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Stuck?

If you’re the owner of an iPad, you’re in luck in getting unstuck.  Whether personally or professionally, this app is great for diagnosing your problem, getting to the root cause and giving you manageable, workable action steps to get unstuck.

If you’re a writer, have your characters answer various questions to give you answers as to why they aren’t behaving.

Here are six action steps to take to get you unstuck:

* First, download the program (FREE) and register (you can use your Facebook logon).

*  Pick 3 of 18 cards that best describes how your stuck moment makes you feel, ranging from afraid to up in the air.  Let’s say you pick “Lost” as your stuck emotion.  Unstuck will ask a variety of questions such as “What are you stuck on?” and “I’m stuck because_____”

*  Use the diagnostic tools.  One is a pack of 20 cards with statements on them which you sort into “So me” and “Not me” piles. From your answers, you’ll assigned a category (ie Avoider) and given action steps, tools, tips, and a cyber kick in the butt.

* Set a goal, give yourself a deadline and outline consequences for not following through.

* Post your goals and deadline on Facebook or connect to the Unstuck community for motivation and accountability.

*  Follow through on your plan and get unstuck.

It’s a great tool, and way lots cheaper than therapy.

What things are you stuck on?

Comments (0) Feb 09 2012

A writer friend of mine, Jennifer Armintrout, blogged yesterday on her theory of using Alan Rickman’s name in a blog to increase traffic.  My question is, is that theory dated?  Would Justin Bieber or Justin Timberlake or any other Justin du jour work as well?

Whose name in a blog title would make you click on it?  Whose won’t?

Comments (0) Nov 21 2011

I promised the answer to the fledekan disease.  It’s what turns my aliens into zombies in my WIP “Oompa Loompa Zombies and the Star Princess.”  Easter eggs are a form of inside jokes.  I’ve seen them on TV series, and I’m having a lot of fun planting them in OLZSP.

<Drum roll>

Fledekan is Naked Elf spelled backward.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled program.

Comments (0) Sep 25 2011

While flipping channels last night, I ran across “The Blues Brothers.”  The last twenty minutes.  Did I keep on clicking?  No, sir, it’s one of those movies I can’t walk away from.  There’s something about it—the music, the car chase, the “mission from God”, the brilliance of Ackroyd, and Belushi before he flamed out.  I’ll watch it every time.

Another favorite?  “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”.  My kids still quote it verbatim.  Last weekend we saw it on “the big screen.”  No previews of coming attractions, no commercials, just the lights dimming and ta-da, the movie.  If you dissect it, there isn’t much to the plot.  Skipping school.  Driving Dad’s car.  But the symbolism strikes a universal cord.  Who wouldn’t want to climb up on a float in a parade and sing to the crowd?  Who wouldn’t want to play head games with their school principle?  So, yeah, Ferris is on my list.  And it’s also set in Chicago, one of my favorite cities.

Pride and Prejudice, any version.

Emma.  But not Sense and Sensibility so much.

Princess Bride.  Another “big screen” treat this summer.

Elizabeth Gaskell’s “North and South”.  When John Thornton (yummy Richard Armitage) whispers, “Come back.  Come back to me” <sigh> I lose it every time.

What are your favorites?  What movie or TV series can you not walk away from?

Comments (1) Sep 02 2011

I’m cleaning house, otherwise known as getting rid of junk, and ran across some early writing.  I won’t say in which decade I wrote them, but I’m taking the stand it was before I could vote.  Grade school maybe.  I think they were written in crayon.  Yeah, they’re that bad.  They predate finding my “voice” and clearly show the influence of the authors I read at the time.  If those authors were angst-ridden masochists who were fond of including the character’s first name in EVERY LINE OF DIALOGUE.

Here’s a sample:

“How many men did you have after me, Lisa?  How well did you satisfy your hunger after you whetted your appetite with me?”

“Nick – ”

“My successors, Lisa,” he commanded.  “How many were there?  Who were they?”

****

As you can see, Nick was extremely fond of quotation marks.  He also shook Lisa a lot, yelled at her and wasn’t a very nice guy.  The anti-hero.  He had no character arc.  None of the characters did.

These tragic pieces are going in the trash.  I don’t need validation of how much my writing has matured.  I think I’ll find my humor in other areas from now on.

How bad is your early writing?  Do you still have samples tucked in a drawer?

Comments (0) Jul 11 2011