Tag Archives: inspiration

Like a Movie Trailer for Your Head

Gregory D. Little Self-Motivation The Writing Process No Comments

In approaching this month’s topic, I realized something irritating. I’ve already written about my best inspirational stories on previous Fictorians posts. As I had little desire to repeat myself, I knew I had to come at this issue from a different angle. So rather than focus on discrete stories about what’s influenced my writing, I asked myself what techniques I used to get psyched to write day-to-day.

I’m sure I don’t have to tell any of you writers that some days the effort to get started writing can be too much. Unless you are already a professional writer or are both independently wealthy and childless, you spend your days expending energy on something or other that isn’t writing-related. You have to divert energy to writing that could be used elsewhere on higher-priority things, like earning money to eat.

So in order to get any writing done at all, we have to find ways to slip past exhaustion, laziness or a bad case of The Mondays and get excited about it. Quite without meaning to, I stumbled upon an admittedly silly technique a number of years ago that works well for me.

The answer? I advertise my book to myself.

Think about how you felt the last time you saw a really well-done movie trailer. Maybe it brought a rush of excitement you thought you’d left behind with youth. Maybe you watched it over and over again on Youtube just to wring that little rush dry. It makes sense. The people who make movie trailers mostly know their business. Their goal is to get you to mentally commit to seeing the movie in advance, ideally without paying attention to those pesky review aggregate sites before plunking down your hard-earned cash.

Now take your work in progress and try translating it into a movie trailer that you play in your head. Your hero, covered in grit and with a wound on their forehead from all their heroic efforts, stares stoically into the middle distance just to the right of the camera lens. A series of sequences flash by in which characters dodge bullets or spells or leap off of buildings only to turn back around and fire lightning bolts at their pursuers while their hair flows in the wind, all in slow motion with a dramatic swell of the soundtrack.

Writing it out like this makes it seem silly and self-indulgent because it is. You’ve seen these sorts of scenes in a million movie trailers, and after a while they all start to look the same. But guess what? If scenes like this didn’t work, the people making the trailers wouldn’t use them. And there’s one big difference here: these are your characters in your world, both of which you are (hopefully) already excited about. I suspect you’ll feel at least the hint of a giddy little thrill imagining them starring in their own expertly produced movie trailer.

A lucky handful of us may someday write works popular enough in print to be able to see our characters brought to life on the big screen (or the small). For the rest, a little daydreaming can give us that spike of excitement we need to sit down at the keyboard after an otherwise long day.

Give it a try. Don’t worry, you don’t have to admit it to anyone.

From Plane to Progress

Colette Black Conventions Networking Starting a Career The Writing Life World Fantasy Con No Comments

wfclogoWhen too many helpful incidences come together for a protagonist, we call it contrived. Sometimes, however, they happen in real life. Is it coincidence, divine intervention, karma? I know where I stand on the subject, since I’m a devout LDS Christian who believes in inspiration, but I’ll let you decide for yourselves.

After listening to some of the Writing Excuses podcasts by Brandon Sanderson, Howard Tayler, and Dan Wells, I decided that I should try to go to the next World Fantasy Convention (WFC). This was about six years ago, and the convention was happening in San Jose. I calculated plane trip, hotel, and food and realized there was absolutely no way. Then, I remembered…my step-father-in-law had a daughter, whom I’d met once, who lived in San Jose. I felt like a mooch, but I was desperate and determined. I contacted her and asked if I could stay.  She not only agreed, she was a spectacular hostess, drove me around, and thanked me for coming.  I know, that’s not strange, it’s sweet. This is the unusual part:

While getting my tickets, I felt like I should go with a different airline than I usually do even though I had to pay more. With the upgrade came the option to pick my seat. I chose one at random, trying to get close to the windows, but then thought, “No, I should sit in this one.” and picked an aisle seat (which I don’t like), way too close to the engines. Months later, while sitting in said seat, I couldn’t help but pick up my companions’ conversation. After a few minutes, I put away my laptop and the book I was working on and got up the guts to ask if they were attending WFC. Not only were Gini Koch and Glen Glenn an absolute delight to talk with, Gini told me to find her at the con. With the numbers of people, I didn’t think I was likely to actually see her again, and I probably wouldn’t have if it wasn’t for the subsequent events.

