Tag: writing

Exhibit G.305: Clyde Butterworth

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Special character guest, RIA Agent John Smith, talks about his latest assignment. Being a secret agent is not all glam, guns, and action.

Exhibit G.305: Clyde Butterworth

I don’t know why I always get tossed the weird, odd-ball missions. Maybe Director Rollins hates me, I don’t know. Last week I had to track down a lunatic wearing a baseball cap wrapped in foil. Yes. I had to follow this weirdo all over town (and no, he couldn’t make it easy for me and live in the city). This nutjob lived in a dumpster by the A.D. railroad tracks of a small town up in the mountains.

What did I learn?

Clyde Butterworth spent his afternoons singing incoherent songs with a voice that made you want to smack your own face with a frying pan. When he wasn’t singing, he was glued to a dented flask of empire-knows-what or collecting pine cones.

And so, this “threat” to national security made last week a living hell. Honestly, what unknown atrocity did I commit to get stuck with such an empire-be-damned assignment? You might be wondering why the RIA would waste its resources on a certified lunatic.

It was all because of this letter he had somehow managed to slip under the local police chief’s door. Director Rollins was convinced that this was the work of the mastermind behind the recent increase in insurgent cells around the empire.

A translation to spare you from deciphering that mess:

They’re watching you. I’m watching you. Empires rise and fall, and soon they will be our masters. I am their frontman. I am their voice! They demand the release of Mitty. 

Mitty is not the charismatic terrorist leader Rollins thought he was. Nope. Mitty is a dirty sock puppet our friend uses to harass people downtown. His favorite antic was,

“I AM MITTY THE GREAT! PULL MY FINGER & LISTEN TO MY TRUMPET SOLO!” I’m not going into the details. Use your imagination.

After a day of trailing this guy, I begged (yes, begged) Rollins to have this guy carted off to the nut house. But no. My boss was still convinced that this man was some sort of eccentric genius and actually said that he was impressed with his ability to disguise the truth so well.

IMPRESSED.

After a week of this torture, I submitted all the footage I had of the guy, and I was finally authorized to arrest him and drop him off at the mental health facility in Springfield.

The police chief bagged Mitty and submitted the soiled sock as evidence because this is exactly what the RIA needs to send to the lab, and please tell me you heard the sarcasm in my voice.

So here I am with an evidence bag containing the most grotesque sock I have ever laid eyes on. What should I do with it?

The first five people who answer John’s question get a free copy of The Berlin Disclosure! 

Send your answers to [email protected] with Mitty the Great as the subject.

Rated T for Teen – Contains foul language

The free copy is in .epub format (which works on most major tablets and eReaders). If you prefer a .pdf version, please let me know when you send your answer in.

The Final Countdown

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So you’ve made this awesome thing–you’ve followed all the Ps, went through the grueling revision stage, and are pouring through the feedback you got.

This is the final post in my series on the creative process!


Now what?
You’re probably asking yourself, “How will I know when it’s ready?” We have a tendency to get so caught up in the revision process, that we start making too many little tweaks. How do you figure out when your project is polished and ready? I’m going to briefly touch on what to do after feedback before jumping into that.

After Feedback
The great thing about getting feedback from trusted sources (see Part Four), is that you’ll see a trend. When I sent The Year is Now to several beta readers, they all had similar things to say without even knowing each other existed!

Common themes I received:
1. I used the word armpit too much (lolz?). They all said that the word was awkward whenever I used it.

2. They did not like a short scene where Elly was stuffing her skirt into her environmental suit. They all felt it was out of place and pulled the reader out of the story.

3. I kept getting idioms wrong. I can’t remember which ones, but I remember that being a theme with the feedback I got. For instance, instead of saying “Well, the cat’s out of the bag,” I’d say “Well, the cat’s out of the hat.”

Focus on the trends
Fix those first. Once you’ve tidied those up, go back and peek at the other things people said about your work. Weed out personal opinion vs structural improvement. What do I mean by this? Years ago, I had someone beta read a story (one that was never published). They didn’t like how it was set in the 90s and wanted it set in the 80s because they were a huge fan of the 80s and 80s pop music.


