Rant: "Overqualified"

I am confused about a way of thinking that has recently come to my attention. The core of this belief is "over-qualification," as in "I am overqualified to do that job".
What does this mean?
The example I will give to you is an engineering major who has recently graduated from university. Upon finding that there are no engineering jobs available in the area, the engineer searches major job sites for other available positions. The only place that's hiring is a high school looking for a janitor. The engineer thinks, "whoa, no way. I am totally overqualified to be a janitor!"

Stop. What?

How is an engineer overqualified to be a janitor?

Think about it. That is ridiculous. They have zero parallel training, wherein the engineer would have superior custodial abilities to the janitor, thus making him overqualified to scrub toilets and mop floors.
If anything, the engineer is under-qualified to be a janitor because he has pretty much no prior experience in the things a janitor does, aside from skimming the top layer of grime off of his college apartment every six months. It is ludicrous to think that just because he is an engineer that his experiences somehow elevate him above those of a janitor. Likewise, a person trained as a janitor would not presume to think that he is overqualified to be an engineer (although sometimes that janitor is an engineer). Is it not strange that it seems so obvious to us that a janitor would not think he could simply do the job of an engineer but not the other way around? Can't both the janitor and the engineer learn to do each other's jobs equally well?

What I'm getting at is that nobody's job is inherently "better" than someone else's, nor is anybody better than someone else based solely on their life experiences or training. We all need each other. We need the engineers and the janitors, the mechanics and the lawyers (yes, we need the lawyers). If the job were unnecessary, it wouldn't exist.
I think my point is that a lawyer shouldn't scoff at the guy fixing his BMW. He needs that guy. And an engineer shouldn't look down on a janitor. Our lives would be filthy without those guys.
We have our jobs, and hopefully we do them well. Every job deserves credit for the individual difficulties that job presents to those who do it. We should not minimalize jobs that may not require a higher education to do. They are just as necessary, just as noble.

So no, you are not overqualified for the job. You just haven't learned how to appreciate it yet.

Scars

I have a scar on my right ring finger.

Do you have a favorite scar story?

Mine goes like this:
So, when I was in 3rd grade roundabouts, I was cutting up some leaves for use as confetti on the playground after school. The people who were supposed to be watching us kids had given me some very sharp scissors with which to accomplish this task. Big mistake. Because I didn't hurt myself with these scissors, but I did hand them off to a much younger child, Matthew, to cut with while I turned my back on our project and talked to someone else for a second.
So, I turned around, hands flailing for some reason, and Matthew just happened to be holding the scissors out and open. My finger got caught between the two blades and Matthew chomped them down in a fit of confusion, thus slicing through the meat of my finger.
Blood everywhere.
And the inept women who were supposed to be watching us didn't even notice until I walked up to them and extended my maimed, blood-drenched hand. That's when they freaked out and made me hold it under the playground tap. Then I had to go get it bandaged and stuff.
Moral of the story: Don't ever give Matthew scissors. He will inadvertently try to kill you.

Ok, so let's hear your scar stories. Where are they and how did you get them?

Readers Wanted

If you're reading this blog right now, then there's a pretty decent chance that you at least have an interest in what I have to write, so I have a proposition for you. I am looking for a few readers -- let's say three -- to get some feedback on this book I've been writing. I am not looking for collaborators, I am looking for what Orson Scott Card terms wise readers, people who can critique a book for plot, character development, diction, grammar, spelling, etc without offering suggestions of how to change it (aside from the grammar and spelling).
Interested? Want to know more? Hit me up in the comments section or, if you're friends with me on Facebook, leave a comment on the wall post for this blog entry and let me know.
Thank you!

Mothers

My office space at home

First off, happy Mother's Day to all you moms. Especially to my mom. I love you! Thank you!

