos.

Plan out a weekly meal schedule? Order tickets in advance? Know what I'm going to be doing a month from now?

Not so much.

Part of the reason, I think, I haven't gotten organized isn't just laziness. It was fear of losing that degree of improvisation, of flexibility in my life. I don't want to have my life shoved in a completely regimented box, no changing.

In my writing, I don't want to not be able to account for those sudden moments, those flashes of insight where you realize "Holy Crap, this is going to change everything and make the movie SO AWESOME".

But here's the thing:

Organization will set you FREE.

Being organized will allow you to BE improvisational, be flexible, change things at a moment's notice. If you know what you're going to eat during the week, you can suddenly change it up if you see a sale on bass on the way home. If you know where you're going on vacation, you can plan around that vacation, improvise without stepping on something that's really important.

If you know where all your plot points are in the story, when something brilliant occurs to you, you know exactly how it slots in. You know how it changes the map of the story. You know what it'll do without completely destroying the movie.

Organization will set you free.

Rather. Organization will allow you to BE free.

Inagural Post

2010-04-19T15:01:00.000-07:00

Well, technically inaugural post. See, I've had this blog for a bit now. If you look down below, you'll even see some posts! Some are political, some are about the local color, couple are about... well, random crap.

There's a reason I kind of stopped doing anything on this blog.

My friend Chris started a blog. He called it "Learning to Suck". He's writing random thoughts on it as well as a weekly post ruminating on his writing and learning, as he puts it "to shut off that critical part of the brain and just have fun with what you're doing".

Now, me, I have a different problem. I know how to shut that part of my brain up. My problem is one of discipline and organization.

I am not, you see, by nature a very organized person. It's something I've been working on throughout the years. I dislike outlining, treatments, or even writing stuff on index cards. I'm pretty skilled at winging it, but winging it will only take you so far.

Until I got into school, I was also the kind of person who would write "If they felt like it". Now I would often feel like it. It is fun to write, it has to be fun to write or what's the point. But this "If I feel like it" nonsense? Don't cut it in the real world. Not if I want to make it a JOB. I must, in that case, treat it like a job.

So that's where "Unbroken Chain" comes from. It's a twofold meaning. The first relates to organization. There's nothing wrong with being able to wing it. Hell, too much preparation is bad for you. At some point you just have to sit down and write the sucker, after all. But if we view a story like a chain, I've too often sat down with a beginning link and and an ending link and tried to connect the two in between with nothing else. Sometimes I don't even have the ending link.

Sure, after my first draft I can make it better, but I'm spending so much time figuring out where the hell the chain's supposed to be going, I never get it done. If I'm going to build a good, strong chain, I need more links in it in place before I sit myself down with Final Draft. The longer posts will be on this subject (as well as any other stupid writing related shite I think of).

The second is about discipline, and it's why that little doohickey is up there above the post. It's called "Don't Break the Chain". It's from a system used by Jerry Seinfeld. And it keeps me honest. It keeps my writing every day. I want to see a nice, long, unbroken chain up there. It pleases me to see it when I get it. I have yet to have a full thing of blue. Stephen King supposedly writes every day that's not my birthday.

From hence forth, whenever I break the chain, I will explain why in a post the next day. The explanation may be a good one. In all likelihood, it will be a lousy one. But I will put it up because it will keep me honest to share exactly what it is that kept me from writing on that day (Stupid Mass Effect 2).

Now I shall go forth and make a nice, long, pretty thing of blue. Or green. Or red. I may change the color without warning.

Because even though I will have discipline and regularity in my writing, it's nice to shake things up a bit.

The Oscars

2009-02-22T14:54:00.000-08:00

The Oscars are in a bit of a mess/crisis.

For a variety of reasons. The economy, running time, changes in format offending some people, perceptions of lock-ins, the Oscars have been hemmoraging viewers pretty badly lately. That link above details it better.

And I have to admit, I'm not even certain I'm going to watch the Oscars. Might go to a parade instead. Maybe throw on a movie, or try the first couple of Episodes of the Prisoner. If that is the case, it'll be the first time in like... at least a decade if not fifteen years that I haven't watched the Oscars. I love the pageantry of the Oscars, the honoring of great cinema. But I just have to agree, it's just not quite as watchable any longer. The whole affair just feels... I dunno, out of touch. Trying to hard to give out awards to the deserving or send a message with their awards.

It'll be interesting to see what happens. ABC's not doing well, and there's apparently actual worry that if this radical change of format doesn't help things, nothing will.

New Attractions in New Orleans

2009-02-21T18:00:00.000-08:00

So, there's a new tourist attraction in New Orleans, over on Canal Street nearby Metairie Road.

