Inspiration

Other People’s Genius: Rad Resources on Screenwriting, Storytelling, and Some Beautiful Tales to Inspire

+ I know my friend James from film school; he’s a lovely human and a great writer, and one of the most truly creative, original people I know! If you’re at all interested in storytelling, making films or just the creative process in general, you really NEED to check out their site on microbudget filmmaking. Sure, it will teach you to make a film for very little money, but it is so much deeper than that. Most film sites go on and on and on about cameras, lenses, etc. in such a bollocks-y way; James and Todd (also a very cool, creative dude!) engage much more deeply in the creative process, and if you’re at all interested in craft, stories and narrative as well as new forms of filmmaking, there is some deep, beautiful stuff for you to learn from. This is a great lesson on the “mirror moment” — sort of the fulcrum of a story where a character reaches a certain awareness and then chooses to act on it, and how it can shape the rest of your narrative. It is an excellent lesson, and super-applicable to stories beyond film.

Be sure to check out their whole website for more, and subscribe to get the rest of their lessons!

+ Francesca Lia Block! She wrote a story for Wildfox Couture, it is here and it is beautiful!

+ I have always loved, loved, loved Terry Gilliam’s films — Brazil, 12 Monkeys, Time Bandits, they’re all so imaginative and audacious in how far they go to detail their peculiar, even baroque vision. This is a great interview with the filmmaker on his process, his beliefs, his reflections on film and the vocation of the artist, and being in it for the long haul.

+ Keeping on the filmmaker tip, here is another interview at The 99 Percent by the Dardenne brothers, Belgian filmmakers known for their observant, nonsentimental naturalistic filmmaking. If you’ve ever see L’Enfant, you know how amazingly moving and devastating their films can be, and they’ve carved out a rich place for themselves in world filmmaking. I have been more and more interested in artists and how they cultivate tenacity, patience and the ability to do their work for work’s sake, for learning, for growth, outside of acclaim, achievement, honors, fame. They have earned some of the highest respect and integrity in the field, not just for their films but how they work, so I’m truly interested in what they have to say.

+ I have been reading more poems lately. Poetry and I go way back: my first creative writing forays were in poetry, starting from high school onward, and in college I even won some fancy awards for my poems. I love the compression and intuition that writing and reading poems demands, and the sheer pleasure of images, movement, and words you can indulge in. I like reading poems off the Poetry Foundation’s iPhone app: I love how you just “spin” it and lo and behold, poem! The app is free, and is a true literary pleasure.

+ Ok, this isn’t genius but I still like my “best of 2011″ mix on 8tracks.com! It has: Zoo Kid/King Krule, Azealia Banks, TV on the Radio, Class Actress, Lykke Li, PJ Harvey, Crystal Stilts, Iceage, Fever Ray, Charlotte Gainsbourg, The Konki Duet, and Nicki Minaj.

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Posted in Inspiration on Monday, January 23rd, 2012 | No Comments »

My Fall To-Do List

Fall! It’s here! I love the cooler temperatures, the mellow sunshine, the nice sound of wind rustling in trees. I love la rentree and the whole feeling of getting back to work, study and getting stuff done. I mean, yeah, summer was great: I didn’t get to ride as many rollercoasters as I wanted, but I made up for it through my patronage of various water slides, and generally accomplished most of my Summer To-Do. That list was actually super-helpful and fun, so here’s my list for fall.

+ WRITE ANOTHER BOOK

I know, I still have to finish revising the one I wrote earlier! This is one of those goals that you file under “Bat Shit Crazy,” but honestly, I’m just restless to get another story rolling. Hilariously and ironically, I just accepted the fact that it’ll take me the rest of the year to revise the rest of the first book. I’ve finally come to terms that it takes a long time to revise a long story sometimes, especially when you are trying to fit writing in with work and other commitments. And it just needs *time*, because you need space and distance from a story to see exactly what it needs with any degree of clarity. But in the meanwhile all this revising is going on, what else am I supposed to do? There is so much more to get out! My plan is to treat it like a weekend job and spend the week on the first book. Or maybe vice versa. We’ll see.