You have to wonder about mothers. Do they even make a difference in the way a person turns out? I mean, there are some animals whose mothers simply leave alone before they've even hatched! They seem to turn out ok.
But what about humans? What about my characters?
Mothers and fathers play a huge role in my books. Whether they've died during childbirth, left their baby with strangers, spoiled their child rotten, or loved them so unconditionally that they've died for them, parents tend to be a big deal, at least for me.
My own parents have been excellent examples of self-sacrifice and patience for characters like Adelmo and Sayen (who is not technically a mother, but acts as one to her younger brother Guara). I know, I know. You probably have no idea who these characters are. But when you do, then you will also know that they are modeled on the never-take-no-for-an-answer, quirky, protective, unfailing love that my own parents have for me.
But specifically moms, then, since it's Mother's Day and that seems to be the overall theme of this particular day. I may have digressed a bit from my topic.
I think that mothers, whether present or absent from their children's lives, have enormous impact. Because we are not sea turtles, whose mothers leave them to fend for themselves against seagulls and the great big ocean (I know I couldn't have learned to swim all by myself!), our mothers are a huge part of who we become. They show us what compassion is, how to hide annoyance and when to show it, how to live with a thousand tiny heartbreaks and for those moments when all can be mended with a single whispered "I love you". How can a character, how can we as people, ever be stronger not having had such love?
Those who don't have a mother's love can only imagine ways to fill that hole, because they cannot imagine how vast that hole is. I very much pity the characters I have made motherless. Mostly because I think if all of us has amazing mothers that there would be very little reason for war or hate in this world. But then, without war and hate, I wouldn't have a story, so I guess I can't be too much of an idealist, can I?

In other news, I am the bee's knees as cleaning.

Proverbs

So, I came up with this idea to sock writer's block right in the jaw, and I thought I'd share it with you.

• Step 1
• Figure out the location of your story. The country or land where that country currently resides or the country that most closely resembles the culture in your story will do.
• Step 2
• Look up proverbs from that country. World Proverbs is a great place to begin your search. Bonus: that site is just fascinating to leaf through.
• Step 3 
• Choose a proverb that sounds like something one of your characters would say. Or maybe choose a character that would normally never say something like your proverb and have them deliver that line. Zing!
• Step 4
• Write a scene that involves that proverb. When would your character say something like that proverb and to whom would they say it? Has something profound or silly or devastating or frightening or happy just occurred? What was that thing? Does that thing exist in your story already? Write about that event, too.
• Step 5
• Enjoy! You've just kicked the crap out of your writer's block. You now have a scene and maybe a new character or event! As Charlie Sheen would say, "duh, WINNING!"

May the 4th be with you!

A Wedding and a Funeral (Read: Lawful Assassination)

The lovely Moira McGann has completed the character concept for Bramar!

Ok, so I feel it is only right that I weigh in on these two important current events: The Royal Wedding and the death of Osama bin Laden.
Here's the thing, I don't want to give my personal opinion on these goings-on. While I do have strong opinions on both subjects, I feel I would be straying from the core principles of this blog to give you my take on either topic. Instead, I will discuss them as I think they pertain to writing. And yes, I think that both of them are valuable teaching tools.

1. The Wedding
   So, whenever the royals have a wedding, there's always a big to-do and the whole world gets to celebrate/hate on it. How great is that? We all get to stop obsessing about the natural disasters and wars and famines and death and destruction and decline of the world as we know it and tune in to a lovely morning of fairytale matrimonial bliss.
   I think of this as the perfect reminder that not every major event in my story has to be awful. I mean, I put my characters through a respectable regimen of hellish happenings. So much so that I often forget to have a wedding. Or a baby. Or a victory. Or a kit kat. Anything positive, really. It's good to be reminded that a little romance never hurt anyone, and while everyone has an opinion on it, we all have to admit that it was kind of a nice break.


2. The Funeral
   Killing off a bad guy is one of the most powerful events in a story. To America, at least in this century, Osama bin Laden was like the Boss in a Nintendo game. His death is considered a victory. Now, I've been saying this for a couple of days, and I'll say it now because I think it applies to the big baddie in my story:
Most people do not relish the idea of murder. The loss of human life, whether it is an infant or an old man or a mass murderer is as awful thing. We are all human, and we must treat human life as precious. However, when a person commits unspeakable acts, it is not an inhuman thing to want him or her dead. I think it is the evil most of us revel in vanquishing, not the human being.
   This applies to evil characters in my story. In my opinion, a good writer acquaints you with the villain, allows you to get to know them a little, to understand, perhaps, some of the reasons for their abhorrent actions. This may not be to garner sympathy for the evil-doer. I allow you to know a bit about my villains so that you can know that the evil within them is a true poison, that they can never be separated from it, that they feed on it, and that there is truly no other course of action than to permanently prevent them from ever causing harm again. You kill the evil, not the man. Otherwise you are no better than he.


I have another spin on this. Yes, my plot comes from major tides of good an evil sweeping over the world of my characters and the parts they play in standing against or moving with these tides. That does not mean that important events do not happen outside of my characters' reach. Sometimes, a major event, like a (spoiler!) rebellion occurs far away from my characters, leaving them virtually unaffected (except, perhaps, for having an opinion on them), until sometime in the future. Or not. Sometimes hugely important events happen without our being affected by them in any clearly discernible way. It's a small indication that the world is vast, and I think it enriches the story to include some carefully-thought out non-effectual events.

