Alyssa Nedbal Studio is OPEN for Business!

You extra savvy blog readers will have noticed that I changed the header of the blog. One tiny yet consequential change happened when I added the word "Artist" onto the banner. You see, I've finally taken one more progression past the block of my Artist Effect and allowed myself to affirm what I've been placing in "about me" sections across the internet: I am an artist.

The reason I add this title now is that the big progression I'm talking about came in the form of the sale of my artwork. Yes, that's right, I'm now officially a starving artist trying to sell some of the artwork lying around her house. I figure, it's just in my hallway, canvases stacked atop each other, so I might as well let other people buy and enjoy them.

My shop is on the ever popular (and one of my personal favorite) sites, Etsy. The shop name is:

AlyssaNedbalStudio

and you can find it here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/AlyssaNedbalStudio

If you're visiting the blog from my profile on Etsy; welcome! Feel free to leave a comment on any post.

For those of you loyal blog readers who are just now sharing in my joy (YAY!); thanks for being so faithful and reading my posts. It means so much that you support my writing and now are entering into the world of art with me. I promise I will still uphold my end of the bargain and talk all I can about writing. But now we get to see more pretty pictures.

Here's a taste of what the Etsy shop has in store for you (and the first round of those pictures I promised).

Original marker illustration on paper. Title: The Blue Chair

 

 

Original acrylic pallet knife on canvas board. Title: we have MEN

 

 

If you're one of those extra savvy blog readers I mentioned previously, you'll know that I promised exciting illustration news in the Artist Effect post from March. Well, don't worry, that news is coming soon. A few more months of patience will pay off.....



Late Post Tally #1 (or When Plans Go Wrong)

Hi everyone. Sorry this post is a day (almost 2!) late. It's been one of those work weeks. On the bright side, my unpunctual post has reminded me of a topic I've wanted to discuss with you. That topic is:

What happens when the things you want don't go as planned?

For example: You really want BBQ for dinner, but as you near the restaurant, you realize it's Tuesday and the place will be closed. Or, you thought the shift was covered at work but there was a breakdown in communication that had you running to the office when you didn't expect to. Even better, you start a story, knowing your protagonist has to walk down Main St for the progression of the plot, but then in the act of storytelling, he turns down an alley.

Uh-oh

Your plans are thwarted. Gone is the comfortable feeling of knowing what's on your schedule. Gone is the outline and your plans for the evening. Now, if you're like me, you're probably frustrated and wondering why your protagonist took a detour. Why couldn't things just work out the way you wanted them?

I don't think I've found an answer to this. My best guess is that the universe is trying to steer you in another direction. Here you are, thinking you know what you want, when really you only think you know. Trippy, right? Your protagonist's detour may be a frustration at first, but the outline-wrecking move may set up something bigger and better. That half-baked story you'd scour for a theme has just created its own. Suddenly you're publishing a profound piece about life and happiness and you're winning awards (or something like that).

In essence, though it may at first be frustrating, the detour is probably happening for a reason - a better one than you originally planned. It may not be a revelation immediately or even a few weeks down the road. It could take decades to understand why your plans crumbled, but know that it happened, there's no way to take it back, and you have to move on and go with the flow. Just as the lack of Tuesday BBQ forced you to find that out-of-the-way Thai restaurant you'd been wanting to try, a botched plan can be something incredible.

How the Thin-Skinned Listen to Criticism

Experiment: You've written your first draft (perhaps even revised it into a second or third draft) and you want to share it. You show a small portion to family or friends who you think will be honest and still nice.

Result: They have some "suggestions". They don't like that line you smile at every time you read it because it sounds so great in your own mind. They don't think your character is original, realistic, or even very likeable. They think the story has been done before.

Reaction: Well, if you're anything like me, you're crushed. You thought you could go to this person for help, and while you did say, "Be honest," you didn't mean for them to tear you to shreds. At least, that's what this feels like. It feels like the people you trust and respect are telling you that you are a horrible writer. It's especially painful when the critic is a published writer or a prized writing group ally.

Here's the kicker, though. You CAN hate them. Go ahead, leave their critique session with a few silent choice words you repeat to yourself over and over as you drive home. Tell yourself that they know nothing and you really need to get some new beta readers if you're ever going to get published in this life. Tell yourself your professors are trying to hold you back so the student doesn't surpass the teacher. Tell yourself anything you need. Hate your critic.

But always keep their notes!