How do I know it’s done?
There will be a point in time when you keep making minor tweaks to your project. You’ll start stressing yourself out because you are so focused on making it PERFECT. Making minor tweaks here and there is okay, just don’t let yourself get into a tweaking frenzy! Only you can determine if the project is done. I normally know it’s done when I’m out of logical tweaks to make and changing anything else would just be pointless. Other times, it’s just a gut feeling.

Conclusion
I want to thank you for taking the time to read my short series on the creative process! I had fun writing it and hope that you found it helpful.

If you have an idea or would like me to cover something, feel free to send it my way!

Are You Ready for Feedback?

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Watch out! You are about to discover the reason why I decided to post this short series on the creative process.
Part four of my series on the creative process! 
Missed the previous posts? Here they are: Intro | Part One | Part Two | Part Three

I experienced a cold, harsh awakening last month. I might as well have shoved a knife into an electric socket. Ouch.

What happened? What moved me enough to devote several blog posts to it?

¯_(ツ)_/¯

I posted a first draft of a graphic design piece and asked for feedback. I was damned proud of what I made. I thought it was frakkin’ awesome. Shoot, it was the next best thing since the bacon cheeseburger! I spent hours on it. I loved the picture so much that I skipped the three Ps and dropped that thing into a forum. I asked for feedback in hopes of making it even more awesome.

Let’s just say that I left that place with my tail tucked between my legs and my ego stripped bare.

Lesson very much learned.

So what happened? Where did I go wrong?

1. As I said, I posted a FIRST DRAFT of something and asked for feedback. I should have bitten back my excitement and let it sit for 24 hours. I have a standard 24 hour rule when it comes to my art and graphic designs: put it away for at least 24 hours and come back to it.

2. I skipped the three Ps and So Very Edits. I should have planned it out after creating that first image. I should have played around with it and made a few variations.

3. I’m not a frequent poster in that community. If I was, I’d have gotten a warmer response—there were a few individuals who did offer some great advice, and they have my thanks. It’s easier to tear a stranger apart than it is a friend, especially from your keyboard.

Are you ready for feedback?

Screencap from Hetalia

Asking for a critique is opening yourself up to things you might not want to hear. Let’s face it, no one likes to be told that their hard work is terrible. It’s a fact of life. Requesting feedback is a brave step. It takes a lot of courage to throw yourself out there on a line like that. You have no idea if you’ll get something constructive or if you’ll be ripped apart. It takes guts. Are you ready for it?

If you don’t think you are ready, that’s okay. Like I said, it takes a lot of courage. Even taking in constructive criticism can be rough the first time around. It’s hard hearing that your favorite character is one dimensional. We’re all human. We all have feelings. This is natural.

If you are ready, fantastic! This next section is for you!

Where to go to get honest, yet tactful feedback

A trusted friend – This doesn’t mean show it off to Mom and Dad. They’ll always say it’s amazing. Pick a good friend who will be straight forward without cutting your heart out. You know your friends better than anyone else. You know who will be honest and who will give you that motherly coddle.

The Internet – Post it on a site that you are active on. Do you know the community? Do you post several times a week? If so, go for it. Don’t do what I did. Lurking doesn’t build relationships. If the members know you, they will be less inclined to troll or tell you things like “Just start over” or “That looks like it was just slapped together” without offering any suggestions to improve it.*

Work/Clubs/Extracurricular Activities – If you’re like me and prefer to take the backseat, utilize the real world. Don’t pester your coworkers or club friends when they’re busy. Take advantage of a slow period. A simple, “Hey, what do you think of this?” as you show them a photo on your phone works wonders.

My first three suggestions are great for art, graphics, covers, crafts, and short excerpts (500 words or less). Writing is a tough animal because people are busy and don’t have the time to read a 10+ page work of fiction. So where do you go for works of fiction?

Hire a Beta Reader – There are a lot of professional beta readers who will read your story for a fee and provide unbiased advice. They are paid to help you make the best story possible. You can find them on sites Blogger and WordPress. First things first: do your homework. Research the person. What is their fee? What kind of blog do they have? If they post things like “I’m Queen Snark, shredder of the slush pile,” don’t go for it. Find someone who is friendly and warm. Check out their reviews. Do they offer unbiased feedback in a relatively short amount of time? Do they sit on a project for months? Are they a smartass? Are they tactful? If the person is a good beta reader, he/she will respond quickly to your emails.