In other news, Thesaurus.com is the best thing ever.

Book Review of Plot and Structure

I have recently completed the book Plot and Structure by James Scott Bell, and I would like to share my thoughts on it with you. The book is part of a series titled Write Great Fiction.
When I decided to purchase some how-to books on novel-writing, I briefly perused my local Books-A-Million for a few books that grabbed my attention. This book is orange. When I hoisted a stack of books over to a chair and began leafing through them with, I admit, a little skepticism, this book immediately held my interest.
Mostly because it was orange. But also because Bell's tone was so witty and colloquial. It was as if he was sitting next to me, giving me some much needed advice on plot (and structure) as I started out on my adventure to write my novel.
I was actually unaware of how much of his advice I would end up needing, but I bought his book along with a few others, took them home, and began reading. Turns out I really needed his advice. He outlines tons of tricks to outfox my writer's block, and a whole slew of tips to bulk up my plot.
It was from him that I learned of the invaluable importance of cohesive subplots.
If you are an aspiring writer, buy this book. Buy other books too, and read often, but buy this one. He's funny and engaging and informative.
Do yourself a favor and trust me on this one. If you've never written a full-length novel before, then you don't even know how little you know. You need all the help you can get.

In other news, I am not feeling well. My cat, Tink (not the gross one) seems to know I'm sick. She won't leave me alone.

One Liners

Bailey-girl as a penguin.

So, as I'm writing this book, I am conscious that my characters are supposed to be funny. They're not comedians, per say, but there is a certain level of comedy that goes along with so many personalities coexisting and interacting.
And there are many types of humor represented by my characters. Rom has very dark, deprecating humor. Ede is laughably frustrated. Aylin is mischievous. Bramar has a gift for observational humor. You get the idea.
What's the problem? I'm glad you asked.
I'm having trouble coming up with humorous events/lines. The story seems bogged down by important plot and heavy character development.
How do you find the funny?

Cleaning House

Mom and I before the Opera.

Michael (the fiance) and I are cleaning the house. Not the whole house, just the living room and dining room and kitchen. Which is plenty.
Our reasons for doing this are three-fold.

1. We are tired of looking at the crap we leave lying around because we're too busy (read: lazy) to put it away.
2. Cluttered and dirty rooms are stressful. Clean rooms feel more productive. 
3. My favorite. We are installing a writing area just for me in the dining room.

That being said, we're getting a lot of talking done as we work about the overarching plot of my series. With book one well underway and chapters of other books written, I think it's helpful for me to discuss my plans for themes and subplots. Besides the fact that I'm spoiling Michael for pretty much every plot twist, I think it's working out beautifully.

Also, last night, I went to an opera for the first time. My mom and I went to see The Magic Flute by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Emanuel Schikaneder. There are a lot of things about opera that present themselves as an easy target for ridicule. For instance, many of the characters sing their declarations of love and hatred at the audience instead of at each other. That takes some getting used to.
The other thing that really jarred me was the treatment of the evil plot in the story. Yes, The Magic Flute is a comedy. You can't really take evil all that seriously in a comedy. But in this story, especially, evil gets the boot so swiftly and dismissively that I didn't even get a chance to properly root for the good guy!
Having never actually seen an opera, these were unexpected elements which, I suppose, are perfectly normal for regular opera-goers, but that for me, a lifetime lover of musicals, were utterly alien. Still, the music swept any real need for a solid plot under the rug. Mozart blows my mind.
If you have never seen an opera, I highly recommend it. There is nothing like it in all other forms of theatre. Opera is easy to dismiss as melodramatic, but if you let yourself be carried away by it, the music and the sheer enormity of it all is breathtakingly impressive. 
One last thing. There was this one guy, Graham Anduri, who played Papageno, who really stole my heart for the show. He was fantastic. That is all.

Rewriting Law

This song is by Sigur Rós, one of my all-time favorite bands. It is so beautiful it breaks my heart. If this is your first time hearing it, I suggest you put in your earphones, jack the volume up all the way, and let it just flow over you.

Moving on. I wrote a character death today. And as I was writing about this character's unhappy demise, a thought occurred to me about the nature of law in my books. Even though the civilization I have created is unique, it must still have law and order, right? I've even written about the laws, but I never really sparred a thought for them. I've always just assumed they were there and that people would just get it.