Even if you never want to see them again, keep their revision. Because if you sit down a few days after the initial blow - of course telling yourself that beta reader X has no idea what he's talking about and you're going to prove him wrong by making his changes and seeing how horrible the story reads now - you'll see the importance. Open a new document or grab a fresh sheet of paper, make the changes (yes, all of them) to the manuscript, and read it. By this time, hopefully you've cooled down enough to read the story and not see the critic's face looming in a red fog in your mind. Read the story for the story itself and see what happens. Truthfully, some spots may have improved. You may like a few of the changes or at least think they're heading in the right direction. Other revisions you won't agree with. The character would never think/act/or say that or the prose no longer sounds like you. That's fine. But now you've tried them and you don't have to worry about them again. Keep the ones that work, toss the ones that don't. Simple.

In essence, if you want to be a writer and you have a thin skin, (guilty as charged) you can make it. Hate your critic...but then take their advice.

When the Whole "I'm a Writer" Thing Gets You Strange Looks

If you're seriously considering writing, you've been there. You tell some people you're close to - people you think will understand - that you are writing a book/want to write a book/or want to pursue a degree or career in writing. These usually supportive individuals then look at you like you have just spoken to them completely in nose snorts and tongue rolls. It is as if they are seeing you for the first time with two heads. You become, to them, a new entity.

"Oh," they say. They may nod, sip at a drink, or find a way to excuse themselves from your presence.

When you pursue your dream anyway (though, admittedly hurt that they weren't as enthusiastic as you are about sitting in front of your laptop for three months penning your novel), you will no doubt have to tell other people. Perhaps more distant or new acquaintances. You're at a party or meeting a friend of a friend and someone asks, "What do you do?"

"I'm a writer."

"Oh." [Or if you're luckier] "So you're one of those."

Coming from a family of practical workers with service jobs, I have had my fair share of these encounters. Telling the people around me that I am a writer is somehow equivalent in their minds to me saying that I am an addict who lives under a bridge. Since I'm not guaranteed a 9 to 5 and a paycheck with health benefits, I'm not actually working. It's like writing can be a hobby, but not a career.

Worse still is when they ask, "What have you published?" If you don't instantly answer with a high-brow magazine or house name like The New Yorker, Random House, or the local newspaper, they know you're as crazy as batty Aunt Betty who for the past 70 years thought she was Van Gogh.

If writing is what you want to do and a writer is who you want to be, you'll no doubt experience this if you haven't already. How do you deal? I have no idea. For me (an admitted thin-skinned Midwesterner), I usually hide my distaste in the conversation itself (because we're raised to always be kind) and then go home and brood about how unsupportive my relatives, friends, and friend's friends are. However, no matter what, I still write. Even when I'm tired, sick, or am putting off laundry for another week to do so. Because if you want it bad enough to tell people you're a writer, you have to deliver on your end too. You can't dream all day of being in The New Yorker and having a literary agent if you aren't also working at the same time. If there's nothing to submit and nothing to show for your hours of daydreams, it was all for naught. But if you want it, and you work for it, don't let the practical strangers get in your way. Sure, the odds are not in your favor, but if you keep working, keep creating, and keep submitting, it is likely you will publish something. For some writers, it takes 30 or 50 years. For others it takes only a few months. Don't compare your story to theirs, though, because you are completely different. You have a different schedule, a different work ethic, and a different ability than them, even if it's marginal. Above all, when the career admittance that "I'm a writer" gets you the looks and the weird comments, don't let it phase you. Handle it in the way you need to and then move on. There's a story that needs to be told.    

Live Condiments? Beards Made of Fog? Underwater Birds? Sure!

Is that too weird?

That is the question I asked myself while writing my most recent short story. It's a fantasy story, and though I grew up on magic wands and talking animals, I always wonder whether the reader will come along with me on a story where the setting or characters are impossible in our modern world (depending on who you ask, of course). And while you need to make sure your characters are consistent - see this post - and the rules of your world are just as concrete (ex. if dogs can fly in chapter 1, they need to also fly in chapter 12), it's just as important that you're creative. One of the biggest complaints of people who read sci fi and fantasy is that it can easily be cliché, old, or stale. To avoid this, you need to remember to be original.

This advice applies to all genres. Originality is why we read. We want to hear a new point of view, meet a new character, or experience a new world. It helps us grow our own imagination, which, to me, is the mot important part of a human being. Without imagination, we wouldn't come up with creative ways to solve problems. We wouldn't have artists or dancers or writers outside of technical purposes.

Napoleon Bonaparte once said: "the default of our modern institutions is that they do not speak to the imagination".