The Paraplex.

The Paraplex, you see, is a haunted house. It was a funeral home back in the day, lots of dead bodies in the place. Through the work of various psychics, ghost hunters, and a leading parapsychologist, they've identified nine separate entities in the house, as well some residual hauntings.

The know this because the place is also an active paranormal research site, with cameras, infrared, and microphones set up to observe everything and record it. The staff bring in toys and objects for the ghost to interact with, such a doll found in a house in Katrina that one staff member informed me the ghost children didn't like very much (he was the one who found it).

It is also, most interestingly, a paranormal phenomenon museum, containing *deep breath*: interactive exhibits on ghostly photography and EVP (including one REALLY freaky one); a large section on ghost hunting gear such as EMF meters; ghostly artwork and artistic mock-ups of vampire and werewolf hunting kits (yes, those kits you've seen on the internet); a section on famous monsters; large collections of Anne Rice's creepy as hell dolls; a collection of haunted artifacts (including a oujia board with a letter admonishing them to destroy it); sections on psychic powers, psychometry, and ouija boards; a sort of... Imagineered Disney experience of a Séance, complete with fake guy in the control room; vampire exhibits; werewolf exhibits; creepy animatronic chupacabra; and many other things.

They're still expanding as well. They even have an offer to hold a séance with an actual medium. Or if your pockets are particularly deep, a dinner with it. They're starting up ghost tours as well, of course, in partnership with Ghost Expeditions.

Me and my brother had a long discussion with one of the guys (who told us he was psychic). I think he was the manager, told us a bunch of stories about the artifacts, about how he met a guy who claimed to have played hide and seek with one of the ghosts in the house forty years ago. My brother actually applied for a job at their haunted house this October, hoping to get a job at the place itself.

It was, in conclusion, awesome. Insanely, insanely awesome.

Joe Lieberman doesn't matter.

2008-11-18T13:01:00.000-08:00

It would seem that the main Liberal Blogsphere is losing their minds over Joe Lieberman.

Background: Joe Lieberman is an Independent Democrat who was Al Gore's running mate. He's an Independent who caucuses with the Democrats and holds the National Security chair in the Senate. He supported John McCain, campaigned for a few downticket Republicans, and said a few nasty things about Barack.

There was a meeting about him, see if he should be kicked out, lose his chairmanship, etc. He was kept, kept his main chairmanship, lost his sub-chairmanship.

This is where the major blogs are hitting a stumbling block. They wanted to see Lieberman punished, they wanted to see him kicked out and real change to be enacted.

Here's the truth, though, as far as I can see it.

Joe Lieberman doesn't matter. He doesn't. He's a Senator, he has an important chair, but the fact of the matter is? Obama won. As Howard Dean said, he can afford to be magnanimous, it was the petty revenge obsession that got us into trouble at times in the Bush administration.

At this point, Lieberman is more or less disdained by most everyone, only valuable for the vote he represents and facing stiff re-election competition. The guy's an attention whore, he feeds off everyone paying attention to him like this, and the more him and his possible punishment is obsessed over, the more power you give him, and the more he gets what he want.

Ignore the idiot and let him be regulated to the dustbin of history, forgotten like all those like him eventually are. We've got more important things to do.

Political Stress

2008-10-28T15:39:00.001-07:00

It's cold out today. And me? I like the cold.

Political friends, if you've got a moment, please take a look at this:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/28/election-anxiety-the-one_n_138516.html

Yes, I know it's huffington post, which is not so secretly democratically leaning. But the article is non-partisan, hence my use of "Harvey Dent" opposed to the "Hope" icons. I completely understand and know the point of this article. I pay WAY too much attention to my political blogs, listen far too eagerly to the various podcasts and TV shows.

None of are going to argue that we are in the middle of a truly historic election. Sarah Palin and Barack Obama's mere existence on the ticket prove that much. The Chinese curse goes "May you live in interesting times", indicating that interesting times are, frankly, extremely trying and stressful. I know I don't necessarily agree with all of you, politics-wise, but I'm sure we're all feeling the stress from all this campaigning in one way or another.

And just think, in a single week, it will all be over, for better or for worse, for Obama or McCain, Republican or Democrat, Biden or Palin. And the day afterwards, we'll have to live not only with the candidate but each other.

I think I'm gonna take at least one day (probably Saturday, I have a wedding to go to on that day anyway) and just take the day off from political news. Because my life is busy enough without adding to it unduly. I encourage everyone to try and do the same, blow off some steam, don't let the election get to them TOO much, important and historical as we all know it is.

Because as someone I know said (forgive me, anonymous person, but I cannot recall who you are), we will all have to live with each other the next day, and I know I have a bad habit of getting cranky towards others when stressed.