It is interesting that Valdevia, the empire in which my story takes place, is around two thousand years old. It has built on the civilizations that existed before it, and those built on others, and on and on, back until the Great Decline (a catastrophic event in my story). And all of these civilizations had laws. Or at least some ground rules.

Some laws tend to be basic to civilizations across our current world and reaching back into humanity's rich history:

• Don't kill people.
• Don't take what doesn't belong to you.
• Don't cheat. 
• Don't run around beating people up. 
• Don't thumb your nose at the Establishment.

Did I forget some? Yeah. I think you get the idea.

I believe I have taken these pretty basic laws for granted in my story. I've added some others, but those are pretty much the core.

So what happens when someone supported by the Establishment, also known as the people who make the laws, kills someone who the Establishment doesn't like? Is that cool? Are there any repercussions to that someone going around murdering other someones? It doesn't seem like that's a huge deal historically, as long as the stakes are high enough.

I'm sort of rambling now, but I have striven to learn a little (a very little) about the laws of ancient and modern civilizations across the world in order to write a more convincing set of laws for my own civilization. The major thing I've learned? People seem to need a lot of negative reinforcement to prevent them from doing bad things. I think that says something interesting about humanity. What do you think?

Also, check out my writer friend Dot Hutchison's blog. She does book reviews and has nifty insights on writing techniques. She even drops hints about her upcoming projects on her blog, which is super cool because she's a talented lady.

Character Archery

I'm going places. On a train.

So, yes, that's me.

I know it's been a few days since I posted. Sorry about that. I've been writing.

And while I was writing and reading my books about how to write, I kept coming back to this question of character arcs. The books I read on novel-writing have a lot to say about the character arc. Generally, it begins in the first paragraph of the first chapter and ends in the last paragraph of the last chapter.

I don't agree with that line of thinking. It is my belief that if your character is 20 years old at the beginning of the book and 23 by the end of it, then their character arc begins 20 years before the first paragraph and about 70 years after the last paragraph (assuming they survive your ending). The rather startling idea that a writer should just think of a character in terms of what they personally write about them is rather naive, in my opinion. I pose that such thinking is akin to believing that when a friend leaves your house they cease to exist until the next time you see them. Your friends do not, as I'm sure you know, merely pop in and out of being as you will it. Neither do the characters of your novel.

Instead, they go on living, independent of your pen. My ole paw (grandfather) used to say that you can never truly know another person. I believe that extends to the characters of my story as well. They surprise me all the time. The things they say and do can be outright staggering. They constantly impress me with their fortitude, their sense of humor, their evil and their good. And it is a constant lesson in patience to try and understand why they go about in the world behaving as they do.

This is my struggle: to know the secrets of my characters, to know the regrets of their past and the hopes for their futures, to understand them and love them for who they are. They are people, like us. They wish and laugh and grieve and hate like us, in all the myriad and wonderful ways that we mortals do. I would not have it any other way.

In conclusion, the character arc, or the change in a character over the course of a story, is not the change in them over the novel we write. Rather it is the character's growth in their own story, the human story. Keep this in mind as you write: you do not write a character, you write about them. A subtle truth, but a truth nonetheless.

Costume vs. Clothing

My costume rendering for Bramar of the Wild.

Warning: Bramar doesn't actually look anything like that guy in the drawing up there, but he does wear those clothes! My lovely illustrator, Moira, will cook me up a better likeness to Bramar (who is fantastic, by the way) very soon!

What is the difference between costume and clothing? There seems to be one, but I'm not quite sure what it is. Costume, I would venture, is meant to be visual more than functional. Clothing, on the other hand, necessitates some sort of livability. Costume is not for everyday wear, but most people wear clothing every day.

I hope that the characters in my book wear clothes over costumes. I have striven, in my musings, to give them functional, simple clothes that are a help and not a hindrance, ceremonial garb excluded. It is, I must tell you, a difficult thing to describe the complexities of clothing. There is style over function in many cases, but there is still a sense of usability, of completeness, in even an outfit as simple as jeans and a t-shirt.

There is a trap that I often fall into in endeavoring to describe everything about a character's appearance all at once. This can get pretty lengthy when you're describing clothing which such rich detail to begin with, especially when all layers of it cannot even be captured by a drawing, let alone with words.

How does one:

1. Ensure that one's character is wearing something practical that suits his needs?
2. Describe the clothing in a digestible way?

Thoughts?

The Trusty Sidekick

This is my best friend, Bailey-girl.