+ GO SOMEWHERE COOL

I used to be so much more of a free bird and now I’m kicking myself more for not taking more advantage of it! I’m still more mobile than the average American, but now I just can’t take the middle of the week off to lollygag and then make it up on the weekend like I used to. Sadness! Over the summer I seemed to have gained some energy, though (getting enough sleep, smoothie-making and fresh air really do work marvels), so I’ll try to sneak in more weekend jaunts here and there.

+ SUPER-SMOOTHIES

I didn’t really get to my summer goal of making new meals — I think I just accepted the fact that I’m not a foodie type in that way. (Plus: book. Writing. Takes a lot of time!) I started a few weeks ago making a smoothie everyday, though, and I’m super-into it. I got a new blender and everything! I like playing with different combinations of fruits, juices, and veggies: lately I like mango, melon, banana, papaya, some chard and basil, all sweetened with agave nectar. I have a smoothie now in the afternoon, and it’s a nice lift in the day: better than chocolate and coffee, really! I want to keep doing it through fall and explore the world of “autumnal smoothies.”

+ SAVE UP 4 MONTHS OF LIVING EXPENSES

I’m proud to say that I’ve been working on this throughout the year and I’m almost there! My savings were utterly decimated by grad school, but after school I’ve gradually socked away what I need. This year has generally been a financially wise one: I spend a lot less and a lot more mindfully, and yep, save a lot more. I have had all kinds of money-type realizations and realized there is this whole right-brain approach you can take with it that feels cool and right and not spirit-killing and overly restrictive. Anyway, this fall should be when I finally hit that goal, so yayness all around.

+ ENJOY MY CLOTHES MORE

Honestly, fall clothes are one of the biggest reasons why I love this season so freaking much. Sweaters, coats, boots, scarves: these are a few of my favorite sartorial things. But because I work from home, it’s so easy to get slobby and in a rut. But I’m vowing to wear my nicer clothes this season. I’m going to Instagram my outfits on a regular basis in the hopes that the process of documentation will force me to wear real clothes, instead of hoodies and shorts all the time because that’s what I sleep in and it’d be so easy to just wear that all day. But I won’t. Sloth no more!

+ MASTER SOME NEW SHIT AT THE GYM

I joined a fancy gym this summer, mostly because I wanted to swim more, and I like a good steam room and hot tub. But they have tons of classes and even a climbing wall, so I’m going to try to switch things up a bit and take advantage more of my gym-fanciness and just embrace the yuppiness of it all. And you can’t really beat a weekly swim, followed by hot tub and then a nice steam room, for utter relaxation.

+ I NEED TO LEARN SOMETHING NEW IN GENERAL

It’s been two years since I had class in the fall, and it’s something I really miss: I’m a nerd this way. I miss taking notes, listening to interesting ideas and discussions, reading books, all that good stuff in a systematic approach to education. I don’t know if I want to take a new class somewhere, get one of those massive lecture series on DVD or CD or whatever — I just need to be learning something new and different. I regret never really taking philosophy proper or the classics in general, or not studying another language formally. And a few days ago, I got nostalgic looking at my notes on classic British literature, thinking how great it would be to read Tristram Shandy again. I’m such a nerd that I wish I could back and get another B.A. What should I learn?

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Posted in Inspiration, Pieces of Life on Saturday, September 10th, 2011 | 2 Comments »

Sparks: Jennifer Egan, Pomodoro Technique, Roseanne Barr

Just a few things that have been inspiring and sparking me lately, giving me a bit of lift as I work through the last bit of novel for this major revision. (Aiming for this Thursday! I am so close with this pass! I can feel it!) Some of it is writerly inspiration, some of it is productivity geeking-out, and some is just good old-fashioned feminist inspiration and funny ferocity. Happy mid-May, lovelies!