Thank God

2008-10-10T19:06:00.001-07:00

He did the right thing.

I don't know if he did it because it was backfiring on him, I don't know if he did it because he was being called out for it by literally everyone, I don't know if he did it because it was the honorable thing to do. I'm just glad he did it.

2008-10-10T12:39:00.000-07:00

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/10/mccain.crowd/

Go on and read that. I'll wait, I've got a great episode of Good Eats on.

Done?

Okay. I want you to pay attention to something in there, it's about mid-way down. The part where there are reports of calls of "treason" and "kill him" at the rallies.

(video of the event.)

Now, I will fully admit that, as pointed out, there's uncertainty as to who the "kill him" is referring to, Ayers or Obama. But seriously. Kill him?

"Kill him"?

Let's assume the worst for a second. Let's assume that the person in question did, in fact, mean that towards Barack Obama. This means that we are looking at rallies so fired up with anger and hate that they are voicing thoughts of murder.

Freaking MURDER. There is so much wrong with that I don't even know where to begin. While the candidate is certainly not responsible for all the things said by his voters or all the things those associated with him say, in these days, we generally expect some sort of acknowledgment and denouncement of such statements. Barack Obama gave one in regards to Reverend Wright, for example. McCain has addressed the Keating Five issue: "The appearance of it was wrong. It's a wrong appearance when a group of senators appear in a meeting with a group of regulators, because it conveys the impression of undue and improper influence. And it was the wrong thing to do."

I can't believe that the McCain/Palin campaign is unaware of these comments at rallies. It's been all over the news, as has videos like this one. They know that their supporters listen to them. They are in a position to act like leaders, to stand up and say "No. These are our political opponents, but they are not traitors and they do not deserve to die."

I want to think of McCain as an honorable man. It's how I grew up thinking him, when I first started paying attention to politics back in 2000, watching him show up on the Daily Show, acting as a bipartisan voice of good humor from the side of the Republicans. Hell, it was John McCain back then that solidified in me the idea that the other party is NOT the enemy trying to destroy America, that there are decent people on both sides. I was really happy when he was nominated, because he promised to run a decent campaign.

I hope he and Palin get a handle on this. Before something really nasty happens. Before he goes down in the history books as a guy who lost his temper and threw a tantrum writ large.

I want to believe that he's better than that. I really do.

The Drifter Character Study

2008-05-31T16:52:00.000-07:00

There are two things that most define him. The first is Mystery, incongruous as it is with his open and friendly personality. Everyone knows about that one. That one’s obvious, just looking at the man. Whether he intends to or not, he cuts a very mysterious figure, black shirt, hat tipped low over his face, duster blowing dramatically in the desert winds that always seem to follow him, no matter what part of the world he travels to.

He travels quite a bit. Always on the move, all over the world, never staying very long. His nickname was given to him for a reason, after all. And it is a nickname, because he never, ever gives out his name, never introduces himself to anyone. If directly asked, he changes the subject, or some happenstance gives him perfect excuse not to answer. If pressed, he laughs, saying that at this point it’s mostly amusement at no one knowing his name.

If pressed at gunpoint, he responds with terrifying force. It’s a terrifying world, the kind that requires such force if you’re to wander it. The question this begs is why? And why, for all his armaments, all his mastery of them, does he never, ever touch the handgun slung in a gunbelt in the small of his back?

He never answers these questions. He changes the subject, much like he changes the subject of his name, because the second thing that defines him is Guilt. Guilt over something horrible, something that got written down in history books in blood, though the history is barely countable in decades.

And because of this guilt, he never gives his out his name. Because of this guilt, he thinks he walks alone. And to an extent, he’s right. He never keeps a horse for very long. They die, or they’re sold or simply left behind. He sees people on his trips. Sometimes he stops by the same place to spend the night. Sometimes he sees people like him, who are travels for entirely different reasons. But he? He walks alone. As far as he’s concerned, he has no real friends, because he isn’t deserving of them.

His friends, those who put him up for the night when he passes through town, those who walk the roads he walks for other reasons all, universally, call him the same thing.

The Drifter.

Important Tuesdays

2008-02-22T14:11:00.000-08:00

Today is Super Tuesday.

Did you vote?

DID YOU?

You should have, if you didn't. If you did?

Good for you.

Now, to other business.

Today is also Fat Tuesday. Mardi Gras. Carnivale. And according to my watch, it is beer o'clock.

Most of you who know me fairly well know that I feel that New Orleans is an important part of my identity. It's basically all I remember as a home, and to me there will be no greater city.

