A First-Draft Mad Dash ~ And the Not-So-Pretty Truth

20 Thursday Mar 2014

Posted by Elizabeth Fais in Fiction, Perspective, Writing

Tags

Disney animation, Elizabeth Fais, First Draft, Frank Thomas, Goals, running of the bulls

The one thing I have to accomplish—or I won’t be able to live with myself—is to be a traditionally published author. I know. It makes no sense in so many ways. Yet this is the rainbow bridge of my dreams.

Because life isn’t always about making sense. It’s about living without regrets.

I came close to my goal with the book I queried late last year. But close isn’t good enough. I realized a little (?) too late that the story, while good, wasn’t unique enough for a debut author. No worries. I’ve heard of a number of now-published authors who didn’t make it out of the gate with their first book. Then when they sold their second book, the first was sold too. That’s the success scenario I choose to believe in.

So… Now it’s time to kick up my game with a new project that has a unique concept. It’s time to dig in and get serious with the infamous First Draft.

First Draft ~ Fact and Fiction

Pounding out a first draft is different for every author. For some, the words flow out of their fingers like milk and honey in the promised land. Yeah, right. So. Not. Me.

For me, a first draft is all-consuming. It’s when the characters blossom to life in my head, transforming into three-dimensional people. Usually with a healthy dose of attitude. Story wrinkles slap me in the face—plot pits big enough to swallow a T-Rex whole—I didn’t foresee in the initial planning phase. It’s a fictional wrestling match and dance party rolled into one, an oxymoronic medely of inspiration, frustration, and a high flying creative dopamine rush.

Yes, folks. The writer’s high is real. And it’s free for anyone crazy enough to venture down this path.

I’d like you to think that my First Draft Dash is as fluid as an Olympian going for the gold. But let’s be real. My first draft process looks a lot more like this…

In the race to keep the momentum flowing, real-life stuff falls off the truck, only to be trampled beneath the hooves of those bulls.

Dust, dishes, and laundry be damned… and the better part of social media too.

Ready…Set…Go!

The good new is, first drafts don’t last forever. In fact, this is going to be a relatively short sprint.

Head down and fingers to the keyboard on March 21st.

Crossing the deadline finish line on June 21st.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Yeah… about this blog…

During the first draft dash, I won’t have the bandwidth to come up with thought-provoking posts on a regular basis. In February, when I was plotting out the new project, I did Zip. Zero. Zilch blog posts.

I didn’t want this blog to go dark for the next three months, so I’m bringing out a series I’ve been thinking about for some time. It will be based on a series of letters written to me by legendary Disney animator Frank Thomas over a number of years. The correspondence originated out of my love of animation and computer graphics, but ultimately brought me to the path of writing fiction for young readers.

Coming up next:
“Letters from Frank ~ Insights on Animation, Computers, and Elephants”

WAnt to share your First Draft process?

Be Your Own Hero

17 Monday Mar 2014

Posted by Elizabeth Fais in Hero, Inspiration, Writing

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

Aragprm, Carrie Anne Moss, Elizabeth Fais, Hero, hero's journey, Hugh Jackman, Joan of Arc, Keanu Reeves, live the dream, Lord of the Rings, Neo, The Matrix, Trinity, Wolverine

It’s amazing how four simple words can resonate with such great intensity:

Be your own hero.

I tweeted those words, because they felt *solid* and *true* but without knowing why. I certainly wasn’t thinking or feeling like the Wolverine.

But as with so many other tweets, once I hit Send, the words were forgotten.

That is, until the retweets flooded in. Apparently those words felt solid and true to a number of others.

But WHY?

What does it mean to ‘Be Your Own Hero’?

That’s the question I asked myself when I saw the response to that tweet. And not in the Hollywood-action-film-hero context either. Even though that’s the first imagery that usually comes to mind.

Characters who travel the Hero’s Journey in film and fiction provide valid role models on “how to become a hero” on a number of levels.

But “being your own hero” goes deeper.

It’s not about storming the castle, taking down the evil warlord, or finding the golden fleece. In fact, the exact criteria will vary as wildly as there are people in the world.

I can’t tell you how to be your own hero. But after a much thought, I defined a list of criteria for myself…

How to ‘Be My Own Hero’ — 5 Easy Steps

Take that one thing I have to accomplish or “I won’t be able to live with myself”, and make it happen. Against all odds.
Do what I’m most afraid of. Because that’s what I most need to learn.
Strive for excellence. Never settle for mediocrity.
Stand up for myself. But more important, stand up for those who may be weaker and need the support.
Live my dream to its fullest … remaining fluid, embracing life circumstances with open arms, while still holding true to the vision. Because that’s the stuff real dreams are made of.

What’s on your “Be your own hero” list?

The Selfie That Brought Down Twitter & Why It Matters

10 Monday Mar 2014

Posted by Elizabeth Fais in Academy Awards, Social Media, Technology

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

Academy Awards, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Bradley Cooper, Dolby Theater, Ellen DeGeneres, Hollywood, Jennifer Lawrence, Kevin Spacey, Meryl Streep, Oscars, selfie, The Ellen Show, Twitter

The 2014 Oscars were last Sunday evening, March 2nd. If you don’t live in a cave, you probably heard about Ellen DeGeneres’ Oscar selfie that broke Twitter.

If you just came out of your cave and missed all that action, you can get the deets from the Los Angeles Times article about the event here and the New York Daily News article here.

One Message ~ Over 2 Million Retweets

Basically here’s what happened…

Oscar host, Ellen DeGeneres, encouraged Bradley Cooper to take the infamous picture of her and the cozied-up group of A-List actors, including Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lawrence, Kevin Spacey, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.

Long before midnight that night, Ellen’s selfie was retweeted more than 2 million times. The overwhelming influx of network traffic brought Twitter to its knees. Or, to use a highly technical term, “they were hosed”. So much so, that Twitter later sent out an apology regarding the 20 minute disruption in service that happened after 8 p.m. PST.

Why it’s a big deal…

People who don’t use Twitter don’t get how big this is, both on a technically and humanly—the way we work and live.

I’ve been a technical writer in the software industry for a number of years, and have been exposed to a broad range of technologies in some of the most influential companies in Silicon Valley. Twitter, and other high-profile companies that provide real-time services, have substantial server farms to compensate for traffic during peak times. Nothing short of World War III should bring them down.

So … for ONE TWEET to hose the services of a company like Twitter is HUGE.

But something else was remarkable about this phenomenon. It shone a lantern on how Twitter affects the way we interact and communicate as a society.

One message shared over two million times because it resonated with a population, is nothing short of amazing.

This says something powerful about instantaneous connectedness. How the world is a global community in which we share thoughts and ideas in a fraction of a second. More important, how much we have come to depend on this ability.

I was one of the many who live tweeted through the 2014 Oscars broadcast, talking with people across the nation and around the world, retweeting and replying to tweets. I experienced the “Twitter crash” in real-time, the frustrating sudden loss of being able to communicate with other tweeters.

The retweets-heard-round-the-world from Ellen’s single tweet demonstrated our power as a collective whole. Because at the end of the day, technology is nothing without us—the people who drive it.

How does technology affect the way you communicate and live?