and then...skin

I'm studying copywriting like a nut. Like a nut, I tell you. 

Writing isn't writing words. Writing is turning a billion words into ten. Writing is being literate+editing. 

The sun is finally back, reducing my cortisol levels and keeping lit. 

The billion words are the first thin layer of writing. Billion words are the skin. Don't waste time making a billion words perfect. They will be perfect when there are ten of them. 

I'm reading HEY WHIPPLE, SQUEEZE THIS! as part of my training to be a great copywriter. I recommend that any creative person study advertising to some capacity. But then, I've been recommending that for a long time. 

Here is the start to finish drafting process I use for fiction:

1. Generate a rough draft on a deadline (long hand for short fiction, typed for novels)
2. Organize events into an outline
3. Put imagery and sensory motifs through a series of mind maps
4. Generate a second draft (typed for short fiction, long hand for novels)
5. Establish stylistic rules
6. Write third draft (for short fiction, skip this step. For novels, type up scene-by scene alongside hand written draft
7. Sound check (read it aloud)
8. Read backwards for line editing

Take that to the bank~

and then...sodapop

So I finally saw The Outsiders TV series (hehe) and it's got me thinking about all kinds of things, like the time that I accidently met S. E. Hinton.

No, really. Yeah. I met S. E. Hinton:

I accidently met her when I was accidently at a writer's workshop accidently in Tulsa. (It was actually a couple years or so ago).

I cried.

Yes, yes, I am indeed a fangirl, long time lover of everything to do with The Outsiders or anything related to boys-and-their-problems-in-literature. And yeah, I met the woman. She was quite funny and pretty sarcastic, as one would expect an author to be. It took her a good ten minutes, I think, to realize I wasn't mocking her when I expressed my adoration for her work. A local instructor kindly gave me a book for her to sign, as I was too stupid to bring any of mine (idiot)!

And I remember distinctly that I had several copies of Cope Syndrome's early chapters with me, but I was terrified something awful to share them. At a workshop. >.< Moreover, my mother was there and she might have found it awfully presumptious of me. At least, that's what I thought at the time. 

Anyway, this year I'm diving headfirst into the world of copywriting, so that I can go back to having actual paid work haha. I'm delighted to get the chance to expand my skill set! Alongside that I'm tearing through fiction like a madman and applying to an art program that will get me training in film. What cheer, eh?

and then...motel

Been watching BATES MOTEL. It's a precious thing. I love mother-son relationships, I find them infinitely fascinating. Too much music in that show, and it's too overstated, like.

I also got to watch 127 hours. James Mr. Franco, I blow you a kiss. The more male stories to watch, the better. Anyway it was a grand film, very relatable, at least to me. 

and I FINALLY FOUND Coppola's TV series for The Outsiders, watching that is fun. And I'm reading again, too. Just a good mental refilling period, you know. It's a great thing for you when there are a lot of new projects on the horizon. Refilling the well, like. 

And the writing exercises. I've gone off doing those, trying to fix our mental scars. Beta muse cries through the night and through another night. "Oh it's so awful, owowouch," he says, and I say like "what's so awful Alan?" and he holds his own head and says "it is!" So there, I've started an equine healing program. Inspiration is a warm arm slung across the bed. 

Once I start planning my Loft manifesto, the piece about my psychological construct, my blog entries will have updates and explanations. Stay tuned for that, it is the raw side of the writing process.

Listen to The Presets and draw lines. Transform vintage-edge to angles-contemporary.

I start my copy-writing career this summer. Here is a great link for you creative professionals out there: http://www.bce-online.com/en/