* Not direct quotes. I paraphrased things I’ve seen said to others and to myself during my 10+ years of writing. 

So Edits, Many Drafts, Such Work

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Get your red pens out. It’s time to edit!
Part Three of my series on the creative process
Missed the previous posts? Here they are: Intro | Part One | Part Two

This is the most time consuming stage of the creative process. This is when you’ll grab your grammar police badge and mark up your first draft with a red pen. Be ruthless to yourself. This is when you’ll step back from your drawing and fix any stray shadows or messy lines you missed. For graphic design, this is when you’ll make sure your image’s attributes are correct (aspect ratio, for instance). Is something stretched too far? Is it squished too thin? Is everything spelled correctly?

Once you get that next draft going, it is time to consider getting a second pair of eyes. Word to the wise, keep your battered rag-doll of a first draft buried within the confines of your hard drive. I learned this the hard way. A first draft is something that only a mother can love.

Why hide it from the world? There are more flaws in a first draft than there are in a second or third. The human eye has a knack for narrowing in on mistakes and things that are out of order, especially if they are obvious. The more noticeable the flaws, the less likely you’re going to get helpful feedback.

Everyone will point out that you misspelled that one word in the title. They will flock to the banner in your graphic that is stretched just a tad too much. That eye you forgot to color in? That’s what they’ll see.

How fast did you spot the error I put in there? 

…Or something worse will happen. You’ll get ripped apart. You were so proud of your initial creation, that you skipped the three Ps of making something awesome. I completely relate to this temptation and have made this mistake myself. You’ll learn all about that in my next post.

The most difficult part of editing, revising, and perfecting something is the attention span needed for such an undertaking. Trust me when I say that staying focused is the hardest part of this stage. Here are a few personal things I do to help keep myself on track:

1. Fix myself a non alcoholic drink that isn’t water (water’s great and all, but it’s boring. I find drinking a glass of juice helps).

2. Listen to classical music. Oddly enough, this one works. If you can’t stand the idea of classical music, there are a number of heavy metal bands who’ve done concerts and special albums with symphonies
       Metallica – S & M
       Apocalyptica
       Trans-Siberian Orchestra

3. Reward yourself with something after you’ve reached a certain point. Working for a reward is always a motivator for me!

The Three Ps of Making Something Awesome

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Plan, Practice, and Patience!

Plan 

Something amazing is buzzing through your head, and you are compelled to create it. This is the part where you jot your awesome idea down. Here are a few suggestions that have always worked for me in the past:

Art/Crafts – make a few quick sketches
Writing – make an outline of the basic premise
Graphic Design –  piece together a diagram.

Now is the time to figure out what your idea’s purpose is. This is the most important stage because everything that comes after it builds up to your project’s meaning. How will the story end? What feeling do you want your painting to evoke? What message is your graphic design ad/cover/logo getting across? Asking those basic questions opens your mind to a huge flow of new ideas.

Let them come. They will improve upon your initial idea. Sure, there’ll be some doozies that fall flat, but they will only help you sharpen and forge your idea.

Practice 

This stage is straightforward and doesn’t need much explanation. Remember that annoying phrase, “Practice makes perfect?” Draw multiple sketches to hone your design in. Incorporate some of those fresh ideas from the planning stage and see what works best.

Write a few quick scenes to get a feel for your characters (they don’t have to be a part of the final story, just write them to get the creative juices flowing). Revise that outline. Play with different colors, fonts, shapes, and themes for your graphic design piece.

Keep doing this until your sketches and scenes begin to look and/or feel refined.

Patience

Now that you’ve figured out your end game and have a few sketches, scenes, or [insert your brand of genius here] under your belt, you’re ready to sit down and build your creation. Don’t rush it. Create another draft if you have to. You want this thing to pop.

Once you finish it, resist the urge to declare that it is done. Resist the urge to post, publish, or send it in. Patience is a virtue that is hard to tame. Set it away for a day, two days, or even a week. When you come back to it, you’ll feel as though you have a fresh set of eyes. I’ll go into more detail about this in my next post, So Edits, Many Drafts, Such Work.