JENNIFER EGAN

I freaking love Jennifer Egan — what a smart, elegant writer! I love her ambition, flinty intelligence, her willingness to try all kinds of things in her work. I also love that she wrote about my hometown once. This interview was great in giving a little window into what motivated her to become a writer, and the journey she took to do it. There’s all kinds of beautifully mundane detail — apartments she wrote in, what she ate while she was struggling, all kinds of things that color memory. It’s strangely comforting to always remember that everyone starts somewhere, even a Pulitzer Prize winner!

THE POMODORO TECHNIQUE

I’m a bit of a productivity geek; my Virgo rising really takes to personal organizers, time management and other beautifully nerdy pursuits. It’s partly necessity, of course, because I juggle a lot of stuff, but it’s partly a weird love of life experiments. I like seeing how little adjustments can make big impacts. (Or not, as often the case may be!) I was never a super-fan of the Getting Things Done system that everyone on the Internet seems to love; I’ve realized that making extensive lists just makes me feel absolutely anxious. (Let me qualify; I do make them in a project sense, but not in an everyday To-Do list. In fact, I stopped keeping a daily To-Do list because it was only freaking me out so much.) Recently I discovered the “Pomodoro technique” to doing stuff. It’s kind of weird to explain; it’s when you do tasks in 25-minute windows, or “pomodoros,” which is the Italian word for tomato. (So cute!) After each pomodoro, you take a 5-minute break. After three or four pomodoros, you take a more substantive 15-20 minute break. There’s all kinds of rationale and reasoning for this, but it’s really that simple. And for some reason, it works! There’s something about the 25-minute segment that really works for me. I think it’s because it helps you break up your day’s work in chunks (I found myself giving myself mini-goals for each pomodoro, like, “Work on the massacre scene for this pomodoro”) and it builds in breaks instead of letting you plow through till you’re tired. It’s great! I really recommend doing it. I feel like my writing time is so much for effective now because of the little pomodoros! Plus, you get to think “pomodoro” all the time, which is just beyond cute.

THIS AWESOME ESSAY BY ROSEANNE BARR

Before Tina Fey, there was Roseanne Barr! For anyone who’s ever loved ferocious, funny women, this essay is for you. She’s a handful, of course, but I admire her balls and her fiery spirit. It takes a lot of guts to go up against the TV industry, studio executives and the whole power structure of Hollywood, so kudos to her for doing it.

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Posted in Inspiration on Tuesday, May 17th, 2011 | 2 Comments »

Sparks: Instagram, EFT, Doing Nothing

INSTAGRAM

I can’t believe how much I love this photo processing and sharing app! It turns humble iPhone photography into something a little more artistic, and the sharing feature is so much fun, too. The art snob in me thought at first that it was cheating, but my inner punk was like, “Eff that, it’s just a tool! Like you can afford all those lenses and stuff!” I think the beautiful trick of it is that it offers enough choice so that it feels free, but not bewildering — just enough features, just enough social networking without feeling like you have to manage a whole new online identity. And it’s a wonderfully portable, instant way to capture little moments in life. Sometimes I worry that constant picture-taking takes you out of moments, but here I’m inclined to think that it helps keep my eye out in the world, alive to instants that make the world seem beautiful. If that’s not enchantment, then what is?

I want to turn this into wallpaper.Rambling againDirty boots
Me, after making a major life decisionPretty purple spring flowers1950s style in fast food restaurants (we were getting milkshakes)

EFT

I had heard about EFT, or Emotional Freedom Technique, before, but wrote it off as a bit more left-field, even for me. But recently it popped up in about three different places in a concentrated period of time, which I always interpret as a clue from the universe to at least be open to whatever it is that it’s putting out in front of me. EFT is a kind of mind-body technique where you “tap” on certain energy “meridians” while verbalizing and working through issues and problems, making it somewhat akin to acupressure, from what I understand. I’m not skeptical of the mind-body connection at all, being Buddhist and seeing great breakthroughs in meditation, but I have to admit EFT sounded odd at first. (All that tapping, I guess.) But last week I started trying it in terms of freeing up my writing process a little more, and it’s strangely, wonderfully great. I don’t care if it’s a placebo effect and I can’t explain why it’s working, but it’s been a great tool so far. Maybe you’re already miraculously free of negative thoughts, limiting beliefs, and mental blocks and don’t need anything like this (you are so lucky!), but I thought I’d throw it out there for other great open-minded investigators and adventurers.

