F.E. Confesses

I played Girl Talk last week with some of my friends.

 

 

And it was awesome! Check out the hilarious commercial they made for Girl Talk Date Line:

 
 

Sometimes writing is like driving across Kansas.

I watch America's Next Top Model.

I think it’s annoying that people think scooters are mopeds. THIS is a moped, people:
 

Photo by: Eren Emre Kanal

 

The first time someone asked me what I was writing, I laughed. (For shame, F.E.! It’s not that laughable.)

Sometimes my southern accent is embarrassing.

I freaked out when Robert Pattinson filmed part of "Water for Elephants" in my town last year, even though I pretended like I didn’t care.

My First Manuscript

Yesterday, I stumbled across my first manuscript (which I will lovingly refer to as POS#1), even though I had it hidden in the very back of a closet in hopes that I would never see it again.

It really was that bad.

A funny thing happened, though. I started reading it and, lo and behold, I actually enjoyed it.

A lot.

You see, when I was working on it, I thought it was the biggest piece of junk I had ever seen, but I was so wrapped up in the writing process that I never took the time to step back and take note of the things that actually worked. I had simply obsessed over a checklist of reasons (which are actually pretty good) for why I should throw the manuscript out.

Allow me to demonstrate:

Ordinary girl becomes extraordinary? Check. Popular boy woos ordinary girl? Check. Ordinary girl, now extraordinary girl, defeats the bad guy? Check.

These unoriginal ideas seemed like legitimate reasons to scrap POS#1 at the time.

Fast forward to July 2k11 and I’m looking at it with fresh eyes, because I’m not obsessing over making it a masterpiece (that’s because I’m distracted by my current Masterpiece).

Suddenly, as I’m reading POS#1, I want to know what happens next and I keep turning pages and I can’t wait to see how everything turns out in the end, even though I wrote it.

I’m thinking that’s a good thing, right?

I’m excited about this because, more than anything, I want to entertain my readers. I want to make them laugh, cry, relate to the characters on a personal level, and keep coming back for more. And, honestly, even though POS#1 is one giant cliché after another and has countless other issues, I had so much fun reading it yesterday that I’m beginning to think that it might be worth giving it another go.

And calling it FTW#1.


*For those that were wondering FTW = for the win

Fear Be Gone

I had an idea after my last post:

If you haven't seen Arachnophobia, you should do that now. It's a classic.

Now back to "real" work.

Fear of Writing

First, let me just say that I’m not an expert on the English language. And by not an expert, I mean I’m really bad at it.

Example: Friends from overseas constantly ask me what English words for such-and-such and so-and-so are, to which I constantly answer with blank stares and shrugs.

And in case you hadn’t noticed, the same goes for grammar.

There was a time when I let these little handicaps of mine get in the way of pursuing my life-long dream of being a writer, but now those days are over. I’ve decided to stop being ashamed of my weaknesses and start dealing with them.

Now, I’m not saying that I’ve cured my disease, but I’m working really hard and I get better every day.

Here are the top three things I do on a regular basis to help curb the symptoms:

1. Read; alternating classics with books from my genre
2. Study poetry and imagery
3. Regularly have amazing conversations with a good friend of mine who is an expert on literature

If you don’t think you have the skills to become a writer, let me encourage you to stop doubting yourself and start pursuing your dream.

Being Inspired

Some of you may be wondering about yesterday’s momentous occasion that went unexplained.

To make a long story short, I had a breakthrough in writing.

It’s the kind of breakthrough that brings epic relief and it’s the kind of relief that makes you feel like you can do anything. You might think I’m talking about my work in progress, but alas, I’m simply referring to my resume.

Two days ago, after an amazing conversation with a good friend of mine, I was inspired to sit down and rewrite my resume. You see, when I’m wearing my Graphic Design Hat, I’m really good at creating visual hierarchy, typesetting, sniffing out hard-to-find problems, and making sure the composition is perfectly balanced.

However, it’s usually when I’m wearing my Graphic Design Hat that I forget to put on my Writer’s Hat. So, yesterday I put on my Writer’s Hat while I redesigned my resume and the result was a fabulous story about a superhero designer that regularly saves clients in distress from super villains like Ugg Lee Desine and Un-Herdoff Khompany.

Anyway, it’s nice to feel that inspired every now and then, isn’t it?

The Writer Has Caved

Today, I’m celebrating a recent momentous occasion by posting my very first blog entry.

Allow me to introduce myself:

Name: F.E. Sewell

Occupation: young adult fiction fancy pants writer. Okay, this is more fantasy than reality, but one can dream, right?

Actual Occupation: Graphic Designer

First Story You Can Remember Writing: A short story about fairies and elves trapped in a forest dungeon. I was eight, I think.

Likes: mopeds, sailboats in the summer, zombies, reading, writing fiction, the South, strawberry cupcakes with pink sprinkles, science fiction, artsy things

Dislikes: moldy strawberries, swimming in seaweed, artificial sweeteners, airplanes, sleeping on my left side, books about two-stroke motorcycle engines

Inspired by: color theory, young adult fiction, J.K. Rowling’s ability to build a thoroughly entertaining and imaginative world that everyone is obsessed with

Thinking: Florence Welch sounds a lot like Neko Case

Reading: A POETRY HANDBOOK by Mary Oliver

So, there you have it. That’s me in a nutshell.

Welcome to my blog!