That's why artists are so important. So if you're asking yourself if the story, character, or setting you're writing is too weird, don't worry. Write it as crazy as you want. You can always go back and tweak, revise, and reimagine if it truly doesn't work. But we all need originality - we need to feed our imagination. Who knows, your story may not only help exercise your imagination but it may help a reader solve a problem in his square cubicle or fix his relationship by seeing things in a new light.

On Outlines

Do you outline before you write? No? Yes? Does it matter? Let's see...

I am not, by nature, an outliner. In fact, in elementary school, when they taught me how to outline, I would actually write the story or essay first, so I knew what would happen, and then I would write my outline. It was easier for me this way because writing made me think. Outlining did not.

I don't usually outline - especially when I write fiction - because I feel that it constrains the flow of the story. I like to let the story evolve organically from the personalities of my characters and the friction from their environment. I find that, even when I do outline (usually when I write nonfiction), that I abandon it pretty quickly. Because that's what always happens: I think I know exactly what's going to happen and exactly how my characters are going to react to the situations I set up for them, but then they choose to do something else. They create a detour in my outline that skips an entire portion of the outline or makes the rest of the outline useless.

So, even if you are a strict outliner or you usually use outlines to guide your writing, remember: Always listen to your characters. If you sensor them, or try to make the story line go in an inorganic route, your readers will sense it. However, outlines can be useful. It helps when you come back to your writing after a break and can then read a quick synopsis of what's happened thus far. Also, if you find yourself stuck, you can consult the outline for guidance.

My take on the outlining debate is, it doesn't matter if you outline or not. You are still going to have to write, revise, and edit, no matter what. There's no way around, just different paths to the same end. So do what makes you happy and do what works for you.

Oh Doctor, is it Writer's Block?

"Writer's Block doesn't exist. Anyone who says they have 'Writer's Block' simply hasn't tried hard enough to write yet."

This is what a professor told my class once. I don't know if you're like me, but I definitely don't think he was on to something here. I don't see Writer's Block as a lack of ambition or dedication. It's not a matter of the writer not exploring every conceivable plot avenue possible. It's also not a matter of too little creativity on behalf of the artist.

For me, Writer's Block is just that, a block. I compare it to the athlete working out. When you use a muscle too much, lactic acid builds up and makes the area around the muscle swell, produces that radiating heat effect, and often causes pain or discomfort. Writer's Block is simply this, but in the creative part of the brain.

I recently struggled with a bought of Writer's Block. For the past few months, I've been working on a nonfiction piece (my first! How exciting!). I'm more than 3/4 of the way through, all the time thinking I knew exactly how the piece would progress and especially how it would end, when I got stuck. I have experienced Writer's Block before when writing my manuscripts, but those were all fiction. I thought, Writer's Block is unheard of in nonfiction since all the events actually occurred. I was wrong. In an unexpected turn, a scene I had been planning to save for later decided it needed to be written RIGHT NOW. It demanded it and I couldn't refuse because it worked so well in the space I was writing it. However, that messed up the next scene. My dilemma was: Should I still write this scene, or has it just become extraneous?

Having written most of this nonfiction piece, I had been working my creative muscle for a while. This seemingly simple decision had caused a major congestion within my creative muscle. I was blocked.

For six days, I stared at the problem. I was trying to find an answer on how to make the important parts of the yet unwritten scene work given my new addition. I reread other sections of the manuscript, revised and edited portions that I thought worked well, and then stared again at my problem section.

And I just couldn't do it anymore.

As much as I wanted to write and finish my nonfiction manuscript, I couldn't sit there for another day, trying to sort out its problems. Instead, I did everything else. I did laundry, I went shopping, but most importantly, I read. And I didn't just read nonfiction books, I read all kinds of books. My Writer's Block reading list consisted of:

Oink: My Life with Minipigs by Matt Whyman (A British authored nonfiction about, you guessed it, minipigs.)

Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys (A YA fiction about New Orleans and growing into the person you wish to be.)

and

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (A classic British horror novel.)

I recommend them all highly. But more importantly, these three books helped pull the congestion right out of my creative muscle. Perhaps it was the mental break from writing that scene, or maybe it was the act of reading how other writers explored their plots that made me able to write again, and more importantly, helped me to discover what my manuscript needed from me. Whatever the cause, it was not that I hadn't tried hard enough to write that brought on my Writer's Block.

So, if you've been diagnosed with good old Writer's Block, don't fret. It is a real problem. You're not going crazy. And there is a cure. It will be hard to accept and hard to administer, but once it goes down, you'll be in the clear.