—> What is EFT?

There are loads of videos on YouTube that demonstrate it, but I’d read up on it first…seeing it done is a little “whoa!”

DOING NOTHING

I read this article about doing nothing in the middle of a very hectic, very stress-y Thursday afternoon last week and instantly thought “HA!” as I read it. But it makes so much sense. My life is relentlessly full and I produce a lot of stuff on a daily basis, plus I’m always trying to soak in new ideas and learning as well as balance information. But more and more I need a lot of white space in my life to at the very least process everything and let my subconscious shift through and pick out the most valuable insights from that endless rush of ideas and impulses. In other words, doing nothing and having just time to loll and rest integrates all that stimuli into us, so I’ve vowed to be a little better about safeguarding “nothing time” in my life. It’s much harder than I thought, though! I realize there’s always this pressing sense of something to do, to tick off the list…funny how doing nothing actually spotlights how much pressure I put on myself to do, do, do. It’s obnoxious! I need to stop!

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Posted in Inspiration on Wednesday, May 4th, 2011 | No Comments »

Five Beautifully Brilliant, Inspiring Manifestos + A Few Thoughts on My Own

I’ve been thinking a bit about manifestos lately, about declarations that transcend time, create energy and fuel dreams. While manifestos are often really specific to a situation, there’s a timelessness to the writing that really speaks to me — which is why great ones endure. I’ve been thinking about it in terms of myself — I’ve been asked lately, in more than a few different avenues of my life, to define what’s important and true for me. I’m still thinking about it, pulling my thoughts together, but of course I had to dig up a few of the declarations that made an impact on me:

RIOT GRRRL MANIFESTO

A very long time ago I was a punk, and I was a girl, and when those two things came together in the form of the Riot Grrrl movement, it was really amazing. I would need a whole memoir (or maybe a film screenplay or three) to really go into “my life and Riot Grrrl” but it would be adequate enough to say that I wouldn’t be who I am today without this particular music-loving version of the feminist movement. I still remember reading it in college and becoming SO EXCITED, the tingling in my stomach when I was reading something that articulated all these inchaote thoughts and feelings into one cohesive statement. YOU ARE NOT ALONE is often one of the most valuable feelings to get from reading; a beautiful manifesto gives that, and gives inspiration to the possibilities that can arise out of coming together.

BRUCE MAU’S INCOMPLETE MANIFESTO FOR GROWTH

If the Riot Grrrl manifesto had the most impact on me as a girl, but I think Bruce Mau’s is my favorite creative-oriented one of all time. Architects and designers love it because Mau’s one of their tribe, and a particularly brilliant member at that; I may not be either an architect or a designer, but I find it applicable as a writer for its emphasis on process, change and the importance of mischief, play and mistakes. Read it: it’s ripe for thinking.

STYLE STATEMENT: A MANIFESTO OF STYLE

Here’s where I reveal my inner Oprahness and my fashion-ness as well. But this manifesto about fashion and style had a big impact on how I shopped, spent and chose clothing, and it would be kind of dishonest not to include it in a list of manifestos that have changed my life, thinking or behavior in some way. (The PDF download of it has the fuller, more articulate explanation behind each point; I like it better.) This is not a style manifesto that told you what was “in” or “out,” or that pink was the new navy, or anything like that. It advocated clarity, thoughtfulness and discernment when it came to matters of fashion and style, and acknowledged the impact of wardrobe and dress on life in ways that aren’t normally addressed in most fashion writing. And it got me to stop buying so much and radically clean out my closet! Some of its tenets — “Commit to quality and it will commit to you” — found applications not just in my closet, but in my personal life. Closets, boyfriends — if a manifesto can effect change in those areas of life, you know it’s working on some level!