Dinnertime the next evening found me by myself, deciding between a tasty sandwich shop (which I love), and Jimmy John’s (which I’m not crazy about). I grabbed the door handle of the sandwich shop and yet felt compelled to go to hamburger-joint Jimmy John’s instead. So I did. Inside, a group of Tad Williams fans saw the WFC bag, initiated conversation, and invited me to join them. Through them, I discovered the after-parties that go on in the hotels and the opportunities there to meet agents, publishers, and fellow authors.

Of course, I went to one and through the stifling crowds and multiple floors, Gini Koch happened to walk by and we met up again. Gini is a wonderful person who loves to encourage aspiring authors, and Glen is a fellow writer who has traded a number of works with me for critique and helped me grow more than I ever could have on my own. Gini introduced me to her agent, other agents, publishers, and took me under her wing. She has given me writing tips, done invaluable author workshops with my local writing group, and has helped me develop my craft until I felt confident in my abilities. I’m not sure I would have made it to publication without her belief in my potential.

Did blind luck, divine guidance, or something else bring me the friend I needed in my life at just the right time? Personally, I believe I’m doing what I’m supposed to do, but I’m also happy to leave my story to my readers’ interpretations. Maybe it will seem like fiction to you, but I know my story is too coincidental to be made-up.

Vision & Work

Business Goals Jace Killan Motivation The Writing Life Writing Tools No Comments

clear sight, hard workIn 1997, during some volunteer work in Argentina, my supervisor, Carlos Monroy taught me a truth that has had a profound effect on who I am today.

He drew on a chalkboard a graph similar to the one below, though I’ve translated the words from Spanish.

The graph is made up by two components, Vision along the y-axis and Work along the x-axis.

  • Vision is measured by one’s ability to plan, prepare, visualize, envision, project, dream, and anticipate possibilities.
  • Work is measured by the amount of effort put forward, dedicated or otherwise spent.

Within the graph, Monroy drew four quadrants with the (translated) titles below.

Vision Work

  1. Victim: Low Vision, Low Work. A Victim is someone who feels that the world is constantly dumping on them. Often they are waiting for their lives to get better though they generally feel that any good or bad that may happen to them is outside their control. For example a victim will blame those around him or her for how he or she feels. Victims aren’t very fun to be around. Friends and family that try and support, encourage positive results often find their advice disregarded or twisted to the point where they are seen as part of the victim’s problems.
  2. Dreamer:High Vision, Low Work. A Dreamer is someone who usually exhibits positive energy (though they may slip into victim mode when their plans fall through). They frequently speak of the possibilities that await them and often have many plans for greatness in the works. Dreamers are full of lofty, grandiose ideas.  However, they tend to lack the ability to finish goals that they have set. They struggle with meeting deadlines or objectives. Many of the lofty goals lack the careful planned-out structure of getting from point A to point B, and when those deadlines pass, the dreamer typically lapses into victim mode, blaming people and events around them for impeding their success. While vision is a crucial element of success, without work, the world will never know of the dreamer’s existence.
  3. Laborer: Low Vision, High Work. The laborer is a great person to have on any team. Generally, they know how to work and they don’t shy away from it. They put forth the effort. Laborers usually burn the candle at both ends, willing to dedicate time and energy to given tasks. Their lack of vision may create situations where efforts are misguided. They might get down the road a ways on a project before they realize that they’ve wasted time producing something different than expected or desired. Workers typically believe that their happiness is within their control and is directly tied to their efforts. They are self-reliant and very dependable.
  4. Leader: High Vision, High Work. When applying as much vision as the dreamer, with the ability and willingness to work as hard as the laborer, great things happen. These are the people that change the world. They know that their destiny isn’t left to chance, but is within their control. Their happiness is not based on anyone else’s actions. Leaders know how to inspire the masses by sharing their vision and then empower the same by actually following through with the goals they’ve set. Through ample vision, Leaders recognize and harvest the talents of those around them and through example, work to accomplish dreams.