I was down in Tampa, Florida this weekend for a quick vacation to see my very dear friend Bailey-girl and another old friend Scott. Since I'd been feeling a little "blah" lately, I decided to get a hotel room and just head down there with no plan except to take my own advice. Advice taken.

Anyway, while I was there, some very interesting ideas for my book came about. Backstories of some characters emerged from discussions with my friends about their own pasts. It's amazing how fiction mirrors reality. It's even more amazing how a little time spent in a different place can completely revitalize your writing juices.

One of the backstories I ruminated on during my stay in Tampa is that of Rom, who becomes a friend of my lead character, Aylin. He's had such a rough life, and the more I work on him, the more downtrodden and bitter he becomes. It is astounding how real to me he is. Of any of my characters, his is the first voice I have been able to hear speaking his dialogue. From him, magically, other characters sprang to life with new completeness.

And isn't that what a good friend does? Good friends make you realize things about yourself that you didn't know were there. Bailey-girl does that for me, and Rom does that for Aylin. At least insofar as while I write Rom, truths about Aylin conveniently present themselves to me.

I want to stress that Rom is not a sidekick. I don't write sidekicks. I don't believe there's any such thing as a sidekick in the complex myriad of human relationships, and I don't think they belong in fiction. People are people. Everyone is the main character in their own story, and while this story happens to be about Aylin, I could easily write a book about Rom. He is human, and his choices are his own. If he chooses to help Aylin, he does so as the hero of his own story, not as a sidekick in Aylin's.

Speaking of sidekicks, whenever there's one in a story, I always mistrust them. Don't you?
Why are they there, being a sidekick for the hero, instead of off doing their own thing? It's very suspicious.
 Robin, why don't you go get your own glory instead of mooching off of Batman, eh?!

Exercise Your Ears

This is a Grooveshark playlist.
According to Grooveshark's wikipedia entry, Grooveshark is "an internationally available online music search engine, music streaming service and music recommendation web software application, allowing users to search for, stream, and upload music free of charge that can be played immediately or added to a playlist."

Grooveshark headquarters are located in my native Gainesville, Florida, which makes them even more awesome. I tend to make lengthy playlists on Grooveshark that coincide with whatever the tone of a scene I'm working on is. It can be really helpful, I think. Try it out!

So, I put this playlist up here not to impress you with my awesome music, but to allow you to experience something new (hopefully) that will enhance your writing. If you're having writer's block, pick a song from the playlist, listen to it, and write down whatever you're feeling while you listen. It could be a scene, a list of adjectives, tone, a character, etc. Anything you want. This tactic has rescued me many times, and I think it could help you, too.

I will be posting new playlists or single songs intermittently. If this has been of use to you, or if you'd like to share the ideas you've had from these songs, or you have suggestions for other songs that inspire, hit me up in the comments section.

Go to a Place...

From the Louvre at sunset.

Today I was reading a very interesting book on plot and structure (in the bathroom). In this book, it said a lot of things that I think most writers accept as the basic rules of writing. But it also had some great ideas for ways to come up with plot. There was one suggestion (there were twenty or something), that read "go to a place and drink it in."
I, however, misread it as "go to a place and drink in it."
That makes much more sense to me that some quixotic nonsense like "drink it in". What does that even mean? Anyway, I think my accidental misreading was really my subconscious trying to give me some more digestible advice. I take it to mean something like, "go somewhere -- anywhere -- and just hang out. Grab a drink. Get into trouble. Do something real there, instead of site-seeing." That's the kind of thing people want to read about. And I think that's the kind of thing people want to write as well. 

Don't keep life at arm's length. Hold history in your hands. Sucker punch convention. Get drunk. Get lost.
Truth will find you.

Fat Latte Good It'll Do Me

I order there every morning.

I don't know how people write in coffee shops. In Gainesville, at least, I seem to know at least one person every time I go. This knowing people thing is not conducive to my writing, as I spend a large portion of the time I had allocated to pound pen to paper chatting with acquaintances about whatever they're writing.
So, I've given up on writing in coffee shops.

But, since I'm talking about them, it seems like people spend a lot of time in coffee shops not drinking coffee. I've seen customers buy a water and sit around for six hours on their laptop or talking to friends. Buy a coffee, damn it! You're the reason Starbucks is taking over, freeloaders! Locally owned coffee shops can't afford to put you up for a six hour pretension spree if you're not going to fork over ten bucks for a coffee and some refills. Maybe a muffin.

