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.