LINCHPIN

This is actually a book by business and marketing guru Seth Godin, and it’s a curious book to read as an artist and writer. But here’s a fun secret: many business books are actually obsessed with growth and self-development, because being an entrepreneur is actually a very creative act at the core of its word. Linchpin was thought-provoking because it expands the idea of art and what artists do — well, perhaps distills it down may be a better way of putting it — and what lingers for me from reading it was the idea of “shipping,” which is Godin’s way of saying relentlessly putting out work as an act of integrity, and the idea of art as a gift you give to the word, which helped solidified my decision to offer any short stories I do on this site.

FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT’S 10-POINT MANIFESTO FOR APPRENTICES

Here it is:

1. An honest ego in a healthy body.
2. An eye to see nature
3. A heart to feel nature
4. Courage to follow nature
5. The sense of proportion (humor)
6. Appreciation of work as idea and idea as work
7. Fertility of imagination
8. Capacity for faith and rebellion
9. Disregard for commonplace (inorganic) elegance
10. Instinctive cooperation

Short, but it’s dense with ideas and conviction. Reading it again and again, it inspires a new thought or inspiration — which is what the best manifestos do, right?

++++++++++

Of course, this has got me thinking of my own manifesto: what I’d put in it, what I’d leave out, what I’d address. More to come on that later, but I’m dwelling on freedom, white space, and mystery and magic: a combination of the High Priestess card for Tarot, the art direction of Fabien Baron and the imagination of Angela Carter. And some riot grrrl, of course. Manifestos: quick to read, long to think over.

More manifestos!

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Posted in Inspiration on Thursday, April 28th, 2011 | 2 Comments »

Sparks: Warpaint @ Coachella, Cate Blanchett Shot By Cass Bird, Vimeo’s iPhone App, Oracle Fox

These are the things that are making my imagination sing a little this week.

Cate Blanchett in T Magazine, shot by Cass Bird

Cate Blanchett is my favorite actress — I’ll see anything she’s in, really. One of the highlights of film school for me was going to a talk she and her husband gave when they brought Hedda Gabler to BAM; I was genuinely star-struck. She’s very serious and thoughtful about her work but not herself, and spoke eloquently on the necessity of risk in a life of art and creativity. (Her skin really is that amazing in person as well.) I love Cass Bird’s photos, too — they have such a light-soaked, casual feel. The two together had the great effect of leavening the usually regal way she’s often photographed.

Warpaint at Coachella

No, I’m not at Coachella this year. (Or any year — I’ve never been. It sounds vaguely horrible, to be honest.) But the good folks there are livestreaming the whole thing, which is pretty rad. I caught Warpaint’s set, and even though the stream was as buggy as all out, I still loved it. Their beautifully witchy, intricate record The Fool was a major novel-writing soundtrack and one of my favorite albums last year. They’re super-hot, too…what’s not to love?

Vimeo’s iPhone App

Is so brilliant! Well, after an initial hitch. (Tip: make sure you enable location services for it in order for it to access your camera roll.) But after that, it’s super amazing to realize you can shoot HD video and edit right on your iPhone or iPod Touch 4G. Genius! I’ve already been making loads of little movies. (More of which you’ll most likely see here later…just warning you.) Here’s one tiny example below — yesterday there were slight snow flurries, so I took some quick footage and edited it together. The camera’s shaking ’cause I’m shivering!

Oracle Fox

I’ve stopped reading most fashion blogs for the most part (so sad to see the replication of Fashion Industrial Complex norms than see something truly indie in spirit), but Oracle Fox is one of the few that I keep my eye on, because I love the sun-soaked Australian witchy boho thing it has going. It’s springtime…why wouldn’t you want to look at images of girls wearing hippie clothes on a beach? (Writing about a girl skateboarder, you know I have a special place in my heart for this image.)

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Posted in Inspiration on Monday, April 18th, 2011 | No Comments »