Anyway, JKR makes it look easy, but not everyone can write their books in coffee shops. Full disclosure: I write a lot in the bathroom. The master bathroom in my house is a joke, tiny and bland with room enough for a sink, a toilet, and a standing room-only-shower, but if I shut the door no one bothers me. I don't blame them, you know?

It's hard to talk about the restroom without that edge of stigma associated with it, but I wonder if there's anywhere on the planet more secluded than your own bathroom. Sometimes I go sit in the shower -- not while it's on, obviously -- and write for pages and pages. Does anyone else feel more productive in the lavatory?

How to Say 'Said'

Inspiration would be playing the part of the snitch here.

So, I made this spreadsheet of 'How to Say Said' a while back. I had writer's block somethin' fierce, and I decided to blame it on my pitiful vocabulary. I thought, "If I knew more words, then I would be able to write!"
This turned out to be quite untrue, but the spreadsheet is still pretty useful. If you have any suggestions for other ways to say said, I would be happy to add them.

Also, no, I did not just place the Harry Potter toy on top of some books for that picture. It lives there. Permanently.

On Distractions

This is my cat, Marv.

 

Marv is arguably the worst cat of all time. He yowls at all hours of the day and night, licks himself loudly and continuously, claws the furniture, and jumps up onto my lap at inopportune times. You may be chuckling to yourself, thinking that these are all distinctly cat-like traits and possibly countering that he seems like the best cat of all time. 

Lies.

Marv is the color of a moist dust bunny and has the coordination of a falling branch. He tends to throw up at the exact moment I'm heading out the door, and he has a propensity to pull out large tufts of his own fur and spit them unceremoniously onto our freshly-vacuumed blue carpet. 

Why don't I get rid of this cat? Because I love him, of course.  He was the worst present I ever got, and God love my fiance for surprising me with him. Michael truly had the best of intentions. I had been practically stamping my foot for a cat since we moved into our new house.

I think that Marv is a spectacular of example of the types of distractions writers dread. If the distraction, which I will call Marv from now on, is more than just laziness or an addiction to Facebook, I mean. 

After a while, external interruptions (Marvs) to the creative process start to drive me crazy. Just when I get a brain wave and my fingers finally begin to tap-dance over the keyboard with furious momentum, just when I hinge on crafting what is, without doubt, the greatest sentence of my literary life -- YOOooOOooOOWL! 

And it's gone, ladies and gentlemen. The taut thread snaps and that delicate whisper of the muse is struck dumb. The overwhelming feeling of loss can send me into a brief bout of bloodlust. It's not pretty.

How do you get away from Marvs? 

Blank Spines

It rather unnerves me that all of the books in the background of my blog are blank. They are simply stripes of color and nothing else.
A book without words on the cover is like a head with no face. They look bizarrely bald now, don't they? It makes me want to have a funeral for all those titles and author names and critic's blurbs and haphazard back-cover summaries. Poor book spines, we hardly knew ye. And how could we? You're nothing but bands of color. Like being best friends with somebody's hair. Or their manicure or lipstick color.
I wonder if they're blank on the inside.

Initial Thoughts

I am not a writer. I am not a poet or anything either. So, for now, I'll be a blogger.

The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing encourages its readers to create a blog. I bought this book, among others, as is my custom, in order to enhance my understanding of this business of writing books. Buying books on my obsession du jour has been a long-time habit of mine. Whenever I decide I'm going to learn about something or do something, I buy a few books on it. This happened to me when I undertook to understand the nature of symbolism. Suddenly, a dozen symbol dictionaries appeared in the clutter of my bookshelves, and my passion of symbolism took a back seat to my passion for buy reference books on symbolism. I booked tickets to Paris, and my fingers itched to buy travel books. I co-founded an acting troupe, and tons of tomes on Shakespeare found their way into my home.

Obsession begets obsession.

So, now I am writing a blog because my book on novel-writing told me to. It's good advice. And I'm not doing much with the time I set aside to write at the moment, because I am giving myself some breathing room from the freshly finished outline of my novel (another helpful suggestion from the novel-writing book). Apparently, this will give me some perspective on the plot and character decisions my past self thought were good, and not only allow me to see that everything I'd written thus far was utter nonsense but also give me the wisdom to improve the drivel I had thought was the trappings of a worthy piece of fiction not two days ago. Sounds good.

I am, as I have said, not a writer. But, I am writing a book. A series actually. It's been coming on slowly, and now it refuses to leave me alone. This is my retaliation. I will vent my frustrations here, and maybe that'll teach my book a lesson about bullying. I hope so.