Monroy told a story of a man who raced a team of horses pulling a cart.  After winning event after event the man and his horses gained a bit of notoriety. He was asked what he fed his horses to help them perform so well.  The man replied that he fed them grains like everyone else.  He was then asked if the horses had been bred from a special lineage.  He smiled and shook his head. “The secret,” he said, “is to start the team at exactly the same time.”  When the team was in step with one another, they didn’t fight each other’s efforts, the load was shared and they travelled faster.  A leader has the ability to inspire each individual to contribute and function in his or her unique capacity for the betterment of the team, in step with the other members, a concept known as synergy.

The first two quadrants, Victims and Dreamers, are selfish in nature.  The vision of Victims and Dreamers is fogged by their motivation of fear and greed.  They are incapable of seeing anything greater than themselves, primarily because there is much effort required in selfless causes. The effort to succeed is not seen inside them so they fail.

The second two quadrants are opposite.  Leaders and Laborers by nature are not selfish.  They put their heart and soul into greater causes than self but they see that success comes from within them.

What does this have to do with writing? Hopefully we are not Victims, blaming our inadequate word count on events and people around us. Hopefully we are not Dreamers, expecting to write many novels in our lifetime, but not writing anything today. Even though they are great, hopefully we are not Laborers, generating significant word counts, but failing to say anything.

Let us be Leaders in writing. Let us use our talents and craft to inspire the masses. Let us change the world.

Not So Final, After All

Brandon M. Lindsay The Writing Life 1 Comment

For those of us who had video game controllers in our hands at the time, the year 1997 will forever live in infamy. While nary a year goes by that doesn’t make a gamer go squee, that year was significant in that it made gamers feel so much more than mere excitement. They felt anger, sorrow, surprise, frustration, hate, love, and loss-all in the same moment. That moment can be encapsulated in two words.

Aeris Gainsborough.

AerisFor the uninitiated, Aeris (or Aerith in the Japanese version) was one of the playable characters in Final Fantasy VII, one who *SPOILER ALERT* met her tragic end *END SPOILER* in one of the most pivotal moments of gaming history. The reverberations of that scene can still be felt today. The reason it-and the rest of the game-was so significant was because it showed us the storytelling capabilities of video games in spectacular, blindsiding fashion.

Of course, games had stories before then. Earlier entries in the Final Fantasy series, especially VI, are known for depth of characters, but not to the level seen in VII. Until then, game stories for the most part seemed to be little more than window dressing, or at least a well-kept secret. FFVII made storytelling a mainstream expectation.

The impact on me was deep. I was astounded that the state of gaming proceeded from the emotionless and abstract intellectual challenges of games like Tetris to experiences that could move you. Not only had Final Fantasy VII taken me to a world where magic was possible, but a world where the depths of human emotion were plumbed. I have no problem invoking a cliche, because there is no other way to say it: that game was life-changing.

I remember watching the credits roll at the end of that game and setting down my controller, and when I recovered from my several-minutes-long daze, I thought, “Gee whiz, I should write a video game script!”

So that’s exactly what I did.

I knew, then and there, that I would be a video game writer. I was resolved, even as I researched the job and discovered how difficult it was to Aerith Gainsboroughbreak in as games became more cinematic. After finishing what I then deemed my masterpiece, the fabled “Final Fantasy-killer” that gamers have been waiting for without even knowing it, I realized I needed a game plan (sorry – I had to). After all, the game industry doesn’t work quite like movies-writers do not submit scripts that then get turned into games. More often, all the writing gets done while the game is in development by writers who have already proven their mettle. I had to gain some sort of writing credit that would elevate my name into consideration for that unicorn of a job, called game writer.

Hey, why not write a novel?

That was years ago, and prose has since stolen my heart-most of it, anyway. Part of me still yearns to get involved with the medium that set me down this path in the first place. Indeed, I recently signed on to an indie game startup as the writer, though that project has since been put on hiatus. For now, I’ll have to satisfy my creative impulses with writing novels and stories, even though I’ll never forget the love of writing that the Final Fantasy series instilled in me, nor will I forget the flower girl named Aeris who lived in a abandoned church.