And naturally, on this day of all days, I find myself the most homesick. Although I do have a King Cake, it's not the same (next year, hell or high water (*knock on wood*) I'm going home for MG).

My favorite band from New Orleans is Cowboy Mouth.

For those who wonder what it felt like, who wonder how we feel?

It's something like this.

And for those of you who want to know what Mardi Gras is about?

Because it's not really about the religious stuff, although that's important. And it's not the boobs or the beads or the booze.

It's about this song.

There, now I've put as much deeper meaning as I can muster. Go drink a little and live a little, no matter what you've got going on in your life right now. It's nice to be alive, innit?

_{[[Reprinted from a personal journal post, February 8th, 2008]]}

Hmmm.

2008-02-22T14:08:00.000-08:00

I appear to be getting sickly. This displeases me, for I am a busy man, and do not have time to be sickly.

I also notice that Valentine's Day is fast approaching.

I, truth be told, have never really been a big fan of Valentine's Day. And it's not because I'm single, as the usual comment is. I've been in relationships on Valentine's Day, and I wasn't a big fan of it then either.

I was talking about this with my roommate (known hereafter as "Daniel"), and we agreed that we liked it when we were younger. Remember, in elementary school? When Valentine's Day meant you bought candies of various kinds to everyone in class?

We liked that. Always in support of getting candy.

Now that I'm actually old enough to be in a relationship, I find the whole circus surrounding the holiday to be... ridiculous? (all apologies to friends who work in the flower industry)

It's become a diamond commercial. It's not a celebration of love any longer, it's a drive to buy the most IMPOSSIBLY PERFECT GIFT ever. Why does it have to be that one day that you prove your love through an impossible gesture?

I'm fairly certain the idea is to love them every day?

*shrugs*

I think, for this Valentine's Day, I'm gonna buy a massive bag of Three Musketeers, and give 'em to everyone I meet.

Rock Valentine's Day old skool.

ETA:

I should mention that I encourage you to rock Valentine's Day old skool along with me.

_{[[Reprinted from a personal blog post dated Feb. 8 2008]]}

Veteran's Day

2007-11-12T18:43:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was Veteran's Day, the end of World War I. Today it is observed, meaning that most government offices have the day off, as you might have noticed if you were trying to mail something (like I was).

I thought I'd take a moment to list and honor the actual Veterans I have know personally.

Doctor Harry Haines- Communications Professor, expert in Queer Theory, Vietnam Veteran. First Comm professor I ever had. Delightful guy who was a fun and knowledgeable teacher, as well as a good enough sport to be the crazy professor in my mockumetary.

Geary Mason - Army Reserveman, Vice-President at Merrill-Lynch, my former boss, former next door neighbor, and spent time in Afghanistan. Always been a great friend to my family and my mother, got me an internship (one I didn't like, I admit), and tried his best to make sure I actually learned something from that internship when my first boss turned out to be a loser.

Dr. Peter Regan - Army Doctor in the Korean War, pediatrician after the war, my grandfather. Goes without saying that sans him, I would not be sitting here typing this. Despite all his faults (and considering that side of my family and what became of my father, they were many I'll wager), he did his best to support a large family, served proudly in our country's millitary, and was, when sober, a smart and funny man. He died last year of lung and liver cancer. I don't know how much I grieved, considering I didn't know him very well and how messed up he made my family, but I do miss him from time to time. I hope he found peace from whatever inner demons he had.

Christopher Regan - Served in the Army after high school, offered to join the special forces but turned it down. Just married to a lovely Bulgarian girl, my adopted cousin. Always one of my favorite cousins, quick with a smile, and the army straightened him out when he needed straightening out. While not, genetically, related to me, I like him a lot more than some who I am genetically related to, so screw genetic relationships. I should probably get around to finishing up his wedding video, though.

Major Howard Barton - Graduate of West Point, further graduate of Yale. Taught English for both West Point and the Naval Academy, served in the first Gulf War in the Rangers, acted as a paratrooper and engaged in operations he is not allowed to tell me about. Best high school teacher I ever had (and I had some good ones). He gets on this list not because he taught me a lot about English (although I did learn quite a bit, particularly writing, from him), but because he was one who taught me how to be a good person. I'm not sure the lessons sunk in very well to my classmates, though.

It's a brave thing to serve in the millitary, even in times when it seems like everyone hates what you're doing (Lord knows I think the current war we are engaged in was an enormous mistake, and a horribly bungled one as well), the people who are actually serving the country are pretty damn brave. And that's something to be emulated.

Well, except for people like Tom Berringer's character in Platoon, but we all know not to respect him.

Yes, I added that comment because I just watched Platoon on AMC. I had forgotten that Johnny Depp and Dr. Cox were in that movie.