It's A Date!

(c) Lynn Kelley

Valentine's Day is just around the corner and we want to set you up! With a book, that is. It's like a blind date, but instead of dressing up and going out, you get in your pajamas and curl up with a cup of cocoa! 

FMP: I Just Don't Think I'll Ever Get Over You

One of my absolute favorite movies is Garden State, with Zach Braff and Natalie Portman. The soundtrack is fantastic (seriously, go listen to it), but one of the best songs on there is I Just Don't Think I'll Ever Get Over You by Colin Hay. Now I'm off to watch Garden State for the 18 billionth time.

 

"But don't try to kidnap me or anything 

because my uncle is a bounty hunter 

and he could have you tracked and killed."

I first wrote this glimpse into a writer's mind two years ago. As today is a writing day and I really should get a blog up as well, I figured it would be nice to take another look at it.

Go where the story leads you

 It starts as a single thought, maybe just one word. It could even be an image. It grabs your attention for one reason or another. Maybe it was suggested for a word war or writing dash. Maybe the color caught your eye. Maybe it's the way the word flows through your brain and off your tongue. Regardless of how it got there, the word, the idea, the notion takes hold. It sinks its claws deep into the creative part of your brain and refuses to release you until you satisfy its desire for expression.

So you sit at your computer or pull out a notepad and get to work. You often don't know where you will begin, but that's ok. You just start writing. The words flow, putting themselves to paper as your mind explodes in a flurry of activity. The thoughts come and flood across the screen without your knowledge. You have a faint idea of what is taking place, but the story often writes itself. You are merely a conduit, a pipeline. The words form themselves into coherent sentences without your active interference. Your fingers simply make them visible.

You write, the thoughts coming faster than your feeble body can manage to get them formed in ink. You write, the story pushing you on unceasingly, refusing to release its hold on you until you have given it its last breath. You write, not because you want to, but because you have to. The story demands it. It demands to be told. And you are the only one who can tell it. So you write.

When you reach the end, you read. You read what you have written. And as long as you let the creative side of your brain take over and didn't interfere in the process, you enjoy what you read. Masterpieces come when intuition and inventiveness are allowed free reign and distractions are limited. Masterpieces are created when you lose yourself in the story and just let it flow. Masterpieces are destroyed when we begin to analyze the work we have created. Masterpieces are felt, not built. 

I would like to add that Masterpieces can be refined and often need to be, but the initial process of just letting it flow is very important.

FMP: "I Have A Dream"

I've heard people wonder why we still celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. on the third Monday of January every year. To be quite frank, one reason we need to remember him is that if people are complaining about having to take off for a "black person day", then clearly racism is still a very prominent issue that needs to be remembered. And put quite simply, he changed the future of America. He may be famous for speaking out for African Americans, but the equality he sought for his own people paved the way for all minorities.

Newsletter Nibbles

On Friday, I will send out the first installment of my new monthly newsletter. Not only will it include the usual updates, but I will also be releasing (and adding to) a series that I started nearly ten years ago. Sign up on the left or go to Facebook for a little preview.

11 Months From Now...

... will be EPIC.

Yes, that is right. I said EPIC. In November of 2013, not only will we see the release of

Hunger Games: Catching Fire
November 22, 2013

and

Thor: The Dark World
November 8, 2013

But we'll also see

Ender's Game, November 1, 2013

and

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
December 13, 2013

And that's just the end of the year! Earlier in 2013, we will see Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, Jack the Giant Slayer, Warm Bodies, Oz: The Great and Powerful, Iron Man 3, Star Trek: Into Darkness, The Hangover 3, Man of Steel, World War Z, Pacific Rim, The Wolverine, After Earth, 300: Rise of an Empire, The Mortal Instruments, The World's End, and so many more!

What movies are you looking forward to in 2013?